OK, this is part one of two, because I've decided to make shorter chapters. Just stop believing anything I say…I can't tell you what I'm about to do next. Trying to write this thing is like trying to nail Jell-O to a tree. As far as I can tell…those Slade excerpts are scheduled to part two of 'Meetings'. Think of it this way, shorter chapters mean quicker updates.
P.S: I'm not particularly proud of this chapter, so just push on to Part Two…part one is just to get you to part two, but there is some important stuff, so read anyway.
Disclaimer: I don't own Slade…Slade owns me.
Amber fishtailed around the next corner, back tire tearing up the muddy back road. Another wave of ambulances barreled past her, sirens blaring. They must be evacuating. She had heard Raven over the communicator, and her damn crotch-rocket just wasn't going fast enough.
She knew the base. Her blood ran cold when she read the name. The military called it Jump Storm; to Amber and her father it was Asylum. When Mr. Wayne offered them a life worth living, her father's employment with the base was part of the deal. Jump Storm was their lifeline, and Daddy's passion. She quickly thanked God her father was on leave.
The trees ended abruptly, opening on field Amber didn't recognize. She slid to a stop next to an abandoned ambulance, throwing off her helmet. The wind and rain assaulted her ears till she could hear nothing else. It was like a dream…a twisted dream.
Black clouds domed over and smothered the field; explosions and laser fire filled the clearing. Hundreds of Slade bots marched on the base in waves. Ten of them were ripping at T-rex Beast Boy's back as he rolled over crushing most of them (and any others in his way) before changing again. Robin and Starfire stood back-to-back keeping the demonic dolls at bay, while Raven held off attacks on the opposite side in a dome of black energy. Amber remained frozen.
Since Amber joined the team they dealt with the odd Slade bot here and there, ten…maybe 20 at a time, but never so many. She had never even seen Slade. It had been years since that freak did anything this dramatic. What could have caused him to resurface so violently…on her base?
A quiet, screaming voice called her from a distance. Amber caught Robin's panicked eyes as he pointed dynamically in the other direction. She turned just in time to see the rocket as it sizzled past her head, and into her parked bike.
The pressure wave blew her face first to the ground, her bike exploding in a twisted fireball at her back. Searing heat and frigid rainwater mingled down her back, the smell of crushed grass and sulfur filled her head and cleared the fog. The trance was broken.
"Oh, it's on!" she grunted under her breath, getting to her feet. Her mind and body felt mashed as she shook off the last of the shock, ears ringing from the explosion. She stumbled into a run, pushing away physical distractions. Something was going to pay, and she was going to start with the smaller group around Raven.
Sparks flew where his bow staff was buried in the bot's eye. Robin didn't bother removing it before slamming the staff into the next one, sending chunks of skull and motherboard everywhere.
Behind him, Star was holding her own taking out two, sometimes three at a time. Beast boy in dino-form flopped on his back beside them, writhing and grinding as many droids as he could into the mud. They just kept coming.
Near the tree line, two androids stood apart, holding a rocket launcher, aiming across the field. He followed their line of sight to where Amber stood, dazed and stationary.
Robin yelled her name, fending off an attack while trying to get her attention, trying to make her move. He watched in horrible slow motion as the rocket was launched, flaming tail lighting her shocked face before detonating behind her. Relief was near overpowering. This wasn't her field. They needed combat reinforcements, now.
Robin flipped out his communicator, smashing his heavy boot into a metal midsection, "Damn it, Cyborg, are you done yet?" no response, "CYBORG." Robin cursed under his breath, tossing a few quick bird-a-rangs, and calling for Star to cover him. A quick vitals check told him Cyborg was down, but breathing. So they were out two teammates, one military supercomputer, and one loaded spy-bot. Batman was going to kill him.
The energy washed through her arms, crackling to life in her hands as she ran. Her wrist braces glowed softly with the blue techno-look Cyborg gave all his inventions. He made them for her when they realized her bio-energy could be converted to short-out mechanical threats; it worked especially well on Slade bots, provided she could get hold of the head.
She took the first one with both hands, the black metal skull turning hot beneath her finger as the energy passed through its artificial brain. The thing convulsed, went ridged, and collapsed. The adrenaline spiked as she took the next two, one in each hand, dropping them like sandbags and ramming their creepy, steaming faces into the mud for good measure.
The others finally took notice. Fifty-plus gleaming eyes turned in unified recognition of the new threat. This high on adrenaline, she couldn't have cared if they were all Slade himself. She just wondered how many she could take down before someone else took the rest.
One second passed, then two. They just stood there outside her reach, still surrounding the black dome that was Raven's stronghold, staring. The strangeness of it was becoming annoying. Amber coiled, preparing to make first move.
As if on cue, a disc exploded against one metal head, breaking the apathy. Every copper face turned. Robin stood determined, sending three more discs careening into the cluster; three more bodies followed. The horde charged, joining the already swollen circle surrounding Robin's little group. The space between Amber and Raven was emptied. She stared at the now empty space with her mouth open, disappointment and indignation taking over.
"Hey! THOSE WERE MINE!" she shouted after them.
"AMBER," Raven had taken down her shield, revealing herself and two paramedics…and someone else. "I think you have something else to worry about." The dark girl flew off to help the others.
No explanation was necessary. Between the two EMTs a man laid prostate. That they had stayed spoke both for their bravery and for the man's condition. Jogging over, she saw the junior paramedic, a young man, was working the bag feverishly, trying to push air into the unresponsive lungs. The female paramedic was holding his neck.
Amber didn't have to 'see' the man on the ground to know he was on death's bed. Blood filled the airbag and covered his face. The mood turned instantly. If fighting was pleasure then healing was white-hot need.
Waving the boy off, she took the neck from the woman…and blanched. The head lolled awkwardly in her hands. Oh, God please let it just be broken. Please, oh please, oh please…
She closed her eyes, expanding her mind into his body, or trying to. Her receptive nerves lagged, fighting to make a connection to the man's nervous system, to feel what he felt…which was nothing. She could feel nothing; just the broken neck, a tattered lip, and the oxygen starved brain. His cord was cut, as she feared.
Helplessness began to fog her brain. She couldn't heal an injury she couldn't 'see', and she couldn't 'see' an injury he couldn't feel. On her best day she would have trouble re-growing nerves, but with the collar… Amber shoved the thought aside, pushing deeper, searching for the frayed ends of the cord, digging…and being thrown out again, the collar snapping her back like a tether. 'Seeing' was as far as she could go.
Her eyes flew open; staring at the man in her hands, hopelessness and shame competed in her chest. His eyes had rolled back, bloody mouth slack and open; lights from the nearby battle lit his young face. He was younger than she was. He would have never imagined dieing here, on his own soil, in his own stronghold, leaving his mother and father from their own country.
Across from her the young paramedic sneered, pushing her away, and resuming assisted breathing. Wet trails ran down his cheeks, mingling with angry denial. Suddenly she realized she had a pair of her own.
"Take it off."
Amber jumped, the senior paramedic stood leaning against a tree behind her, arms crossed. "Take it off now. He's waited for you long enough," her face hardened, "and I've made him promises I don't intend to let you break."
Amber gaped. The fact that nobody outside the tower was supposed to know what the collar did aside, did the woman know she was asking her to risk everyone's life for his? The steady gaze told her she did. But, is it what the others would choose…
Her hands moved on their own, unlatching the collar, ripping the tentacles free, and tossing it behind her. She let the feeling return before cradling the neck again.
Beast Boy wrapped a massive arm around one droid neck, popping the head off cleanly before moving to the next one. Gorilla-form was more agile than rex-form and worked better against the quick contraptions.
He saw 'Wonder Boy' K.O. four members of the stationary group around Raven, bringing the whole pack to life. Like they didn't have enough to deal with already. Then he noticed Amber staring dumbstruck at the retreating robotic backs. Even with a fresh horde bearing down on him, the look on her face was priceless. He would have to goad her about it later.
"GARFIELD!" BB snapped to reality, hearing his 'true' name, and realizing he'd been called more than once. He raised the droid he was holding over his head, pile-driving it into the ground with both hands, roaring in frustration. Gorilla flesh melted to human.
"WHAT?" the response was thick with annoyance; that name had reservations, and (thanks to Robin) he was busy. Him and Fearless Leader never really got into it much, at least not till BB hit puberty. All of a sudden everything about Robin just rubbed his fur the wrong way.
"Watch Ambers back." Robin was having a hard time with the fresh arrivals. Even Star and Raven seemed to be struggling, but BB didn't have it too much better. When was he voted babysitter?
"I don't know if you've noticed," Garfield dodged a claw, then a foot, making use of his lighter frame while speaking, "but she doesn't have a single creepy on her."
"JUST WATCH HER, GAR!" That was that. Beast Boy yelled in a voice turning from human to bestial. His huge gorilla fist smashed the nearest bot into spare pieces.
The connection was instantaneous and extensive, feeling to the ends of his ability, sensing out the components she would need. Carefully she knit his neck back together, paving the way. Bone and marrow formed and hardened around the tattered nerve endings. Stem cells from the core found the neck, wove between the dead nerves, becoming new ones; stretching, reproducing, building.
She could feel as the brain reconnected with the body, showing her the broken rib and palpitating heart. She fixed the rib and the hole in his lungs, jolting the heart into normal rhythm, and forcing the body to breakdown and expel the blood and lymph that filled chest cavity. Pain and coughing wracked the soldier's body; proof that the healing was complete. Amber pulled out, allowing the coughs and pain to become his' own again.
Junior paramedic rolled the soldier into recovery position, one hand tangled in the soldier's sleeve, the other covering his eyes as he finally broke down. Satisfaction filled her as the patient's arms and legs moved in the pain of fresh healing. His body was next to perfect, but it would take the mind a while to catch-up.
Amber took a shaky breath, fingering the two vampire-like holes bleeding in the back of her neck where the tentacles had been. It had been a long time since she healed last. She'd almost forgotten how much more stable she felt afterwards.
But, she would need her collar back. She still couldn't say what would happen if she used her gift in the offensive just now. She turned, scanning the woods for the discarded fail-safe. The tree behind her stood cold and lonely where the female EMT had been leaning.
"Hey!" Amber turned back to her temporary partner, "Where is she?"
"Probably starting the ambulance," the man grunted, pulling up the shaky soldier by the arm. "We need to get out of here." Three massive explosions rocked the base, blasting hot dust and wind in all directions, and punctuated his point.
"Right," Amber slid under the soldiers other arm, supporting her own share of weight. She would have to come back when these two were safe. She wasn't going to use her power without the collar yet, but there should be no problem with a little walk.
A black, steal-tipped boot kicked Cyborg over with a loud 'clank'. His blank mechanical eye stared sightlessly at the ceiling. Pathetic. He was alive, his communicator signal strong. That was all Slade needed.
From his wrist a woman's voice crackled to life, "I have it."
Something like relief tugged at the edge of his guard. First goal was met. Slade pressed the button on a small remote. Bombs erupted from the upper levels, the tremors echoing through the chamber. Now was the time to separate.
A hero's predictability was always something of a marvel. She would come for the pitiful pile that was Cyborg. She would have to, and he would be there.
The three of them stumbled back toward the road. At their backs the base was burning, flame and smoke roiling over the roof, heating the little clearing.
Amber's muscles were complaining. Breathing was getting harder. The soldier on her shoulder might have been younger, but he could easily outweigh her by half. Her EMT buddy didn't seem much better off. She hardly noticed when the sounds of battle began to die behind them.
"Wait," the man stopped, looking ahead where the road met the field, "Where's our ride?" Amber looked up. Her bike's remains continued to burn beside the empty road…almost empty road. Seven or eight robots blocked their way, slinking toward them, and no ambulance in sight. Now they wanted to fight.
"Crap…Get him to the trees," she muttered, wriggling out from under the dead weight. She didn't know what this band was after, but they wouldn't attack a retreating target…at least they wouldn't if there was an aggressive target.
Amber bared her teeth. The fight-or-flight instinct was pressing in the back of her mind, pissing her off. Titan's weren't supposed to feel this way. This was what training was for.
She listened, waiting for sound of the men's staggering steps to move farther away. The droids simply kept walking. Good, she would wait for them to get closer before running under their reach and making use of her short arms. One center droid paused, gaze following the men with mild interest.
"HEY, you emaciated, misadjusted blow-doll. I'M OVER HERE," the droid took no notice, changing course, "shit."
Amber charged, body low, head down, eyes open. The target turned; pulling back, ready to engage. Metal met flesh as her shoulder sunk into the grey gut, driving it back and into the ground. She used the momentum to roll away, sliding to her feet. She stood slowly, grinning. Seven bots turned. At least this wouldn't be a waste.
The downed robot sat-up, head and arms lolling back like some possessed cadaver. Its head turned on its neck 180 degrees to look at her before standing. Well that's a little disturbing.
The droid's once sleek torso was dented, and it walked a little crooked. At least she knew she could damage them. Amber backed up slowly, the machines followed. That was disturbing too. Why wouldn't they be programmed to just attack her?
The machines stopped following, making a line five yards away. Amber stopped, dropping into a defensive stance. Something green and wet oozed to the ground beside her, landing in a puddle with a gelatinous 'splouch'. Amber turned and stared into the great, ugly green mouth that was Plasmus'.
"I thought I smelled something."
A/N: This looked like a decent place to stop. So, I did.
Part Two of Meeting: Cyborg is unconscious in the burning base. Amber has to get to him without her gifts, but it gets complicated with Slade standing in her way. Will we get a glimpse of the other side of being uniquely blessed? Well, yeah. Login to part two for the real reason Amber wears the collar.
Hod'j'Podj: 'sniff'. You know you are my best friend in the entire world (throws arms around you in a big, awkward hug). Thanks, Love. I carry on just for you…and I actually mean that.
To the rest of you who read and didn't review…I am disappointed. Very disappointed indeed.