Sorry for the long update. Kind of busy with stuff and so on and so forth. Glad you guys are enjoying this! It feels so good to get reviews…you know how it feels to know people are reading and enjoying what you write. Wonderful feeling. You guys rock!
This chapter, I am proud to present, is very interesting...though I find interesting good, so therefore I believe it is good. I warn you for a bit of language yet again, and I am sorry if you get terribly confused. Trying to analyze the paragraphs closer than usual to see what might cause confusion…. This is a bit shorter than the last two chapter, though not by much. Head's up, things change…though if you change a person, you really are destroying them.
If you had a question about what the history lesson was, just imagine our history, and pick out all the bad details and throw in some more gruesome stuff in it, highlight all the gory events, and you have what Ramka told Starfire. I found that it would be a little long to write this in the story ...our history is very long and complicated…. There was nothing happy in his lesson…
(Note to you lovely reviewers at the bottom! Thanks a lot!)
Crap, the fonts. Well…. all I can say is that they are really screwed. I believe sometimes the bolded parts are bolded…and other times they aren't. If you think its distracting plz feel free to tell me. Sorry bout that, but I blame the site for doing so…. it will be mighty obvious if it's with Ramka or not. My apologies…
Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans, and if they had a choice I am sure they would gladly have liked to own themselves…. but I own my imagination.
Chapter 10
Four days it has been since the Titan's companion, Anielle, had been with them. Four long days it has been since they had started on their journey to stop Ramka, and when things appeared to seem good, it was far from it. The first day they began, they longed to forget, though it always haunted their minds. Hot weather plagued the four Titans and Anielle, causing them to sweat more than they ever thought possible. The weather caused them to be irritable and wish for the ice cold North Pole.
Throughout the last three days, the five travelers rested a few times during the day for about an hour, and a longer rest during the night, where everyone would try to get some sleep, Raven would meditate, and Cyborg would charge himself up. Always the nights were darker than what it should have been, and the heat stayed in place, always there to make one suffer. The hot weather made the traveling even more unpleasant than it already was. Nothing changed around them; the grass was yellowish, and the sky lost its brightness, and the lovely green hills were gone from their line of vision. To add onto the bad news, Cyborg's new and improved air conditioning broke on the third day, forcing them to keep the windows open and let in all the hot air and whatever cold air their was (barely any). Not many words had been exchanged except on rare occasions when they stopped at a rest stop to get some food and drinks, or if they suggested a movie to watch.
It was in the middle of the fourth long and interminable day. The sun was shining down on the T-car on the side of the road. Inside rested five hot teens longing for cooler weather. The temperature rose till about a hundred degrees with lots of humidity, causing sweat to drip down their faces, and Cyborg's new and improved thermometer placed on the roof of the car to explode. Raven commented about how stupid it was to even put a thermometer on a car.
"It's so dang hot," groaned Beast boy. "Cyborg… please tell me that you can at least try to fix the air conditioning? It's hotter with the windows open than them being shut."
"That's not true," Cyborg said. "We would suffocate in here if we closed all the windows, now of all times since we are just sitting here. And no, I can't fix the air conditioning because it's broken…. I spent an hour trying to get it perfect…"
"So you're basically saying we're screwed?"
"Yup."
"Great." Beast boy fiddled with the moveable seat while drinking the rest in his soda can. After managing to only get a few drops out of the can, he said, "Well, it's a good thing the refrigerator still works."
"Yeah," Raven said, staring out her open window somewhere far away in the distance, than muttered, "Let's hope Beast boy won't break it."
"Hey!" yelled Beast boy, his voice cracking from lack of soda. "Why would I break it?"
"She's right, you know," Cyborg said, eyeing the changeling. "That things vital. I don't think we can trust Beast boy for going anywhere near it."
"You guys know I won't break it!" said Beast boy. "Why would I do that?"
"Did he break the air conditioning?" Raven asked curiously. The only reason why she chose to talk was so she could forget about the heat and everything else and just focus on insulting Beast boy's lack of doing things right.
"No, I didn't," Beast boy said. "Even if I did, I wouldn't even know how to break it in the first place. I don't even know how to it works!"
"Will you guys be quiet?" Robin said hoarsely from the front as he tried to get some shuteye, though unsuccessfully due to the voices. He hadn't spoken the last three days, along with the usual silence of Anielle. The other three titans hated to see him quiet and brooding. They always tried to be courteous towards him whenever he did speak. Anielle barely noticed anything since she was trying to keep control of herself against her brother, who had been plaguing her ever since he appeared in her mind.
"Sure Robin," Cyborg said. "I think we should keep going. It's been about an hour since we've been resting. Man, it's getting hotter by the second, too. It'll be nice to get some wind, no matter how hot it is."
"Do we have any more sodas?" Beast boy asked, making a move towards the fridge.
"One," Cyborg said. "Since you've already had three today, we should let someone else get the last soda. I've had two. I think Robin and Raven has had the same amount."
"Anielle's only had one," Raven said. From lack of trusting the girl, she kept an eye on every move she made ever since Starfire had been captured.
"Alright, Anielle, you get the last one," Cyborg said.
"I don't want it," came her simple reply.
"Anielle, you should have it," Cyborg said, turning around to face her. "No one's getting dehydrated today or any other day on this trip. Drink it."
Without any choice, the girl was forced to take the soda. As she and the others made a move to get their seatbelts on, a swishing noise stopped them in motion.
The big whooshing sound filled the silence and then a sudden BAM! erupted twenty feet beside the T-car, whipping up hunks of dirt and causing the T-car to almost capsize. As the dust cleared, the appalled passengers looked out to their right at the big indent in the ground a few feet away. The blazing sun that reflected off the black dirt hurt their eyes.
"Whoa," Beast boy said. "What was that?"
"I don't know," Cyborg said. "Looks like a…"
"What the heck was that?" Robin said seriously.
"A…bomb?" guessed Beast boy wildly.
"A bomb? Out here in the desert?" Cyborg asked.
"No," Raven said, "This isn't the desert. It's just hot. Whatever that thing was, I don't think it was a bomb. It was something bigger. It was about twenty five feet away, and we felt it."
"We could feel a bomb twenty feet away too," Beast boy argued. "If it was a big one…which it does look like."
"Holy crap!" yelled Cyborg. "What the hell is it aiming for?"
A realization hit Robin just before Cyborg asked the question. Anielle was the one who told him the obvious, and cursed him self silently for not seeing it through and through. Us. "GET OUT OF THE CAR! NOW!"
A louder whooshing sound than before filled the silence as if it were an oncoming hurricane. An extremely loud explosion filled their ears when the rocket hit its target: the T-car.
--
--
"So you see, happily ever after stories aren't the end. Nothing turns out to be happy in the end. Nothing. It's just a beginning of something worse," Ramka said disgustingly. He answered, to his distaste, a question on something about Disney movies, or rather one that had something to do with 'white snow'. He had regretfully told her the ending (the movie was Snow White, the prince kissed the princess, so on and so forth). Ramka wondered how she even remembered that when he for sure deleted it from her memory. Moments before he told her about the kingdom dying a horrible and painful death the next day, the 'Prince Charming' escaping somehow in a tragic uncivilized way, than decided to cheat on the ugly and unfortunate Snow White, and many other unneeded details that made Starfire stare at him in slight interest but mostly in disturbance. She did not quite need to hear every stringy word he had said. Her stomach did flips.
The last few days Ramka had not paid too much attention to what Starfire asked, or what she said, or even what he said after he gave her that wonderful and educational history lesson. Other things were happening that drew his attention from Hadan. Two days before, he sent out ten of his men to the Messengers hideout (A Microsoft Building) to diminish all within, and sent two of his men to fish out the ones who were delivering messages or patrolling. Yesterday marked the day that there would be no living Messenger ever again. His Watcher had showed him everything he needed to see to believe it was true. It brought a smile to his old beardless face.
One thing made him mad. And what do you know, it was Andrew who caused this. When he returned to Ramka three days before, he returned with his right hand cut off and a smug look on his face. How stupid he was, cutting of his own damn hand, was Ramka's only thought. Not wanting to find out exactly what he did with his right hand, he sent him on his next assignment to Jump City.
How Ramka spoke with his men was by exiting out of Hadan while still appearing to be seated across from his victim and putting his full attention inside his cave. That's what he had been doing lately, though sadly he still heard every word Starfire and he himself said. Usually he was looking through the eyes of his Watcher to see what was going on. An hour before he sent one of his best men, Cornelius, (along with a tip to steal a nice rocket launcher with much pleasure in the taking) to blow up the T-car. The exact instructions Ramka had given him was this: 'Shoot a warning shot twenty three feet away from the actual target. Wait, and then do as instructed: blow up the car, and leave unnoticed to your next assignment.'
He bet that this bummed the tall long green haired man (one of his Watchers) who called himself Corn that he could not actually kill the passengers in the car, but he would be able to kill as much as he desired where he was to go next: Jump City. There he would join up with Andrew and Andrew's favorite hobo friend, Riley. Corn would show Ramka everything that went on there, and hopefully would make him pleased by showing in great detail the way Andrew was to murder Riley. Ramka hoped Andrew would put on a good show for him.
"Are there any other questions you would like to ask about this damnable Snow White?" Ramka asked smugly.
"No…" Starfire looked around, confused. Her eyes had been locked to Ramka's for who knew how long, and now she thought his eyes would bore holes into her forehead if she stared at them any longer. Starfire looked out into the garden through the glass walls. A thought sprung up in her mind, one that was caused by her stomach growling. "I am hungry…is it possible—''
Before she finished her question, all kinds of her favorite foods from Earth and Tamaran appeared out in front of her and Ramka, along with two cups of tea and lumps of sugar in a bowl. Starfire's eyes widened, and at once began to devour the food. There was a cup of mustard that Starfire practically attacked.
"I feel like I have not eaten for…four days!" Starfire exclaimed with her mouth full. "But it hasn't even been an hour…."
"Don't dwell upon the thought," Ramka said with fake cheerfulness as he sipped out of his cup of tea. He didn't have an appetite for anything that was on the small glass table. It was all Starfire's favorite, and that was the way it would be. The food was just a mere illusion anyway.
Before long, the food disappeared, and Starfire wiped her hands clean with a napkin that appeared out of thin air. Sitting back, and burping with a polite 'excuse me', Starfire sipped out of her tea, which contained four lumps of sugar.
"Full?" Ramka asked, as he made the empty trays and plates disappear with an unneeded wave of his hand.
"Yes, I am. I thank you, Fence," Starfire said. "But how…?"
"The mind," Ramka replied with a wise tone in his unpleasant voice. "The mind. Enough said."
"The mind…" Starfire played around with what his words for a moment, than asked quite curiously, "Fence, what is the mind?"
This question caught Ramka off guard. She was asking about the mind. Not one of the Hadan victims has ever asked that question before. This alien girl never stopped surprising him. He was aware that nothing in her mind had wanted to ask this question. Ramka usually could read what she was going to say before she said the words, but this time that didn't happen. Ramka didn't read anything in her mind about the screwy Snow White either. He looked at Starfire blankly.
"Is this a problem for you to answer, friend?" Starfire asked, a pinch of menace in her voice.
"No, Nameless," Ramka said quietly. "I was just thinking. Is it wrong to think?"
"No," Starfire replied.
"So," Ramka said, finishing up his cup of tea. He grunted. "You want to know about the mind, huh?" Ramka felt like smashing his delicate yet ugly pink teacup against the glass table, but thought against it. He received an eager nod. "All right. Fine. But tell me this first, Nameless, why do you ask?"
"I…" Starfire said, looking around. "I thought since you always say 'the mind. Enough said…' during the history lesson when I asked certain questions and then just now, I would like to know about this…. mind. Surely it is not the same thing as the brain?"
"I see," Ramka said, studying Starfire's face. Ever since he had given her the history lesson, her face had deepened into a less happy Starfire, and a crease between her eyebrows had formed. Now all he had to get rid of was the high preppy voice and the 'do not's' and she would be perfect to work with…. if she was not to die. "You are correct. The mind isn't the brain. It is by itself…" He cleared his throat. "All right, I will explain." He put on a fake grin, which made Starfire smile a bit as well. "The mind. The mind is a very difficult thing to explain to one such as you. A human. Such a—''
"Wait, what are you then?" Starfire interrupted.
Ramka sighed heavily, trying not to lose his head. He was more than just irritated at her for interrupting him, as she had done every single flipping second he said something she didn't get during the history lesson. That was another thing he had to get rid of…interruptions. "I am not human," he said, straining to stay calm. A vain was pulsing on his forehead. "Is that not enough for you?"
"I wish to know…"
"Why? Why do you want to know? Why is this important?" Ramka's voice lifted a notch in volume. "I am your friend! Is that not enough?" Yet again the question had caught him off guard, her wishing to know who he was. This girl was a great disturbance…he thought of paying more attention to her and her puny mind so he could be without the feeling of surprise.
"Fence," Starfire said softly. "You are my friend. My greatest friend I could possibly have and –'' Ramka almost choked at these words, "I know that that is a lot already, but if you are such a person to me, then I am sure you told me what you are before I…forgot." She gazed longingly into Ramka's, which startled him immensely. "Please, please, I beg of you. Tell me."
She is a good convincer, Ramka thought irritably. But damn…. this girl…. He was now more pleased than ever that she would soon be suffering horribly, and than would be dead. Deader than dead. "You have convinced me, friend," he said warily, and also saying the word 'friend' with great hatred. He hated the word just as much as he hated the word 'human'. "I am not human, as I have so much have stated. I am far from it. For I am a Schughz Kahnz." He said the last two words with great triumph in his voice.
"A what?" Starfire asked, confusion sweeping her darkening face away.
Looking away from her green eyes, he said quietly, "I am a Soul Stealer. A Schughz Kahnz. Translated exactly. Now, is that enough?"
"What is this Soul Stealer?"
Of course, Ramka thought. More questions from her. The victims before her at least had a comforting conversation before asking questions every single fucking second…
The next time he would put someone through Hadan (and he was planning on it to be quite soon), he would make sure that human person would be silent the whole time. "Do you want to hear about the mind, or are you going to keep getting me off subject?" Ramka said, not bothering to hide his annoyance.
"Oh!" Starfire's face returned to its darkening stage again. "I am sorry, deeply sorry…"
"Don't be," Ramka said. "Everyone who says shit like that isn't. Never say you're sorry."
"Than what shall I say?"
Ramka rolled his eyes. "Say nothing. Now, can I continue my monologue, or will you keep asking these questions?"
"Please, continue."
"Good. Now, as I was saying, such simple mindedness has become of all you humans. This damnable world has been poisoned! Teaching people that they should serve justice and all that crap that shouldn't have anything to do with this world…" Ramka smiled. "The mind. It is best described to you as a room. Yes…a room with no windows, no door, no complete direction… a square room. Whiteness is all you see, blunt whiteness, and if you looked closely you would have seen the corners. That is your mind.
"Though, it is not just a room. It is vague whiteness. Others, such as you, such as humans, unlike me and the men that work for me, and those damn human Messengers who go beyond their own goddamn knowledge…" his smile faded. He mumbled something about them lucky not to be killed by him, about him being quite content with their deaths, and then continued. "Others see just vague blackness. Floating darkness…this marks that they don't know the true meaning of the mind. You see within your mind if you close your eyes. If you see whiteness, you truly understand your mind, and can have the ability to do more with it and see more beyond the white walls. If you see blackness…you're screwed, and know nothing. Though other's who see whiteness, such as myself and my men…. and humans who used to and are dead…. can see it anytime they wish, other than closing one's eyes."
Starfire quickly closed her eyes, seeing blackness. "I do not understand, friend Fence," she said, opening her eyes. "What is the dreaming, then? How do you—''
"One question at a time," Ramka said. "Dreaming is the mind and the soul colliding, making the illusion of what you call…dreaming." Or if you have any guts, Hadan, he thought. Thought that would be two minds and two spirits….
"And you steal this soul, correct?"
"Yes. The name says it all. Though I don't steal worthless souls, I steal souls that have a use in my power."
"Oh….I see, but what is the soul? Is it what keeps you alive? Our total self? Our spirit? Our feelings? Emotional nature of us humans and you…and…. other things? I mean, people such as you?"
Ramka stared at her blankly, grinned suddenly, than said quickly, "Yes, yes. What you said. The mind is what control's the soul, your own mental being, so on and so forth." He thought he had wiped out all that information as well, but he was wrong, again. Blimey, this old age... Ramka knew from recent experience that once those questions Starfire asked were answered, the next batch was up. Even though he was hoping she would ask questions, he also wasn't expecting her to ask so many. He lost count on how many awhile ago.
A bright light shined in her green sapphire eyes, making them seem unreal to her deepening face. Ramka had to force himself to keep in his seat, or otherwise he would have ripped those eyes right out of their sockets without a second's hesitation. "How do you become to understand the mind?"
"You have to know all the mind can do before mastering it. Before you can use it to read other's minds, make things appear, stop time—''
"Stopping time," the alien girl gasped. Ramka thought she remembered him doing so him self, but was happily mistaken; she was deeply interested. "Please continue…."
"—And many other things," concluded the old man. He hoped she wouldn't push on. Sure, he could force the information out of her mind, but that would ruin the fun of Hadan. Forcing out too much information from the victim's mind would make them stupid, and talking to stupid people made Ramka very disoriented. (His men always thought stupidity ran off on Ramka if one such person came near to him.) Four days it has been, only three left till she dies and she was changing already. Things were going good…. but not exactly as he had foreseen it.
"What?" she said, disappointed. "Please, go on! I truly wish to master the mind." A moment passed, and when Ramka did not speak a word, Starfire said, "Fence, will you not tell me? I truly wish to know…once you have started telling me, why do you stop? We have all day to talk about the mind."
Three days, my dear, Ramka thought amusingly. Seventy-two hours. It will take more than that to explain the mind, and master them all. Though I highly doubt you could do so yourself.
A minute went by, and still he did not speak.
Starfire slowly finished off the tea that had started to grow a bit cold, and wiped off what crumbs were left on her lap. She sighed while a thought was placed in her mind, forced in there by the one and only Ramka. "What do I have to do to get you to tell me?" she asked obediently.
"You really want to know?" Ramka asked, looking at her with amusement.
"Yes. What do I have to do?"
"It's a long list. Surely you don't want to deal with it."
"I do. Tell me."
"Fine, fine. But for later understanding—'' he was positive there would be no later understanding, "—be reminded that you chose to do such and such."
"No worries, I will remember," Starfire said confidently.
"Good, now… First…" he looked up at the clear ceiling thoughtfully. "You have to cut off all your hair, leaving it quite short, and wear something better than what you're wearing. Sickening, your outfit…" He had to at least enjoy the change that would become of his victim.
--
--
All that was left of the T-car was just a pile of charred crap in the middle of a large gaping hole. Even the blackened pile wasn't much, but it was all Cyborg had left of his well loved car.
"My…my car!" shrieked Cyborg. "Who the heck did this to my car!"
All five stood a few feet away, looking warily at where they had sat, and would have died a few minutes before if they didn't jumped out of the car when told to by Robin.
"We…could have been killed," Beast boy said, stunned.
"Yeah, we could have. And we still can, if whoever shot those things chose to do so," Robin said, looking around and inspecting his surroundings. He half expected to see a man running from the scene.
"No one's out there Robin," Raven said, scanning the area as well. "We're alone."
"Then who shot at us? And with what?" Beast boy asked frantically.
"This was Ramka's doing," Robin said seriously, looking at Raven. "Don't say it's not. You know as well as I he would be the only one to think up a thing like this."
"My car…." Cyborg said in a high-pitched voice, lost for words. He knelt down beside the pile of ashes, his face full of agony.
"Even if it was him, he would have killed us," Raven said. "Surely he would have killed us if he made all the trouble in blowing up the T-car."
"He didn't. He didn't because he made a warning shot first." Robin pointed at the indented blackened spot twenty feet away from them.
"This is stupid," Raven said. "Whoever did it, they served their purpose. Now we have to walk to the next rest stop. The last sign we passed said forty miles…we are going to have to walk.
"Exactly," Robin said, a gleam in his eyes. "I'm positive that's what they intended."
"My car…" whimpered Cyborg over and over again.
"Can't you just fly us over there, or teleport us?" Beast boy asked Raven hopefully.
"The problem is, we don't know exactly where the next rest stop is," Raven said.
"We can't fly?"
"There are two people here who can fly, and three who can't. We are going to have to walk."
"Walk forty miles?" Beastboy looked at her as if she were the living dead.
"Yes…and judging by the heat, it will be a long hard walk…" Raven looked peculiarly at Anielle, as if it was her fault this had happened. Anielle just stood their looking pitifully at Cyborg, who seemed close to tears.
"Cyborg, come on, we got to get going," Robin said. He tried to sound nice about it, but the heat started to get to him more than it had in T-car. When Cyborg failed to answer, he repeated his words.
"Why did they have to destroy my baby?" yelled Cyborg, throwing up his hands in the air and hanging his head.
"Cyborg," Robin said softly.
"What? Are you going to say get over it, deal with it, it will be ok?"
"No, I'm not," Robin said. "It looks like things won't be ok, since we aren't in a very good position. But we do have to get going. I'm sorry about your car, Cyborg. It's a shame we could not have saved it."
"Thanks Robin," Cyborg said, standing up slowly. He looked around, and gazed at his fellow friends. "Well…I guess we got to get going then..."
" Forty miles," squeaked Beast boy.
"Yeah," Robin said. "Let's go…"
The heat and humidity was what made a half an hour seem more than it really was. Their steps became strained . In about an hour the heat began to weigh down on each of their shoulders like heavy unseen boulders.
All they knew of was what surrounded them, and each step that felt like gazillion. Gasping for breath while they felt nothing in their numb legs, their sweaty sides aching, their faces reddening due to the sun's hot and scornful rays. Their throats were parched since they had not sipped anything liquid for as long as they could remember. Parched throat, burning eyes, drowning in their own sticky sweat, a billion bonfires burning in one's mind, heart beating constantly against one's rib cage, crying out for mercy.
Beast boy felt the heat the worst, or so he thought. He had changed from dog, to cat, to humming bird (you couldn't tell it was a humming bird; it was going so slow), to rhino, to ant, and finally back to human form, completely tired out mostly by being compressed by the hot air that didn't supply the oxygen in need of his screaming lungs. He felt that the air would kill him in an instant in it's own particular choosing. Not for long he started to have hallucinations.
"Sick, Beast boy," gasped Cyborg hoarsely, who was walking next to him. Drool was coming out of the changeling's hanging mouth, the substance most likely to evaporate sooner than later.
"Chocolate….moose….pie…" Beast boy crooned softly.
Shaking his head slightly at Beast boy's suggestion of food, Robin looked ahead for anything in sight. A car, a sign, even a hobo with pitchforks as so long as they could get out of this heat. He was walking behind Beast boy and Cyborg, who was inching back away from the changeling, since more drool was escaping Beast boy's mouth. Robin thought he saw a car come into view up ahead, but then it turned into a floating glass of sparkling ice cool beautiful looking spring water, and knew at once he was hallucinating.
Raven walked ahead of them all, thinking that this was the lamest thing she could be doing now of all times. Anielle hung in the back, sweating immensely due to the color of her clothes: black. Just the thing she needed, more sun. But what she didn't know just then was what was going to happen next.
A striking pain hung in her stomach, rippling up and down her whole sticky aching body. It felt like several daggers punching into her skin, into her veins, beneath the bones and through all the puny living cells in her suffering body. Her vision began to blur more than it already was. In less than an instant her sight swiveled up into vast blackness, forcing her to walk blindly. Anielle feared what was to come…
Her brother. Her brother, of all times of choosing to take over her with his full power, and all the times after Anielle never slept to fight for her freedom of herself, he chose now. When she was weakening ,out in the hot air that squeezed every living thing out of her. He chose this time to strike.
Robin jumped out of his skin when a voice sang out in his mind. He hadn't heard anything in his mind since the first day, the first day he longed to forget.
Robin, called the voice. He at once knew it was Anielle, trying to speak to him. He was unaware about how much pain was placed in the two syllables. Robin…
His eyes behind his mask opened wide as he looked around to see Anielle sweating like hell behind him. Hi Anielle, he thought back to her. Doing ok back there?
Robin, I have to ask you something, came her brisk reply.
Yeah, sure, what is it? Robin turned to face the front and noticed that Cyborg was walking beside him with a disgusted look on his sweaty half robotic face. He nodded to Robin, and he nodded back. Two things they both knew: It was so freaking hot out, and Beast boy and hotness doesn't cope, especially when his hallucinations take a step from liquid to solid food.
No….crap no…. Anielle said these words with a troubling sigh in them. Fierce steel claws took her legs, digging deep within her soul drawing out what good was left in it…sharp blood thirsty teeth of a devouring wolf dug into her screaming mind….poison from the deadliest beasts slithered into her veins, into her heart, turning it into hard stone…pumping black ice cold blood throughout Anielle's body which she once owned….not anymore….
We can talk all the way to the next rest stop. Go ahead and tell me anything you like. Robin found a liking to speak in the mind. It felt like a light breeze, cooling him off.
I'm sorry… Anielle was blinking back hot dark bloody tears, and hugging herself tightly. She had lost control… She knew Robin couldn't help her anymore.
Why? Is that a question? Robin joked.
Anielle's insides were burning with freshly opened wounds. She felt her dark grey eyes changing painfully into vague blackness, a dark color you could easily get lost in by just the mere look upon them. Her sight, her eyes changed into this color since it was the only thing she had left to control, even though her brother could still see what she saw. It was as if a she, the puppet, could still move, even though her brother could slip his fingers into her and move her any which way. Anielle's mind, body, and soul were taken by her brother's never ending power…. I am sorry that I could not have helped you…it was all my fault…said Anielle with her last power of her voice….thenanother voice unlike Anielle's said menacingly…you are blind…
What do you mean? Robin asked, but in vain. He asked a few more times, but got no answer. He wanted to turn around and see what was up with her, but the heat decided for him. Turning around would be a very uncomfortable thing to do in this boiling heat.
"We…are going to…die," Beast boy said dramatically as his hallucinations suddenly disappeared. "We aren't going to make it…forty miles….forty miles!" He started to cough a bit.
"We'll make it," Robin said hopefully, not even trying to hide concern in his voice.
"No…no we won't…" Beast boy said after his coughing stopped. "We are going to die out here. If we ever stop, we will fall down onto the hot sizzling ground, die, become rotted corpses while being feasted upon those vultures up there…" He began to cough again. Each cough came out ragged and lengthy, as if Beast boy was throwing up something that wished to stay down.
"Whoa," Raven said, turning around to face Beast boy. "Beast boy, we are not going to die. We—''
"No," Beast boy said between coughs. "We …will….die…" Beast boy doubled over, coughing horrendously.
"Beast boy!" yelled Cyborg and Robin , both catching him before he fell to the ground. They exchanged worried glances as the changeling's coughing failed to cease while hot tears ran down his sunburned cheeks. There was no way he could breathe.
"Raven!" Robin yelled.
Raven quickly came to his aid, but was distracted by the dark figure behind them. Anielle was standing there, staring at Beast boy with a smirk on her face unlike her. Her eyes had changed a darkening color, and her facial features turning from sad feminine to somehow the fury of masculine. The only thing that reminded Raven of Anielle was her innocent eyes, despite the change of the color. She stood standing there lost in those dark black unmoving pools of oblivion. Raven shook her head quickly, and knelt down beside Beast boy, her hand glowing. She knew something had changed about that orphan.
'Hold him still," she ordered quietly.
"We…can't…" Cyborg said. "His coughing is forcing him to move!"
"Well, try then," Raven said, annoyed.
Cyborg and Robin got a better hold of him, Cyborg whispering sorry if he was hurting the poor guy. Beast boy was still coughing horribly. Raven put a glowing hand to his throat, at once healing his dry throat. As silence enveloped the four Titans. Beast boy gave a grin that lifted his fellow teammates' spirits. He was all right. Beast boy gave a silent thank you.
"You're welcome," Cyborg said happily patting him on the back. "Don't do that to us again. You freaked us out."
Beast boy mouthed a sorry, obviously clear that he didn't want to risk speaking again in fear of a killer coughing spree. He had a slight idea his thoughts about becoming dead corpses on the dirt ground, but he soon forgot.
"Raven," Robin said, as he and Raven got up. "What's wrong? You look worried."
Raven gave another quick look at Anielle as the smirk left her savage looking face. "It's nothing," she said seriously. Nothing at all, Raven thought to herself, hoping to convince her growing suspicions.
"Hey Rae, you think you can use your powers to shield the sun from us?" Cyborg asked cheerfully. He stood up with a deathly looking green hamster on his shoulder. "I feel stupid that I didn't think of it earlier, or having Beast boy here on my shoulder. His drool threw me off." He grinned, and the hamster stuck his pink tongue out at him.
"Let's keep going," Raven said, not answering his question. "I think there's a sign up there."
"You sure it isn't a big glass of sparkling water?" Robin asked as the small group continued to walk. He was thinking of his last hallucination.
Ten minutes later they reached the sign Raven had seen. It read:
Rest Stop: 35 miles
Isaan Hower: 50 miles
"Holy crap! We only walked five miles?" Cyborg yelled, outraged. "I can't believe it! It felt like the whole forty to me! If that evil Ramka guy hadn't blown up my baby…then we would have already been there….but…but why—''
"Calm down," Robin instructed before Cyborg could go rambling on about his poor car. "Or else your going to start coughing like Beast boy." He turned to Raven, who was standing right next to him. "What do you think Isaan Hower is?"
"A town, most likely," Raven replied.
"Are we going to have to walk there too?" Cyborg asked.
"I think we just might—'' Robin was interrupted by a sound of an engine far off, and sure enough, a black speck appeared in the hazy distance. No one spoke as they watched the dark speck grow into an even bigger speck, and then suddenly into a huge black car zooming 70 MPH towards the Titans and their quiet companion. A few minutes later the Titans watched in awe as the car turned into a Suburban. The car pulled to a stop right next to where the five teens stood looking bewildered (except Anielle). The driver
s window which was closest to them, slid down, revealing a middle aged man.
The man appeared to be smiling at them. He had long brown hair past his shoulders, bushy dark brown eyebrows, matching sideburns, and hazel eyes. His face was comforting to the sweating five out in the heat. "Need a lift?" the man asked cheerfully.
"Nice car…" Cyborg said, and the hamster on his shoulder hopped off, turning back into his human form.
"Uh, who are you?" Robin asked, noting that the driver didn't seem in the least surprised when the changeling changed.
"A town's person who wants to help you out. You guys look like you've been through hell and back again," the man said. His gaze fell upon all of them, his eyes lingering a bit longer on Anielle.
"Are you from the town Isaan Hower?" Robin asked.
"Yeah, I am," the man said. "Why don't I give you guys a lift? I'll turn around and get you there as fast as I can."
"That's nice of you—''
"Come on Robin!" Cyborg interrupted. "It's so freaking hot our here! And Beast boy is bound to faint on us any minute." Beast boy pretended to look like a dead person walking, though unsuccessfully. "Let's give this guy a chance. I don't think this is a hallucination." Beast boy nodded his head in agreement.
Robin sighed, than nodded as well.
"Come right in," the man said.
Robin got into the front, while Raven and Beast boy sat in the middle, and Anielle and Cyborg sat in the back. As soon as they stepped in the car, they at once knew were in heaven. The air conditioning was on high, the seats were very comfortable and no sun could reach them in this car.
"Here's some water," the man said. "You guys look like you need it." He handed Robin a water bottle, and tossed the other four into the back. Beast boy and Cyborg drank down all the water in one gulp ending with two loud burps. They both laughed and gave each other a high five.
"Thanks dude!" Beast boy said as the man started back towards Isaan Hower.
A few minutes passed by while they listened to 98.5 K fox on the radio, along with a happy comment from Beast boy.
"Who are you?" Robin whispered to the man next to him.
The man cast a worried glance to Robin. "Robin," he said softly, startling the teen. "Look, I'm here to help. I'm against Ramka. And no, I am not like Andrew….god damn him…"
A silence embarked inside the car, marking that everybody heard what the man said. Cyborg whispered something to himself about his T-car being better looking and more high tech than the Suburban.
"Prove it," Beast boy challenged.
"All right," the man said, eyeing a dead vulture on the side of the road. "I am a Messenger, one in the force against the likes of Ramka. The Messengers are the only human force against him, and once was the only force who was successful…"
"Was? What do you mean 'was'?" Robin asked suspiciously.
"Ramka sent out his men –his men like Andrew, god damn him—to exterminate all the Messengers. He found out where our headquarters was located, sadly a Microsoft building, and killed every one within, even the ones who were play acting to be real businessmen… Ramka also sent all his men to search out and destroy the Messengers delivering messages and patrolling assigned positions. Ramka thinks all the Messengers are dead, but that's where he is wrong. His Watcher failed to look farther than what seems to be."
"Who is the Watcher?" Beast boy asked.
"The Watcher is Ramka's stupid little spies who see everything that's going on at the important places. Ramka has control of the Watcher's mind, so he pretty much can see what the Watchers see."
"Who exactly is the Watcher?"
"It's more than one person, obviously some of Ramka's men. As you know, a person can't be in two places at once…"
"The Watcher…you never answered my question. Who are you?" Robin asked.
"Oh, sorry," the man said. "I am Cether. Used to be one of the most powerful Messengers, but now, I am the strongest."
"You are the last one of them?" Robin asked.
"No, I'm not. There are two more left alive. They have been in our force for about a year...just mere beginners." Cether looked grave.
"How'd you guys survive?" Cyborg asked from the back.
"Barely. We barely survived. Ramka's men aren't human, and we are, so we have a weakness. They can't die by just a simple stab or a loss of blood. They are non-humans, demons sometimes, and other creatures as well. I and also the two other Messengers ran for our lives, lucky enough to get away, and if one of them drew near, we would pretend we were dead."
Anielle glanced around at the four Titans. None of their faces revealed anything; they were waiting for their leader to answer and whose mind was being read delightfully by her wonderful brother.
"Whoa," Beast boy said, astounded when know one spoke. "That's….that's…."
"The amount of water bottles," Robin said swiftly, his voice growing as he tightly gripped his half filled bottle. "You knew we were out here. You purposefully came out here to save us, didn't you?"
"Yes," was Cether's soft reply.
"Dude, none of Ramka's men would do that, if they weren't human," Beast boy pointed out.
"Unless they wanted to kill us," Cyborg added. "Nice thing you did, Cether. We just don't know if we can trust you, or if you are telling the truth."
"We can't trust many anymore…" Beast boy said.
"He's telling the truth," Raven said seriously.
Robin turned to face her in the back. "What? How do you know?" Robin asked.
"He's telling the truth," Raven said. "I read his mind. Everything he said is true. He knows everything that has happened to us, even what Andrew did. He's on our side, and he's here to help."
Robin stared at her, dumbfounded.
"People's minds don't lie, Robin," Raven said forcefully. "He used his mind to track us, they\ same way as Ramka's men do. He isn't one of them. His mind is human."
"How can you tell someone's mind is human?" Beast boy asked, confused.
"By one's thoughts," Cether replied for her. "A demon would think such things on how to murder someone in such ways a human wouldn't even imagine. I wouldn't even imagine what such creatures would do to a mere human…"
"Sick…" Beast boy looked utterly disgusted.
"Guess you're an ally," Robin said, facing the front again. "Ff what Raven says is true, then I'm guessing you know all of our names."
"Yes, I do," Cether said. "Even Anielle back there."
Anielle didn't pay any attention to the comment. Her brother was controlling her to look out the window, her arms folded, and the water bottle still unopened. It was true that Cether was speaking the truth, and her brother would soon report this news to Ramka when he finally got total control of his sister. His orders (which he received six days ago) were to find his orphan sister, get a hold of her mind, control her mind, body and soul, and then when he was finished with this, he would report back to Ramka. Apparently he hadn't succeeded quite yet.Cether's mind was wide open, and Anielle's brother was hungrily devouring every piece of information within while still battling over Anielle's sight.
"We'll be at Isaan Hower soon," Cether reported.
"So…Cether," Beast boy said conversationally. "About the Watcher..."
"Yes?" Cether said.
"Do you know who they are, particularly?" Beast boy asked.
"No," Cether replied sadly. "They could be anyone, but Messengers can detect if one of Ramka's men are nearby."
"How?"
"We forget things. Simple things, like what we were just doing."
"Oh," Beast boy said.
"Cether," Robin said, looking sideways at the driver. "If you say you were one of the strongest…I mean are the strongest, does it mean that…that you are strong physically?"
"Physically and mentally," Cether replied warily. "Physically, the body, mentally, the mind and soul. I have self-control of all. And that's how I know what's been happening to you guys…the mind…."
So you can speak in the mind? Robin thought out to him.
Yes, telepathy. Who taught you this? Cether cast a worried glance at Robin.
You have to be taught?
Yes, of course. You can't just learn it on your own. Raven was taught, of course. Who taught you?
Oh, I didn't know. Robin finished drinking the rest of his water and put the bottle to the side. Can't you read my mind or something, if you have full control of it?
Yes, but I rather have you tell me. I don't really enjoy disturbing your privacy, unlike Ramka's men. I had to though, I am sorry to say, to see what position you guys were in.
Anielle spoke to me in my mind. She got rid of a voice that was bothering me…and I guess I learned that way.
Who was the voice?
I'm not quite sure….I wish I knew though. I thought it was nice that Anielle helped me out. It would have driven me mad if she wasn't there to help me…I wonder who taught her?
Cether looked around nervously, his lips tugging into a grim line. He strained to see outside into the hot atmosphere, but failed to see a single being. Drat, he whispered into the mind of Robin.
"What?" Robin asked aloud.
Cether turned down the music, receiving a complaint from Beast boy and Cyborg.
"Why'd you turn it down?" Cyborg asked rudely.
"Sorry, sorry," Cether said apologetically. He put on the breaks, screeching to a stop, and listened.
"What's going on?" Raven asked, alert.
Anielle turned around, and sure enough, there was a familiar swishing noise in the air.
"Shit," muttered Cether,jamming on the accelerator.
A huge KABLAM noise filled the six human's ears. All turned around, except Cether, who continued to take on more momentum.
"What the hell!" yelled Cyborg. What was right behind them a few seconds ago was a huge blackened hole in the middle of the road, and plainly seen farther away was a long green haired skinny figure dressed in black. On his shoulder was a huge rocket launcher with smoke swiveling out of it. They could tell that his mouth was speaking words they were glad they couldn't hear, and then out of the blue, he raised his other hand, revealing the middle finger.
"Who was that?" Beast boy yelled. "He's…the finger!"
"That," Cether said calmly, "is one of Ramka's men. Apparently he wanted to get a message out. He looks… pretty pissed." Cether looked in the middle mirror, and raised his bushy eyebrows.
"He's the one who blew up my car!" yelled Cyborg, outraged. "Why are you speeding up? Go back! I WANT TO GIVE HIM A PIECE OF—''
"Cyborg," Robin said.
"WHAT!"
"He would gladly kill you if he wanted to," Cether pointed out. "No reason to risk your life for no reason."
"AND WHY NOT? I HAVE A GOOD ENOUGH REASON!"
"It's not worth risking your life for," Cether said, now at 100 MPH.
"Cyborg, he's not human," Beast boy said, turning to face him.
"I'm half robotic!" Cyborg yelled.
"Quit yelling," Raven said. "There's no point yelling over you getting killed for a car."
"WHO DO YOU—''
"Cyborg!" Robin said, his voice a bit higher than usual. "Calm down! We all understand what you're going through. We've all lost…something we truly care for…don't think you're the only one."
Cyborg was about to ask what they all had lost, but then suddenly realized it. He shut his mouth, and didn't speak the rest of the journey to Isaan Hower.
Cether finally slowed down once they sped passed the next rest stop. A thought drew upon him as he finally remembered something. Robin, he said out into the teen's mind next to him, I remember what I was going to say before our….little interruption.
What? Robin asked curiously.
The voices in your head. You would not be grateful towards Anielle if you knew what that other voice was.
Well, what was it?
A warning. It was what Starfire was thinking out to you guys when you left, and when she tried to call you guys, but you didn't hear. Andrew, god damn him, used a silence spell so you would not hear her through the mind or if she yelled.
God damn Andrew, growled Robin, clearly remembering what the voice had said.
Cether smiled. He turned up the music once again, reading accidentally in Beast boy's mind his annoyance towards the sudden silence. Oh, and I don't know who taught Anielle telepathy, he said, receiving a nod from Robin.
Anielle's brother was fully aware of the conversation going on between Cether and Robin. Her brother was quite pleased with his green haired friend, Corn, for his lovely appearance. Just for that, he had considered giving Anielle a break from fighting over her sight. To Anielle's relief, he did, but not for long…
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Anger throttled over Ramka, though in Hadan, he wore a toothy smile, and if anyone had any sense around (which no one did) they could see it was a fake. His eyes were bulging red. He was pissed that Corn didn't do exactly what the instructions said, but then again, he was quite glad. If Corn hadn't stuck around to find out what happened, Ramka would not have seen from his Watcher (who failed to do what he was told) that the Titans and the taken over Anielle have been picked up by a black Suburban. They didn't walk the forty miles as planned. Who the hell?
The mystery exactly was who the hell picked them up. Who had the guts to even ruin his plans? Besides a million dollar tip to steal a rocket launcher with pleasure, Ramka knew he should have given Corn a lesson (all his lessons were very unpleasant) on how to deal with the situation instead of flicking up a finger. Surely he had something better in his damnable mind than that.
Yet Corn knew Ramka would get angrier if he did not go to his next post to join up with Andrew and his favorite ugly ass hobo friend, Riley. If he had defied that, he'd be dead.
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Thanks a lot for reviewing! Comments to ye:
Ceannasai Dar Tine: Nice new username! Heh. I am happy that you are content with the confusedness stuff. I'll try not to keep it so confusing so that you don't know what the hell is going on. I am trying to push in answers in here and there for some of your questions, so I hope that will help. Probably not too much in this chapter, but next chapter just might be it. ( can't say for sure….)
WindyDays: Hope you had a nice vacation! Glad this fanfiction is very surprising. Sorry to say I am not updating too soon….you know, we all get lazy especially with the heat of the summer. Yay summer! Now that I think of it….I think 'confusing' is my middle name.
And thankies to those who put me on their fav's and author alerts! I appreciate it!