Flashing
Lights and Sounds
By Jedi-and
Disclaimer: I do not own
TT, nor do I own Mr. Noel Collins or Robert Candide but I DO own my
own characters.
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Chapter 14: Justification Through Grievance
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And so as it went, time ever marched on, and a new day came.
And so
there was stillness in the hearts of the Titans as they tried to
regain what they had lost of the tower and of themselves. When the
battle was finally over, they didn't think that the White Hole had
actually done anything to them that she had specifically intended,
but then again, she had done what she had set out to do and that was
to destroy.
Of course it wasn't only life she destroyed,
but routine, and sanity, which can be more devastating than losing a
life, as once you have lost your mind you are living in your own
hell.
Gone but still alive.
As for gone and still
alive, life was trying to return to normal after the departure of
their second alien guest. But as they say, once two rivers join they
can never become distinct again, and Nigel had left his mark on the
others. For better or worse, he was in their minds and even though he
may have messed up every so often, he did prove his worth on more
than one occasion.
But it was too late. Robin didn't want
anything to do with him, and what the leader said went. This didn't
sit too well with some of the Titans, but then it didn't matter as
long as he didn't let it affect his work, right? And this was Robin
we were talking about, protégée of one of the most
famous super heroes in the world, Batman. And every one knew how cold
HE was, or at least could be.
But things were different, and
it didn't seem for the best. There were gaps where Nigel had once
been at the table and in the lounge. Some of them felt sorry for him,
he was only trying to do what was right. Others felt that he was
okay, but shouldn't have done what he did in order to try and save
Star, instead he should have waited. And then there were those who
were more than happy to see him leave, thinking he was nothing but a
parasite, sponging off the people around him and their emotions
before he destroyed them all.
This, however, affected moral
and one by one the group was spiralling down into their own pit of
depression. Kory Anders had been sent away to a special facility to
heal and to try and get over the shock of it all. Raven had looked in
on her once only to see a shell of her former self, weeping into a
large stuffed toy as she held it, not looking like she would let go.
They said she would be back when she felt she was ready, but she had
told Gauntlet that she didn't want to blame Nigel for what he
did...she just wished he hadn't done it. And she tried so hard not
to blame him as she knew what the White Holes were like, monsters one
and all, but she couldn't forgive him, no matter how much she
wanted to. It must be hard when a friend accidentally kills your
baby, no matter how unintentional it was. The pain may never go away.
Robin did nothing and said nothing, he would stand quietly and try to rationalise things out and why they went the way they did. It's almost amusing in the way he had finally gotten used to the idea of having a child only to have it stripped away from him.
Almost.
He was on
a MAJOR anti-New Titans drive (no, not the story stupid.). He vetoed
all applications for Titan or Honorary Titan-hood and was even
putting the squeeze on the Titans that (despite being there for a
while) were not in the original five. He had wiped Nigel, Noel and
Rob from the main computers and the only one they were left on was
the computer in the Medical bay as no one could enter that as the
password was in Blacktrinian. The final irony was that the man he
banned had the last laugh as he and his friends would be immortalized
on the computer that Robin himself had installed to make the lives of
the Titans easier, along with the fact that he was a master at
cracking a computer, and yet he couldn't unlock the secrets within.
Still, he had wiped them from the other computers, and worse, he
hadn't told them, and this could be a problem, for if Noel ever
found out just what their leader had done he would go ballistic.
As
mentioned before, Beast Boy had fallen out with Charm. Despite their
overwhelming love for one another, the terrible incident had made
Beast Boy think, and he asked, or rather demanded, that Charm never
fight crime again. Charm, being the emotional person she is, blew up
in Beast Boy's face and asked why. He wouldn't explain why but
instead started to shout back trying to make sure that she would be
'safe'. Unfortunately this ended up with Charm packing her bags
and storming out of Jump City, shouting back 'I hope my Brother
comes back and kicks some sense into you'. It was indeed
unfortunate as she did not realize that Cyborg's old girlfriend was
killed by a racist group known as the ASP, the Anglo-Saxon patrol,
who took her and used her as bait to draw in Cyborg. Beast Boy could
never let that happen to anyone he cared about. Maybe it was better
this way?
The other Titans were not effected by this as much
as the others, though they too were feeling a little down. Even when
Raven gave Noel a special brand of herbal tea with some relaxing
properties, it didn't help elevate the doubt and worry that turned
in the cogs of his mind. He wondered that perhaps it was all a sign,
the ever-increasing difficulty of the villains, the team breaking
apart; perhaps this was a way of telling them that the Titans were
over?
Gauntlet continued to work on what he could, adding his
own little gadgets onto the T-car when and as he pleased, but Tim's
new found hate for the 'greener' titans meant he had been
restricted on what he wanted to do. With Nigel gone, the unfortunate
Robert Candide bore the brunt of their leader's rage as the only
reason he was even near the team was because of the famous court
order that Noel had forgotten to reject, but he still smiled through
it all, laughing and joking, attempting to cheer people up in his own
casual way. It kind of worked in places, but it still wasn't
enough.
They were all too deep in thought to notice the lift
rising and opening on the floor with Cyborg and Beast Boy, the former
letting the latter win on videogames to try and cheer him up.
"Hey
guys, what's up?" A cheerful voice intersected the gloom and doom
of the tower. The pair turned towards the lift, their eyes a little
wide.
"Terra?!?" They called, purely amazed. Before Nigel
had joined there had been a large battle, though the details were
very vague to him, known as "The Last Wish", and he knew that one
of the Titans had left because they used up their powers so much that
it had actually disappeared for a short while. Terra was that Titan,
and now she had returned.
The veil of darkness that seemed to
cover the emotions of the Titans was, for at least a brief period of
time, lifted at the return. She was safe and unharmed, unlike some of
the members of their team. However even with all the laughs and
smiles, she could tell something was off. There's something about
women; they are able to see though most things. It's almost a
second sense.
"Okay, why is everyone acting like the end of
the world is around the corner?" She asked, her smile fading. Just
then the alarm, which always had a habit of interrupting serious
talks, went off.
Talk about saved by the bell.
"Just
great." Cyborg muttered as he ran towards the consol, reading the
information that had been gathered.
"What have we got?"
Terra asked, standing next to the huge Titan, trying to peer over his
metaphorical shoulder, as trying to read over his real shoulder was
impossible for someone of her height, though she HAD grown a few
inches since the last time they saw her, much to Beast Boy's
dismay. So he stood behind her for a little bit and tried to judge
the height to see if she was indeed taller than her. Much to his
alarm, she was.
"I'm not picking up any life signs, so
I'm guessing it's a machine, and it's moving pretty fast."
The metal Titan started to key in codes to try and determine more.
"Where?" Gar asked, leaning slightly on the screen.
"What about the others?" Terra questioned, looking back at the monitor before following.
"We'll call 'em if we need 'em!" He bellowed, grabbing his keys to the Titan brand hatchback. Back two minutes and already she was dealing with some random super villain. What is it with the newer members and having to deal with over powered opponents?
--------------------------------------------
If this
was a movie, we could fade into the cliffs some time during the day
with race music on, trying to set out the pace of the scene, but as
this is literature I have to describe it in a more indepth manner.
The screeching of tires could be heard from quite a distance
away as the police cars wound around the tight curves that was the
winding rock face side road. There was another sound, and no I don't
mean the sirens either. It was more like a tapping sound... actually
it might have been a clanging sound but what ever it was it sounded
as if it was running, but faster than any human could run. This
running pace was going at approximately fifty miles an hour and
showed no signs of slowing down even around corners.
The
Titans saw this person, or thing, coming from afar and they could see
the speed that it was running at, but it was too far away to tell
exactly what it looked like. This was frustrating, as they couldn't
do anything until the figure stopped running because if they shot a
it, the cop cars also risked getting hit as they were driving too
close, and Terra couldn't do anything as the same went for a
barrier made out of stone. Even in a cheetah form, Beast Boy would
have trouble keeping up around such a road. No they would have to
play the waiting game.
Luckily, they didn't have to play it
for long, as the figure started to catch on that running wasn't
working, so the figure decided to give stopping a try. And when I
mean stopping I don't mean slowing down or even skidding.
I
mean just stopping.
In a road runner style, or perhaps in a
Sonic the Hedgehog fashion, the person stopped dead and the cars shot
past it. No skidding, no slowing down, not even a second step to stop
the figure from falling over. Just stopping as if there hadn't been
running at all, as if the figure had been preceding at a slow walk
instead.
The
imbeciles that were driving decided to try and do a movie trick and
skid around 180 degrees to pursue. The only problem was that both
drivers developed the unfaltering need to do it, and as you need both
sides of the road for such a stunt, you could tell there were some
disastrous consequences. Let's just say their insurance premiums
have just gone up. At least none of them seemed to be hurt. The
figure didn't even stop to see its handy work, it just turned and
spirited down the side of the cliff.
Crazy, no?
The
Titans, who were a little more shocked than they would let on,
started to make their way to assist the police officers. It was
strange, but how could it run so fast? Something that was that
inhuman. Beast Boy had never seen someone run like that, except the
Flash, Impulse, and other heroes tapped into the Speed Force, and you
couldn't keep up with them or see them, just blurs. To see
something running that fast, to actually see their legs moving as if
they were in a Sonic the Hedgehog videogame, it was incredible.
"What are you doing?"
Terra
turned to see Cyborg confronting Beast Boy, who was searching around
the ground for something.
"I want to find the dime it
stopped on." He sniffed around a little more before Terra
questioned the idea of it all. The idea was ludicrous at best, a
person running at such speeds then stopping instantly. Even the Flash
didn't stop instantly; it would be unearthly for anyone to do so.
"You realise what this is, don't you?"
"No but I have
a feeling you'll tell us anyway..." Cyborg sighed, not wanting to
hear another one of Beast Boy's random theories. He remembered the
one when Starfire ate all the tofu in the T-tower and he said it was
the work of a vegetarian vampire, who was too tempted by the tofu to
take anything else.
"This is the work of..."
"Here
it comes." Terra sighed and braced herself to the ludicrous idea
that was surely to follow.
"...Wayne Enterprises!"
There was
a pause. There was a look of honest, and a little relieved, surprise
on the faces of the other two titans, they were expecting space
monkeys from Tamaran or zombie Blacktrinians or something really,
really random like that.
"That was surprisingly tame for
you BB, what makes you think that?"
Beast Boy
suddenly had an air of arrogance about him that only occurred when
the phrase 'I know something you don't know' was able to come
into play.
"Elementary my dear Cyborg!" At this point,
Garfield Logan changed from Beast Boy, master of animals, to Sherlock
Boy, teen investigator. "As I was searching for the ever elusive
and ever proverbial dime in which it happened to stop on, I came
across this, a small tag." He held up a small scrap of cloth and
pulled out (from where no one knows) a huge magnifying glass and
looked down on it. There was a time and a place for these sorts of
antics, and at this very moment Cyborg didn't think this was one of
them. But, for once, he was right on the mark as the scrap of cloth
clearly said 'Wayne Enterprises'.
"Well I'll be..."
He stated, shocked that his friend had actually used his brains for
once.
"Now all we'll need to do is find out were it went."
Terra said, smacking her fist into her palm. She seemed to be back to
full confidence. The rumours in the media said she left because of
personal differences, that she wanted to get a singing career or that
she was arrested. None of the above was true, what had happened was a
little... unusual. They had met many metahumans but Terra was the
first one they knew personally to lose her powers. How or why was
unknown but it was because of this, and a sudden loss of confidence,
that she left, never to return. Well maybe not for the never return
bit as she has come back but that's beside the point. Beast Boy
thought she'd never return and so did Gauntlet. But she was back
with a regained confidence.
That confidence quickly faded and was replaced by a little fear as she looked over the shoulder of Beast Boy and saw the creature climb back up the cliff and pick something else off the ground, what looked like a motor or some form of machine. The creature reached down and put it back in it's leg and turned to be on its way, though now with a serious limp. It seems that quick stop didn't do it any good at all. I suppose that's what you get for trying to mess around with the laws of physics.
"Hey!" The green Titan called out. He had intended to move but Cyborg halted his actions."Don't move. I mean it. Don't make any sudden moves." Cyborg stated as he moved slowly towards the creature, and the creature limped towards him, slowly moving into the light, the footsteps of both were becoming more like clangs than actual steps. Then it, or rather she, could be seen.
Her skin was of a pale and almost grey turquoise with red and black hair in the most extreme of both colours. Her face was lifeless as it stared blankly into the eyes of the tin Titan, dark black orbs staring into the very soul of a person, inching ever deeper, trying to find something in which to intimidate you with. Her hair was done high and spiked backwards, never touching her back or shoulders. Her attire was a little unorthodox but it was indeed what she wore at the time. Her clothing seemed to be a patch work dress, sown together with large stitches and with little care for appearance as the stitches stood out quite a lot. Each section was made with a different style of cloth, a different texture and colour making it seem like it should belong to Sally from Nightmare Before Christmas. An orange sash acted like a belt around her middle. The shoulders were puffy and lead down to black and white striped sleeves that carried on down to her hands that were defiantly mechanical. Her legs followed the same patterns as her arms, black and white stripped, but this time it was her actual legs that were like this rather than any clothing over the top. Her knee had burst open, showing mechanics and that servo that she had picked up and replaced. Her feet were small and covered in little black shoes, which were slightly worn because of the running she had done. The last thing that caught his eye was that she was packing the biggest rifle he had ever seen, strapped to her back as if it was made of polystyrene.
With all this in mind, Cyborg deduced that it had to be the Android from the newspaper.
Silence.
Enough
silence so that you could hear the breathing of the living and the
moans of the dead. There was so much silence that you could even hear
the wires in the mechanic's leg fusing themselves back together
with sparks of heat. So much silence that the planet itself groaned
as it aged, seconds going by that seemed more like minutes.
Unfortunately, before he could question her, Terra panicked,
obviously a little scared of the firepower this particular android
was packing. And obviously she didn't see the docile nature in
which the robot had composed itself into, as she decided to literally
rip a side of the cliff off and throw it.
This so-called foe ducked under the first barrage of rocks and lifted her large rifle. It looked like most rifles, except it had four tubes on top of it, two a glowing green colour on either side of the barrel, while the other two were on top of these but soon changed into a more upright position. These had a more metallic feel to them as even in dim light you could see the welded seams and the factory stickers. The long barrel scraped along the ground as she aimed and fired, a devastating blast erupted from within, decimating all that was in front of her.
Luckily
for the Titans, they had learned one very useful skill with all the
villains they faced. How to duck.
"She almost frizzled the
do!" Beast Boy shouted as he covered his precious hair with his
gloved hands, lest she get even closer and actually set it alight
with all the flammable hair products he must use.
"At least
she didn't hit us." Cyborg consoled him, also having hit the deck
in a most painful way. He now needed a plaster for his bleeding chin.
"Dude!! She nearly hit the DO!" He pointed again to
re-emphasize his point. Cyborg sweatdropped.
Another brief
pause as Terra breathed a little, trying to compose herself. The rain
started, lightly at first but soon turning torrential. The android
with her rifle still had it raised and unmoving, her finger still on
the trigger as she stared, piercing into the very essence of Terra.
"Are you the Titans?" The metallic woman broke the
silence, taking the first move.
"We are." Cyborg replied,
each taking it slow and steady. In chess the first logical move is to
move a pawn and the second logical move is to move a pawn to match
it. Much is the same way with negotiations. You don't want to be
too extreme or you might lose. But then again the opposition of a
political party wasn't armed with a cannon. Usually.
"I
wish to claim asylum."
Bet you didn't see that coming.
There was
a pause, not unlike when you expect a tumbleweed to drift past when
someone said something dumb.
"I beg your pardon?" Terra
asked, her hands lowing slightly, as was the rifle of the android.
There was a dumbfounded expression on their features at the request
that the android made. Could someone claim refuge with the Titans?
Well one would think not, but then again the teenage protectors were
a form of security, and so it seemed only natural to be asked this.
Sort of at any rate.
"I wish for the Titans to protect me."
She stated again, her weapon finally finishing its return trip to her
back. Her movements were non-threatening, but the Titans didn't
wish to cause a full-scale shootout, so they still took things
cautiously.
"Yo! I don't know who you are but we are NOT
a body guard service!"
Or at
least two thirds of the team were. Young Mr. Logan had had enough
with this person and had stepped up to complain about the fact she
nearly, abet not actually hitting, but nearly touched his hair
with the rifle blast. Luckily the senior member here stepped in.
"Why do you want us to protect you? And from who?" Cyborg
asked his fellow mechanic.
"The police now a days are in
the pocket of those I want to escape from, and those same people are
my creators." She said in a clipped, monotonous
voice.
---------------------------------------------
And so the
Titans had decided to take her back with them to their home, the
famous Titan Tower. On the outside it was a pillar of strength,
towering over what menaces lurk inside the city. In reality it was
nothing more than a shell, the inside as ominous as the dark clouds
that covered the sky.
"So where were you?" was the first
question that was demanded upon their arrival, their leader waiting.
"We ran into complications on our mission." Cyborg
replied, before looking past Robin to see Raven holding her stomach
and crouched over a little, looking a little worse for wear.
"Um...
Has Noel gotten her..." Gar started, before Robin shot in front of
him, a deep and menacing look in his eyes. Eyes that screamed at Gar
to finish his sentence, but even he knew not to. The white slits for
eyes may have never betrayed anything, but the clenched teeth said
more than enough.
"For your information, we ran into a
problem ourselves. I will brief you later." Tim said though his
teeth; almost trying to fight a rage so intense that it seemed to
have ignited a fire inside of him, one using kerosene as fuel for
short though powerful bursts.
"Hey Fearless, we have a
guest downstairs in the lobby who wants, of all things, the Titans to
protect her." Cyborg finished, only to hear a splutter as Noel spat
out his coffee, luckily back into the mug in which it had just came
from.
"And may I ask why?" He questioned, wiping his
mouth with a white cloth.
"She said that the police are in
the pocket of those trying to capture her." Terra spoke up, the
first time from when she had gotten to her home. In all honestly she
was starting to feel uncomfortable, and it was turning from a home
into a house. And there's a big difference in those two
words.
"Impossible. I have personally weeded out the crooked
police in this town; there isn't one of them who would sell
themselves out or plant evidence." Robin stated, once again drawing
his attention onto himself. Noel calmly walked passed and handed
Raven her cup of herbal tea.
"They are people, not plants."
He corrected his leader. In the white Titan's eyes, Robin had
dropped down a few pegs, but he still had respect for him, as a
leader. He has just gone though one of the most stressful periods of
his entire life, and yet he still carried on with the same tenacity
and determination he always had. As long as you didn't mention a
few things.
"Well
you can meet her if you like, she is downstairs." Cyborg thumbed
behind him.
"GAUNTLET AWAY!" Rob Candide, who appeared
from seemingly nowhere, shouted as he dashed out to meet their new
'guest'. Tim did wonder about him as a Titan, and had officially
decided there and then that he would check when Rob's time here was
up according to the court, because as soon as it is he might send him
on his way.
"Great first impression." Savior groaned as
he placed his hand over his eyes. Then something twigged inside of
him. "When did you get back anyway?" He asked Terra, a little
confused.
"Um..."
And so she
explained what had happened within a few hours of her arrival, the
highs and lows and how she nearly bought it at the hands of the
maniacal mechanical menace. Cyborg then told them that not only was
she blowing it out of proportion but making the guest sound like a
worse criminal than Sword. She just shrugged at this, as she had
never heard of this Sword character.
"Well now you're
back, which is good as we are down a few members now." Noel said.
His opinion on Terra was pretty nonchalant in comparison to the
others, though on the scale of liking with Rob at one end and his
other half Raven at the other, Terra was leaning towards Rob a
little, though he did appreciate the fact that now both their aliens
were out of commission, having a older Titan back was a godsend.
"Hey, where is Kory anyway?" she asked, looking around
for the young Tamaranean.
"Well she is..."
"She
had to go down to Washington and won't be back for a while."
Robin interrupted. He turned to leave in order to greet this new
guest before Gauntlet corrupted her too much or inadvertently turned
her into an enemy, leaving only a bemused expression on the earth
Titan's face and slight annoyance on everyone else's.
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"So you
are the new guest." Robin said as he found the android being
interrogated; her expression was as unimpressed as it was devoid of
emotion. Se turned slowly towards her host and stood, ignoring the
relentless questions from Candide.
"That I am." She
extended her hand as a polite greeting, but Robin refused to
acknowledge it, refusing to even shake her hand while she had the
rifle on her back. She just continued on, her hand going back down to
her side. "My designation is V-31210149, but the scientists called
me Viridian."
"What is your business here?" Robin asked
abruptly, folding his arms. "And be quick."
"I will
speak plainly then. I wish for the Titans to protect me from the
forces of the laboratory that bore me into this world." There was a
pause.
"We are not bodyguards." Robin said again, as he
already started to turn away from her. In his mind, this conversation
was over.
"Then how about as a part time Titan?" She
stated, her cold droning voice cutting the silence like a person who
drags their nails across a chalkboard. Robin twitched a little before
he turned back on his heels, making Gauntlet back up a little, unsure
whether he would explode or not. She just continued.
"From what I know the Titans had nine members to its forces, and from what I can sense you now only have seven Titans at your disposal. If you will not protect me, then perhaps I can be of some service as you seem to be missing the two who are known as Starfire and Sc-"
She was
cut off as Robin dashed forward and got right into her face.
"He
was never a part of this team! He was nothing more than a mindless
animal!" He shouted at her with such volume, distain and passion
you would think he was shouting at someone a mile away (who he
hated). She never even blinked; she just took a cloth and wiped his
spit from her face.
"I must inform you that I was not built
with a fear chip and so your intimidation methods will not work."
She replaced the cloth and continued to stare into his eyes, her
harsh black orbs never blinking, not betraying any emotions
whatsoever, but then again the white slits that Robin's mask
presented had intimidated many an opponent, staring down the fiercest
of monsters. They just stared at each other for a moment or two,
trying to be the one that backed the other down.
"We'll
talk to the others about it." Robert intersected, putting his hand
between the two to try and break up this little argument. "You just
wait here and enjoy the view." He pushed Robin away and led him to
the lift before his leader shrugged off his hand in a rather violent
way. And so she waited, each minute passing by as she quietly
reflected this decision to come quietly.
Upstairs, several
stories up in fact, the rest were in a heated argument over this
newcomer.
"I say we protect her! After all we are the good
guys!" Cyborg bellowed, slamming his fist down on the table, making
the cups and things jump a little.
"Well I disagree.
Remember when we get a new member, temporary or not, not only do we
have to fight the sludge monster..."
"Mortimer."
"...Mortimer,
but we also have to go through all the pain and hassle they cause
when they leave us to go somewhere else or to do something else."
Robin finished as he stood up to emphasize this point.
"Tim,
you have been running us all ragged for the past few days, perhaps
getting some help from the honorary Titans we have enlisted over the
years might help?" Raven stated lightly, reading while listening to
the conversation. This angered Robin much in the same way a teacher
would be. He leaned over and stole the book from her light grasp,
then slammed it shut, more likely than not damaging a few pages.
Raven's eyes were ablaze as she saw a page, now creased, sticking
out of the edge of the book. Noel just placed one hand gently on her
un-injured shoulder. After all it had only been a little while since
Ni... You-know-who left and even her powers couldn't take away the
pain completely as the skin had to completely reform and the muscles
needed to grown back.
She had been lunch for the White Hole
after all.
Noel
calmly took the book back with the Shimmer, folded back the page that
was crinkled, and placed it under a larger, heavier book to try and
repair the damage.
"She has a point. In the last few days
we have been doing non-stop training and when we so called 'newer'
Titans try and take a break and relax with our friends and loved
ones, you blow up on us and start accusing us. I think it's time we
put that communicator of yours to work and to try and get the help we
so deserve, either that or except the offer that..."
Before
Noel could finish, his watch bleeped and he stood up with Raven. "Now
if you excuse me, I have to take Raven to the hospital to have her
shoulder re-bandaged."
"Would have been so much better if
Nigel was still here, he could have done it within a few seconds."
Cyborg stated, leaning on his palm. Terra looked up at him in a
confused manner.
"Who's Nigel?"
Of course
no one had told her of the alien, as when ever he was partially
mentioned, Robin would interrupt and change the subject. This time he
was pre-occupied with discussing things with Beast Boy and so didn't
catch the conversation until his name was mentioned and the sentence
had finished.
"While you weren't here, a guy joined up
and was our doctor, until he..."
"Until he DESTROYED
EVERYTHING!" Robin roared, slamming both hands in open palms on the
table, bringing everyone's attention towards him. "And I said
that he shall NOT be mentioned! What part of that didn't you
understand!? He is gone and good! I hope he dies in a sewer for all I
care!"
"Tim..." Raven started.
"No Rae! This
time I'm serious!" He shouted, his fist clenched. "Don't you
see what this is doing to us?! New members come in and they ruin the
way we work! They don't help, they only screw things up! And this
includes your white haired fairy princess that hangs on you like a
lost and stray puppy! I remember the whole Asphyxiation business!
Where the guy nearly killed us all because your 'other half' had
similar powers! Where he killed all those women to try and get to
you! If you hadn't come here those women would still be alive! And
let's not forget your father..."
Let's just say Noel
snapped.
Throwing
his fist at Robin with such alarming speed that even he was taken by
surprise, but it still wasn't enough to catch the Teen Wonder off
guard as he caught the fist and reversed it so that Noel's arm was
behind him in a rather uncomfortable position, but it didn't stop
Noel as the Shimmer activated itself and grabbed Robin by the leg,
throwing him away.
"If you think you are so perfect, then
BRING IT ON!" Noel shouted, diving at their leader, or he would
have, if Raven hadn't caught him in a little bubble that encased
his body. She landed him next to her and held onto his arm. He
growled but nodded, and switched tactics, going from a physical
assault to a verbal one.
"No human is perfect! Everyone is different and sometimes things happen that we cannot predict! Hindsight is always 20/20 and almost always pointless! What happened was a harsh and cruel twist of fate! But don't label all of us in the same fashion as your opinion as Nigel! Even HE doesn't deserve that label!" He yelled as the pair left.
Robin sat
there, rubbing his head for a moment or two, wondering what just
happened. He stood up and straightened his mask and outfit, and then
marched quickly out the door.
"I need a drink, if you
excuse me." And so he left, going into the kitchen, but not
stopping, he kept going out the other side and towards his office
with the Titan's main computer in it.
The others waited patiently, reserved in their own opinions of their leader and what he had just done and said. The fact was, he had just alienated two of the most useful Titans in the group and now they might leave the Tower for good after such treatment. Cyborg could see where Robin was coming from. Nigel's departure had started to tear apart the Titans, but it wasn't Nigel's fault.
It was the one living in the glass house that had started throwing stones.
He saw the tragedy unfold again through memory; he saw the crying and the blood, the saddened eyes of Kory, her pain...but it wasn't Nigel's doing. He wouldn't ever hurt his friends of his own will. He would never want that. But Robin was repeatedly forcing upon them that Nigel was the sole blame, yet he was the one still here and making their lives miserable...The sound of sirens caught them and pulled them out of the proverbial sea of doubt and angst as the remaining Titans rushed to the window.
"The cops?" Gauntlet asked, climbing on the ceiling with the power of his namesake device.
"Yeah, but..."
"What's wrong Vic?" Gar asked, as he jumped over and landed on his large friend's shoulders, as his metallic hands pressed against the window.
"They're heading this way! Towards the tower!" He exclaimed, looking down as the bridge to the mainland rose up out of the water as squad car after squad car dashed across it, soon to be followed by a SWAT van. This made the Titan's even more concerned, but what finally made them dash to the doorway to see what the hell was happening was when they got the battering ram out and tried to break into the tower.
What they missed was a hail of rifle shots that went through the door and destroyed each and every van and car out there, without harming a single person.
-------------------------------------------------
When they
arrived at the lobby, they saw Viridian on one knee, her rifle
prepped and aimed at the door which now seemed to have a few 'speed
holes' in it.
"It seems you have betrayed me." She
spoke in her usual dull, though surprisingly soft tone as she stood,
not turning towards them.
"Dude! We didn't do anything!
We were all up in the main room discussing if you should be protected
by us or not!" Beast Boy jumped in, but soon cowed away when her
head turned towards him. He didn't want his hair to be set alight.
There was a pause.
"Where is your leader?" She asked, her
head turning back when the bangs had started again from the police
outside. Once again she prepared to fire, but didn't for a moment
or two. Everything seemed still, except for the bangs, which were
coming louder and faster. It looked like the last stand made in some
monster movie, which scared Terra beyond belief as she recalled the
situation before with the mutant monster Aberration and her
involvement when it had attempted to escape Star Labs.
"Don't
know." Gauntlet called, his eyes darting around to try and find
their leader.
"Right here!" Robin jumped down from the
ceiling and next to the android. "They must have followed you
here."
"That seems logical, though I still have my
doubts." She commented, her rifle never moving, never faltering
from its point. It didn't even move a little, it just stayed there,
as if it was on a stand being displayed for all to see. And of
course, in a way it was. Who in their right minds would look at that
rifle being pointed at them, its aim accurate to a hundredth of a
degree and not be a little worried?
"All that matters now is
to get you out of here. We don't want the tower shot up in a match
of firepower between you and the SWAT team out there."
"Are
you the same Robin that went all crazy on us upstairs?" Rob asked,
poking Robin to make sure he was real.
"Three words;
sympathetic radioactive clone." Beast Boy said, appearing
in-between them only to be pulled out the way by Terra.
"No,
not a clone, but Noel did make me think about a few things and so I
want her to get away. I have a plan, I'll lead her to the Helipad
where she'll be picked up by a friend while you guys try and stall
the cops."
"Right!" They shouted. Robin and Viridian
made their escape just in time, as not a moment later the doors gave
way under the constant assault from the battering rams and the
Titan's lobby filled to the brim with SWAT members and Policemen.
"FREEZE!" One of them shouted, his gun raised.
"What
can we do for you officers?" Cyborg stated, walking forward, his
arms folded and a slightly angry look on his face. The law seemed to
back up a step at the sight of four of the Super Hero team of Jump
city.
"We are here for the robot Cyborg." A man in a
trench coat and a big hat said, his gun lowered as he approached them
with, like most people, caution. He raised his badge, just as a
precaution.
"I am afraid that we must say no detective, as
she is in for questioning and is under our personal protection for
the duration of her stay." Gauntlet said, after thinking 'What
would Noel say?'. This was one time that Noel's constant yakking
would be useful.
"Sorry, but we have to, whether you like it
or not." A loud-mouthed SWAT member shouted, re-aiming his gun. The
first man pushed it down and whispered to him.
"You don't
talk to the Titans like that you fool." He turned back to the
teenagers and spoke in a full voice. "I apologise for him, he is a
rookie from out of town and doesn't know you yet. But he is
unfortunately correct; we have to take her in."
"Why are
you acting like this? Don't you trust us or something? After all we
have done for you? That's gratitude." Was the reply from Terra as
she worked up the courage and stepped forward.
"Sorry
little girl, but it's the law." She soon shrunk back from the
conversation, to have Beast Boy take her place.
"You
shouldn't need to follow the law to the letter, but look at the
spirit of it and uphold that. We have all the stuff here; let us
handle her and when the time is right we'll see about handing her
over to you." He pointed at the trench-coat wearer with one gloved
hand. "Besides, she can't escape this way."
"Uh-huh.
And that is why she shot through the door at us?" He asked,
thumbing back at where the door was, his other hand in his pocket,
his gun now holstered. There was a pause.
Lets hope Robin got
her out okay.
Speaking
of Robin and Viridian, they were at this moment in time, dashing up
the final sets of stairs to make it outside the tower onto the
Helipad, which still had the volleyball net up. The pair worked
quickly and wrapped it up and placed it away before they waited.
Lifting up his communicator Robin called in his 'friend'.
"This
is Robin, Robin to Extraction, come in." He stated. There was
slight static on the line before a reply.
"This is
Extraction, what do you need Robin?" The voice seemed to spark
something inside Viridian, but she was unsure, as when she tried to
access it in her memory banks the file seemed corrupted.
"We're
ready to commence the extraction, and I recommend you be quick about
it." He said, before he put his com device away. Viridian's head
turned slowly towards the incoming aircraft and scanned it, her dark
orbs soon became overlapped with what looked like the glass from
sunglasses minus the frames.
In her mind she knew who it was,
even though she zoomed in on the aircraft for a better look, but she
knew who it was. As soon as it came out of the clouds she could see
it and the logo on the side of the craft. 'Knowledge is Power'.
It said under a robotic hand in the shape of a fist.
With
this knowledge in mind, she raised her rifle and aimed for one of its
jet engines. However there was one person on that rooftop who didn't
want her to get her usually perfect aim. With a well timed Birdarang,
Robin knocked the blast astray, making it pass wide from its ideal
target. Now with a new target, Viridian turned to fire at Robin, but
the Teen Wonder managed to dodge the first volley of shots, but not
the second, as it managed to take out the roof out under him.
However, he was a tough and resilient opponent, and in mid
air he threw an orb at the rifle. On contact with the barrel it burst
open and formed a seal around the end, clogging up the barrel.
Unfortunately she was just pulling the trigger when this happened and
so, with no other place to go, the photon blast that was meant for
Robin exploded in the chamber, destroying the rifle and her right
arm, throwing her back right onto the 'H' mark on the Helipad.
Looking up she could see the ship that was to take her back
to her doom. Getting to her feet, Viridian tried to run from the
ship, but unlike stopping which can be done instantly, picking up
that kind of speed took time, and while she was starting to run a
mechanical claw had come down and seized her in its grasp.
"So
you did betray me." She stated lightly as she was dragged up into
the ship. Within a moment she was gone, and so was the ship.
Robin
smirked as he made his way back down. The little tussle with Viridian
had given him an idea, and when he reached the bottom level he
started to stagger a little and made his way over to the others.
"Damn dude! What just happened?" Beast Boy asked,
grabbing Robin's shoulder and looking at him. He had rips in his
trousers and a cut or two, caused by the flying debris from where the
rifle took out the floor under him.
"I was ambushed showing
our guest around. I think it was the lab that she came from, the ship
had a fist made of metal on it." He said, trying to straighten
himself out.
"Yep, that's them alright. It'll be on its
way back to Gotham City by now." The detective pulled his hat on a
little firmer before he signalled for everyone to leave. "Bill us
for the door."
----------------------------------------------------
And so the
day continued on, and Raven soon returned home. The doctor said that
with continued rest and the use of her curative spell, she should be
back to normal within a few days, maybe a week or so. She didn't
much like going to see a doctor she didn't know, but what could she
do? She couldn't see Nigel on the sly as no one knew where he was,
so the only thing they could do was to see a local doctor. At least
the press weren't following them around: Noel had made his dislike
of them VERY clear from the start.
"We're home." Raven
announced, walking in carrying a bag in the other hand with some
shopping she and Savior picked up on the way home, just some
essentials really. Savior came in soon following, the Shimmer
carrying four bags. When you live with more than four people, even
the basics come in a few more bags than you'd expect. Noel by this
time had obviously calmed down, though he doubted severely that the
argument that had happened earlier would be the end of it. More
arguments were to follow.
"Hey, were is the robot girl?"
The white-garbed Titan asked, coming down the stairs to the living
area as Raven took a bag to the kitchen to unload some of the cold
stuff.
"Hey man." Cyborg stood up quietly and crept over
to his friend and put his finger to his lips to tell Noel to be a
little quieter, as Beast Boy and Terra had fallen asleep while
watching a movie. "Someone tracked Viridian here and called the
police. They came to get her. While we stalled the cops Robin took
her to the Helipad to be airlifted out by a friend of his to escape
to another city, but on the way up he was ambushed and they took her
back to the lab. There was nothing we could really do, though I did
think of planning a rescue attempt, but I'm not one for
strategies." He shrugged. Raven quickly came back in the room,
light but quick and she made a B-line towards Cyborg and Noel. "Yo
Rae."
"Cyborg, Robin said that he was ambushed." She
started. "I saw him a moment ago, but...I read something...I
thought you both ought to know..." She paused.
"Know
what?" Noel asked calmly and quietly.
"He and Viridian
were not ambushed. He gave her back to her previous captors. He sold
her out."
============================
Jedi:
Robin sold out someone? Was he doing the right thing? Or was he
looking out for 'the team' and himself again?
Nigel: Who
cares? I thought this was my tale of woe. sighs and plays
Violin
Jedi: Stop that, you've had plenty of chapters
before hand! It's Cyborg's turn now.