Wind
(part 1)
The green and brown of the vegetation blurred together as the hum of the motor rose steadily to its climax. Imperfections in the dirt path caused the wheels to jump sporadically, but in the past three minutes Torrent had been able to gain ample skill to be able to maneuver the bike at top speed on the complex terrain. The black tread of the tires ripped apart the young ground cover and tossed small rocks up in a cloud of other dislodged objects in his wake. Then Torrent saw what he had been driving for, the white wall of sunlight at the edge of the trees, and he pressed the turbines of the bike to detonate even more rapidly. The rasp of the motorbike echoed like a thunderstorm through the tightly packed trees, blaring out any other sound from Torrents ears. He squinted his eyes tight just as the bike entered the sun's glare and its wheels left the earth.
There was no noise. The rumbling of the engine faded away and the swish of passing trees instantly dissipated, not even the sound of his own heart pumping through his ears remained, only the slight hiss of wind as it passed his ears could be heard as Torrent flew out from the cliffs edge into the open nothing. The knotted hair atop Torrents head waved like felids of grain caught in an autumn storm. His bright amber eyes narrowed into slits of glowing color as he squeezed them tighter against the wind, small tears formed at the brims of his lids and the surface of his clinched teeth where blown salt dry. Several leaves followed in the wake of the motorcycle out into the blue void, and they hung with the boy and the bike as long as they could, until gravity overcame the motor bikes velocity and both the boy mounted atop and the green leaves surrounding the bike began to arch downward.
When the tires struck the hard ground the shocks buckled as much as they could but the majority of the recoil back lashed upward. Torrent clinched every muscle in his taut legs and pushed back against the power of the fall. The bike swerved out of control for several seconds until Torrent regained command and steadied it. Grasping the brakes with both hands Torrent locked the disks tight and stopped the spinning tires, the bike slid to a stop kicking large amounts of dust into the air in front of Torrent. He waited, for the dust to fall and for his legs to stop burning. When they did he saw what he had come here to see, two slivers of shiny metal placed parallel to one another pointing away from the cliff side and toward whatever lay beyond. Reaching into a side compartment hidden beneath the thin platting armor coating the bike, Torrent withdrew a long belt. The belt was large and bulky, used for an emergency replacement for the former boy wonder who bike this was. It wasn't as streamline or light as the original but it held all of the standard forms of equipment. The tools within where not stylized like those which Robin carried, the darts did not resemble birds and it was a shade of gray instead of the neon yellow which was its owners preference, the tools where made for functionality not ego stimulating purposes. As he strapped the belt around his waist Torrent glared down at the railroad tracks beneath him, and he thought of the man that waited for him at their end. As he thought Torrent realized that it had been a long time sense he had last smiled, not sense Ann was at his side. Then he wondered if he would ever smile again.
Pawn
(part 2)
A single pane of darkly tinted glass placed in the side of the cliff marked the only window looking into the outside world from within the restrictions of the combine, and behind the clear barrier of translucent glass glowered a single angry old man glaring out at the setting sun. The only light in the room hovered several inches before of his face, the glowing ember at the tip of a dry cigar. He sat in a wheel chair the flickering luminescence given off from the burning spark gave just enough light to barely light his scarred face. His broken rib was another failure induced injury witch he was forced to endure. First he failed with Torrent who caused him to loose Ann, then he had failed with John, and then with Beast Boy who had cost him Terra. The frustration that came from the recollection of his past failures boiled up to the surface. Hunter's hand clinched and the cigar crumpled apart, spilling its hot cherry into the air like hundreds of diminutive burning pixies dancing through the twilight. He ground his teeth against the anger welling up inside as he looked out of his black window. Breathing heavily in the now complete darkness Hunter waited for the rage to subside.
The door behind him slowly opened spilling a white light out from behind a faceless silhouette standing in the center of the door. Hunter continued glaring out the window refusing to acknowledge the presence of the messenger. A long moment passed while the man simply stared at the back of his leaders head, then he spoke his message.
"We're ready to begin sir, the equipment is in place. Are you…" Hunter silenced him with a wave; Hunter knew they had been ready. His time of contemplation had come to an end and he was prepared. This time he was determined not to let another slip through his fingers, and he called to his escort. "Take me to her."
The hall was metal, the ceiling, the floor, even the walls. Hunter's wheels rolled silently like a specter gliding across the hard surface only the ushers shoe steps echoed in the empty space filling the corners of the vacant hall. The electronic door at the end of the hall snapped open as Hunter approached. Waiting for him was an empty room with only one other exit, an elevator door set on the opposite wall. As the two entered to room a motion activated camera snapped to life and followed them as they approached the double doors. Hunter pulled up next to a small lens exposed on the wall and leaned in close to it. A line of light strafed his eye as the scanner examined his cornea, there was a half a second pause followed by the sound of the elevator doors snapping open. Hunter wheeled himself into the elevator and when his escort attempted to follow Hunter waved him away. He would have gone faster with a compliant pushing his chair, but he wanted to do this alone. All the years of work, all the hour of pain, all the moments of anger where about to all pay off.
The elevator sped upward to the uppermost chamber of the laboratory. The doors snapped open and Hunter glided beneath their archways. Beyond the doors stood two armored guards flanking a single glass door, they stood at full attention, guns at their sides and a single hand rose in salute. Hunter wheeled by them with out even a glance, passing through the door. The room past the guards could have easily fit three semi's within its reflective walls. That is if it wasn't chucked full of the most advanced electronic equipment available on the world market. Thick wires, averaging at about six inches in diameter blackened the floor and ceiling; they streamed from the technological equipment and drew together in the center of the room. There was a thin path way between the piles of electronic tubing just wide enough from Hunter's chair to pass through unhindered, and as he approached the girl who was integrated into the system of complex machinery looked up.
She screamed in anger and attempted to lunge out at her captor, the crippled man in the wheel chair simply smiled at her as she strained against the thick metal wires that where imbedded into her.
"You bastard! Where is Torrent! How did you…" A sudden surge of electricity shot through her body, silencing her, sent from one of the many tubes set within her skin.
"Oh come now Ann did you really think you would elude my grasp forever, and as for your troubled little boy friend it will only be a matter of time before he joins us." Despite the pain that had just burned through her Ann screamed out again still filled with defiant anger.
"He will come for me, and for you!" Her eyes glared with the utmost hatred down at the monster sitting beneath her ridged throne.
"As I said my young tool, it is only a matter of time. If he comes, then it will simply save me the trouble of luring him out from under his rock." After a few moments of starring back into the glowering eyes of his captive Hunter pulled a small radio from a compartment on the side of his chair. "Lets get this started shall we?" With that he clicked on the two way communicator and quickly spoke in the authorization code required to switch on the machinery connected to Ann's body.
"Alpha 66 operation final marionette is at go."