Future Forward chap.5: Operation Escape
"And this is the last room, the author's writing room," Etna explained as she guided her companion Flonne, a fallen angel from her own world, through the 'Tower of 1337 floors'.
"Why are there so many floors?" The cute but ditzy angel asked. "Is it so they're high and get a nice view up here?"
"No, I'm pretty sure it's because they thought it was cool." Etna replied dryly. "But I wonder, where are they? They were supposed to start the fanfic five minutes ago…"
"There's a note pinned to the door for you," Flonne said, handing her the piece of paper."
"We went out for a bit. Please post the fic for us." Etna read "Like hell I will, that's not in my contract!"
"What else does it say?
"Umm… 'P.S. We'll pay you 25 extra' Alright! Come on Flonne, we got work to do! Grab the fic from the desk."
"What's a fic? All I see is this big Stack of papers,"
"That's it; bring it over here will ya?"
"It's too heavy…" Flonne groaned.
"Whadaya mean too heavy, It can't be… Those bastards are paying me more than a measly 25 for this shit," Etna exclaimed as she sighted the monstrous mound of paper. "Ahh well," she sighed. "Let's get this over with before the fans get here and harass us since those losers left."
I/O groaned and sat up, gazing around at the room he and the others were in. The room was approximately eight feet long and five feet wide, a pane of thick glass cut off the last three feet, leaving the children locked in a five foot by five foot chamber. Digi and Belle were sitting on a pallet in one corner watching as Sketch repeatedly rammed the glass.
"Will you just give up already?" Belle was saying, "You've been at it since you woke up. It's not gonna break."
Sketch's response was an unintelligible mumble as he staggered back from his most recent impact.
"Where are we?" I/O asked, walking over to inspect the glass. It was at least an inch thick and probably leaded and tempered.
"No idea," Belle replied. "We all got grabbed and I think they knocked us out with some gas. All I know is we woke up here."
"And him?" I/O asked gesturing to Sketch who was rushing at the door again.
"He's been doing that for over half an hour now." Belle replied, wincing as she heard a loud slam.
"I'm okay, I'll get us out of here, just as soon as you make the room stop spinning." Sketch moaned from the ground where he had fallen.
"Sketch, you can't break that glass. Cyborg couldn't break it." I/O advised.
"Bah, you've said it yourself I can break anything." Sketch replied.
"Trust me, this is different." I/O told him, dismissing the matter. "Are we missing anything?" He asked turning to Belle. He rested his hand on the computer he wore on his arm.
"Sketch's notebook and pens are gone, but everything else seems to be here," she replied.
"So Slade knows about Sketch's power…" I/O muttered. It wasn't surprising; he'd heard Slade had access to more accurate intelligence than most governments.
"Indeed I do," came a taunting voice from across the glass wall. Slade sauntered in, clad in his well known armor and mask.
Digi pushed back against Belle in their corner, while Sketch struggled to his feet and stood shakily trying to decide which of the Slades he saw was real. Belatedly he decided ramming the wall so much was a bad idea.
"What do you want?" I/O asked, standing passively. He was hard pressed to maintain a calm visage, but he knew from the Titan's records that Slade was cocky and was likely to talk if given an attentive audience.
"What do I want?" Slade mused as he paced the small room. "Money, Power, Revenge, There is really a great deal I desire."
I/O's eyes never left the pacing man. "So this is revenge on the Titans" he ventured to ask.
"You are a clever boy" Slade replied. "Clever enough to know I never limit myself to a single reason."
"Fine" I/O replied. "Than why else did you kidnap us?"
"Five bucks says he wants an apprentice…" Sketch cracked, all the children were aware of Slade's earlier failed schemes.
"A wager I assure you would lose, young Timothy" Slade stated. "I have no further desire for troublesome apprentices. I am however, always on the lookout for new henchmen."
"Henchmen?" I/O asked. "You can't possibly want us for something so…stupidly simple."
Slade chuckled " No, you four are much too valuable for a 'stupidly simple' henchman job. No, you and your friends will be to mere henchmen as a Stradivarius is to a harmonica."
"You know we'll never do as you say, right" I/O stated flatly.
"I do believe you will," Slade replied in a voice that could freeze lava. "In fact, I'm certain you will. You won't have a choice."
"There's always a choice." I/O corrected.
"Yes, well. This time there isn't. Do you know what this is?" Slade asked, holding a small item up for the kids to see.
"It's a microchip, duh. Even I know that one." The always irreverent Sketch replied.
Slade emitted a sound somewhere between a groan and a growl. "Yes, it's a microchip. I mean what kind?" he corrected staring intently at I/O who shrugged.
The kids could hear the grin in Slade's voice. "Have you ever heard of the Omega 17 neural inhibitor?"
I/O's jaw dropped in recognition, but it was Belle who spoke, gasping out the device's other name "Mindbender."
"Precisely" was all Slade replied.
Mindbender was created by Lexcorp, as a new age answer to lobotomy. The device was implanted in the brain and was supposed to regulate impulses that led to violent or criminal behavior. Sometimes it worked perfectly, as in Killer Moth's case. He now ironically ran a tailor shop specializing in moth proof clothing. However, after a number of failures, the ventriloquist and puppet team of Scarface resulted in the kind ventriloquist person vanishing, and the Riddler went stark raving mad obsessing over the joke 'why did the chicken cross the road.' The operation was deemed illegal, and all experiments with it were banned.
"You wouldn't dare risk it." I/O reasoned. "That thing is too unpredictable."
"This isn't the original design, the kindly Doctor Chang and I improved it. You'd be surprised at how much easier it is to inhibit the kinder, gentler impulses." Slade began idly juggling four of the chips. "There is one drawback I'm afraid. The chips seem to interfere with the creativity impulses too. "He palmed one of the chips while juggling the other three in his hand. "I had hoped we could arrange a deal." He stared at I/O while saying this. "I will let the older girl go, and you will agree to stay."
"Why?" I/O prompted.
"Your parents were brilliant; I suspect you have some of their innate genius."
"Did you know our parents?"
"No. In fact, it proved quite troublesome finding information on them. Their early works were spectacular. They stood on the leading edge of a number of scientific discoveries; from laser advances to the development of the gravitic engine core for the recent space explorers. However, that all ended a decade ago. They could have continued." Slade's voice was rising; he seemed to take personal affront at the later lives of the two scientists. "Indeed those two decided to become humanitarians, their later works; Newfood: bio-engineered foodstuff capable of doubling it's mass in a span of 24 hours, a cheap and nutritious, if bland food product. Their works were all meager worthless drivel like that…" Slade continued his ranting, oblivious to it's effect on it's audience. ".. or complete failures!" He threw a sheet of paper onto the floor, glaring at it as it lay there. Quickly composing himself, he continued "You see, Isaac. It took even my informants nearly a week to collect that much data. In a mere matter of years, your parents will be a minor piece of obscure trivia, known only to the eccentric and perhaps a few scholars. Join me, accept my offer. Do, and everything you could ever wish for will be in your grasp. Imagine it; fame, power, riches, anything. Of course, your only alternative is to become a mindless minion."
"The Titans will save us" I/O stated, trembling.
"Very well" Slade conceded, stepping back. "I will change you last. So that if they do save you, it will only be you and in the end; you will realize the wisdom of my offer, or…" and Slade shrugged carelessly. "You'll follow your parents, forgotten fools, helping all; remembered by none…" Slade laughed "..and soon enough, forgotten by even their own children!"
I/O snapped his right arm out, running his left down the side of his computer, running the safety bar down to its end, activating the weapon mode on maximum power. "We'll never forget!" he shouted, his voice breaking as he fired the weapon. He knew it was a risky move, but he didn't care, he'd yell at himself later.
"Look, I don't care what excuse you got, get out there and find the kids!" Blackfire yelled into the phone. She was pacing back and forth in the main room of the Tower.
The Winghorde sat on the couch, which was surrounded by runes of warding designed to keep him from escaping. "Well this is about as interesting as watching slimes mate." He muttered watching the agitated woman storm around the room.
"Yeah yeah, Slade scary." She shouted at the cop on the phone. "But if I don't hear sirens over every inch of this city in five seconds, I'll Show you scary. And if I have to come down there I'm bringing an ass kicking with me. You got that you ranfak-lutermench?
The demon just sat there staring at her.
As the dust settled, it became apparent that the glass divider was no longer in place, it had completely out of it's brackets and flown across the room. Slade, or rather the android Slade sent in his place, was shattered against the far wall. I/O meanwhile was slumped against the opposite wall, having been thrown back by the intense blast. He rubbed the back of his head as he sat up and observed the newly-made door.
"Whoa, didn't expect the blast to be THAT strong" I/O stated as he got up off of the ground and then looked over to see if the others were alright.
While they appeared to be fine from a physical point of view, the utterly dumbfounded look of sheer shock that hung on their faces clearly spoke otherwise, more clearly with Sketch, who was laying on the ground.
"Uhhhh, are you guys ok?" I/O asked as he waved his hand in each of the others faces "We can leave at anytime, preferably now, so please respond".
Not long after the initial shock had finally subsided, Belle grabbed the young scientist by his shirt and pulled him down to look him right in the eyes.
"Just a laptop! What in the name of all that is sane around here was that! All I remember was that Slade-bot or whatever it's called started saying some bad things, then you holding your arm out and then BOOM! WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON!" Belle shrieked in a mix of shock, anger, and having a panic attack, all the while giving I/O 'the Look'.
I/O felt as if he was a deer caught in the headlights of a giant truck driven by an insane truck driver with a severe hatred for all things cute and fuzzy, when he felt the steely gaze of a disheveled Belle on him. Wanting to be both away from Slade's lair and no longer under 'the Look', I/O came to the only solution he could think of.
"Uhhhhhh, I'll tell you when we get home" I/O murmured nervously, hoping that maybe, just maybe, that reason would suffice. (Yeah right).
As Belle continued to have a very one-sided staring contest against I/O, Digi went to go check on Sketch, who was currently splayed out in a daze.
"Sketch, are you ok" Digi asked as she shook the brain-addled boy who lay before her. No sooner had she asked then Belle and I/O had come up to check on him.
"Sketch, you with us buddy" I/O said as he started to look Sketch over.
"Uhhh…" Sketch muttered.
"How many fingers am I holding up" Belle stated as she held up 3 fingers.
Sketch started counting off the multitude of fingers that swam in his vision. "…1….2……7…."
Coming to the conclusion that time was of the essence, I/O decided to go for a more direct method of assessing Sketch.
"Hey Digi, I think I dropped something over by the bed, can you get it for me"
"Ok big brother"
When Digi's attention was otherwise pre-occupied, I/O held up a single finger. "How many fingers am I holding up?"
"I'M TELLING!"
"He's fine, let's go." I/O declared
"Fine, but when we get out of here, we're all gonna have a very long discussion." Belle huffed as she watched I/O and Sketch step out of the cell, Digi being the only other person with her.
"Umm Digi, you don't have any weird abilities, do you?"
"I can wiggle my ears, does that count?"
Belle sighed heavily as she held Digi's hand and finally moved out into the hallway.
When searching as a group had proven fruitless, they all decided to split up and pursue multiple methods of tracking. Currently, Nightwing and Starfire were actively on the lookout for Slade, Cyborg and Raven were visiting various prisons and interrogating criminals who might've had potential knowledge to where Slade may be hiding, while Terra and Beast Boy were milling about at the fair for any clues as to where the children were taken to.
"Slaaaaaade!" Starfire screamed, blasting through yet another wall. "I will find you and I will have your Grenbars in a jar!"
Nightwing meanwhile was sorting through the debris for whatever clues he might be able to discern. "Um, Star… We need clues, and you seem to be vaporizing everything but the ground beneath us."
"Of Course!" Starfire cried, as she began to launch volley after volley into the ground beneath her. "That is the last place to look!"
Nightwing sighed and walked outside to call the police from a pay phone and warn them of the eminent building collapse.
I/O braced himself against the wall as he peered over the corner to see if any security measures were present. Behind him was Sketch, who'd been ransacking any storeroom for paper and pencils ever since they busted out of their cell, so far he turned up nothing. Belle had been looking out for anything behind them, with Digi sticking close by.
"What do ya see I/O" Belle asked.
"Just a row of doors, but other than that, I don't see any guards or cameras" I/O spoke as he quickly made his way down the hall, testing to see if any of the doors were open. So far the doors he had tried had been locked, but when I/O tested the last door, it opened. He turned back to the corner and gave the ok to the others, who quickly filed into the room.
"Where are we" Digi said as she started looking at all the monitors and buttons with glee.
"Dunno, but from all the screens and such, I'd say it's important" I/O said as he looked at all the computers present.
"I think we're in some kind of security room, you think they might have a radio?" Belle questioned
"Possibly, let's check it out" I/O muttered as he and Belle began looking at every computer they could find, while Sketch had been busy tearing the place apart looking for paper. Meanwhile, Digi had been busy watching all the different stuff on the screens, wondering if maybe they could show cartoons.
"No radios here, you find anything." Belle said with a sigh.
"Looks like we're in some kind of control room" I/O muttered thoughtfully
"Control room, you thinking what I'm thinking" Belle asked with a sly grin.
"Absolutely" I/O said as he turned to Digi "Hey Digi"
"Yeah big brother"
"Remember how I always told you to never touch any buttons you don't know about"
"Yeah, you told me that the last time I pressed this red button and almost caused a 'Core meltdown' whatever that means".
"Well forget about that for now. Your mission is press every button you see, no matter what havoc it may cause, I want complete and utter chaos can you do that?"
Digi gave I/O a salute and a "Yes sir" as she turned into a little whirlwind of button pressing, lever pulling, and toggle switching glee. While I/O and Belle watched the screens, seeing that all Hell was breaking loose on the base.
"Alright Dr. Light, start talking!" Cyborg hollered at the prisoner in question.
"What makes you think I, the brilliant Dr. Light, would be forced to seek help from some other mediocre villain" said the ever snide criminal.
"The tech you used for your last heist could only have been made by Slade, and we have evidence that shows you've been doing jobs for him in order to pay for that debt, so that means you may have a way to reach him, and I wanna know NOW!" Cyborg said as he slammed his metal fist into the table.
"Even if I do know, makes you think I'd actually tell you anything" Dr. Light said with more than just a hint of smugness.
"Ok then, we can do this one of two ways, you start talking to me, or you can start talking to her" Cyborg spoke in an icy voice.
"What do you mean talk..to…..the goth chick is behind me isn't she" Dr.Light said with quite a bit of fear in his voice, feeling dread as Cyborg nodded.
When Dr.Light turned around, he saw Raven looming above of him, black tendrils of energy moving from underneath her cloak, although he didn't know what was more unnerving, the writhing mass of shadows inside her cloak, or the fact that she was making kissy faces at him.
"Hey there Bright Eyes" Raven said in a sultry voice as she blew him a kiss, then started inch closer to the criminal.
Getting a vague idea of what was about to happen, Dr. Light finally cracked. "Ok, ok! I'll talk, just keep those tentacles away!"
"Now that's what I wanna hear" Cyborg smiled as Dr. Light spilled his guts.
" Ah, there's nothing quite like taking a shower to make a man out of you, isn't that right Mr. Squeakers" spoke the voice of the criminal mastermind Slade…….as she spoke to his rubber ducky while clad only with a towel around his waist and a towel around his head.
Squeak Squeak
" Oh Squeakers, my friend, you are the only who truly appreciates my genius…." Slade cooed as he rubbed the ducky against his cheek and proceeded to break out into song.
"And I…….eeeiiiiii….eeeiiiiii…will always…..love youuuuuuu"
So deep was Slade into his ballad to the ducky that he almost didn't hear his personal communication line go off. After hearing the beeping, and in a split second, we went from a half-naked and hilariously insane love ballad lounge singer to the armor-clad criminal mastermind we all know and fear. Checking to make sure his armor suit gave off the right level of terror, he answered the line.
"What is it" Slade spoke with a tone of voice that could make even the toughest of men cower.
An oil-covered and visibly panicking intern was visible on the screen as complete madness went on in the background.
"Sir, we've got bad news all over the place sir, it's…….is that a baboon behind you, sir?"
" No, he is a chimpanzee" Slade said as he looked back to see a chimpanzee staring at the screen, a look of evil in it's eyes and in a pose that was not unlike the ever famous pose of Gendo Ikari, with the hands interlocked just over the mouth to give him a pondering look of utter malice. Slade called him Mr. Froofy, and was training him to be his new apprentice, of course no one would know this, it would make him look nuts.
"Right…..but anyway, but sir, its utter hell out here!"
"Calm down, now tell me what is happening"
"Every robot in our arsenal has gone completely bonkers, take a look"
The intern swiveled the camera to show the patented Slade-bots suddenly becoming like big iron monkeys as many of them started swinging from pipes, banging wooden chair legs on the ground like clubs and fighting with others to assert dominance, while a few others were throwing oil at each other, the same way a monkey throws it's…..well, you get the idea.
"And if you thought that was bad, wait til you hear this, those kids we kidnapped have escaped."
"I find that doubtful, the door to that cell can't be opened except by this keycard" Slade spoke as he held up the card in question.
"Uhhh, about that sir.." the intern was about to elaborate when Slade brought up a second screen, this one from the security camera from the cell that once held the children, yet all he was a giant hole where the cell door, along with part of the wall, should have been. Rewinding the tape, he saw the android that he used to interrogate prisoners doing it's work, then all of a sudden the child they called I/O suddenly lifted his arm and, in a brief moment of anger, fired off a blast at the door from a device on his arm, then dust obscured the camera, but when it cleared, he saw the room as it looked like now.
"I see, I want you to find some of our best troops and get those robots under control, I'll go and take care of our escapees" Slade spoke, making a mental note to interrogate I/O on how he made that device, it could prove useful.
"Yes sir" The intern spoke as Slade shut off the communication line and turned to Mr. Squeakers
"So Mr. Squeakers, shall I go and teach those unruly children how to behave?"
squeak squeak
"Oh Squeakers, your such a cold-blooded bastard" Slade laughed as he put the ducky down and stepped out of the room, ready to hunt the prisoners down. "Oh, and Mr. Froofy," He said leaning back in, "You may deal with that rude intern as you wish."
The small ape's hands hid his cruel smile.
After causing enough of a ruckus to make even Batman go crazy, the kids made their way through the frenzied halls toward what would hopeful lead to a way out, the Garage Hangar.
"See anything we can use" Belle asked.
I/O scanned all the vehicles in question, unfortunately most were either broken, stripped of parts, or didn't run anymore, it was starting to look hopeless, until he spotted something that, while would attract attention, would get them out of this prison.
"We'll use this tank to bust out of here" I/O stated. "Looks kind of old, but hopefully it should still run".
" Even if you could run, there'd be no place for you to hide" spoke a voice that made the children tremble, for Slade stepped out from behind the tank, arms crossed and, even through the mask, bore an expression of malice.
"I must admit, you children are quite clever, what with all the hysteria you've caused around here. It's that kind of thinking that will make what I'm about to do so difficult."
I/O had lifted his gauntlet up and had prepared to release another blast of concussive energy. Unfortunately, Slade had anticipated this and before I/O could fire, grabbed the boy's arm and twisted it roughly, causing I/O to sink to his knees in pain. Lifting the boy up by his arm, Slade glowered at the children as he took in the terrified looks on their faces.
"Since you've children have proven to be far too unruly for your own good, I think we'll just get the Mindbender operation done with now, and since you've been leading things Isaac, you'll be the first" Slade taunted as I/O thrashed about in his grip.
"NOT ON OUR WATCH IRON-ASS!" came a voice that came from above, catching Slade off guard.
"What!" Slade muttered as he turned towards the voice, giving I/O the time to give Slade a steel-toed boot to the one place where not even iron underwear will protect you, causing Slade to drop him and grab his 'piece'.
Standing above them on a catwalk was what be described as something…awkward
"Belle…why is that man wearing underwear on his head "Digi asked
What Digi was referring to was the strange man on the catwalk wearing a white t-shirt and green cut-off cargo pants, wearing a towel tied around his neck like a cape, and a pair of polka dot boxers with eyeholes cut out on his forehead.
"Who are you" Slade growled, not really sure if he wanted to know this obviously insane person.
"Who am I, I'm the one guy who's gonna kick your metal-ass all over this base, for I am…" said the man as he tried to lean in, but tripped and went tumbling over the rail, all the while screaming on the way down "..DUUUUUUUDE" Gasp "MAAAAAANN!" Before hitting the ground face first.
Everyone looked at the strange person well…..strangely
"Who is this guy" Belle spoke in a voice of pure dumbfoundedness.
"He… is an idiot." A voice behind them said, thoroughly freaking the children out. "But more importantly, we are here to rescue you."
"Uhhhhh…right" I/O said
"So you meanie, evil villain man, how dare you capture innocent children for your vile, kinky plans, what are you some kinda pedo!" Dudeman spoke "Come Mysterious Robed Figure, we must unite in battle to unleash yon holy can of whupass on this evil fartstain"
"…Why do I feel violated just hearing an insult like fartstain?" The robed man muttered quietly.
"NNNNNOOWWWW! Feel the wrath of my Dude powers! MEGA DUDE FIST OF FURY!" Dudeman screamed primal fury as he took a swing at the figure of Slade who stood unmoving as Dudeman's fist connected with Slade's chest, who didn't move an inch and still stared, while Dudeman's fist ached with pain.
Meanwhile, M.R.F. was having problems of his own, "Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! How could I forget to cut arm holes?" He berated himself while attempting to dodge numerous slam dancing robots.
"Okay, one guy's wearing an underwear mask and the other's in a bedsheet straightjacket…" Sketch muttered.
"We're being rescued by a pair of goofballs." Belle replied.
The children watched in a state somewhere between amusement and horror as the robots were moshing with an unwilling M.R.F., while Dudeman was getting his ass handed to him by Slade, who had seemed to be so caught in kicking this fool around, he forgot about his little hostages.
"Who cares, they're the perfect distraction. Let's get out of here" I/O stated
"But shouldn't we help them" Belle said "Yeah, I don't think it was a smart move to fight Slade, but still..."
"Something tells me they'll be just fine. Besides, you wanna fight Slade?"
"…Good point, lead on."
As the very one-sided battles went on, the children piled into the tank and started looking for the ignition.
"I/O! Get off the floor and help me look for the start button!" Sketch yelled as he and Digi groped across the control board. Dropping to his knees he saw that I/O had gutted a portion of the panel. With a spark the engine roared to life.
"Dude! Since when can you hotwire a tank?"
"You wanna go ask Slade for the key? No? Then get down here, left one's the gas, I'll steer." I/O replied.
"Um.. how are we getting out?" Belle asked, when an enormous explosion rocked the room.
"I like that button!" Digi sang.
From outside the group heard "What IDIOT left that thing loaded? Shit! Where're those brats!"
"Slade's ticked…" Sketch mumbled.
"Stop yapping and hit the Gas," I/O ordered strapping himself into the driver's seat.
After hours of searching, interrogating, and snooping around, the Teen Titans had finally
learned that Slade had been recently using an abandoned military base just outside Jump City. After hearing the news, they made a beeline straight to the area in question, ready to deliver much pain.
"Terra, when I get my hands on Slade, I'm gonna turn into a gorilla and twist him into a human pretzel, then turn into a skunk and leave my mark on him." Beast Boy muttered
" Oh yeah, well I'm gonna shove a stalactite up his ass and then bury a mountain on top of him" Terra countered.
"Yeah, well Cyborg is gonna kick is his ass, strap him down, then operate on him and turn him into a can opener"
" Ok then, Raven is gonna go into scary four red-eyed demoness mode and do things to him that would make Trigon cry."
"But Nightwing was trained by Batman, so you know whatever he does will be scary"
"Yet everything else pales in comparison to what Starfire's gonna do to him.."
That was when they both went really quiet at the thought of what an angry, overly-emotional Tamaranean warrior-mother redhead would do to someone who would even so much as make any threatening moves towards her adopted children.
"I think we're gonna need a new city Beast Boy" Terra shuttered at the thought of an angry dragon sized Starfire breathing fire on a city populated with tiny versions of Slade.
This reverie was broken when Terra spotted the strangest thing she ever saw, a tank driving on the road.
" Hey BB, don't you think that's kinda odd to see a tank driving down the street?"
"We'll have to worry about it later, I can see the base from here" Beast Boy said as they were suddenly assailed by robots, robots who were doing the Macarena.
" ACK! MY EYES! zOMG! THEY BURN!" Beast boy shrieked as he suddenly watched as the robots suddenly started pulling off moves like in Michael Jackson's Thriller……then were promptly flattened by a nearby boulder.
" That was the second most terrifying thing I've ever seen" Terra muttered
"What was the first?"
"That time Control Freak started belly-dancing while in an episode of I Dream of Jeanie"
Beast Boy visibly shuttered as he made his way inside the base with Terra, while taking out more robots until the others showed up.
The tank continued lumbering forward down the road as it was coming closer to the city limits.
"So what do we do now?" Belle stated as she listened to the sounds of the treads moving.
"Well, assuming all goes as planned, we get as close to Titan's tower as this thing can get us, then make the last trip of our way there anyway we can." I/O stated as he continued driving. (Not bad for someone without a license)
"Well I hope we can ditch this thing soon, you don't wanna know about all the gross stuff underneath this control panel" Sketch mumbled as he looked up at spitwads, chewed gum, and some other nasty stuff we will not mention.
Belle stared out the window as she watched the looked over the scenery going by. Her parents would never believe everything she'd been through. It was amazing, all her life she'd wanted at least some excitement in her life, and all she had to do was make friends with two people. The first time she met Sketch, she thought he was a skinny, little freak who had straws in his ears in the cafeteria and sat by her in class. The two of them hadn't really been close until the teacher assigned them together for a geography project. They had been assigned a random state to do a report on; the project required an essay and poster as visual aid.
The project went surprisingly well. While it's true Sketch was hopelessly inadequate at the essay, he more than lived up to his name creating a poster to display the information Belle provided. As a result of this unexpectedly cohesive team's efforts, they'd easily received the class's top grade.
The two had become fast friends and common teammates since. As time went on, the two had been on all sorts of childish adventures and had been nearly inseparable when together. Then came the day Sketch had introduced her to the other person who would change everything: I/O.
When she had first spoken to the young genius, she had thought he was a rude, smarter-than-thou geek with absolutely no urge to have anything to do with the outside world. Not quite the friendly person Digi had made him out to be, but after the park incident and their project, she was casting him in a different light. While he was still quite irritable and quick to deliver insults, he possessed an intelligence and maturity that rivaled that of any adult, and always remained calm and rational no matter what situation he was in. In the time she had known him, she learned much more about building than she ever thought she would ever know.
Her reverie was broken when she noticed something out in the distance, she couldn't tell exactly what it was, but it was heading towards the base they had just escaped from. "Hey guys, what's that"
"What is it" I/O said as he continued driving, passing along the coast line.
"I can't see it all that well from here, but there's something flying out there"
"Hey Digi, can you take a look for us"
"'kay" Digi chimed as she looked through the telescope and practically squealed at what she saw "It's a huge rock floating out there!"
"Terra! Sketch hit the brakes!" I/O hollered
"Uhhh, which one is that?" Sketch pondered
"What do you think Sketch, if the gas is the left, than the brake is the right"
"And….what if there is no right pedal?"
" STOP SCREWING AROUND AND HIT THE BRAKES!"
"I TOLD YOU THERE IS NO RIGHT ONE!"
"Uhh, big brother, what's this?" Digi asked as she held up a pedal with frayed wires at the end.
"…..that would be the brakes" I/O said flatly as visibly started turning pale.
"OH MY GOD! WE REALLY ARE GONNA DIE!" Belle screamed as panic attack no.2 hit.
"Got any ideas I/O?" Sketch said
"Just one…" I/O muttered as he undid his belt "…ABANDON TANK!" was all he hollered as he climbed the ladder leading outside and opened the hatch.
" But what if this thing hit a building or something" Sketch shrieked.
" I've locked the steering column, this thing will keep running straight until it drives right into the ocean, but for now, let's get the heck outta here!"
The children had been standing on the top of the still moving tank as they watched the ground move beneath them, then looked ahead as a turn was up ahead, and if they didn't jump off now, they'd plunge into the ocean below.
"Grab hands and on the count of 3, we jump, ok" I/O commanded as they grabbed onto each other.
"3!" Sketch hollered as they all jumped off the top of the tank, rolling around on the grass as the tank just kept on going until it plowed through the guard rail and into the ocean below.
Belle opened her eyes and marveled that her fall wasn't as bad as she thought, and looked over to see Digi had been alright as well. "Well that wasn't so bad Digi, but where are the guys?"
"YOUR SITTING ON THEM!" Sketch had grumbled as both he and I/O lay underneath the two girls.
"Oh sorry!" Belle squeaked as she pulled helped the two up.
"Geez girls,you two better lay off the sweets, I think you two are getting fat" Sketch muttered, unaware that I/O had been inching away from him as soon as he opened his mouth.
Sketch had suddenly cowered as he felt the burning gaze of not just one, but two, angry girls on him as Belle had put the big-mouthed boy into a headlock and giving Sketch noogies .
"Getting fat! I help you up out of concern and you say I'm getting fat! What the heck is wrong with, Why I oughta just ….GRRRR!" Belle grumbled as she reached around and grabbed the seat of Sketch's underwear and practically pulled it so that she put it over his head, followed shortly by Digi kicking Sketch right in the shin, watching in glee as he grabbed his shin and hopped on one foot while his underwear was still pulled over his head.
"And do you have any snide commentary for us, Mr. I/O?" Belle grumbled as she turned to look at him, thinking he would've said something right now.
"If I did, I'm keeping them to myself now"
"snort So, what do we do now?"
"Guess we're walking it til we can find a bus or something"
"Walking, you gotta be kidding, I just get the king grand-daddy of all wedgies and get clocked right in the shins and you want us to walk!" Sketch muttered as he managed to pull his underwear off his head, then suddenly winced as Belle once again grabbed ahold of his underwear and pulled up.
"Then maybe this'll teach you to keep your smart-mouth comments to yourself! Now I don't like walking anymore than you do, but right now we've got no choice, so unless you want me to drag you by your underwear back into the city, stop bellyaching and get to stepping, you got that!"
"OWW! YES YES, JUST LET ME GO!"
And so the children had finally began their walk to the city, with Sketch keeping a good distance away from Belle, out of his own need for personal safety and the desire to want to go through the rest of the day without walking funny.
Slade was mad….no scratch that, Slade was absolutely pissed off. Not only had his plan gone completely bust and his new base had been in complete disarray, but what would he do if anyone were to find out that he, the great Slade, had been bested, no…downright humiliated by a gang of grade-schoolers, he'd be a laughingstock, and even with his two new punching bags (who were thrown into prison for now), he'd never be able to live this one down.
"Could things possibly get any worse!" Slade grumbled.
"Now that you mention it, yeah, it could" Had said a voice Slade knew well, the voice of Nightwing, and before he knew what had happened, he was tackled and currently being throttled around by a righteously and thoroughly pissed off Starfire, her eyes had been glowing a shade of green so brightly, they could've been radioactive……Boy, she was mad.
"My my, what a surprise to see you" Slade spoke with plenty of sarcasm, just what he needed to end the day with. The Titans stood before him, with each of them looking to be in no mood for games.
"Cut the crap Slade, where are the children" Cyborg demanded
"And if there's so much as one scratch on any of them, I swear I'll chop you up and feed you to Gnarmelian sandworm!" Starfire hollered as Slade swore he saw green flames leaping out of her eyes. He would have been ashamed to admit he was glad Cyborg held her back, but he could hear the metal man's gears creaking from the effort.
Slade stayed quiet and turned his head, how could he tell his greatest enemies that their little brats weren't here, they had left and he failed to stop them.
Getting even angrier by the second, Starfire jerked loose and had lifted her hand up and made a ball of energy that would surely turn whatever it hit into a pile of ash, and aimed it right at Slade, who swore now that her eyes had gone from green to red.
"Unless you want to become a nice little grease stain on the ground, you had better start talking "Raven spoke with much venom in her voice.
" Don't beat'em up too bad, save some for the rest of us" Terra said as she cracked her knuckles.
"Ditto" was all Beast Boy said.
"They're….not here" was all Slade said looking everywhere but at the Titans, no sense in getting killed over the little brats.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEY'RE NOT HERE!" Nightwing hollered as he got right into Slade's face, forcing the larger man back a step.
"They escaped, alright? they stole my tank and drove right on out of here. There are you happy?"
Nightwing couldn't believe what he was hearing, that Slade, who he had always known to be a master criminal and perhaps the greatest villain they ever faced, had been showed up by their children. Nightwing couldn't find the words to say what he wanted to, but luckily for him, the others had. So he did the only thing he could think of at the moment, he laughed.
"Boy Slade, this has got to be making you feel this big, huh." Raven sauntered as she clutched her her index finger and thumb a half inch together as Terra and Beast Boy had been rolling around on the floor, laughing out loud. "Want us to bring you some ice cream hun, it'll make you feel better"
"Oh man! I Think I just wet my pants!" Beast Boy said while laughing like he had heard the funniest joke in the world, and to him, he just did.
"Me too!" Terra joined in as she was laughing so hard, tears were coming out her eyes.
"Slade got his ass kicked by a buncha kids, OH MY GOD! I think I'm gonna blow a circuit!" Cyborg chuckled
"Do not worry Slade, I'm sure there are other criminals who have had worse things happen" Starfire consoled.
"Really"
"No, there isn't, in fact I do believe this is the single most pathetic thing I have seen during my time on Earth. I'm just trying to make you feel better about the fact that you, as Cyborg put it, got your behind kicked by our children, and now I will participate in the time-honored Earthling tradition of laughing at one's misfortune." Starfire said as she commenced with said laughing.
Finally regaining his composure, Nightwing had decided that finding their children was more important than partaking in the pleasure of Slade's humiliation.
"Okay team, let's go and find our children, I think Slade wants to be alone to sulk, and despite how truly hilarious this is, we've got more important things to do." Nightwing spoke as they started to leave and search the city, but before he left he turned to Slade, smiled, and saluted him goodbye "If it wasn't the fact that I hate your guts, I'd almost feel bad about all this. But I do, so I won't. Oh, and have a nice day" was all Nightwing said as he hopped on his T-cycle and rode off, listening to the ravings of revenge from Slade as if it was music to his ears.
The children had been walking for what seemed like hours now, and after listening to the protests of Sketch and Digi, had all finally agreed to stop and rest for a bit at a nearby bus stop.
"Man, how long have we been walking for now, my feet are killing me" Sketch muttered as he could feel the sweat the in his shoes like a wet rag.
"I dunno, five, maybe six miles" I/O said quietly as he wiped sweat from his head.
"How far 'til we reach Titans' Tower" Belle said as she tried fanning herself with a paper flier nearby.
"No clue" I/O spoke
"I'm so tired, big brother" Digi mumbled, leaning onto I/O for support, too exhausted to go any further.
"Can't we just get on a bus or something, I mean, if the Tower's such a sight around here, buses are bound to run nearby it" Belle said
"Because we don't have any money to pay the fare," I/O explained.
"But you guys are friends to the Titans," they'd probably let us ride free…" Belle reasoned.
"Might as well try, I'm too tired to go any further myself." Sketch commented
"Hey, here comes a bus right now" Belle looked to see a bus, driving slightly erratically, coming down the road.
"Boy, that driver's all over the place, think we should wait for the next one" Belle whispered to I/O
"But we have no idea how long it'll be before another comes, we could be here hours if we don't take this one." He replied.
I/O waved his hand as the bus stopped in front of the kid's and opened its door, showing the driver to be someone they couldn't believe.
"Mammoth!" was all I/O could say as he saw the hairy giant behind the wheel.
"Hey, I know you kids, you're with the Titan's. Wow, talk about chance meetings" Mammoth spoke, wearing the bus driver's hat on his head, despite the fact it didn't fit.
"Hi Mr. Mammoth" Digi waved to the former HIVE student
"Heading towards Titans' Tower kids?"
"Yes, thank you, but when did you start training to become a bus driver?" I/O inquired
"Uhh, yeah, about that"
The kids looked down the aisle to see the real bus driver, who was tied up and seated at the window, but other than that, looked completely calm and relaxed.
"Don't worry kids, we've been through this dozens of times" the bus driver said.
"Have a seat kid's, and I'll have you home in no time" Mammoth spoke as he put the bus in drive and made his way to the Tower.
"Why the hell are you watching Springer?" Blackfire asked the demon child.
"Just catching up, He's an old friend from home."
"You mean he's a demon?"
"Well duh," He replied dryly, "You think one of you humans could come up with anything as vile and hideous as this show?"
All Blackfire could do was shake her head, even after all the time she had been on Earth, some things still couldn't be explained.
It was all Blackfire could do to help her keep from feeling any more depressed about what happened at the fair. She had been fighting off robot after robot, and with each battered machine, she felt more active than ever, no amount of training and sparring could compare to the chaos of battle, she'd been deprived of the adrenaline rush for far too long, and it felt good to relive that surge. She let herself go and enjoyed the rush, but just as she was about to the point where everything meshed together, her body tensed up and felt like it was on fire.
'The pain……even after all those years, it always comes back' Blackfire lamented on the injuries and pain that nearly left her dead and gave her a constant reminder of her past life. It took her by surprise and she had to get herself together, it was all the time the machines needed to overtake her, and in an instant, had been overwhelmed and immobilized, with the remaining machines gassing and abducting the children. She had tried to fight back, but before she could get up to mount retaliation, Slade's machines swarmed her again, and the last thing she saw before blacking out was the children being taken away.
Blackfire was so lost in her reverie that she almost didn't hear the doorbell, and made a beeline straight for the door, flying so fast that she almost bowled over the demon, who had shouted a colorful 5-letter term for a female dog as she zoomed past.
Much to her disappointment, the person who stood before her was Mammoth, who had strangely driven in a local bus, as to why, well……who knew.
"Oh, hi Mammoth, sorry, she's not available right now, but I'll leave a message for you." Blackfire muttered with more than a hint of sadness in her tone.
"Huh, oh, ok thanks, but mainly I came up here to bring these young'ns back to ya. Found'm walking downtown and figured they could use a lift back "Mammoth said as the children rushed to greet Blackfire, who's eyes became as big as saucers at that moment.
"Aunt Blackfire!" Digi rushed and hugged her nanny, followed closely by the others.
"But….how?" Blackfire said, genuinely confused
"We escaped, long story" I/O stated
"Happy to have been a help…GAAHH!" Mammoth spoke before being embraced by an overly ecstatic Blackfire, unfortunately at times like this, Blackfire forgot how strong she was and had inadvertently put Mammoth in what both Sketch and I/O had dubbed the "Great Bearhug of Loving Death"
"Oh Thank you, Thank you Mammoth, How can I ever repay you!" Blackfire gushed with joy
"You please…..stop ….crushing my…spinal column!" Mammoth squeaked as he was literally being "loved" to death
"Oh!….I'm sorry, guess I kinda forgot about how emotional I can get sometimes" Blackfire chuckled while scratching the back of her head, the stereotypical anime sweatdrop appearing over the childrens' heads.
"Well, I've gotta get this bus back on it's route, take care ya'll" Mammoth waved as he limped his way back to the bus before Blackfire gave him another "loving embrace"
"Bye now, don't be a stranger hun" Blackfire waved the large man goodbye as the bus pulled out, then turned to the children. "Well, sounds like you four have had quite an adventure today, but escaping, now this I gotta hear"
The jovial mood that the Titans had previously after confronting Slade had now passed, and cold dread had filled them, they had searched every part of the city and could not find their children.
"What do we do now?" Terra spoke dejectedly
"For now, all we can do is head back to the Tower and see if we can get Titans East to help us" Nightwing said, he didn't want to stop searching, but he needed to be reasonable.
"But what if even they can't find them….what if…what if..." Starfire had finally broken down and started crying on the spot, fearing the most dreaded possibility.
"Starfire…..be strong, we'll find them….I promise" Raven had placed her hand on the redhead's shoulder, trying to soothe her friend and teammate
"Thank you friend Raven" Starfire said sniffling, regaining her composure as the finally reached the door, though what they heard was odd….it sounded like laughter…
"I know Blackfire's taking this hard, but don't you think its inapp…" Cyborg had begun before being shushed by Beast Boy
"Wait…I hear other voices…..I hear Sketch and I/O….THE KID'S ARE BACK!" was all Beast Boy said before he was trampled by the others as they rushed inside to greet their charges, thankfully Terra had helped him up, then they two rushed inside.
When they finally got to the dining room, Blackfire had been laughing so hard about what happened at Slade's she'd been hitting the table, but had retained enough awareness to know the Titans had arrived home.
"Oh man…guys, you gotta hear this, I think they must've driven Slade mad, and the dancing robots, OH MY GOD!" Blackfire had laughed loudly, nearly falling out of her seat.
Starfire had embraced the children as they exchanged tales about their day and talked for the rest of the day, but one thing puzzled I/O…
"Uhh, Miss Blackfire…who's the kid on the couch?" I/O regarded the demon.
"I have a name, you geek!"
"Ok, and just what is your name"
"Why should I, what, you gonna shove a probe up my ass or something"
"No, and would you please not use such language, we have ladies present. Besides, you don't want me calling you "Birdboy" or something like that, right"
"Birdboy!….why I oughta kick the sh…" was all the demon-boy said before Raven started giving him the look that said "finish that phrase and I start singing church songs"
"tsh, fine, my name is Malugendraciramek, now fear me!" he declared while trying to make himself look scary in front of I/O, who was regarding the boy as either stupid, insane, or possibly both.
"Mr… Mal?" Digi tried to understand the demonic name that seemed to crawl around the room once spoken.
"Of course!" Blackfire sang in a sickly sweet voice. "We'll call you Mal. You like that don't'cha?" She cooed pinching his cheek, fortunately managing to pull her fingers away before he tried biting her.
"…….right, and I assume that you'll be staying with us here then" I/O asked the unrepentant being.
" Hell no! In fact, I'm gone, nuts to all ya'll jackasses!" Mal screamed as he flew off the couch, but when he got outside the door, an unseen force practically dragged him back inside and discarded him on the floor.
"Sorry, but your bound to us since we captured you..." Raven told the demon child
"How about saying that in a way I understand"
"Your apart of our loving family now dear, get used to behaving like a good little boy" Raven translated in the same voice Blackfire had.
"FUCK!" was all he yelled before getting a bar of soap shoved into his mouth, courtesy of Raven.
"Well, it's been a real interesting day and all, but I think I should be getting home, no doubt my parents'll flip after hearing about what happened at the fair" Belle said
"Don't worry, I'll explain everything to them, it'll be alright" Nightwing stated as he made his way to door, but before the two left, Belle turned to I/O.
"I just wanted to thank you for, well, everything."
"Huh, oh, uhh, no problem, I mean, it's what anyone would've done really" I/O stuttered looking rather confused.
"Maybe now that I got to know you a little better, maybe we can be friends"
"Uhh…sure….I mean….I would like that" the boy said as he felt flustered.
"Take care" Belle said as she waved I/O goodbye as she left with Nightwing, leaving a blushing, though strangely pleased looking, I/O standing in the middle of the living room with a happy smile on his face, a look that didn't go unobserved.
"Awwww, how cute!" Terra said as she ruffled the boy's hair, then pulled him into a deep hug "our little I/O growing up so fast"
"I..I don't know what you mean, we're just friends. That's all" I/O said while turning a shade of red that would put a tomato to shame.
"If you say so….but don't feel embarrassed, it's really quite adorable" Raven spoke with a Cheshire- cat grin
I/O groaned as Cyborg, Beast Boy and Terra broke into a bout of the old-fashion "Kissin' in a tree" song as he had to endure Starfire giving him a lecture on 'growing up' while Blackfire & Raven watched in contented amusement as I/O turned even redder. Meanwhile, Digi and Sketch were getting to know their new friend Mal, who had started to mutter something about having to endure "an idiot and 19 out of 10 on the cuteness meter"
"Finally we're done," Etna muttered lounging on the couch.
"That was a lot of work, I'm so glad you asked the Prinnies to help." Flonne agreed.
"Ask nothin'," Etna retorted, "They're my vassals so they do what I say. They're not allowed to refuse."
"She's a real Slave driver, dood," one of the Prinnies commented.
"Get back to work you slackers!" Etna ordered. "If the story's done then you can go back to your normal duties."
"Dood, this job sucks." a Prinny said as they filed out of the room.
"Wonder who those two dolts were who fought Slade?" Etna muttered after her servants had left.
"And where are the authors? Should they have shown up by now?" Flonne replied.
Etna bolted upright "They couldn't have…" She rushed over to the intercom on the desk and pressed the button for the security desk. "Ruri, have you seen the idi… I mean the authors?"
"Yes," she replied, "Those baka's left earlier with a bunch of weird looking clothes and talking about beating up an Ironman wannabe."
"We must rescue them!" Flonne jumped up from where she sat, flames flickering in her eyes. "In the name of love and joy and…"
"Just shut up and come on," Etna said as she grabbed the ex-angel and dragged her from the room.
Well, at least it isn't a total loss," Slade commented as he looked at the two captives. "Mr. Froofy, hold that camera straight, I can't ransom hostages when the screen is crooked." He spared a glance at his hostages. The robed one held a sign pleading for help, while the one called Dudeman looking rather more battered held a sign that read "Hi Mom!"
"You will not be ransoming anyone vile villain of hate, anger and all things not cute!"
"Aww hell, "Slade muttered, "What is it now?"
"It is I! Flonne, champion of love, justice, cuteness, kindness, mercy…"
"She'll go on like that for hours if you let her." A voice to Slade's right said.
"Who? what? How did you get in here?" He asked the little devil girl.
"I walked, Now if you don't mind," She gestured to the two still bound prisoners she was dragging. "I'm taking these two home."
"What makes you think I'm gonna let you OWWW!" Slade yelped. He turned and glared at the third person on his left.
A little blue-white haired girl in a security uniform holding a still sparking cattle prod stood there "Let us go or get another poke…" She threatened.
"Sure, Why not?" Slade yelled, "What else could go wrong today? WHAT?" He screamed at the rafters.
Mr. Froofy made a few chimp hoots at him.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN WE WERE BROADCASTING?"
James: Okay, I know we broke one of the primary rules of decent fanfiction by doing a self insertion, but we really thought this would be good for a laugh… and since that's our whole concern, we decided to enact an overruling rule: Screw the rules.
Steve: Anarchy Baby!
James: Right…
Steve: But the real reason for the self- insert was this.. you know how many fanfics we've read where the author puts themselves in and gives themselves uber-l337 powers and abilities, or becomes the significant other of a main character, thereby destroying the plot, or something else cliché'd and Mary Sue'd….TOO MANY! So we decided to make our own twist on this concept.
James: Too true. On another note, You may be wondering why we turned Slade into a complete moron… Well, after years of being beaten up by pre-teens, resurrected, and probably cloned a couple times, I sincerely doubt he's still got all four wheels on the floor. Besides, it's funny.
Steve: To be honest, we're both fans of Slade and we think he's a cool villain, but Slade is also one of those villains where you can make him look like a complete and total jackass and still make him look cool. Besides, like James said, he's probably died and come back to life more times than Goku from Dragon Ball, so you gotta figure he'd be a little scatterbrained. And now on to our favorite section, the reviews.
A Dragons Wings:
Steve- Thanks for the kinds words and we're glad you liked chap.4, even though it took forever to write. Hopefully, chap.6 won't take so dang long, and we intend to make it very funny. We're still trying the think of a new title, but for now, it works. Well, take care and keep on smiling.
James- Glad you liked chapter 4, Hope you like 5. I'm still rather unsure about the Title, but (shrug) not much I can do about it. Oh, and as for chapter 6… It'll take forever to write, months perhaps (crosses his fingers and hopes reverse psychology works)
Raven002:
Steve-I fully understand about the job bit, mine kinda reminds or Mr. Rodgers. But thanks for the kind review and I hope your boss doesn't give ya too much hell.
James- My boss is an ineffectual twit who thinks 'talking it out' will get delinquent employees to straighten up… I'm not fond of him, as you can likely tell. I'm not in college currently , but I intend to go soon enough. Glad you like the story. Hope you don't gotta deal with your inferior superiors too long ;)
Steve: Wow, we've got just about everything in this chapter, don't we dude.
James: Almost, (Throws a massive penguin launching catapult into the fic) Okay, now we've got it all.
Steve: Now we must get to work on chap.6, we've got lots of ideas and little time to get them done. So, let's get to cracking James, but one thing still confounds me?
James: I'm confounded that you even know a word like confound.
Steve: ha..ha…ha…Jackass.
James: Flattery will get you everywhere, but what is it you're wondering about?
Steve: Why did Etna have to shackle our feet to the desk (referring to the shackles on their right ankles, connected to long chains ties to the writing desk)
James: I'm more concerned about the Cerberus guarding the door.
Steve: Oh well. Hey James, wanna go make fun of Gizmo and poke him with sticks until we get bored and end up doing something completely random and with the possible risk of injury and/or death.
James: Only if we get to blow up a few government buildings…
Steve: Then it's a plan. Quick my friend, we have a midget to heckle (gates out of authorspace)
James: (leaves a note asking Etna to feed the Cerberus and gates as well.)