I hate when I can count the reviews I get on only one hand.
( ) author's notes
'/' - telepathy
... - mindscape
The Titan
Chapter 10
Written by Nate Sindel
This wasn't really what Sunfire had expected, he had expected less resistance. But these HIVE soldiers, instead of running and saving themselves, decided to stand and fight. And die. He sent them lfying every which way with naught but a flick of his hand. Bullets sped toward him, but never found their mark, rather they imbedded in the bodies of other HIVE guards.
"Let's see, which way was it again?" he pondered aloud, recalling the blueprints he had seen earlier.
Seeming to remember, he took a right, and was met with a spider-like leg. Following the leg up to the backpack worn by none other than the midget villain Gizmo. His slight frown deepened, he had thought the small one had died in the destruction of the HIVE academy.
"Well, if isn't the sludge chugger," Gizmo sneered, but Sunfire said nothing.
He, instead, reached out and grabbed the leg, the metal melting beneath his fingers. Tiny, spider-web cracks began to form as Gizmo tried to pull away; in response, Sunfire let go. The boy stumbled back, the cracks, which were glowing a faint orange, continued the spread up the leg. Soon they reached the backpack, causing it to short, shocking the tiny human in the process.
"You really should have just stayed in your room," the alien said, his voice cold, "it would have been less painful."
After saying this, he walked calmly beneath the frantic child, who was trying to eject the backpack, and was failing. At the end of this hall was a large door, a door marked "Resonator Core" stood between him and his destination.
Back outside, the others had basically given up on escaping, not one had attempted since Sunfire had told them it was unbreakable. Beast Boy had made a few attempts, changing into a mouse and trying to get through a hole, which shrunk accordingly to keep him in. Cursing under his breath he turned around and sat himself against the wall, the hole behind him opening again to its original diameter.
"There's got to be a way out," Robin pondered, standing in the middle with his hand on his chin.
'There is,' Raven thought, looking at the hole nearest her, 'but he already told not to interfere.'
Before Sunfire had gone inside, he had sent Raven a message, a message to stay put, to not leave the dome. He knew she could, her shadow form would easily pass through the chromozite walls, no matter how thick and dense they were. The alloy may have been impenetrable by any kind of weapon, but that didn't mean it couldn't be breached by an astral body.
"Raven," she jerked from her reverie at Robin's voice, "any ideas?"
"No, he...seems to be jamming my powers," she lied quickly, she had not intention of going against Sunfire, and wasn't about to have Robin force her to do so.
"Dammit," he muttered, turning on his heel and stalking to the other side of the dome. "He's apparently thought of everything."
The door was dispatched easily, a little heat, a little push, and the metal simply melted away. He couldn't help but smile a little, just a little, at the site before him...Bumblebee and Brother Blood. They stood, waiting, for what, he didn't really know, nor did her care.
"Bumblebee, attack!" Blood barked pointing at the alien.
"I really don't think so," Sunfire smirked, and the black girl just up and vanished. "Now, where were we last time?"
Four wings sprouted from his back, and gold lightening dance around his hands and hair. It was then he noticed something about Blood, he wasn't acting normally, not like in the cave, where he had been weak, but it was like his body was resisting its own movements; this was very apparent as he attempted to stop himself from removing his white cloak.
'What is this?' the alien wondered, nothing about this felt right. "You!"
"Ah, Brother, you finally figured it out," Blood spoke, but his was not the only voice, there was another, a more sinister, sibilant voice alongside it. "Yes, this body shall prove useful to see how far along you've come since escaping my control."
"Moonfire, why not just come down here yourself?"
"All in good time, Sunfire, all in good time, but for now you'll just have to contend with this old man," Blood's face sneered, but it was - again - forced; he was resisting.
With a low growl, Sunfire charged forward, hands flaring with the golden aura of his starbolts. He stopped mere inches from the possessed Blood, and let loose with twin golden beams from his eyes. Apparently his brother had not seen this coming, or he just didn't care what happened to Blood, the end result was the old man getting blown back against the shield surrounding the resonator core.
"You're getting slow, brother," Sunfire said, as he reached up and calmly removed the forearm guards he was wearing, revealing the twisted flesh of his arm. "Now, how about telling me was this is about, why have you followed me all the way here?"
"I suppose it was a little brash to come after you, since I could probably do it myself better," his voice continued to sound as two, as he picked himself up. "But think about it, why should I get my hands dirty when you're the wanted one?"
The blonde Tamaranean heaved a sigh, this was getting them nowhere, and he hated when things went that way. Taking a swift step forward, his hand was buried in the old man's gut, forcing him roughly against the barrier. His other hand planted itself on Blood's face, shoving that against the shock of the shield as well, hoping that the pain and discomfort would drive Moonfire from this body.
"You forgot already, I feed on pain!" the sibilant voice was stronger this time, as red lightening, tinged with black, arced from his hands, and into Sunfire's abdomen, throwing him back along the catwalk. "The more pain inflicted to this body, the stronger my control over him grows."
"Something to remember," Sunfire spoke under his breath, coughing up a little blood. "You know, control really means nothing when the one you're controlling is completely incapacitated."
He threw an extra strong starbolt at Blood's leg, removing it at the knee; he then switched tactics and attacked with his Phoenix Blade. The slash was far too fast to see, let alone dodge, but the possessed man moved away with ease. The alien had to move quickly himself, lest he get caught by that red/black lightening Moonfire was now slinging about.
Blade away, Sunfire decided that perhaps miming would be a better tactic, so, lining his fingers together, he slashed, a whip of golden light sprung from his fingertips. The two streams of power connected, and rebounded, only to be slashed again, blue electricity arching from the meeting points to blast electronics out of the walls. Lining his other hand, he unleashed a second whip, using this to attempt at getting inside his brother's attacks.
"Come on, Sunfire, you're faster than this," he chided to himself, knowing it was true.
A well placed slash removed Blood's other leg, leaving him to float on his psychic power. That's when the lightening - which was now all black - vanished, and he floated back a little ways.
"Hm, you have gotten stronger, but I believe we will leave this fight to be concluded between us personally," Moonfire's voice had completely overlapped Blood's now. "This one has worn out his usefulness."
With that, Blood's own hands began to reach up, and grasped the sides of his head, beginning to slowly twist.
"No," Sunfire whispered.
"Yes, isn't this what you wanted, you wanted from the very beginning to kill this man, so I am apparently doing you a favor."
The final twist, and Blood's neck snapped, his head pulling a 180, and his body fell to the floor. Sunfire moved instantly to the dead man's side, examining the shattered cervical vertebra. He lowered his head, he didn't want it to end like this, not like this at all.
"Sunfire!" he turned at the sound of Raven's voice.
She stood in the door, Bumblebee beside her, following the instructions he gave her when he transported her. He stood, wiping the sweat from his forehead, and looked at Raven's shocked expression. What was thinking instantly blasted into his head.
"How...how could you?" she asked, her eyes wide.
"I didn't kill him, Raven," he walked over to her, leaving the body there. "Moonfire did."
"Moonfire?" she looked up at him, realization dawning on her. "Oh..."
"Come on, we need to get the others out of the cage," he said, waking past her; as he did si, she could have sworn she had seen him smile.
Not long after, the others were released, and back in a miraculously fixed T-sub. A hand of water extended from the walls around them and picked up the craft, bringing it back to the ocean. Sunfire hovered over them, his eyes fixed on the complex beneath him. His green irises flared red, and the rest turned black, blazing flames erupted around him, as his hand was raised above his head.
"NOW, INFERNO!" he called, launching the sphere of condensed energy down at the top of the resonator.
As the ball streaked down toward its destination, a ring began to form around it, making it look like the planet Saturn, except on fire. The strike hit home, plowing down through the top of the building, blasting past the barrier around the core - incinerating Blood's body in the process - and continued further, right down to the power source. The amount of energy in that single attack caused a massive explosion, destroying the HIVE buildings, and seemingly causing the walls of water to com crashing back down upon it, smothering everything with the power of the ocean.
"It's over," he sighed, turning to head back to the tower. "For now, anyway."
TBC
There, just a little something for you guys to enjoy while waiting for the next chapter. I could have made this longer, but felt like just having it conclude what began last chapter. For a picture of Inferno, check my profile for a link to fanart-central. net. Spaces are required for you to see the website. Course, you probably don't read this...I could say anything...neh.