The Titan Legacy
By Mephistopheles
Disclaimer: HOW MANY TIMES MUST I GO THROUGH THIS WITH YOU PEOPLE?! HOW MANY?! I OWN NOTHING, EXCEPT THOSE ORIGINAL CHARACTERS YOU HAVEN'T SEEN BEFORE!!! GOT IT?! DO YOU?! ANSWER ME!!!!!
Important Notes: This chapter will have much information of True Satanism, my religion. I will thank you NOT to try and ban this story, or send threatening emails, as I'm only informing, not trying to convert.
Secondary note: Read Flashing Lights and Sounds by Jedi-and. The story rocks, and I have one of his characters in here, which will be pointed out later on.
Chapter Three: Agriant's Finale and the Icksenian Hybrid
A man in a white lab coat ran down a metal corridor, shambling forward as fast as he possibly could. A large growl was heard from the end of said corridor, causing the man to scream and run faster. Upon reaching the end, he punched a few numbers into a code device, causing the door to open from its locked state, allowing him to run inside.
"RE-ENGAGE LOCKDOWN! SHUT THE DAMN DOOR!!" He yelled, diving inside, as several other scientists promptly obeyed his request. The door that had just previously opened slammed shut, along with several metal walls, solidly locking them in.
At the end of the corridor mentioned earlier, a large, about six foot eight reptilian humanoid stood. Large fangs sprouted from its mouth, along with a snake-like tongue. Its feet were clawed, and a large tail was attached to the base of its spine. It looked forward with its red eyes, snarling slightly. Walking forward, it examined the area, finding that this was its only route out. Smiling, it raised one clawed hand, which instantly grew larger and longer in both the arm and talons, before ramming it into the metal. The other hand swiftly followed. Roaring, it dug its feet into the ground and pulled, slowly moving the metal outwards.
Within several seconds, he was opening a large hole in the metal. Unfortunately, it was not quite all the way through the door. But he had a backup plan, as he brought his tail up beside his head. A large claw instantly sprouted from the end. [AN: This claw on the end has a sharp edge on one side. This is a side note that will explain many things later on]. Moving its tail in front of the wall, it shot out a small stream of greenish liquid, which immediately began dissolving the metal. After about a minute, he had made a six by six foot circular trace in the wall.
Raising one of his legs, he kicked the hole in, sending the massive piece of metal flying into a random scientist, crushing him.
"FALL BACK TO LEVEL SIX!!" One yelled, running for another door. He never made it, as a large clawed fist went through his head. Three scientists made it out of the observation room; the fourth however, was not so lucky. The reptile's tail wrapped around his neck, threw him into the window on the left side, and then leapt and came down on his head with one foot. Blood and worse splattered all over it.
Moving on, he walked up and down several corridors, before eventually finding his way to the loading dock. Inside were several armed guards.
"GET DOWN ON THE GROUND! NOW!" One yelled, pointing the rifle at him.
The creature smiled.
"No."
It dove forward, tail snapping up to wrap around one man's gun before a clawed hand went punching through his neck.
Before the others could open fire against it, the creature grabbed the fallen assault rifle and beat to the punch, or shot. Within seconds, several guards were down, severed arteries spewing blood like a fountain through bullet holes. Others opened fire upon the creature, just to have the bullets literally bounce off. Or, if you prefer, they hit him and ricocheted off, like they would against a metal wall.
The guards looked stunned, but that only lasted a few seconds, as they began running away.
The creature smiled to itself. Looking over at the nearest guard, it jumped forward, then bounced off a crate, propelling itself forward quite quickly, before coming down on the poor man, ramming its clawed reptilian feet into his back, its tail wrapping around his neck and head before ripping it clean off. Clean only in a metaphorical sense anyway.
Looking over at another, the creature (yes, this term is far overused. Don't worry, it stops soon) ran towards him at a remarkable speed. He leapt about five feet from him, slanting his body so he was diagonal. Its tail whipped forward, slamming into the man's back and shooting out the chest. Pulling it out again, it rammed the stingered appendage into his head, piercing through the skull completely, like the tough bone was wet cardboard. The creature landed on all fours, growling at its latest victim.
About this time, the guards had completely run off, leaving the creature to decide what to do. Looking around, he saw what he was after: A load of missiles and other high explosive devices that were going to be used in the lab's defense system.
Walking over to it, the creature ripped one of the crates open and grabbed a missile. Picking it up with both hands, the creature threw it forward. It crashed into the wall, causing the wall to explode, and letting a flood of water, from what appeared to be the ocean or a sea flood in…
It was a rather normal evening at Titan Tower, if you can call this place normal. A member named Scalpel has joined the team [AN: Just to point something out, he actually joined BEFORE this, but since there is no other way to explain it, let's just say he seemingly disappeared for several days, and came back, alright?] and had survived more of his "Swimming lessons" today, which several people in the group thought was quite entertaining.
Beast Boy was warring on the Game Station with Cyborg, again. Robin was expressing some of his love towards Starfire, yes, in that way, but not quite there yet. Hey, these are people after all, and sexuality is natural.
Moving on, we find Savior debating online with someone, who surprisingly was quite intelligent, and actually spelled correctly, which isn't something you see with instant messages a lot, now is it.
Raven was meditating, having finally gotten some peace around the house, since Robin had addressed her problem. Gauntlet was doing something he wasn't found doing often. Reading! Mind you, it was a Calvin and Hobbes comic, but hey, it's step in the right direction, right?
Now this begs one question: Where is Kristina? She is out in town, visiting a few places, mainly a speech about the gay marriages debate, still going on.
Now one must ask themselves, why would she be there? Simple: She's a lesbian. (Chicka-bow bow, chika…) STOP THAT! Mephistopheles no hentai! Anyway, she was mainly there to show them the problem with saying gay marriages can't happen. One: If they did, that would be enforcing a Christian belief on non-Christians, which is illegal. Two: It would make homosexuals unequal with everyone else, which is again, illegal.
In theory anyway. Reality and perception on the other hand…but one must digress…
But moving on from that semi-rant (and strange sudden porno music), we shall now visit her, as she walks home. Unfortunately, for her, she was about to find something that no one should have to see…
Parents have always said to their children not to walk down dark alleyways. I suppose when you become a parent, this changes. At least that what this poor women thought, as she walked down a dark alley, obviously.
She was dressed in a business suit, all black with a skirt, with long black hair and blue eyes. She was also holding a purse that held a bible in it. Coincidently, she came from the very place Kristina came from. Only she was anti-homosexual and personally believed them to be not only abominations, but that they should burn for it. Marvelous individual…but moving on again…
Following her were two thugs, looking like the stereotypical version. Their motives were to rape and kill her, because they didn't like her, for no reason I might add, thus making them no better then her.
Humans. Gotta love them. Or maybe, as we shall soon see, not…
Upon realizing she was being followed, she immediately screamed and ran. Unfortunately, they were a lot faster. Not only did they catch up with her, they immediately pulled out some chloroform and attempted to use it on her. (Shock and horror, these thugs actually had some kind of intelligence! This must be breaking some union rule!)
"Hey buddy! What exactly do you think you're doing?" A voice quickly asked.
"What's it to you?!" One of them replied angrily.
"Well, seeing as how you are assaulting this women for no other reason then sex, something that should be a good thing, and that you are going to kill her afterwards obviously, I see no reason in letting you live."
"FUCK OFF PAL! I could kick your ass any day!" He shot back, drawing a gun.
A sigh was heard as a figure emerged from the shadows. It was none other then the creature from the science facility we saw earlier, only now he was wearing black jeans with a large black belt.
"What are you? Another Meta? You think you can push anyone around! Well I have news for you! You can't push us around!"
The creature smiled. "How loquacious. You can call me Acid. And no, I am not a Meta, nor am I pushing you around. I am simply rectifying a mistake. Which was someone giving you a weapon, and a life."
"Get out of here before I blow your fucking head off!" He yelled, pointing the gun at him.
"Shoot me. I dare you. Or would you prefer point blank range?" Acid asked, stretching his arms out.
BLAM! The man fired a shot toward him, only to see it bounce off his reptilian skin. Gasping, he tried to mutter a sentence.
"How…wha…who…" He stuttered, amazed that the bullet hadn't even penetrated the hide.
Acid scoffed, walking towards the two men, who looked perplexed and scared tremendously.
"Fight or flight time scum."
Finally regaining what little courage they had, both men pulled out their backup weapons, which was a crowbar and metal pipe, hoping to somehow harm him.
"Oh look, the wrong choice."
Both charged, swinging both weapons. Acid caught the first man's arm as it was coming down, broke it with one violent twist, and then ripped it off before his tail snapped up and impaled him through the middle of his chest. The man gurgled and coughed up blood, obviously in extreme pain, though he couldn't exactly scream for it.
Smiling maliciously, Acid's tail began to rise, thus causing the body to do the same. In a quick one two motion, he yanked the tail out and then quickly snapped it to the side, allowing the sharpened part of his tail to collide with the man's neck, severing the head altogether.
Shifting his view, his eyes shifted at the second assailant, glowering with obvious hate and malice. Snapping his tail out, he grabbed the fallen gun and flung it into his left hand. The second man had, by now, already started running, but unfortunately, Acid was a lot faster. After five seconds, Acid had not only caught up to the man, but had wrapped his tail around his legs. With a quick flick of it, the man was sent flying into the air, screaming. Acid raised the gun, and unloaded all ten bullets into the flying fool (hey, I made a funny!), killing him.
"Oh wait, BOTH were the wrong choice. Should have made that clear beforehand. Silly me."
Looking back over to the fallen woman, who was still recovering from the shock of her attack, he approached her, and helped her to her feet.
"Let this be a lesson to you: Don't walk down dark alleyways, and avoid making stupid mistakes." Acid said in a "just how could someone be so dense?" tone.
"Thank you for helping me, but I would prefer if you talked to me with some respect." She shot back, picking up her bag. As she raised it, a book fell out. The book that held the speech she had just made. Before she could pick it up, Acid's tail had already whipped out, wrapped around it and brought it to his hands. Why he picked it up, only he knew. Maybe he thought it would be tasty.
"I see you were at the homosexual marriages act today." He said, reading over the papers.
"That is none of your business. It's bad enough that gays are out there, but now we have even more Metas!" She said unhappily, her tone showing much prejudice.
Acid finished reading, and looked at her angrily. "So tell me, what do you have against gays anyway? Are they abominations? Am I? Should I burn for EXISTING?!" He roared.
She fell back slightly, startled by his angry act. "Well, I never! The bible says they are abominations, and since God created everything, it is his law, not man's law, that we must obey!"
Acid growled at her, his tail whipping up and down (kinda like a cat does when it's angry or displeased). Grabbing her by the collar of her shirt, he picked her up and looked her directly in the eye.
"'Gods' law? BULLSHIT! Try YOUR interpretation of the writings of OTHER MEN! And humans are NOT infallible! And according to that book, your God gave us free will. Therefore, people have the right to choose. Yet here you and your "God" are, trying to have it all taken away! Your religion has about as much right to be in the law as any other religion. All you've done is make people unhappy, and all for some faith in a so called all loving and caring deity! This is the reason people like YOU don't deserve to LIVE!"
She was about to scream, but before she could, he grabbed her head and twisted it, breaking her neck. Angrily, he plunged his hand into her chest, and ripped out her heart. Throwing it down, he slammed his foot on it, causing the blood to splatter everywhere.
"Funny, I expected an empty pit."
It was this time that we find Kristina rushing towards the gun shot sounds that happened just prior. She ran through the alleyways, and after a few moments, found what she was looking for.
The scene before her was brutal. Blood was everywhere, along with organs and limbs. Atop a dumpster, Acid sat, holding the leg of the woman, and eating it. His body was covered in blood, and he was obviously enjoying it.
"YOU!" She screamed at him, forming a sword in her hand. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!"
Acid looked up at her, and arched what looked like an eyebrow, before remembering all the blood he had on him, and the fact he was EATING a limb. "Me? Nothing, just having a snack, why?"
"Scumbag! What the hell possessed you to do this?!" She demanded.
"Well, for starters, there's the fact that two men were following this women with the intent of raping and killing her, so when I stopped them, they attacked and I killed them. Then, I discovered this woman hated lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgender and Meta-humans, and was trying to stop gay marriages. So I killed her. Afterward, I started eating. Anything else you want to know?"
"Yeah." She replied, forming a shield in the other hand. "Why should I let you live?"
Acid looked at her, and smiled. "Never said you had to."
She looked at him with intense rage with an undertone of hate at his actions, and then threw her sword with incredible aim.
Moving his head to the side at the last second, the sword firmly implanted itself into the brick wall behind him.
Acid gave the sword a quick once over, and sighed. "You'll have to do better then that."
Jumping up as high as he could (which was about 30 feet from the jumping point), he came down with incredible strength. She dove out of the way as he landed, the very ground crumbling beneath him.
She swung a newly formed sword downward, as he raised his hands to block it. The sword struck against his arms, making a large clanging sound. She looked at him in awe, because not only had he blocked the strike, but she hadn't even drawn blood. Acid smiled.
"Nice try. My turn."
Before she could react at all, he swung a kick, nailing her in the side of the head. Now, she had taken blows to the face before, specifically during her training sessions with Robin, but not even the Teen Wonder's hardest kick could match this. It had the force of someone hitting you with a brick, and felt the part as well.
She fell back slightly, trying to recover, but even those few seconds would cost her. Acid attacked again, slamming one of his fists into her face, followed by a kick the chest, sending her into a wall.
She groaned and pushed herself to her feet, stumbling slightly. Again, her slow reaction would cost her, as Acid had dived forward, tackling her and sending them both into the brick wall, this time breaking it.
Shrugging the rubble off him, Acid looked down at Kristina with disappointment.
"Come now, can't you do better then that?"
His response was an incredibly sharp dagger to the chest. And not only did this one penetrate the skin, it went all the way in.
Stumbling back, Acid looked down at the blade, gripped it with one hand and pulled it out, the blade covered in his blood.
"You've actually cut me. I'm impressed."
Tossing the blade up slightly, he grabbed the sharp part and whipped it forward like a throwing knife, impaling her in the left shoulder. She gasped, and then groaned in pain, gripping it with her right hand, trying to pull it out like Acid had.
Too late, as Acid reached down, grabbed her by the neck, and lifted her up. Looking her in the eye, he smiled and licked his lips. "This is going to be fun."
He slammed his left fist into her face, breaking her nose, and then he threw her to the ground. His tail wrapped around a piece of rubble, and rising upwards, it snapped out, throwing the stone. Kristina was barely able to form a shield in time to block the projectile.
Hissing slightly, Acid wrapped his tail around her left ankle, lifting her into the air. Spinning around, he snapped the tail out, sending her flying into another nearby wall. Roaring, he ran toward her, grabbed her head, threw her up and slammed his foot into her chest, ramming her into the wall. By this time, she looked battered and bruised tremendously, and had anyone seen her, they would have assumed she was dead.
"I hope we're done, because I have better things to do." He said, muttering something about this being a waste of his time.
And then a large sonic blast blew him away.
"Leave her alone." Robin said, drawing his staff.
Acid looked up and sighed. "Oh good god, they're multiplying!"
Cyborg fired again, as Robin dove down to attack. Acid dodged barely, and rushed Robin.
A swipe of his staff nailed Acid in the side of the head, Robin quickly spinning it around for another hit. Ducking under the attack, Acid threw a punch into Robin's stomach, followed by a well-placed roundhouse kick. Robin ducked under that and slammed his staff into Acid's chest before jumping back and throwing an exploding disk at him. This sent Acid into a wall (I think we might be running out of walls…).
"I think we got him." Robin said, eyeing the rubble that Acid lay under.
A few seconds later, Acid had exploded from the rubble and tackled Robin, his tail wrapping around the boy's left ankle. Spinning around, he let go, sending Robin flying into Cyborg. Running at them, leaving no time to react, he grabbed Cyborg's arm and threw him into yet another wall. He then proceeded to grab Robin by the neck, lifting him up.
"Give up yet?"
Robin spat in his face. "Never."
"Finally, a man worth killing."
Slamming his other fist into Robin's face, he broke his nose AGAIN, and then using his tail to wrap around his neck, he started pummeling him. Kick after kick, punch after punch, Robin was turned into a living punching bag.
Finally stopping, he threw Robin down and looked over at Cyborg, who was powering up his sonic cannon.
"Eat this."
"I'll pass."
Blasting away, Acid was hard pressed to avoid them, as Cyborg had powered up for at least a minute, making the blasts extra potent. Eventually bypassing them, he smashed his right fist into Cyborg's face, and then rammed his foot into his chest.
Victor managed a well-placed metallic fist to Acid's chest, but was instantly hit by a kick to the face, followed by a clawed tail that rammed into his right arm.
Pulling it out, Acid rammed another punch into Cyborg, by now growing tired of these assaults. Tripping him through the use of his tail, Acid was able to ram a kick into Victor's head as he fell, sending him into the rubble.
Turning around, he saw Robin, barely stumbling to his feet, coughing blood. Running over, Acid wrapped his tail around Robin's neck again, this time attempting to squeeze until the airway was completely cut off.
"For a human, I must admit, you are good. And such a young one at that. If I didn't have to kill you, you would probably have made an excellent man. But I suppose we'll never know." He mocked, smiling.
"Hey Jackass!!" Came a female voice from behind.
"Oh for fuck's sake," He said turning around. "What NOW?!"
The response was a 20x20 foot metallic war hammer that literally knocked him through (and knocking down) the wall to his right.
With that, the metallic war hammer immediately began to retract back into Kristina, as she fell to the ground, completely out of strength (it does take a lot of energy to actually create something like that, even if it is weightless to the wielder).
An incredibly large growl was heard, as Acid got up from the rubble, several bruises on him that were healing fast.
"Good god, don't you people ever quit?!"
Shrugging off the pain of that hit, he looked over at the havoc they had caused.
"Three people. A Meta, a Cyborg and a martial arts master. Not bad."
And then a car encased in black energy slammed into him.
"DAMNIT AUTHOR!! LEAVE ME ALONE!!" He yelled, shaking his fist at the sky.
Quiet you!
A loud crash was heard.
Great, just great, the forth wall broke again! ROOM SERVICE!!!
"Room service?" Gauntlet, who had shown up on the scene via convenient plot device asked.
"This is the author, I think it's best not to question his acts." Acid replied.
"Good idea." Gauntlet said, before ramming a force fist into Acid, sending him once again flying.
While in the air, Acid commented, "If this keeps up I'm going to evolve wings!"
Raven looked over at the mass destruction that had been caused, and then back at Acid. "Abomination."
Acid sighed. "Everyone hates the abomination…"
Encasing some rubble in black energy, she threw it at him. But he just dodged, stopped and came back again.
But this time, Gauntlet was able to form a massive wall of energy, about the size of Kristina's hammer, and brought it up and slammed it down with all his might onto Acid's form, creating a five-foot hole in the ground.
Removing the energy, he quickly picked up a lamppost with another tendril of it, as did Raven via black energy. Stumbling out of the hole, Acid shook his head dizzily.
"Mental note: Wear head protection…" He muttered.
He looked forward and was besieged by lamp posts, which were surprisingly more painful then originally assumed.
Finally regaining his combat senses, he ducked under Raven's lamppost and with a quick snap of his tail, sliced it in half. Catching Gauntlet's, he snapped that in half as well, before throwing it at him. He was able to erect a shield to protect him, but that gave Acid time to get in close, which ended badly: He slammed a punch into the force field guarding Gauntlet, shaking it slightly.
Of course, it didn't last long, as Raven had picked Acid up with her powers and thrown him into the air, when a barrage of starbolts slammed into his back, sending him to the ground.
Groaning, he got up, and then rearing back his he head, he roared. Suddenly, the claws on his hands and feet grew bigger, as did every other part of his body, going from 6'8 to 7'8.
"Great. He went Super Synegor, or something." Gauntlet said, and threw a force fist at him, only to have Acid thrust out his hands, blocking the attack.
"Is that even possible?!" Gauntlet asked himself, looking at the creature before him.
Raising one fist, Acid punched with all his might, literally tearing the energy force apart. Raven tried to pick him up again, but failed as well.
"What's going on?!" Her mind yelled, worried at just how powerful this thing had gotten.
"Die!" He yelled, jumping up at Raven. She was actually pretty close to the ground, thus allowing him to tackle her with incredible force. Sending Raven to the ground, he slammed his tail forward, which would have impaled her in the skull had she not moved her head.
But before they could do anything else, a large glaive impaled him in the back. It didn't penetrate far, but it still sent him flying.
With that, Scalpel dove down from a rooftop, and ran over to the nearest victim (Robin if you are wondering) to treat the wounds.
"Get up and fight!" Acid said in a growl.
Starfire looked down for a moment, and then her eyes filled with fear. "An Icksenian!"
Acid looked up at her, and then smiled. "So they have a Tamaranean here. And a Blacktrinian as well. It appears as though I'll have some fun after all."
Savior had arrived on the scene with Starfire and Scalpel, but was keeping a low profile, developing a plan.
"Is an Icksenian good or bad?" he asked.
"VERY BAD! We must stop him. Now!" Starfire yelled, throwing several starbolts, which Acid easily dodged.
"Of course. It's ALWAYS bad. It's NEVER an alien species that wants to help us cure cancer, or aid us in our quest to find peace and happiness for our species. It's always the alien that wants to drink our spinal fluid, or sacrifice our race for it's Mucus God, or built a hyperspace shifting thingie to strike at their enemy's planet, or…" Savior muttered to himself.
Acid was preparing to jump at Starfire, when Scalpel came out of nowhere, now wielding his glaive again, having picked it up. He swiped with it, causing it to collide with the side of Acid's head. Bringing it around again, Nigel threw a punch that caught Acid off guard, thus nailing him in the face. Bringing the glaive up, he slashed it down. But before it hit Acid, he had reached into his jeans and pulled out two reversed curved (in other words, curved in the wrong direction) daggers, each one with the blade inside the handle. Snapping the blades out with a small flick, he brought up his arms, crossed his wrists into an X and created a highly effective block, which did its intended purpose.
Snapping out with his tail, he slashed Nigel across the face [AN: Yes, Blacktrinians are mostly immune to bladed weapons, but the blade on his tail is covered in highly corrosive acid], making a large slit from the side of the cheek to beside his eye. Spinning one blade in his right hand, he slammed a foot into his adversary's chest. He moved his body forward, and did a diagonal spin in the air, bringing the curved blade into Nigel's right shoulder. [AN: Once again, it is covered in acid]
Nigel roared in pain, and, survival instincts kicking in, slammed his claws into Acid's chest, only to have them make a bruise.
"Come now, you didn't think it would be that easy did you?"
Nigel's hand reached into his pocket and pulled out a light bomb that Cyborg had given everyone a day prior. "At the time, yes."
And then he threw the bomb.
It exploded, creating a light equal to brightness with the sun. Acid hadn't closed his eyes in time and his retinas were scorched. Roaring, he stumbled backwards.
"Cheap little bastard!"
Then a Shimmer lance flew into his back.
"Tactics actually." Savior replied, grinning to himself.
Thus was Acid's defeat. Now that he was blind, he could only hear the noises made by the attacks.
First, a car was rammed into him, by black energy commanded by Raven. Then, another car, via Gauntlet, along with a large chunk of concrete thrown by Savior. After that, it was a barrage of starbolts that pummeled him into the ground.
Groaning, he got up and shook his head. Finally regaining some vision, he saw Nigel standing in front of him, just before he slammed the glaive into Acid's stomach.
Several more starbolts rammed into him, making a very large hole in the ground, before all the Titans surrounded it, ready for his next attack.
Not that he was in any shape to make one.
"What are you people, rabbits?!" Acid yelled from the bottom of the hole, rubbing his head.
Then a large light shone down on them.
"This is bio-experiment retrieval unit nine. Please state your interaction with this experiment." Said the pilot from the helicopter.
Just as Robin responded, Acid mumbled something about "Enough with the abomination jokes already…"
"Enemy." Robin said simply. That's when several soldiers came down from ropes, all holding large firearms. They were soon followed by three scientists and sentinels (think a fighter pilot cockpit, with the missiles and guns, on top of really large mechanical legs).
The soldiers grabbed Acid, and brought him to his feet. The scientists pulled out a large metal collar, and implanted it on his neck, making some odd beeping sounds.
"Excuse me, but could someone please explain what the hell is going on?!" Savior yelled.
For reasons that will be explained later, Acid just glared at him.
"It's quite simple really." A scientist said. "This creature is the result of a interspecies mixing between an Icksenian and a human."
"An Icksenian?" Came Gauntlet's voice.
The Scientist was about to say what they knew, when Starfire piped up.
"The Icksenian's are a reptilian species which only purpose is the complete and total annihilation of every other form of life. They are designed to kill and destroy, nothing more."
"Of course, and here I was laboring under the impression he was here to make us sweets. So he's one of them?" Savior asked, assessing his new opponent.
"Not exactly." Said one of the scientists.
"He's a hybrid." Said another.
"Great. So why was he created?" Savior inquired.
"A anti-metahuman soldier to help against those who you couldn't beat."
"Oh, well that was just brilliant!" Gauntlet commented, glad to see the scientists hadn't lost their stupid touch.
"We took several precautions, but we gave him free will, which resulted in his escape, and destruction of our lab."
"So let me get this straight." Savior said. "You made a hybrid for protecting people and it broke out and killed the guards before coming here."
"That is correct."
Savior shook his fist at the sky.
"STOP WITH THE SCI-FI RIPOFFS!!!"
And then a large piece of metal sent him into a wall.
DO NOT QUESTION ME!!!!!!
Attempting to keep the forth wall intact for now, Raven went back to questioning.
"So what do you expect us to do with him?"
The scientists looked over, sighed and answered. "We need you to keep him."
A moment of silence.
"……WHAT?!?!?!?" Savior yelled, unable to think of a good reason to keep this thing.
"Our lab was completely destroyed. We need time to rebuild it. You are the only people who have the proper facilities to hold him."
Acid cracked his neck. "Look, you have a collar on me that will eject me with a fluid that will kill me instantly, which is controlled on a little remote controller that the scientists will give each of you. Do you really think I'm going to try and kill you?"
"Yes." Was the simple response.
"You have to hold on to him for us. Once we rebuild the lab, we can take him back, but for now, you need to keep hold of him."
"Very well. But I want three of those remotes." Savior said.
"Just one final question." Gauntlet said. "Just how does he know English?! And where did he get those pants?!"
Acid looked over. "Quite simple: I was programmed with the knowledge of the current world, and I stole these from a dead guy."
"Oh."
So, with that, the Titans gathered up their wounded and went home, the scientists, sentinels, and soldiers close in tow.
The Titan Tower was new to Acid. Not that he got to see much, considering his restricted access. Not that it mattered, as he was sitting on the couch with the titans watching him, and interrogating as well.
"So, what other tricks does your species have up their sleeves?" Savior inquired, sharp eyed as ever.
"Nothing much." Acid replied, lying down on the couch.
Raven looked over at him with disgust. "What possessed you to kill those people?"
"And what would you have done? Send them to jail and allow this woman to continue her non-sensible ramblings? And what would those two have done when they got out of jail, hmm? They would have most likely gone out and done it again." Acid replied, looking her directly in the eyes.
"Great. Another one."
"Excuse me?"
"We happened to have fought someone else with that opinion recently. He, like you, is a murderer." Savior said.
"Oh really? Did he save those who have committed no bad actions and remove those who have harmed society? I'll bet he did. And you punished him. Sad really."
"We protect all forms of life." Raven said, slightly agitated.
"Even those who would harm you. Not much of a belief." Acid sighed.
"Oh really? I'd prefer to protect people then kill them." Savior shot back.
"That's your opinion." Acid said. "At least I've been taught to protect those who deserve it."
"I've done the same tons of times."
"Oh, and I suppose that you'd rather save a rapist then watch the Lord of the Night kill him." Acid asked.
"Don't bring him up. You didn't see what he did to try and carry out his mad dreams." Savior replied sternly.
"Oh? Why not? Because you don't want to admit that you learned something from him?"
"My god, it's an epidemic." Savior said, throwing up his arms. "You look at the bad things and think that all you have to do to save society is remove them like they're some kind of malignant cell. You think life is that black and white? You think you can place a human being and a tumor side by side and utilize the same tactics? YOU DO NOT COMMAND SOME GRAND SECRET TRUTH! YOU DO NOT DEFINE REALITY! By acting like you do, in the end you're no better then Jeffrey Dahmer or one of those fruits who sacrifice children in Satanic cults!"
Acid twitched as he looked at him. "And what do YOU know about Satanism exactly?"
Savior gave him a quick glance. ""Why, are you a Satanist? As well as a murderer, you're one of those people as well?"
Acid spat at him. "Hardly. I expected someone of such accepting standards to avoid prejudice and stereotyping, but in this case, I guess not."
"Please, enlighten me."
Acid scoffed for a moment, then began to explain. "Satanism is a religion of enlightenment, understanding and spiritual strength. True Satanists don't go around sacrificing children, or anyone for that matter! We abhor the very thought of it."
"If that's true, explain the occult abuse that has happened." Raven said to him, slightly interested in what he was saying.
"They conformed to the Christian Satanism, so of course they did that. My religion doesn't conform to the bible in any way. We believe they stole things from us, but I won't get into that."
"But you worship the devil, an evil being in every context that examines it." Savior pointed out.
"The word devil comes from devi which means god. And yes, in some context he is called evil. But I ask you, is telling someone to defend those weaker then you evil? I wouldn't say so."
"There's defense and then there's delusion. Why did you kill that woman, who didn't try and harm you? Did "Satan" tell you to?" Raven asked, trying to trap him.
"My god tells me to know what is right and wrong, but does not tell you to go kill someone. He doesn't justify arguments by saying "I told them to do it!""
"Oh great, so instead of being a zealot, you're just a murderer."
While that argument continued on, Starfire and Nigel were discussing about Acid as well, though more fearfully then anything else.
"What should we do?" Nigel asked, sharpening his claws from the incident earlier.
"I sense much danger about him, it worries me. He seriously injured Kristina (who they had effectively dubbed Metallix), Robin, and Cyborg, rendering them unable to fight." Starfire replied, gnawing at her nails. "And on top of that, Beast Boy was also harmed much today after the Troika ambushed him." [AN: Alright, I'll admit it, I forgot he was there and came up with an excuse. It won't happen again.]
"Indeed. I've only heard of the Icksenians in Blacktrinian fairy tails and legends, but never have I seen one."
"He posses a large threat if left unchecked. I hope we get more of the controllers."
These two seemed very worried about him, but that ended when the alarm went off. Cyborg (who could still work, but his main battle weapon was down) had found Agriant's newest target.
And this time, he wasn't getting away.
Everyone gathered in the control room, as Cyborg, being the current highest-ranking officer with Robin down, was about to give his orders.
"Savior will take Raven, Starfire, and Gauntlet to Agriant. Scalpel will stay here to guard Acid until I finish making more controllers for everyone. Remember, Agriant is a skilled opponent, and probably has prepared for tonight, so be ready for anything."
Acid stood up, put his right hand in a fist, slammed it against his chest and then did the nazi salute.
"SEIG HILE!"
And then he goose-stepped out of the room. This earned him some VERY odd looks.
Savior was the leading officer for the fight, and led everyone down while laying out a battle plan. But before we get into that, let us examine Scalpel and Acid, who seem to be connecting in some way…
Acid ducked Nigel's swipe from his glaive, pulling a quick roundhouse which Nigel barely avoided.
"You are a skilled opponent, you would make a fine Blacktrinian soldier." Nigel commented, slamming a kick into Acid's stomach.
Acid flew backward into the padded wall, slammed into it, and fell to the ground. Just before he hit it however, he shot out his hands and flipped himself back onto his feet. "Why thank you, but I'd prefer to avoid violent societies."
"Oh? You seem quite prone to violence yourself." Scalpel said, ducking and then swinging his glaive along the ground, trying to trip his opponent.
Acid jumped, and then slammed his right foot into Nigel's chest, sending him flying. "The Icksenians side of me is more of a curse then anything else."
Nigel quickly recoiled off the padded wall, looking at Acid, waiting for his next move. "So, what was the worst experience you've ever had?"
Acid watched him carefully. "My Icksenian side has a faint memory of being eaten by a dune runner from Invarion."
"A dune runner?" Nigel shuddered at the thought. "So which way did you come out?"
"The third way."
Nigel shuddered more.
"What about you, worst experience?" Acid asked.
"I was eaten and spat back out because I didn't taste good."
"Eaten by what?"
"You DON'T want to know."
This time, Acid shuddered.
And so these two continued fighting, Nigel beginning to enjoy this being's company. He wasn't so bad, if you didn't count all the violence and such…
Agriant mused to himself, looking down at his latest targets. Businessmen, drug dealers, weapons dealers, scum bags, etc. All of them had murdered thousands for their own benefit.
Worthless, god-forsaken SHIT. He hated them. Not that it mattered, they would be dead soon anyway.
Gathering his equipment, Agriant dove out the building he was currently in, and smashed through the adjacent window, drawing two Deagles (Desert Eagles). Raising his hands in the air, he fired off two shots. You had to give credit to his level of training and control that he could fire TWO firearms of such heavy caliber without dislocating both his arms. He still felt the tremendous kick vibrate down his arms though, but he ignored it. It was just pain. He could live with pain.
"Ladies and gentlemen, are you all having a good day?"
One man stood up from the hiding place he had ducked under at the noise. "What the fuck do you think yo-"
A single bullet went through his skull. And considering the power of a Desert Eagle, that pretty much left him with NO skull.
"Ladies and gentlemen, you are all guilty of two of the highest crimes for your species, and as such, will pay the price." Agriant said, a smile forming on his face.
"What do you want?!" A woman in a red dress yelled.
"Ah yes, Susan McNeal, correct? You have quite a record behind you." Agriant replied. "You own a multi-national corporation with fourteen sweatshops, which have caused several thousand deaths and over one million job layoffs, all for a profit increase of five percent."
No one spoke.
"You see, you all have commited two of the highest crimes in my eyes. Corruption and Cruelty. You have corrupted society and inflicted cruelty onto human beings for a pathetic reason."
Agriant threw his guns down.
"And as such, you must pay."
Agriant whipped up the hilt of his weapon, the blue energy shooting out to form the blade, and sliced a man in half. Spinning around, he grabbed his blade like a javelin and threw it into another man, this one with a gun that hadn't QUITE been able to get off a shot.
Just as other men were about to fire, Agriant dropped down, spun around, grabbed his fallen pistols and opened fire, fighting the recoil of his weapons to keep the shots accurate. They were: two shots hitting each man in the head. Well, the first shots hit the head: the second shots hit whatever was left of them. Which wasn't much.
A single woman was about to get out the door, when a bullet blew her head apart as well. Pretty good firearms training here, you must admit.
"Time to die."
Savior and his small group arrived on the scene to see Agriant's bloody work. All the people here were dead, some in bloody ways, some not. All that mattered was that he had killed them. Perhaps none of them deserved redemption, perhaps the thought of giving them it appalled Savior, but that didn't matter. He had to do what had to be done.
Which was currently looking appalled.
"At it again murderer?"
Agriant looked over his shoulder. "Here to stop me, oh hero?"
Starfire piped up. "Why have you killed these people? What have they done to you?"
Agriant turned around. "What have they done? Murders, killings, sweatshops, torture, death, pain and suffering all for a small PROFIT! How can you call them innocent?!"
"Innocence is irrelevant. They deserved to be punished, but not like this. Even they didn't deserve it." Raven said apathetically.
"Oh really? And the Lord of the Night didn't deserve death? Jack Djinn deserved a second chance?! DO YOU HONESTLY THINK THAT HALF THESE PEOPLE WOULD CARE IF I EXPOSED THEM! THEY OWN THE SYSTEM THAT DELVES OUT PUNISHMENTS! A LESSON NEEDS TO BE TAUGHT, AND I'M HERE TO TEACH IT!"
"Poor fool. You're no better then the Lord." Savior replied.
Agriant whipped out a small dagger and threw it, hitting the wall right beside Savior's head.
"How DARE you compare ME to that LUNATIC! He killed people because they hadn't reached their potential! I kill those who would harm the innocent! Exis acto probot!"
"Latin. I'm impressed."
Agriant quickly spun around and nailed Raven in the face as she emerged from the shadows. "Nice try."
Starfire threw a Starbolt, only to have it cut in half by Agriant's sword. "If you will not learn the truth, then I will fight you."
Savior launched two Shimmer strands out, wrapping around a couch and a desk, and then flung them at Agriant. Agriant sliced the desk in half and jumped over the couch, which flew into Raven.
Agriant flipped forward, dodging a Starbolt, before he began chanting. "Incanta, Zacran, Xel'rer!"
He slammed out one hand as a rune formed in the air, only noticeable by a slight distortion before him. Spinning around his sword, it ignited in blue fire before he slammed it into the rune, causing it to become active.
A blue energy wave shot out, covering the entire area. Starfire fell from the air, hitting the ground with a large thump.
Savior, however, was more agile and had dodged it, and he countered, shooting out a Shimmer bludgeon, which managed to nail Agriant in the chest, before it quickly formed into a whip, wrapping around his right leg and throwing him into a wall, which collapsed on him.
"Here's a real truth for you. I'm taking you down, murderer."
A massive blue light shot out of the rubble that Agriant was buried under, as he slowly pushed it off. "Tell me, Noel, what do you know of murders?"
Savior looked him directly in his non-existent eyes. "I've seen more then you ever will."
Agriant cracked his neck and brought down his hood, showing his headband that covered his eyes. "You have seen NOTHING!"
Then he pulled down his headband.
Around his eyes were burn marks, blood patches seared on them. But now, inside his sockets were blue balls of fire, tiny streams escaping to the sky out of the sides.
Savior would have expected some kind of physical contact would have been needed for what followed, but as it turned out, there are exceptions to every rule.
As he was suddenly barraged with images in his head, a sheer storm of data that shoved him back like a physical blow.
He saw a young girl, with blue eyes and red hair, happily skipping to school, followed by an older boy, with black spiked hair and blue eyes.
Then it hit him. It was Agriant.
Images rushed by. The school they went to, Agriant standing up for a bullied kid, and beating the shit out of a bully.
A voice entered his mind. "Now you see what happened to me."
Considering what Savior had already seen, he already had an idea of what was to come. But an idea and the actuality were light years apart. Considering was bad, but seeing was something no one should ever have to do…
It showed Agriant walking home, his sister by his side. Then several men jumped out of nowhere, grabbing his sister and restraining her while others attacked Agriant, nearly killing Agriant.
Oh dear…Savior managed to think before the next wave hit him.
It showed Agriant waking up from his state of unconsciousness, to see his little sister being raped and beaten. He cries out, but all he got in respond was a kick to the face, knocking him out again.
Soon after, an image of his sister appeared. Her stomach had been cut open, her organs removed, her more personal parts in plain view, nipples cut off, and finger nails removed.
Damn. Oh dear god and damn. Can this get any worse?
Wrong thing to think, as Savior was presented with one final image.
Five men were holding down Agriant as one approached him with a welding torch. Turning the machine on, he pried Agriant's eye open and burnt through it. He flailed around, racked with pain as the eye was scorched and melted away. They then burned all round his left with the fiery lance.
Just before they scorched out his other eye, they forced him to look at his dead sister, just as the torch was turned on. It quite literally burned the image into his mind.
And then he was back to reality.
He paused, and then placed a hand on his head as he gave a brief shudder at it all, man's inhumanity to his fellow man, experienced by Agriant firsthand. No wonder he felt like he did. When you feel something like that, it changes you, warps you. And with some, it gives you the unbending desire to make sure no one else ever experiences it.
No matter the cost.
But…there was always a cost.
"Now you understand!" Agriant yelled. "You know what I've been through!"
"Any particular reason they did that, or was it just a group of sadistic thrillkillers and you two in the wrong place in the wrong time?" Savior replied, his voice dull and without emotion. Not to say that he didn't feel for Agriant. Part of him wanted to try and comfort the poor scarred child who had become this warrior before him…but the other part was firmly in control, a cold practicality that Savior had developed after years in this business.
"WHAT! What kind of question is that!?!??!"
"You just don't get it, do you?" Savior said, lowering his arm. "Don't think I'm unsympathetic, because I am. But do you think you're the first one who has suffered? Do you think you're the first one ever wronged so cruelly by life? No Agriant. And you don't command any truth from it. All you command is a curse. Monsters made you, and they have tainted you. Instead of learning from what they did, you have taken up their ways. Instead of moving forward, you have embraced the seeds they sowed in you. Avenge your sister? You've become EXACTLY like the men who did that to her. No, you're worse. They had some ignorance to blame. What do you have?"
"How dare you speak of such things, when you have surely felt the same desire to kill and destroy those who have harmed you! You have taken lives! You have wanted to!"
"I know. I have wanted to kill Jack for what he did. I did take the lives of other people. But the difference between you and I, Agriant, is that I don't look upon what I did as a necessity. It's a burden to me, weighing me down. I don't know why humans do the things they do…but I know that if we all act like the monsters, then hope is lost. So don't look at this as a delusion on my part Agriant. I'm going to save your soul…and if I can't do that…well, I'll have another cross to bear. I do not want to bear it…but I will if I have to. That's why when all is said and done, I believe history will call you a murderer, and myself a hero."
Agriant scoffed.
"Everyone's Heroes tell everyone's LIES!"
[insert song "Face in the Sand" by Iron Maiden here. It helps if you can listen to it, otherwise, just read the lyrics]
Just before Savior could shoot out a Shimmer strand, Agriant had whipped out a crossbow and shot him in the shoulder. He screamed, curling down as his body reacted to the sudden pain by making him a smaller target.
Everybody's waiting for something to happen
Everybody's waiting for something to see
Lunatics waiting for bigger disasters
Everyone's waiting for news on TV
Not that it worked for Agriant. Running over, he rammed a punch into Savior's stomach, and then pulled a spin kick into his face, knocking him to the ground.
Winding lives at the end of the spiral
Waiting dictators with their next big thrill
Everyone's looking but no one is listening
Everybody wants to be in at the kill
"I will not allow anyone to stop me." Agriant said, as he re-ignited his sword.
I wait for the signs, they tell me true
I see the signs of the end of time
Everyone's searching but nothing's revealing
Everyone's looking for the reason why
Everyone's hoping for life everafter
Everyone's looking at death from the sky
Agriant looked down at Savior, his sword inches from his neck. "You have fought for evil's side, blindly following your so called 'truth'."
Everyone's nightmares are going to happen
Everybody's ripping the mask from their eyes
Everyone's praying but no one's believing
Everyone's heroes tell everyone's lies
"And if you must continue fighting me, for what you think is right, fine. I will not show mercy."
I wait for the signs, they tell me true
I see the signs of the end of time
So I watch and I wait
And I pray for an answer
An end to the strife and the world's misery
But the end never came
And we're digging the graves
And we're loading the guns for the kill
"Goodbye, Noel."
Can the end be at hand?
Is the face in the sand?
Future memory of our tragedy
"Sorry Agriant." Savior whispered…
Can the end be at hand?
Is the face in the sand?
Future memory of our tragedy
Agriant brought his sword up, but before he could attack, a slight voice entered his mind.
"Do not betray yourself, Daryl. You have sacrificed too much."
Agriant stopped, and put down his sword.
For some reason, Savior didn't look surprised, even as his brain was furiously trying to get his body to work again so he could…
"You have fought valiantly, and have earned your life. Goodbye."
And with that, Agriant ran towards the nearest window and jumped, fleeing the scene. And the city.Savior stood, and with a low hiss pulled the crossbow bolt out of his shoulder.
"I wish I could say that things will be different next time Agriant…but that will not be true. Next time…no mercy. I'll do what I have to do, like you think you must, and only fate will decide which one of us will walk away." Savior said to himself, and then he headed for his team to check for injuries.
In the end, Savior wondered, maybe he was right? Savior knew of the dark feelings that lurked in the best of hearts. He knew that reality often mattered little in regards to perception. And he knew that with what had befallen him, Agriant could never change his view. And it might yet be so strong as to change reality…
Would history judge that Agriant was fighting for the good cause? Perhaps he was, perhaps he wasn't.
Whatever the truth, Agriant was not finished yet, and this was certainly not the last time their paths would cross…
Later that night, Savior got an E-mail, from non other then Agriant.
It simply read:
Savior,
In our battle, you asked me why they did that. I never answered. Here's what you want to know. They did it because my family was SUCCESSFUL! I was a political opponent. Do you know why they wanted me dead? I had ideas. I had ideas to help my family and the economy. I was an opponent to them and they destroyed me for a six percent profit! You may call me a murderer, but I will call you a fool. I don't LIKE what I have to do, I don't ENJOY taking lives, but I do it for a good cause. You can fight me again, when we next meet, but I warn you now, you have seen nothing of power. Vengeance cannot be denied forever.
Agriant