Teen Titans is copyrighted Cartoon Network.
Important Note: The City's name should be 'Jump City.'
-By the way, did anyone notice that Mad Mod looks a little like Murdoc from the animated band 'Gorillaz'?
-And is it just me, or does the inside of Raven's mind, from the episode, 'Nevermore' look like a darker version of the border world XEN from the PC game 'Half-life?'
Chapter 3: Dull Knife
"Perhaps 'justice' will win out in the end, but normal people like us may not live to see the end."
- Kazuko Suema
Jump City, city of a hundred mingling cultures, the place of almost constant warfare between good and evil, no where else on Earth could you find more pizza parlors. People worked their way passed the blinking neon signs of bars, clubs, and restaurants that illuminated the downtown city area. A typical Saturday night in Jump City, people talking, laughing, partying. Most people had already forgotten about the previous weeks events. The fact that not a soul was killed, or even seriously injured, in the bombings only fed the populace's fading memory of it occurrence.
Knives sat in an alley, seemingly oblivious of the shuffle of people before him. His normally light blue hair, now pitch black and matted against his head with dirt and filth from wadding in the sewers for the better part of the day. Most people who discovered his forlorn figure, proceeded to pinch their noses in abject disgust at the hideous and almost unnatural stench that attacked them. Knives clumsily picked a few pieces of debris out of his clothes and let out a sigh like a senile dog. He had spent the last few days going to pieces. He didn't know what to do, and hadn't eaten for some time his stomach had clenched into a fist and was currently trying to punch its way out of his body. Worst of all, he had a worrying rash. He sighed again and took a long swig from a whiskey bottle he had stolen off a drunken truck driver. Waving the bottle dangerously in the air he'd belch incoherent obscenities at anyone unfortunate enough to catch his stench.
He was lost, drunk, and diseased, merely a fragment of what he had been before. With what brainpower he still commanded he repeatedly ran through his most recent events trying to figure out what had gone wrong with his life. He remembered that he was drinking to forget what it was he was trying to remember, but how could he remember to forget if he forgot what it was he was trying to remember to forget in the first place, or so he thought. It seemed to make sense but in the state he was in now it was doubtful he could even count his legs, and he had tried.
Somewhere in the deep recesses of his mind, a single fragile memory emerged. The girl he had rescued, Raven, he believed her name was, he knew her from somewhere before, a long time ago. Unbearable shame had filled him, at that moment and he had to run. The man with no face had mentioned her as well. Damn him, if he could only remember the whole conversation, but wasn't that a good thing? He had forgotten, but he wanted to remember. This conflict in interests battle long and hard, but in the end rememberance won out and Knives thought a little deeper.
His thoughts shifted, he was alone, lost in the winding damp tunnels under the city. His meanderings brought him to a half rusted steel door. The vibrations of rhythmic pulses pointed to a close proximity to possibly some massive machines. Out of curiosity he had investigated the source of the vibrations and had emerged into a large chamber, which was indeed rounded with giant wheels, gears, and pistons. There was nothing else in the room, no furniture, no windows, just the grinding pieces of technology nestled in some dark corner of the world.
A white light exploded into the room from another entry point. Peeking through the slits of his eyelids he perceived a large out-of focus figure in front of him. But his eyes could not find the borders of its shape; the light was halting his vision. Footsteps rang behind him and he wheeled around. His eyes now blinded by the light could not find the figure in the darkness that surrounded him. A female voice spoke to him and he strained to find it's source when someone called him by his name and out of the bright light walked a figure clad in some form of metallic armour with a mask on his face revealing on a single eye.
"I must say I'm impressed to find you still alive and well. What has it been, two, three years?" The man said in a low, calm voice that could only come from one of high intelligence and evil intent.
"How do you know me?" Knives said almost reaching for his weapons before realizing he didn't have them anymore.
"Come, come now. Have you already forgotten the name of your master? You were my first apprentice, remember." The man took another handful of steps towards Knives in a way suggesting a past familiarity between them. Master? Apprentice? The words rang familiar bells in the depth of Knives' mind. The answer hit him like a 14-pound lump hammer. His head didn't just hurt, it shattered at the force of impact.
"Slade!" painful recognition filled Knives' voice as he collapsed to his knees. His hands grasping the remains of his head as he tried to bring order to his chaotic mental state. 17 years of memories all hit him in a single blow and he ran from the room not watching, or caring, what destination his feet took him. That had been 5 days ago. The bottle of whisky fell nosily to the ground as all the muscles in his body went limp and he fell into a long, dreamless, sleep.
Miles away, in Titans Tower, the 5 friends lay resting. Cyborg and Beast boy were playing tug o war with a control panel to the game playing on the huge TV screen. Not a day went by where Cyborg and BB didn't practice the futility of arguing turns with each other. It usually started of friendly and would end with either the destruction of the controller in question or the subsequent beat down by a pissed off Raven. Who, by the way, was currently reading another one of her books and was seriously tempted to just start throwing sharp object at the feuding duo. Robin quietly listened to his loud booming music while Starfire cooked the teams meals for the evening. Indeed it was another typical Saturday night in the home of the Teen Titans.
"Grease stain!"
"Moldy face!"
"Metal head!"
"Jolly green!"
Cyborg and BB were violently whipping every possible insult they could. Much of their material had already been used in countless other fights, brawls, and set-toos. They were long overdo for some new material. This, however, added just one more item atop Raven's infuriation list. Veins atop her forehead started to show through as she was continuously pushed to her limit by a mixture of immature fighting between two idiot combatants who couldn't, in her estimation, outwit a used teabag, thunderous booming music, and food that smelled as if it had already burnt and shriveled up into black mounds. She almost expected Starfire to pull out a hockey stick and start pelting the 'food' around the aisles.
Her fingers dug furrows into the books cover. She wanted to slam the book down and give them a piece of her mind regarding their repetitive nature, unhealthy music practices and outright lousy cooking skill. The power keg was about to blow when a red klaxon alarm suddenly went off, bathing the room in rotating red siren lights. The shrill of high-pitched alarms came, quite frankly, as something of a relief. Raven was actually looking forward to a little action after 5 days of quiet, figuratively speaking of course. At least it caused the others to cease in their bothersome activates.
"Titans Trouble!" Robin once more spoke the lines which sent the team rushing, flying, driving out onto the city streets in search of whatever criminal disturbance was occurring today. The data feed on their communicators received a feed from the local authorities, briefing them on events and developments. This time there were reports of a prisoner escaping from a high security prison. The man was labeled as being a highly dangerous threat, who had already injured a half-dozen policemen, and who must be neutralized ASAP. Hastening their journey towards downtown Jump city, the squad of heroes discussed their plans.
Important Note: The City's name should be 'Jump City.'
-By the way, did anyone notice that Mad Mod looks a little like Murdoc from the animated band 'Gorillaz'?
-And is it just me, or does the inside of Raven's mind, from the episode, 'Nevermore' look like a darker version of the border world XEN from the PC game 'Half-life?'
Chapter 3: Dull Knife
"Perhaps 'justice' will win out in the end, but normal people like us may not live to see the end."
- Kazuko Suema
Jump City, city of a hundred mingling cultures, the place of almost constant warfare between good and evil, no where else on Earth could you find more pizza parlors. People worked their way passed the blinking neon signs of bars, clubs, and restaurants that illuminated the downtown city area. A typical Saturday night in Jump City, people talking, laughing, partying. Most people had already forgotten about the previous weeks events. The fact that not a soul was killed, or even seriously injured, in the bombings only fed the populace's fading memory of it occurrence.
Knives sat in an alley, seemingly oblivious of the shuffle of people before him. His normally light blue hair, now pitch black and matted against his head with dirt and filth from wadding in the sewers for the better part of the day. Most people who discovered his forlorn figure, proceeded to pinch their noses in abject disgust at the hideous and almost unnatural stench that attacked them. Knives clumsily picked a few pieces of debris out of his clothes and let out a sigh like a senile dog. He had spent the last few days going to pieces. He didn't know what to do, and hadn't eaten for some time his stomach had clenched into a fist and was currently trying to punch its way out of his body. Worst of all, he had a worrying rash. He sighed again and took a long swig from a whiskey bottle he had stolen off a drunken truck driver. Waving the bottle dangerously in the air he'd belch incoherent obscenities at anyone unfortunate enough to catch his stench.
He was lost, drunk, and diseased, merely a fragment of what he had been before. With what brainpower he still commanded he repeatedly ran through his most recent events trying to figure out what had gone wrong with his life. He remembered that he was drinking to forget what it was he was trying to remember, but how could he remember to forget if he forgot what it was he was trying to remember to forget in the first place, or so he thought. It seemed to make sense but in the state he was in now it was doubtful he could even count his legs, and he had tried.
Somewhere in the deep recesses of his mind, a single fragile memory emerged. The girl he had rescued, Raven, he believed her name was, he knew her from somewhere before, a long time ago. Unbearable shame had filled him, at that moment and he had to run. The man with no face had mentioned her as well. Damn him, if he could only remember the whole conversation, but wasn't that a good thing? He had forgotten, but he wanted to remember. This conflict in interests battle long and hard, but in the end rememberance won out and Knives thought a little deeper.
His thoughts shifted, he was alone, lost in the winding damp tunnels under the city. His meanderings brought him to a half rusted steel door. The vibrations of rhythmic pulses pointed to a close proximity to possibly some massive machines. Out of curiosity he had investigated the source of the vibrations and had emerged into a large chamber, which was indeed rounded with giant wheels, gears, and pistons. There was nothing else in the room, no furniture, no windows, just the grinding pieces of technology nestled in some dark corner of the world.
A white light exploded into the room from another entry point. Peeking through the slits of his eyelids he perceived a large out-of focus figure in front of him. But his eyes could not find the borders of its shape; the light was halting his vision. Footsteps rang behind him and he wheeled around. His eyes now blinded by the light could not find the figure in the darkness that surrounded him. A female voice spoke to him and he strained to find it's source when someone called him by his name and out of the bright light walked a figure clad in some form of metallic armour with a mask on his face revealing on a single eye.
"I must say I'm impressed to find you still alive and well. What has it been, two, three years?" The man said in a low, calm voice that could only come from one of high intelligence and evil intent.
"How do you know me?" Knives said almost reaching for his weapons before realizing he didn't have them anymore.
"Come, come now. Have you already forgotten the name of your master? You were my first apprentice, remember." The man took another handful of steps towards Knives in a way suggesting a past familiarity between them. Master? Apprentice? The words rang familiar bells in the depth of Knives' mind. The answer hit him like a 14-pound lump hammer. His head didn't just hurt, it shattered at the force of impact.
"Slade!" painful recognition filled Knives' voice as he collapsed to his knees. His hands grasping the remains of his head as he tried to bring order to his chaotic mental state. 17 years of memories all hit him in a single blow and he ran from the room not watching, or caring, what destination his feet took him. That had been 5 days ago. The bottle of whisky fell nosily to the ground as all the muscles in his body went limp and he fell into a long, dreamless, sleep.
Miles away, in Titans Tower, the 5 friends lay resting. Cyborg and Beast boy were playing tug o war with a control panel to the game playing on the huge TV screen. Not a day went by where Cyborg and BB didn't practice the futility of arguing turns with each other. It usually started of friendly and would end with either the destruction of the controller in question or the subsequent beat down by a pissed off Raven. Who, by the way, was currently reading another one of her books and was seriously tempted to just start throwing sharp object at the feuding duo. Robin quietly listened to his loud booming music while Starfire cooked the teams meals for the evening. Indeed it was another typical Saturday night in the home of the Teen Titans.
"Grease stain!"
"Moldy face!"
"Metal head!"
"Jolly green!"
Cyborg and BB were violently whipping every possible insult they could. Much of their material had already been used in countless other fights, brawls, and set-toos. They were long overdo for some new material. This, however, added just one more item atop Raven's infuriation list. Veins atop her forehead started to show through as she was continuously pushed to her limit by a mixture of immature fighting between two idiot combatants who couldn't, in her estimation, outwit a used teabag, thunderous booming music, and food that smelled as if it had already burnt and shriveled up into black mounds. She almost expected Starfire to pull out a hockey stick and start pelting the 'food' around the aisles.
Her fingers dug furrows into the books cover. She wanted to slam the book down and give them a piece of her mind regarding their repetitive nature, unhealthy music practices and outright lousy cooking skill. The power keg was about to blow when a red klaxon alarm suddenly went off, bathing the room in rotating red siren lights. The shrill of high-pitched alarms came, quite frankly, as something of a relief. Raven was actually looking forward to a little action after 5 days of quiet, figuratively speaking of course. At least it caused the others to cease in their bothersome activates.
"Titans Trouble!" Robin once more spoke the lines which sent the team rushing, flying, driving out onto the city streets in search of whatever criminal disturbance was occurring today. The data feed on their communicators received a feed from the local authorities, briefing them on events and developments. This time there were reports of a prisoner escaping from a high security prison. The man was labeled as being a highly dangerous threat, who had already injured a half-dozen policemen, and who must be neutralized ASAP. Hastening their journey towards downtown Jump city, the squad of heroes discussed their plans.