Journey
(Part 1)
Ann was worried. Terra hadn't talked ever since they had left the city. Torrent wasn't talking either but he had never been all that much of a conversational person, so Ann wasn't too worried. Terra had decided to make camp next to a cliffs edge, each time the group stopped Ann would catch Terra staring off into the distance for long periods of time. Terra would find an empty point in the sky and study it in silence, sometimes for hours on end. Torrent seemed either to not notice or to not care, but Ann was very concerned for the sanity of her new friend, but no matter how hard she thought, Ann could not think of a single thing that she could tell Terra that might ease her pain. The agony Terra felt was a mystery to Ann, the mixture of hope and misery must have been tearing her apart.
Almost a month had passed since the conflict between them and the Titans, Torrent had fully recovered but he had acquired a few new scars to speak of. Ann had been practicing with her powers and was starting to gain a better grip on her ability. Terra did not partake of training however. Her power almost seemed to disgust her. She still blamed them for what had happened to Beast Boy. From the various stories that Ann had heard she gathered that Terra must have been a great warrior once. The jester had said that Terra had been partly evil once, now that evil was loose and on the rampage, it felt wrong to just say out here in the mountains hiding while Type B and Hunter prepared to start another holocaust. The look in Terra's eyes reflected that same thought of vengeance. Terra was planning something, but what that was Ann couldn't tell, psychic powers or not. Torrent was taking a nap, Terra was starring out over the precipice lost in her thoughts, and all Ann could do was watch.
"I'm going back to the lab." It stunned Ann when Terra finally spoke; it even surprised Torrent enough for him to wake from his cat nap. "There might be something I that will help us figure out what's really going on."
"But Terra, do you even remember where that place is?" Ann wasn't sure that revisiting that horrible place would be good for Terra right now.
"Oh yes, I remember. Beast Boy and I went there once, we had fun." Terra smiled. Ann furrowed her eye brows in concern,
"Terra I'm not sure if we should…"
"I said that I was going, you two are free to do as you please, I'm not you leader."
"We're going." Torrent stood and brushed the dirt from his cloths
"We are?" Ann looked up at Torrent in disbelief, he only nodded and smiled.
"It's not far." Terra stood and walked to the edge of the cliff. "Stand back."
She raised her hands and they began to glow with their yellow aura, and the entire mountain began to rumble. Ann grasped on to Torrent leg to steady herself, he wavered slightly as he struggled to stay standing. Terra's hair rose and flapped in the summoned winds. Her eyes burned yellow, rocks around her levitated and broke apart by the power she was exerting. The Cliffside began to crack and groan under the stress, a stair case of rock began to extend outward. Ann watched in wonder as the steps formed from the solid granite. When the construction of stairway was complete Terra dropped her hands to her side, she was breasting heavily. Then with out saying a word or even looking at the other two, Terra began to descend her flight of stairs. Torrent bent down and helped Ann to her feet then followed Terra. Ann cursed under her breath and stayed close at Torrent's heals.
The forest they descended into was thick and dark. It consisted of pines and aspens, so it smelled pleasant, but Torrent was the only one of them that seemed to notice. He was happily taking deep breaths of the sweet air. Ann was looking around nervously, still doubting that this was a good idea. Terra walked briskly ahead of the other two.
"Um, Terra, do think this is safe? I mean there's bound to be more of those tranquilizer commando dudes there and this is kind of like walking right in to Hunters hands, don't you think?" Ann was consistently checking behind them.
"When I left, the lab was deserted, we shouldn't meet any opposition. I want to see if theirs a computer or something there that we can get some info from. Personally I don't trust that Alice chick as far as I can throw her." Terra swept branches out of her way as she proceeded.
"Well Terra, if there where no people there, then who made you?" Terra didn't answer Ann's question, she just continued forward through the thick brush with out even looking back.
Reluctance
(Part 2)
Type B studied Beast Boy. He was suspended in a glass containment tube with a breathing apparatus covering his mouth and nose. A tube attached to his blood stream keeping a steady drip of sedative to maintain his unconscious state. A screen next to the tube showed his various vital signs, it beeped each time his heart pumped. She placed her hand agents the tube next to his face, but she felt only the icy sting of the cold glass. This was the first time that Type B had ever questioned Hunters ideals. The procedure that he had proposed for Beast Boy troubled her, and so she had volunteered to supervise the project to make sure nothing happened. If those scientists hurt Beast Boy she wanted to be there to make them scream. Hunter might have guessed that she had some personal interest in this, but it didn't seem to concern him, Beast Boy was no use to him dead. This way the scientist wouldn't try anything to risky, and she had this time to spend alone with Beat Boy. The fact that he couldn't see her, and that she couldn't touch him, hurt her.
They where in the back of a large cargo tank in the back a military plane on its way to the lab in Nevada. The room was empty except for herself and Beast Boy, the rest of the crew where at their posts. Her time with him alone was growing short; the plane had just begun its decent toward the runway. The screen beeped consistently to mark each time his hear convulsed, in was steady and unchanging. Type B heart was going through much more sporadic movements, she wanted to release Beast Boy and escape with him, but the disk next to her heart burned more fiercely and no matter how much she wanted to Type B could do nothing but look at her motionless Beast Boy and do nothing.
Once the plane had coasted to a stop the large cargo doors began to open behind her, she didn't want to go. She wanted to stay here with Beast Boy, but the men where going to come anyway and take him. A large forklift entered the back of the plane. It held a large metallic cylinder in its claws. When it reached Beast Boy and Type B several locks on the cylinder clicked agar and the cage began to open. Both Beast Boy and the containment tube he floated in where incased by the gigantic shell. All they Type B could do was watch.
On the way to the large hanger door that was the entrance to the lab several dozen armed guards joined them. Type B seemed not to even notice them, the guards on the other hand couldn't seem to resist to consistently shoot nervous glances in her direction. Once they had passed through the thick archway and entered the first room of the lab even more armed troops showed them selves. Dr. Spencer stepped from a door at the other side of the room,
"There you are! The other scientists and I where becoming quite anxious, these experiments are looking more and more promising. We can't wait to start on the new specimen." He needed his hands together in anticipation. Type B eyebrows furrowed and she stepped closer to Dr. Spencer,
"Know this! There will be no 'experiments' on my Beast Boy, if any harm should befall my love I will not hesitate to rip you in half as well as burry this accursed place under a mountain of rock and earth. If that is understood then you may precede, just keep in mind that I will be close by at all times." Spencer cowered away slightly and glanced around in shocked disbelief. The soldiers that had gathered near by looked at one another but said nothing. Type B shoved Dr. Spencer aside as she walked passed him. The forklift drove slowly into a large cargo elevator followed by Type B, she turned and waited for the bewildered Doctor to regain his senses and join her. He coughed and glanced around, then quickly shuffled onto the elevator.
Spencer pressed the basement selection on the panel mounted on a panel next to him. Two grate doors closed in front of them and the elevator began to descend. The silent ride down the elevator shaft consisted of Type B glaring at the back of Dr. Spencer's head and Spencer pretending not to notice her eyes burning into the back of his head. Reaching the base floor revealed even more guards and about a dozen scientists in white lab coats. Hundreds of complex scientific devises coated the floor, walls and even the ceiling. A central tank was illuminated at the focal point of the large room. The forklift began to make its way toward the glowing tube, Type B and Spencer followed. Every face in the room followed the progression of the forklift down the long ramp. It slowed to a stop in front of a strange air lock like device the linked the central tube to the outside world. The metallic cage was lifted until it was parallel to the airlock, scientist gathered closer and closer in anticipation like moths to a flame. Spencer stepped up to a large elevated central control panel. He twisted several knobs and pressed a button. A hissing sound followed as the airlock depressurized, and then its doors opened slowly. Once the opening was wide enough the capsule containing Beast Boy was set within. The airlock doors began to shut and the forklift turned back and started to climb its way back to the cargo elevator. Another hissing sound as the airlock snapped shut. Then it slowly began to fill with the same strange fluid that was inside the central tube. Two mechanical arms descended from the top of the tank and gripped Beast Boy by the shoulders. They pulled him free of the air lock and held him in the center of the glowing tube. The arms began to attach the same moderating devises to Beast Boy's skin that had been placed on Terra and John. As they where applied screens around the room clicked on, displaying various statistics about that young green boy. A gigantic master screen that took up an entire wall turned on showing his heart beat. Type B looked around in astonishment, Spencer obviously could see her shock on her face,
"See my child, there is nothing to fear. We are perfectly prepared for this assignment. He is in good hands." Type B glared back at the Doctor,
"For all your sakes I hope so." She turned and began to walk from the room.