Chapter 5: Group Dynamic
"To see a world in a grain of sand,
And heaven in a wild flower,
To hold infinity in your hand,
And eternity in an hour."
-Blake, Auguries of Innocence
Savior admittingly wasn't expecting much when he arrived at the gigantic mansion that Daniel Fenton had directed them to.
After the teenager had gotten over his shock at the fact that two of the world famous Teen Titans were in his room, he had quickly deduced that they couldn't stay there: if his parents or sister showed up, even HE wouldn't be able to explain away costumed metahumans. So, after Savior had loaned him a phone (which he had converted out of a small circular disc communicator that had a T on it), he had called Sam and asked if they could go to her house. She was rather startled by the request, wondering why Danny wanted to meet after all that had happened: when they had last seen each other, all Danny wanted to do was sleep. Danny tried to explain, and then Savior had taken the phone away and explained in clipped tones who he was and why he and his teammates would appreciate it if they could use her house for a temporary base. Sam was skeptical, and Savior had seen hints that she was trying to ask Danny if he was in trouble, but he had expected that and set the communicator up beforehand so he could deal with the problem if it arose, which it had. After two minutes of not really getting anywhere, Savior had heard a slight gasp from Sam as something happened on her end. That something was Starfire and Cyborg landing the T-Ship in front of her house, due to the fact that Savior had set his device to trace the call, match the number against an address in Amity Park, and direct the T-Ship to it. Savior offered to have them come in and say hello, but that was enough for Sam to be convinced. Savior had asked Sam to let his teammates in and handed the phone back to Danny, who had sounded like Sam was asking him for explanations. Danny heard another gasp on the end after a bit, and he looked alarmed, and then Sam said that she expected to hear from him soon and hung up. Danny had stared at the phone, puzzled at the second gasp, until Savior had pointed out that his two teammates were a cyborg and an orange skinned alien, and even to a woman who saw ghosts every second day that was a rather unique and startling sight.
Danny had then called Tucker and asked him to meet them, though he kept his call short and vague, as the one with the crazy white hair was clearly getting impatient. As Danny hung up and handed the device back to him, he wondered why he had called Tucker at all: sure, he was Danny's friend, but the white haired leader, Savior, clearly wanted to talk turkey, and Danny honestly couldn't see what Tucker could contribute. Only his subconscious really knew why he'd done what he'd done: the presence of two "official" superheroes, and ones that had been through a hell of a lot if the scattered news reports Danny had heard, intimidated him, and he wanted his friends for support.
And by then the adrenaline rush of the suddenness of the two Titans' arrival was wearing off and Danny's exhaustion was coming back full bore. He had tried begging off, saying he needed sleep, but Savior had been insistent they talk now, and in the end the female, Raven, who didn't talk much, had actually picked him up with some kind of telekinetic power and the three had left out the window, Raven carrying him. Danny would have protested in some form…if he hadn't been so tired. It was a good thing Raven and Savior already knew the way: he was in no condition to give directions.
And when Savior had arrived, he hadn't expected much. Danny had mentioned his friend Sam had a big house, but that was kind of like saying the Pacific Ocean was a body of water. The presence of so much money immediately put Savior off: he KNEW what immense wealth did to people, and if someone raised in that environment was one of Danny's friends, it could potentially be a problem.
Then Sam had answered the door, and Savior had come face to face with the serious faced goth, and decided his assessment had been erroneous.
Then she had started talking, and he had refined his assessment once more: it could be a problem, just not in the way he had expected. But still some trouble. But Savior didn't have time to worry about that. Yet.
"So, you're Savior huh?" She asked. "Nice name, but don't you think it's a tad…"
"Pretentious? Nope, no one has ever brought that up. You are the first one to ever make that point. I have never even considered that that could be an aspect of my name." Savior replied, his voice laced with sarcasm and irritation.
"Geez, don't have a conniption fit. Call yourself whatever you want. If I was going to comment on anything, it would be those clothes." Sam replied. After Danny's simple black and white outfit, Savior's white jeans and white leather jacket with T's on the side and a stylized S on the back struck her as insanely conspicuous, especially considering Savior's towering DBZ style hair. "Good to know the message of being subtle has seeped into the superhero mindset."
"It's a image thing. One can't fight it." Savior replied, and offered his hand. Sam took it, though she wasn't very enthusiastic.
"Your friends have set up in my living room." She said.
"Is anyone else here?"
"No. My parents have gone overseas. Apparently there's something their "This Would Be Good To Purchase" guy wants them to look at."
"And they left you ALONE?"
"They trust me."
"That's not what I would call it." Savior said. Sam's eyes darkened, but she let Savior's comment about her parent's supposed indifference towards her slide. In truth, her parents hadn't left her alone: there were the house's servants. But they knew where their bread was buttered, and when she tossed them a bonus that was double their average month's salary for a few days and told them to get lost they listened. Sometimes, Sam just wanted some privacy. In the end it turned out to be a good thing.
"Your robot member is currently ordering from every restaurant in town. Virtually all meat dishes of course." Sam said, her voice containing a faint undertone of irritation/resignment that vegetarians have with the rest of the world.
"Ah man they didn't try and leech off you…" Savior complained.
"I volunteered it. It gave me an excuse to get away from that Starfire friend of yours. I don't know what you have her on, but I suggest you lessen her dosage."
"Actually, she's naturally like that." Raven said as she stepped in, dragging a nearly completely out of it again Danny Fenton with her. Sam's face expressed brief shock, as if wondering how anyone could live 24/7 with that kind of person, and then she noticed how Danny was entering the room, or specifically, how he was being dragged by a black energy appendage that came from Raven's hand.
"What in the…did you drag him out of bed and all the way over here?" She said incredulously.
"We needed information that only he can give us. And we needed it posthaste." Savior said.
"But…do you know what he did today?"
"You mean that mess at your school? Yes." Savior said.
"Then don't you think he deserves to rest?"
"And don't you think I don't want to take the chance that tomorrow he could have mysteriously spontaneously combusted in his bed? You can't time things like the one your boyfriend…"
"He's not my boyfriend." Sam snapped, cutting him off.
"Really? Huh. Ok fine, your friend Danny, has stumbled into."
"In other words, he can sleep when he's dead." Raven commented as she dragged Danny into the living room. That woke Danny up.
"Wha? Huh? Sleep dead? What?" Danny stammered.
"It was a JOKE." Raven said, and sighed. "This is why I leave the humor to the others."
"As for letting him sleep, we will, but for now we need him, but don't worry, we're not slave drivers." Savior said, as Raven set Danny down on one of the lavish couches that was in the living room. "You bring it Cyborg?"
"Sure did." Cyborg said as he produced a crazy looking helmet that looked like it had been pulled right out of a cheap sci-fi movie.
"What? What's with the helmet?" Sam asked.
"No helmet. This is my Instant Re-Energizing Refresher. It will give your friend Danny here the effects of a full night's sleep in a few seconds." Cyborg said, as he began putting it on Danny's head: Danny was too groggy to protest.
"What?" Sam asked. "What if you fry his brains?"
"Hasn't happened yet." Savior said, with just a tad too much glib for Sam's taste: she crossed her arms and frowned deeply.
"Tell me, if you invented something like that, why didn't you mass market it in order to fund your 'war on crime'." Sam said, actually making finger quotations around the last three words.
"Thing's not perfect: it only works for about an hour." Cyborg said. "But that will be enough time for an information exchange and some planning, then we'll fly Lenny back home for a proper night's sleep."
"His name is DANNY." Sam said, with just an edge of righteous, you-muck-with-his-brain-but-you-don't-know-his-name indignation.
"Sorry. I just got here." Cyborg said, as he finished adjusting the helmet. "Now just relax Danny, you'll feel a slight buzz in your teeth."
And Cyborg turned it on.
Danny gave a brief spasm. It was mild but noticeable, as was Sam's eye-bugging oh-god-the-morons-fried-his-brain-after-all reaction.
Then Danny sat up, blinked, and got up, reaching up and taking the helmet off.
"Wow! I feel completely refreshed!" Danny said, pumping his arm.
A slight growling noise followed.
"But I'm still hungry…" Danny groaned.
"JOY!" Came a sudden happy yell, and suddenly Danny found a female face right in his, a female that happened to have orange skin and green eyes. "The ghost boy has recovered! Hello Danny, I am Starfire! What is your codename, how did you get your powers, WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE MY FRIEND?" Starfire said, getting closer and closer to Danny with each enthusiastic question, to the point where Danny was leaning backwards at an angle that couldn't be good for his spine so Starfire didn't inadvertingly end up kissing him.
"Uh…"
"OK MISS, we already escaped one possible damaging of Danny's nervous system, we don't need another!" Sam said, as she tried to insinuate herself between Starfire and Danny and push the alien girl away, which was easier said then done as said alien girl had the strength of 30 strong earth men.
"But I just want to be his friend!" Starfire said, confused at this interruption. She hadn't even been able to give Danny a hug…
"You can be his friend later. We need to talk business Star." Savior said, putting a hand on Starfire's shoulder. The alien looked at the human who was her leader, in semi-official terms anyway, and then back at Sam, looking at the expression in Sam's eyes, and then her eyes lit up in recognition.
"Oh! I understand!" She said, and with a giggle she sat down again. Sam's left eyebrow twitched: she was certain there was a subtext in there that she didn't really want to hear. Again.
Danny, now fully alert, was once soaking in the fact that he was in fairly distinguished company, as he looked around as the four Titans sitting around him.
"Danny." One of them said, and Danny jerked at the noise. Savior sighed inwardly, but he let Danny be starstruck. Being a person with special powers himself, it would fade quickly. Hopefully. And besides, god knows all of them had acted that way at one point over one superhero or another. Usually Superman, but that was understandable, he had one hell of a presence…
"Danny…" Savior continued. "We…"
"Hold on." Sam said. "Before we talk about anything, one thing has to be made clear: how did you find out Danny's secret identity?"
"Yeah!" Danny said, as his freshly awakened brain realized that finally as well. "I mean, no one has drawn any connections…well except one maybe…but everyone else…"
And then a doorbell rang.
"Is that the food? That was quick." Cyborg said.
"I'll answer the door. No sense scaring the heck out of a poor deliveryman there big guy." Sam said as she got up and left the room.
"Your secret identity wasn't too difficult to figure out Danny." Savior began.
"It wasn't?" The young teen replied, looking crestfallen.
"No no, Danny. Not like that." Savior said. "We…"
"…your parents are getting even weirder Sam…" A voice floated in the room. "I mean buying a Sumerian artifact is one thing, but what the heck is that thing you have parked outside in the trees…"
And then Tucker walked in.
And stopped.
Brief silence as he saw who was in the room.
A true calm before the storm.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHH! SUPERHEROES!" Tucker yelled. Unlike Danny, who had been rather controlled, Tucker promptly lost his starstruck mind.
"The Teen Titans! In Sam's living room! The Teen TITANS!" Tucker yelled, as he ran in and started running around much like a kid would on Christmas morning. "Oh man, you guys are awesome! Can I have your autographs? Can I have your pictures? Can I have some DNA?"
A white energy line fired out and gently wrapped around Tucker before he slipped and brained himself in his fervor.
"Kid! Kid, calm down! Please!" Savior said, his power having been the one who had wrapped Tucker up. "We need…"
"THE SHIMMER! I'M WRAPPED UP IN THE SHIMMER!" Tucker yelled on the point of a howl. "I'LL NEVER WASH…"
"KID!"
Savior's bellow actually worked and managed to shut Tucker up.
"Your enthusiasm is great, but this is a serious matter! If you are a part of this inner circle, you surely know why that is, and just how big the problem is. So if you can sit down and keep calm for a bit, because right now such zeal is highly counterproductive to what has to be done!"
Silence.
"Can you sign your autograph with this?" Tucker said, holding up part of the Shimmer: Savior had, as mentioned, only done a loose wrap, which allowed Tucker to hold the energy up.
Savior facevaulted.
"What was THAT?" Sam said, alarmed at the sudden, violent tumble the white haired metahuman had taken. You can forgive her for being startled: her series is not anime-derived.
"I could say the same thing about your friend here." Savior said as he got up. "Kid, sit down. Please. We can talk about autographs later."
Savior unwound Tucker and sat down, and the black teen actually managed to sit down himself, though he was twitching so much he probably was going to eventually vibrate right off the couch, so great was his excitement. It almost depressed Danny a bit, that Tucker would flip so much over the Teen Titans, considering the way he had been when Danny had demonstrated his powers: it had been a rather a blasé attitude. But hey, image meant a lot.
"Now, before we were interrupted…Danny, there have been a few pictures taken of you in your powered state. We cleaned one up enough so that we could get a good enough look at you. Then we started doing background research to help us with our problem. Since we theorized, due to Raven's alert over Sizzle's return, that she might be a spirit of some kind, we decided to check the town to see if there were any precedents in such manifestations. It didn't take us too long to find your Dad's website. Which happens to have a picture of your family on it Danny. And it doesn't take a genius to put your picture next to the entity and gamble that the different hair color and outfit might not be just a coincidence. So, as I said, it wasn't too difficult…and I can see you're starting to get worried." Savior said, noting Danny's graying pallor again.
"Oh man…if you could…"
"Danny…relax." Cyborg said. "Just because we figured it out doesn't mean it's automatically going to become a cinch for everyone else."
"But all you did was take a picture and…"
"Danny…keep in mind we were on the outside looking in. That tends to help in these situations. People close to people like you, people with secrets…they tend to rationalize such fantastic things away. We checked in at the site of your battle, interviewed some people in disguise. Only one person would outright admit seeing Sizzle come out of that Valerie Grey's body. Everyone else gave a wildly different opinion of what they saw, all of which was basically their way of refusing to admit to themselves they saw a ghost come out of her. Same with you Danny." Raven said.
Danny didn't look comforted.
"Ok Danny, let me put it this way." Savior said. "You know Batman?"
"Yeah."
"Now, considering the witness reports of the gear Batman has been seen to be carrying, we can assume Batman would need a great deal of wealth to fund his war on crime."
"Yeah."
"So we must assume Batman is independently wealthy."
"Yeah…"
"So could we safely assume Batman is, say, Donald Trump?"
"What? No way…oh god, is he…?" Danny said.
"No, he's not Donald Trump. Probably." Savior said. "The point is, people tend to have their pre-set views, and even if a bunch of evidence is pointing at someone, if it doesn't fit their pre-set views, they won't believe it. So much like those people couldn't admit they saw a ghost coming out of Mrs. Grey's body, people won't believe that some superpowered benevolent entity is really some dumb kid…"
"HEY!"
"I wasn't being literal." Savior added. "Some kid who is the son of some nut who thinks ghosts are ready to wage war on us."
"But…a bunch of ghosts invaded the town! I should know, the whole mess made me Public Enemy No 1 in the Ghost Zone! And it made the whole town hate me! And..." Danny began,
"And then what happened?" Savior interrupted.
Danny looked at the white haired elder teen, and then he remembered what had happened: the town had only needed a mocking by some arrogant professors to stop beleveing in ghosts, despite that Danny hadn't stopped fighting them in front of their eyes. They explained it away.
"...But still..." Danny said, not needing to verbally express his realization. He was sure Savior already knew. That didn't stop his worry though, and his expression showed it.
"Perception is a very powerful thing Danny." Raven said.
"Yeah, the phrase may be 'I'll believe it when I see it', but the truth is, most people are 'I'll see it when I believe it'." Cyborg added.
"And even then..." Savior said off-handedly, slying referencing that yes, he did know about the town's conversion to believers and then almost immediately back to skeptics and deniers. "It's why the people closest to you don't draw the connection, while we were able to." Savior finished. "But don't push it. People might be willingly blind, but even THEY will eventually start to entertain such things if TOO much evidence is being presented."
Silence.
"Hey, you know Batman?" Tucker said. The abrupt switch nearly made all the Titans facevault, which probably wouldn't be too healthy in this style of cartooning.
"Yes." Savior replied, a hint of irritation in his voice.
"Wow! That must be cool!"
"No. He's an asshole." Savior replied.
Everyone looked at Savior in shock, including his teammates.
"What?" He asked.
"Mr. Worship The Bat And Aspire To Attain 1/10th Of His Level Of Skill just called his fanboy idol an asshole." Cyborg said.
"You misunderstand me Cyborg. My respect for his skills and intelligence and abilities could fill this whole house twice over, and I'd love to be trained by him and work with him…but general personality? You and I both know he's an asshole." Savior said.
"You're lucky Robin isn't here to hear this Savior." Starfire said, speaking for the first time in a bit.
"He AGREES with me Star. Why do you think he formed this team? Hanging around Batman 24/7 is a serious drag."
"Can we get back on topic?" Sam said. Savior glanced wryly at the girl for stealing his usual line. She didn't back down.
"Right…"
The doorbell rang again.
"NOW the food gets here." Cyborg said.
"Let's hope so." Savior muttered to himself as Sam went to answer the door. It would just make his night if it was Sizzle in her latest host. Then again, it would save them the trouble of hunting her down.
In the end, it was the food, and fifteen minutes later Starfire, Cyborg, Danny, and Tucker were pigging out, while Sam watched in horror at the feeding frenzy and Savior and Raven were trying to hide their embarrassment. When Starfire starting drinking the mustard, Savior was ready to fake a call on his communicator so he had an excuse to not sit here and watch it, except Sam saved him the trouble, as she suddenly turned and faced the pair.
"Where were you?" She said, with just a hint of accusation. Savior arched an eyebrow.
"Excuse me?"
"You're here now. You said you sensed Sizzle's return and that you were interviewing people around the battle site. Well, where the heck were you when Danny was fighting for his life?"
"Somewhere over South Carolina and hoping our ship wouldn't fly apart considering it was going at Mach 3." Savior replied, his trace of irritation creeping back into his voice. "You have to understand Sam, we don't have a Speed Force user on our team…"
"What's a Speed Force?" Sam interrupted.
"The energy that powers the Flash and those other super-speedsters." Tucker said, before he resumed tearing apart another large chicken wing.
"What he said. So, since we don't have Kid Flash living with us, we can't zip all over the United States in a few seconds…"
"But can't Raven teleport?" Tucker said again. Savior looked at the black teen, the irritation clear now. His expression was mirrored in Sam's face, though her irritation was possibly due to the fact that the teenagers seemed to have lied to her about doing their best to get here.
"My maximum distance is a hundred miles or so. Your city is nearly a thousand miles away from our Tower, and we were over six hundred miles away from it when I sensed that Sizzle had shown up again. You have to understand, sensing a presence is like radar: it's possible to go below it. When I felt her again, we were already on route, and we pushed ourselves as best we could, but by the time we got there it was already over. And before you suggest I should have teleported ahead myself, six rapid fire 100 mile transfers would have exhausted me and left me utterly incapable of helping Danny at all." Raven replied.
"Besides, the rookie did pretty good on his own." Savior added.
"Excuse me?" Danny said, putting down the two bites remaining in his cheeseburger. "Did you call me a rookie?"
"It's what you are, aren't you?" Savior replied matter of factly.
"Hey, I'm no rookie!"
"Oh really, why aren't you?"
"I have a main nemesis!"
"Most of us get those in our first and second battles."
"I saved my town!"
"Pretty good but still not worthy of a promotion."
"I'M NOT A ROOKIE!"
"You've been doing this for less then four months. Yes. You are." Savior said in a tone of finality. "But don't let that offend you kid. Being a rookie doesn't really mean anything. I never said you didn't have talent. I'd say what happened at your school shows your potential."
"But half the school was trashed!" Danny blurted, before realizing he had just shot himself in the foot and given more ammo to Savior's assessment that he was a rookie. Heck, that he had blurted something like that out without thinking gave ammo to that credence. Savior didn't pick up on it though. Well either that or he let it slide.
"True, the school's pretty messed up. And there's a fair amount of injuries. But there wasn't a single casualty. Even the bad injuries are in stable condition with high hopes that everyone will recover. So, despite being a rookie, you prevented Sizzle from killing anyone. Pretty damn good, kid."
"Then why do I still sense you're looking down on Danny?" Sam interjected.
"That's for you to decide miss." Savior replied. "Assessments aside…are you done eating Danny?"
"Yeah."
"Ok. I want you to tell me everything that has happened from the moment Sizzle showed up."
Danny did so, laying out Sizzle's initial possession of his sister, the battle that followed, Sizzle's disappearance, her re-appearance at the school, and everything that had happened in the second battle, with occasional side trips to explain some things like how Danny had gotten his powers or what the gear from his father did. Savior listened attentively, and though they were still eating, Sam could tell his fellows were listening as well.
"Ok." Savior said when Danny was done. "So what we know is, Sizzle can't command an unconscious host. Nor will she even THINK of possessing a male. We can use that. You say you tried to trap her in your Fenton Thermos…" Savior said, and his thoughts were briefly interrupted by a chuckle.
"What?" Danny said.
"Nothing…just, a Thermos? I mean, if it works, great…but a Thermos?"
"Don't ask what my dad thinks." Danny replied.
"Right. Anyway, your first Thermos couldn't hold her. Your dad is supposedly building another one that can…we will need that Danny. Preferably yesterday."
"My dad works fast when he's obsessed."
"Right. Well, since your Incapacitator was destroyed, we need another way of knocking Sizzle's host out. But I don't think that will be too much of a problem between the five of us…and even if it is, we can always have Danny go into whatever host's body and yank her out. We also need to try and prevent her from doing any more damage. So, that's what we know. So, what DON'T we know?"
"Why does she HATE me?" Danny asked. Savior, who had been looking away from the teen after the last second, turned his eyes towards him again. Danny didn't much like the look in them: there was sympathy, but there was also calculation and a VERY slight hint of pathos.
"Let me put it this way. Sam, you ever had the unpleasant experience of waking up in the middle of the night having to use the washroom, only to get a rude shock in realizing that someone left the toilet seat up?" Savior asked. Sam looked shocked, and then offended at the question.
"Why the hell should I tell you something like that?"
"Did you?" Savior asked, as if Sam hadn't even spoken. Irritation flared up in Sam, and though she kept it hidden, Raven, an empath, felt it anyway. Great. On top of Sizzle's return, my boyfriend and Danny's not-girlfriend are going to start butting heads.
"……….Yes." Sam finally said, her teeth slightly clenched. If Savior noticed her bother, he didn't say or do anything.
"I'll bet something like that gives you brief dark thoughts about all males."
"Indeed, it does." Starfire said, and everyone looked at her. "Well it does."
"Yeah." Sam agreed.
"Ok. Take those brief feelings, make them your dominant mindset, and multiply them about a hundred bazillion times. Then you get the way Sizzle thinks. Basically Danny, she hates you because you were there."
"What?" Danny said in disbelief.
"I know. It's hard to believe that such an incredible rage could be directed at you considering you haven't done anything…but Danny, you have to understand. When Sizzle was alive, she was just like this, and apparently her death has removed all her self-restraint. Whatever happened to her that made her hate men so much, being killed and then floating around in that Ghost Zone for god knows how long just made it worse. And when she got out…basically, you got hit by her lightning Danny. You were there. That's pretty much it." Savior said.
Danny looked sick at the prospect that such fury could be directed at him for such a stupid reason.
"Don't try and understand it." Savior said, as if he was reading Danny's mind. "You have to learn that you cannot comprehend why some people and some things act the way they do. You might as well try to think like an amoeba, or an ant, or a whale. The mindset of insanity is virtually impossible to grasp at times, and Sizzle is a poster child for such things. And also Danny, don't start whining about it. It's a waste of time. She saw you, and now she's psychotically fixated on you. You can't change that fact. She wants to kill you, and she won't rest until she does, and gathering from her words, there's no low she won't sink to to get what she wants. You have become the target of her vengeance against men. So don't try to deal with it. That doesn't work in these situations. What you have to do is fight back with an even stronger vengeance. Because in the end, despite all her mad rantings, you're in the right Danny. Don't forget that."
"And you think Danny doesn't know this?" Sam asked.
"Sometimes it's hard to know what people like you think." Savior replied.
"What's THAT supposed to mean?"
"Ok, TIME." Tucker said, forming a T with his hands. "Ok guys, you ran into Sizzle before. My question is, was she this powerful before?"
"No. She was a pyrokinetic, and could do some flame tricks, and I doubt we saw what she was fully capable of…but I doubt it was as extreme as this. It takes a hell of a lot of effort to will the type of heat and force she was using into being."
"You think she might have been training in that so called Ghost Zone?" Cyborg asked.
"I don't think so. Sizzle always struck me as an action kind of girl. She wanted a way out, and once she was out, she wanted something to hurt. I don't think she would train." Starfire said.
"Yet she's clearly a lot stronger. So where did it come from?"
"I think it's her rage." Raven said. "Murdercrow's pain and anger was absorbed by our tower, which caused it to act like a amplifier, greatly boosting her own abilities, not to mention Jinx's. I think Sizzle's own form might be acting like that. Her anger keeps feeding on itself, growing more and more intense…and if something actually enrages her, her power spikes appropriately."
"Great. So the madder bitch gets, the stronger bitch gets." Savior muttered.
"Possibly. There might be more to it, but for now that's my theory." Raven replied.
"You think you could tone it down with your powers Raven?" Starfire enquired.
"What? Tone it down?" Danny said, confused.
"I'm an empath. I can sense, manipulate, and if I so desire, absorb emotions. But I have limits." Raven said. "Sizzle's anger is too toxic, too intense. Rage is a natural human thing, and when I take that from a person it's like sucking poison from a wound…but the kind of fury that drives a person mad and turns her into something like this, it's too dangerous. It would be far more akin to sucking some of the poison out and injecting it into my own veins. I was ultimately able to reason with Murdercrow and grant her peace…that can't happen with Sizzle. She WANTS this existence of death and destruction. I'm afraid that any solution towards her might have to be more permanent." Raven said.
"Which brings up MY question. Danny here says his dad will make a Thermos that can hold Sizzle. Question is, even if we get her out of a host and can suck her into it…what do we DO with her?" Cyborg asked.
"Normally I would just release her back into the Ghost Zone…" Danny said, already seeing where it was going.
"And she'd just come right back madder then ever." Raven answered.
"Is there some kind of way one of you could imprison her or lock her or seal her to some place or something?" Sam asked.
"I don't know any spells myself. I could always contact Jason Blood or Dr. Fate." Raven said, referencing two of the most powerful sorcerers in the world. "The problem is Sizzle. Outside, she's a constant threat, not just to Danny but everyone else in this city, and beyond. And even if we can seal her in the Thermos, Mr. Fenton promised it would hold her, but he didn't say for how long."
"What about the Oxygen Destroyer, we could put that into effe…" Savior began.
"NO." Cyborg said, his voice firm and on the point of outright anger as he cut Savior off. "That is ABSOLUTELY out of the question."
"What's the Oxygen Destroyer? Besides the weapon used in the first Godzilla movie?" Tucker asked.
"Geekly astute there Tucker. It's a non-lethal weapon Cyborg's been trying to develop. The finished form will briefly suck all the air out of a certain area for a bit, making people pass out. Problem is, it's still being developed and there are a lot of kinks in it. Instead of sucking out some air and then stopping, it keeps sucking and hence could very well prove fatal. But since fire needs oxygen to exist and Sizzle exists in her spirit state as sentient fire and if we have no other choice…" Savior said.
"At the moment, WE HAVE OTHER CHOICES. Now we are not using the Oxygen Destroyer. Not if I can help it, and believe me, I brought plenty of stuff to help it." Cyborg said, his voice grim. The reason was the last time Cyborg has tested out an experimental weapon, it had gone wrong and nearly blown up a building full of people. That possibility weighed heavily on Victor Stone, as he had sworn he wouldn't be using any more developed weapons until they were perfect.
"Great. So we can't stop her for good, and if we don't grab her I'm doomed, and if we do grab her we might just be putting a raincheck on my being doomed." Danny said, looking unhappy.
"That's a constant theme in our lives. It would be best if you got used to it early." Savior commented. Danny gave him a look that said Savior wasn't helping: Savior ignored it. Sam frowned again.
"Ok guys." Savior said. "No matter what, we need some kind of a plan. Danny, you're the key. Sizzle wants you dead. So we'll shadow you until she shows up, even if we have to do it 24/7 for the next month. Don't worry, we'll be subtle." Savior said, cutting off the complaint he could see Danny begin to make. "In fact, that gives me an idea. Sizzle wants Danny? I say we take Danny out of town and make her come to us."
"You want to use Danny as BAIT?" Sam said disbelievingly.
"Well, yes."
Sam's eyes darkened again.
"Look, I'll admit I don't have the greatest amount of knowledge on superhero interactions, but I think you should treat Danny better then 'Here's a hook, impale yourself on it'." Sam said.
"Yeah. This IS his turf." Tucker added.
"Oh really. Ok Danny, what would you suggest we do?"
"Uh…er…um…can I have a lifeline?" Danny asked.
"Exactly. This is his town still Tucker. Not his turf. He's too new at this. So I still say we 'use him as bait', mainly because if Sizzle comes after him, I would prefer it to be in the middle of nowhere, rather in the middle of a bunch of buildings and people that Sizzle can set alight." Savior said, directing the last part at Sam. Sam's eyebrows narrowed.
"Oh really. That's your plan?" She asked.
"You have a better idea?"
"Just that Sizzle KNOWS that this is Danny's town, and if you disappear, she might very well decide to bring him back to her instead of going after him and burn Amity Park to the ground, which you will be unable to stop because you are in the middle of Nowheresville USA instead of HERE." Sam fired back.
Silence.
Savior opened his mouth, paused, and then shut it again.
Silence again.
"Point." He finally said, though he clearly did not want to say it. "Well then, we obviously need another plan. And you can start the brainstorming on it because I need some water." Savior said, getting up and walking out of the room. He almost kept up the complete illusion of a person leaving for water. Almost.
"Well. Congratulations girl. You actually managed to one-up Savior. Not many people can be said to have done that." Raven said.
"I wasn't trying to one-up him. I don't like the way he's treating Danny. I get the sense that he's a step away from being openly condescending to him, and by association to us, just because Danny has only been doing this a short time. I mean, we all have to…"
"Start somewhere. Yeah. But even when he was new at being a metahuman, Savior was a lot like he is now."
"Is he ALWAYS like this?" Danny asked.
"Pretty much." Cyborg replied. "He's pretty good at fighting and planning and tactical stuff…but when it comes to social interaction, Savior can stumble pretty badly. He thinks way too much about our profession, and mostly the bad things that happen about it."
"Indeed, it takes him a while to warm up to new faces. Much like his idol, Batman, he's immensely suspicious of anyone with power, especially just acquired power. That's why he keeps calling you rookie Danny. He's not TOTALLY disrespecting you…but part of him sees your newness as a flaw. And part of him sees anyone with ANY kind of power as a flaw. Even himself." Starfire said.
"I blame Gauntlet." Raven said, referencing one of their OC teammates: a happy jokester who was always smiling and goofy and ready, as Bob and George might say, to do something stupid. Due to their great difference in personalities, the two never got along.
"What did he do?" Tucker asked.
"Nothing, except be himself, which irritates Savior in and of itself, but Savior was also disturbed by the fact that Gauntlet got his power by getting his name picked out of the phone book."
Sam goggled.
"REALLY?"
"Yep." Cyborg said.
"Gauntlet aside, Savior is mistrustful by nature. But he should warm to you eventually. Maybe." Raven said.
"And if he doesn't?" Sam said.
Silence.
"But…isn't it a bad thing to have someone like that on your team?" Tucker asked.
"It has its flaws." Cyborg said. "But Savior's mindset has a fair amount of grounds. There's been more then a few instances of heroes being corrupted by their power, or their own wants, or something, sometimes without even being aware of it. You combine that with teenagers, a lot of whom have no clue how the world really works…present company excluded, of course, and well, bad things can happen. REALLY bad things." Cyborg said. "Savior considers himself to be our little moral guardian, and we let him think that, because it helps us get along. But outsiders don't have the luxury."
"It doesn't matter. You people are here to help Danny. Whether or not you trust him shouldn't be an issue." Sam said. "I've known Danny my whole life. He's a good kid, and he's a brave warrior. He shouldn't get treatment like the kind Savior was giving him, especially considering he fought off Sizzle twice by himself."
"Yes, and I'm not asking you excuse his actions…I might have a talk with him myself…but you have to…ok, let me tell you a story. Considering that our current problem has to do with fire, it's even more appropriate." Cyborg said.
The story was about something that had happened to the Justice League, or more specifically, had happened to their alien member J'onn J'onzz. Most people knew him as the Martian Manhunter, but that codename didn't exactly roll off the tongue, so most of his fellows just called him J'onn. He was, as his name suggested, a Martian, from Mars, and the last of his kind, as he was inadvertently teleported to Earth shortly before a catastrophe destroyed his species. Alone on a strange planet with a species that tended to fear and hate anything they couldn't understand, J'onn innate nobility had eventually led to him becoming a superhero, and he was one of the founding members of the original Justice League. He made a good superhero, as Martians had far far greater biological gifts then the average human, including telepathy, flight, and incredible command over their own bodies that allowed them to shapeshift into virtually anything or turn their forms intangible much like Danny could. Indeed, he was probably the most powerful member of the team behind Superman. However, Martians had one weakness: fire. And it was a severe one: just being in the presence of a lit match would dull a Martian's senses. Fire would prove fatal to virtually all Martians: it was a testament to J'onn's immense personal strength and character that he had managed to survive all his encounters with flame. And it was a useful thing when an offshoot of J'onn's species, the White Martians, showed up, as they, much like the Romulans to the Vulcans in Star Trek, were very nasty and possessing all of J'onn's powers.
However, J'onn had eventually gotten tired of villains taking advantage of his weakness, and had decided he was going to purge of his body of it's fire weak point. For this end he recruited a villain known as Scorch, and she tortured him for weeks at his own request. Ultimately though, it had worked: J'onn had overcome his weakness to fire and had actually fallen for Scorch, and she him. And it seemed like it would all be good…
And then it all went to hell. Literally.
For J'onn's treatment had had consequences he could never have expected, for they had been wiped from his species' memory. You see, millions of years in the past, the Martians, as a species, had not existed as they had when J'onn had been pulled to Earth. No, the species of peace-loving Martians had once been another, an even NASTIER species of aliens then the White Martians known as the Burning Martians, who had even greater powers then the average Martian and had wrecked havoc across the universe. Finally, the Guardians of the Universe (who also commanded the Green Lantern Corps, in cast you were wondering who they were) had stepped in and literally re-written the entire Martian species' DNA, turning them into a peaceful, less powerful (but still considerably so) race. And to make sure the Burning Martians could never return, they had wiped all memory of that species from the current Martian's and encoded in their body a terrible weakness to fire, an essential part of what made the Burning Martians what they were. And all had seemed good…
Until J'onn had trained his body to lose said weakness, which had destroyed the lock that held the Burning Martian his kind had once been in check, and it emerged, overwhelming J'onn's form and displacing his consciousness. Calling itself Fernus, the Burning Martian had wrecked havoc, easily thrashing the JLA with its immense telepathic, shapeshifting, and fire-generating powers, and had nearly destroyed a good chunk of the Earth when it had launched ten nuclear missiles. In the end, it fell to Plastic Man, whose body and mind had mutated a great beyond what a human normally was and hence was in a form that Fernus could not attack with telepathy, fire, or matter-alteration, to be the last stand, and he had stepped up to the plate and hit a home run, even as the JLA managed to stop the missiles and J'onn managed to literally rip himself right out of Fernus' form, the Burning Martian now literally a different being that J'onn separated himself from like a parasite before the League joined to bring about Fernus' end. But the ending was not without consequences, as in the process Scorch had been mortally wounded and had sunk into a deep coma, which she had not emerged from since. And though the JLA knew J'onn was blameless and had welcomed him back into their ranks, J'onn was still scarred by what he had become and what that power had done.
"And that's pretty much why Savior doesn't act too nice around you Danny." Cyborg finished. "He thinks too much. He looks at all the villains and what their powers did to them, and what it made them do to others, and while those are bad, it's even worse when one of our own goes bad…and the worst part is, sometimes they don't even want to. Savior knows this, and he can't help watching for it. With everyone. The phrase goes that power corrupts, and Savior knows that all too well. And to him, it's not a matter of whether power will corrupt…but rather, WHEN it will."
"And sadly, he might have a strong basis for it. You want to hear the story of when we met Christmas, his evil self from another timeline?" Starfire asked.
"No…I think I've heard enough stories." Danny said. "In fact, I think I need some water myself…"
And the ghost boy got up, his head reeling from the story he had been told as he headed into the hall, stopped, and then leaned against the wall, breathing heavily. The original problem of Savior not treating him very nicely had ceased to be important as the questions that had arisen in his mind as he heard the story of J'onn and Fernus.
Sizzle had scared him, but in a way he could fight against, by fighting her. But the story had, despite it's original intent to make him feel better about Savior's occasional subtle barbs at him (and if he'd had a bit more wherewithal, he would have pointed out that a few faint knocks as his inexperience was nothing after several years of mistreatment at the hands of Dash and his ilk. At least Danny knew he could win Savior's respect, as tricky as it might be. With Dash, that was impossible, and he knew it), made him feel worse for an entirely different reason.
No, what had bothered Danny was much like what bothered Savior: his power and what could happen if it went wrong. At least J'onn had the excuse that his species was naturally powerful and it couldn't be helped, but the reason Danny had his power was because he had a brain fart and decided to fiddle with his father's ghost portal after it appeared to have konked out on his parents and the next thing he realized he had snow white hair and glowing green eyes…heh, that sounded poetic. There ought to be a song.
But he had power now. A fair amount. And he was just a dumb kid.
Could he really control himself? Would he really know he was being corrupted until it was too late? Vlad's offer was one thing, but that was something you could see. It was the little things that you never realized were there…until you found they had changed you to the point that you didn't even who you were any more. Danny would bet anyone a million dollars a good chunk of Sizzle's madness came from the fact she discovered that she could light people on fire, and that the ability to do so didn't take her pain away. Would that happen to him? Would the harshness and outright horrors of life reach out and touch him, and leave a mark he wasn't even aware of, a mark that would grow and grow until he found he had become a worse threat then even Sizzle was…
"Having a crisis of faith?"
"AHHHHHHHHHH!" Danny screamed, as the voice spoke in the shadows, and then Savior slipped from them. Danny's heart was still hammering though, as he realized the white haired teen had obviously been there for a bit and Danny had never noticed, and considering how Savior wore extremely bright colors he didn't exactly blend into the woodwork. Another supposed notch in the belt of Savior's assessment that he was a rookie.
"How long have you been standing there?" Danny asked.
"Long enough to overhear some of Cyborg's little tale. I'm assuming it struck a chord in you."
"And it's funny how despite your assessment of Batman's personality, you still act a lot like him." Danny said.
"True…but Batman is right a lot of the time. I'd like to think I share some of that…for better or for worse." Savior replied.
Danny didn't say anything, because he wasn't sure what to say.
"How do you do it?" He finally asked.
"Hide in the shadows?" Savior replied. "I don't see why you'd need that skill, you can turn invisible…"
"No no. I mean this. This life. You keep making comments about me being a rookie. Well, maybe I am. Maybe you have been doing this a lot longer then me. Well then, how do you live this life?" Danny asked.
"You mean being a superhero?"
"Yes!"
"Hmmmmmmm…ah Danny, if I had the answer to that, I'd be a lot happier person." Savior said. Danny looked crestfallen again. "Why?"
"……..I'm afraid." Danny replied.
"That's normal. Just don't let it control you."
"No…I'm afraid of myself."
"Because you have power and you're worried my assessments might be true?"
"Yeah…"
Savior gave Danny a pondering look.
"Danny…like I said…I don't have a magical answer about this life. None of us do, believe me, I've looked. But I've discovered that people and beings that come into power…they take one of three paths. They can ignore the power, stick their fingers in their ears and go la la la, and try to pretend it isn't there…but I think I can count the people who have successfully done this on one hand and still have most of my fingers left over. Or they can be corrupted by the power, let their baser natures and their wants and needs rule them, give their desires and flaws free reign and become what the media so quaintly call a supervillain, and have a life chasing dreams and losing them, and probably yourself, to bitterness, madness, death, and evil itself. Or…you can take the path you and I walk: you can try and use what was given to you to serve higher ideals, despite being a creature that is not predisposed to do such things in a world that mostly heaps scorn and disparagement on those who try. It really is a road to hell paved with good intentions at times Danny. But…the worst is never the absolute Danny. That might seem hard to believe at times, nearly impossible, but if there is any great truth in this world Danny, it's that. I can't promise you victory, I can't promise you good times, I can't promise you anything. But I think in the end that this burden we bare is worth bearing. In the end, we have to be Atlas, holding up the world, and resisting the urge to shrug, and accepting that, as its own reward. That's what I hold onto Danny. It's a tenuous thing, and I've lost my grip on it, let it slip from my hands, but in the end I always managed to get it back. Because if I lost it for good Danny…I probably wouldn't be standing here. I'd probably be a tormented spirit like Sizzle, popping back into the real world to try and share my misery and madness with others. In the end, I think this path is better then that."
Danny didn't look comforted.
"Now…I need to ask a favor. I'd like to speak with my teammates, alone. Could you get your friends out of there for me?"
"What? What are you going to talk about that we can't be there for it?"
"Team stuff Danny. There are a few personal things between us you know. Don't worry, we won't be plotting behind your back. We came here to HELP you Danny. Sizzle was one of our villains, and she's still our responsibility. What good would it do if we were trying to manipulate you?"
"It could be your way of making it easier on yourself." Danny replied.
"Please Danny. I'm hardened. I'm not callous."
"You sure about that?"
Savior didn't reply.
Danny sighed and went into the room, coming back several seconds later.
"They're coming."
"Thanks."
"Look Savior…you claim you ultimately have good intentions…well, something occurred to me. How can I be sure you'll be watching my back? After all, I'm just the local 'rookie', not part of the 'team'."
"Ah yes Danny, but if I spent all my time judging everyone for their power and not trying to help them develop it in the right direction, I'd be a hypocrite. And while I'm many things, I'm not that."
"Really?"
"Scout's honor Danny."
"………Ok…" Danny said. And if you think it's strange that he seemed to drop off so suddenly, I must point out that the worries and fears are still seething within him, not to mention the fact that's Cyborg's IRR was starting to wear off.
"You ok kid?"
"I…I don't know. All I know for sure is that I'm scared. I mean…I never even thought something like this could happen. I can handle ghost hunters and mechanics and box ghosts…"
"Box ghosts?"
"Never mind. I can even handle an older, more powerful version of myself. But this…it's nuts. It's as nuts as Sizzle is. Savior, I'm only 14. I really don't want to die…" Danny said, his eyes pleading.
"No one does Danny. No one does." Savior said. "But…do you think running away would be any better?"
"I don't know. I just don't know." Danny said, and Savior's heart went out to the kid. He knew the gray areas that people like him slogged and suffered through, before they either found an answer or went nuts.
Savior was still torn on which one Danny would find.
"I'm not good at inspirational phrases, a lot of them ring hollow like the empty platitudes they are…but there's an expression, about war, which is pretty much what this life is a lot of time. Those who run from what's important, die every day. But those who die for what's important, live forever."
"Yeah, but what's important to you?" Sam suddenly said as she walked in with Tucker. Savior glanced at him, their eyes meeting.
"You, who have a base and a life that revolves around these superhero duties…it might seem that's what's important. But maybe you should remember that what's really important to some is just living a normal life, and one shouldn't have to die for that, as it renders the whole point moot." Sam said. She turned to Danny. "Come on Danny, my parents got more of that rich Swiss chocolate you like so much…"
"Oh really? Great…" Danny said, though he didn't sound very enthusiastic. Sam didn't know, at the moment, who to resent more: Sizzle for putting this cloud over Danny's head or Savior for adding to it, good intentions or not.
With the ghost boy and his friends gone, Savior made his way back into the living room that was larger then the average house and sat down on the couch that cost more then some very small nation's GNP.
"So? What do you think?"
"He is a good boy, just and noble. I could sense it in him. He will go far." Starfire said.
"Yeah, so you really shouldn't be acting like such a jerk Noel." Cyborg added.
"Maybe, but there are certain practicalities here that need to be addressed here. Sizzle's out for blood, and depending on her new abilities Danny may be the only one who can fight her. And she's pure chaos force now, a kind that can sweep up a life like Danny's and leave it an irreparable wreck. I figure it would be better if I chipped a few pieces off his statue first. Sizzle would just blow the damn statue. If you know what I mean."
"Not really." Starfire said, looking confused. Savior resisted the urge to facevault again.
"My actions aside, Danny's important. But like I said, he's young and inexperienced. He hasn't had enough time to cut his teeth yet and that could be a very bad thing both for him, us, and the citizens for this town. I don't want another Light City guys. Those deaths were all criminals and they STILL weigh on me. There's only been a few deaths so far and I don't want there to be any more, and if I have to treat Mr. Fenton like a chess piece to achieve that, I'll damn sure do it. You guys I can lead, if you'll have me, but him…I can only suggest, and if I have to, manipulate. I can tell by your looks that you don't like it, but does anyone see a serious downside to it besides the fact that it's not very nice?"
No answer.
"Exactly. It's for the greater good. Ok, you got good vibes off Danny Kory. Anyone want to refute that?"
"No. She's right. He's a good person, and he's got potential. I could sense it." Raven said.
"I got that vibe too…even though his friend was a little too fanboyish for my tastes." Cyborg said.
"Yeah, I noticed. Mr. Tucker is in love with the romantic notions of being a superhero. He doesn't realize those parts of life are few and far between, if they happen at all. And speaking of his friends, I need to raise something else." Savior said. "Danny's friends, they're a good support base, in terms of emotional espouse…but in tactical terms…"
"Oh man, Noel, will you quit trying to act like Alexander the Great and arrange everything like it's a battle strategy? Life doesn't act like war." Cyborg groaned. If there was one thing he didn't much like about Noel's thinking process, it was this.
"Look Victor, I wouldn't be thinking like this if it wasn't necessary. But it could be a factor. Especially Sam. She's a nice girl, and intelligent…but she's also the kind of misguided idealist who could get Danny killed. I don't want her giving Danny the impression that he could fix this problem by giving Sizzle a hug."
"She's not a dunce." Raven pointed out.
"You don't have to be. But the way people like her think, they say extreme force should be used as a last resort, and by last resort they mean never. And I'm afraid that's looking more and more like a possibility here. We can't lock up Sizzle, we can't rehabilitate her, and we sure as hell can't kill her because she's already dead. We might have to destroy her. And Danny might be called upon to do that. And I don't want him thinking he can reason with the barbarians, because you can't. Sometimes you have to stand up and fight back, or else they'll be slitting your throat, raping your wives, and eating your children. We all know Sizzle will do that. Danny needs to know that too. This is a situation where innocence is a liability."
Silence.
"Well, hopefully it won't come to that. Now…what about weapons?"
"I outfitted my body specially before we left to absorb more heat." Cyborg said, knocking a fist on his right shoulder. "And if push comes to shove, I've got even more ommphh waiting to go."
"I grabbed the freeze guns from the evidence rooms." Starfire said.
"Victor Fries' or Leonard Snart's?" Savior asked.
"Both."
"Good. Those guns will even turn fireballs into ice, and they might even slow Sizzle down…for a few seconds anyway." Savior said. "Raven, you have any anti-flame spells you can whip up?"
"I can make a few charms, but they won't do much if Sizzle is manifesting enough power to blow up buildings and do an impression of Mount Saint Helens." Raven said.
"Make them anyway. I don't plan on standing still for her to hit me with any big things anyway." Savior said. "Ok, sounds like we're set for now. Raven, start with the charms, Cyborg, start unloading the gear from the T-Ship and getting it all in ready. The holo-pins too. Starfire, would you mind flying Danny home? He might be too tired to do it himself."
"Certainly."
"Ok. I'll call Robin and give him a heads up. We'll meet back here in about an hour." Savior said.
The Titans left the room, leaving only Savior, who pulled out his communicator, opened it up, and started dialing.
Then he paused, and then he snapped the communicator shut.
"How long have you been standing there?"
"All of it." Sam said from the doorway. Savior rolled his eyes, and then he turned around.
"I'm not making an apologies for my assessments. I've done this for a while and I usually know what I'm talking about."
"Yeah, the way your kind always do, even I, a 'misguided idealist' would know that." Sam said as she walked in. "You know, I didn't think you had Danny's best interests at heart, but I'll be damned if I let you manipulate him like a puppet."
"And you don't think that might be what's best for this problem?" Savior replied.
"Oh of course not! Your breed always knows best! Just shut up and listen to Daddy, because he always has your interests at heart!"
"Quit the blue meanie shadow conspiracy crap. It's not becoming. A lady with your degree of intelligence should know better."
"Oh, but I don't, because after all, I'm a 'misguided idealist'." Sam said, now finally starting to get angry. "I say that's a lot better then the neo-conservative fascism you think will be for the best for everyone, including Danny."
"Oh, that's just fitting. It's never a conservative; it's always a NEO-conservative, thumping the bible and telling everyone that you better obey God or he'll punish you. I'm not a neo-con. I don't believe the world was created 6,000 years ago, I don't think abortion is the greatest evil of the 20th century, and I don't love guns as much as I hate gays. But I am a conservative, and I consider that to be best, because I know where to draw a line. Those so called neo-cons just make things worse where they do exist, because they draw too narrow a line, but I consider my style of thinking better then yours, because you don't know how to draw a line at all!"
"This isn't about political philosophies. This is about the problem that, as you said, YOU created. That doesn't give you an excuse to push Danny around. You should be ashamed."
"Shame doesn't enter into these things young lady. It's what has to be done. And if you want your boyfriend…"
"He's NOT my boyfriend."
"Sure, keep telling yourself that. If you want Danny to survive, it would be best if he listens to me, because I've dealt with Sizzles before."
"Oh sure. Your track record with homicidal lunatics with immense power is great. The Final Night worked out perfectly."
Savior grimaced.
"That was a LOW blow." He muttered.
"And you're telling me you didn't earn it?"
Savior ground his teeth. He knew this was stupid, he shouldn't be arguing with Danny's not-a-girlfriend Sam, but at the same time she really rubbed him the wrong way, and worse, she was going to mess up his plans, and he wasn't going to tolerate that because he'd had enough of death on the LAST mission he was leader of and he wasn't going to have another three digit or even two digit body count if he had to tie up Sam and stick her in the attic until this was all done.
"Let me tell you something about earning things, young lady." Savior said, his voice now edged with a smidgeon of danger. "Sometimes you need to take the simple way no one else wants to think of or do for whatever reason they have. When Alexander the Great came to Egypt, they presented him with a Gordian knot, a truly fiendish piece of rope work, and they said whoever untied it would rule Asia. Alexander drew his sword and chopped the knot in half."
"So?"
"So you can sit there and work on the knot all you want, and you might even be judged better then me for it when history does so, but I'm doing what I think is best here, and that is one swift downward stroke."
Savior turned away.
"If you want we'll leave your house, but you are not messing this up young lady. I won't accept it." Savior said, leaving the room.
Sam crossed her arms and frowned deeply.
"You may think you know all the answers Savior, but just because I'm an idealist doesn't mean I'm misguided." Sam said. "I see what you're doing. You're trying to make a complicated situation simple. And you should know darn well what happens when you try and do that. Life is fickle that way, and when you try and mess with it, karma can dump a load of junk in your lap and make the problem even worse."
And far away, a man in a dark suit and white hair pulled himself back from the crystal he was watching, the crystal that he had been watching for a while, which showed a blurry image of Sam as she turned and left the room as well, leaving the scene empty, as it faded from the crystal's form.
"How true that is, young miss." Vlad Masters said. "And I think it's about time for karma to unload."
