Hurt to Save
Victor Van Heiring
Greetings, people. I'm here, Alex is leaving tonight for a short while (a week or two I think, although he'll still have a computer to read your work with), and I wanted to write chapter two.
First off, I would like to thank Rowlingfan, bunnyaven, Liobit, RobinisDaBomb, robinfan652, and hhgbh for being my first reviewers ever. Someone asked why I decided to make my account name The Brother of SilverCross51. It was because even though I'm typing everything up, Alex is there for the plan making. This story was the first story he had an outline written for (even before Blast to the Supposed Past and My Enemy) but he threw it out. I grabbed it, remolded it, and stole HW's (Marionette) original layout plan. If you ever read Alex's "Blast" series, you know who HW is, and if you remember the part where she went insane…well, you'll see how things were supposed to go. Alex has a fetish for making his OCs terribly flawed and killed off with dishonour on their souls…
Okay—the pace is about to be picked up quite quickly. I'm not going to keep the action waiting (unlike Alex, who relies more on speech and mystery…which I plan to have too).
WARNING: (I have to add this) this contains a murderer who…has an interesting method of homicide. I might not actually show him/her killing, but you will know what it is exactly they do—and it DOES NOT include rape.
Have fun!
DISCLAIMER: Refer to chapter one.
CHAPTER TWO: Anti-freak
"Talk about seclusion…This guy must hate having neighbors…"
Robin had to agree with that. Telling the team that he and BB were working on a lead (which Raven and Cyborg looked utterly stunned at when he said "Beast Boy") to Slade's plans, Robin made his way out to the far west side of the city just a block away from the large and beautiful Aimsville Park. He, of course, waited until night to get there, using the cold and dark atmosphere to scare answers out of Dr. River if he gave them any trouble or was hesitant on telling them why he put the hidden message in the newspaper. If Dr. River had been so keen on revealing Slade's plan, then he should have tried to contact some sort of force in the city, the police or the Titans. He was a smart man…
"Talk about insecurity…" Beast Boy mumbled, sticking out a finger toward the ten foot tall iron gate. Neither of them would be surprised if they found landmines buried under the front lawn.
"Don't touch—"
"OW!" BB drew his finger back, blowing at the dark spot on the tip of his glove. "Dude, I so don't want to be fried by this guy! He doesn't even have a speaker box…or a mailbox…"
"I guess he doesn't like visitors…" Robin muttered, slipping his bo-staff from his belt. Extending it, he started to back away from the gate. "You might want to step aside, BB. You could fly over if you want."
"Fly over! Dude, do you see any other animals on the other side of the gate? They're probably all fried now too…"
"Or, it could be the cold."
"Or the cold…fine." BB stepped back and morphed into a hawk, flapping his wings and rising over the gate just as Robin was about to take his run.
Then the front door creaked and a dark figure stepped out onto his doorstep. Tucked securely under his left arm was a small package wrapped up in brown paper…
-D.R.-
Shivering in the cold, he drew his coat tighter around his body with his free hand as he started down the small path toward his front gate. Reaching it, he spied through the bars in search of anyone watching before dialing in a code on the inside of the gate and passing through unharmed. Then his pace quickened, hurrying for Aimsville Park.
It didn't take him long to reach his destination. It was the same place as last time and no one was around (as usual). He was utterly alone…
But this time the wait was longer. Taking a seat on one of the stone benches, he set the brown package down on his lap and sighed a puff of white clouds. What if something happened to his employer? What if this was a trap?
Trap.
Trap.
Well now, there's the word-of-the-day.
"Freeze…"
Dr. River didn't even dare to turn around as he felt the cold hard barrel end of a gun pressed to the back of his head. He heard the sound of more people cocking their guns and then saw a few tiny red lights come to life around him in the bushes.
He was surrounded.
"Hand me the package." The man behind him ordered, holding out his arm over Dr. River's shoulder for him to see. "And don't try to run. You'll only die."
"I-I…can't."
"Can't what? Run or die?"
"Give you this…" Dr. River stared down at the package. If this guy didn't kill him, Slade would…
"Huh?" There was the whining noise of some other gun warming up, more red dots light up in the bushes around the first. There were more sounds of confusion before all hell broke lose.
-R-
Perhaps it was for the best that they followed quietly. The moment they caught up to the man, they stopped short—and out of sight—of a group of Feds…or whatever they were. The shooters were hidden behind the trees and bushes, aiming at a small clearing of benches.
"Whoa…" BB gasped. Robin covered his mouth and dragged him away as they dove behind a separate bush. One of the men turned around the see what the ruckus was, but tossed his worried aside as he returned to the task at hand. It was then that one of the many Slade-bots to arrive dropped down from the branches and ambushed the men.
"Looks like a double set-up." Beast Boy muttered. "Poor guys."
"Poor guys?" Robin reached to his belt and took out a few explosives, tossing them at the feet of the advancing robots. "I doubt they even work for the government."
"You mean they're not cops?"
"Yes."
"Oh….Since when did we care about the government?"
Robin grinned. "Never."
BB shrugged, morphing into a cheetah before breaking out at a furious pace toward the battle. Robin made out at a mad dash behind him, tossing explosives here and there as the robots turned to see them. A few of the men, unarmed now by the robots, stepped aside as they passed forward.
They needed to get to Dr. River before anyone else did.
-BB-
Robin might have been slower, but he held back to fight off the growing mass of robots against the mysterious men. In the mean time, he made his way toward the circle of benches and morphed into a bloodhound. Putting his nose to the ground, he picked up Dr. River's scent…
Smiling inwardly, he changed again back into a cheetah and took off after the man. Sprinting as fast as he could until he caught sight of the doctor, he morphed back into a humanoid form and called after him.
"Wait! You're going to get yourself killed!"
The man only paused to look over his shoulder at the youth before picking up the pace.
"Stupid…" BB grumbled, about to change again—
—when a foot came out from nowhere and connected with his face. Disorientated, he stumbled back and hit a tree, rubbing his eyes as he slid to the ground, dizzy. Before he passed out he saw one thing.
A blur of black and orange.
-D.R.-
That was too close for his liking. It also meant that they were finally on to him…he was screwed…
Panting as he ran, he sprinted on until he reached a second clearing, the sound of gunfire and explosions dying in the distance. Maybe he was safe. Maybe he could still get away…
They was movement in the branches above him before somebody dropped down behind him, hitting him hard in the side of the head. Yelping, he fell to his knees and tuned over, eyes widening at what he saw.
"Hello, Riverman." She said. "Lend me a boat."
Tall and slim—almost too slim from starvation or stress—stood a woman decked entirely in black but as pale as a bone. Her skin was smooth but almost deathly, and around her eyes were dark circles created from the lack of sleep. Her hair, long and hanging down to her waist, was folded into a thousand tiny braids. Her suit, black in colour and not too tight, was covered in straps—but he doubted it was for style. The straps on her arms hung freely and looked as though they could be done up to pin her arms across her chest, almost like a built in straight jacket.
"W-who are you?" He stuttered. The moment she stepped forward he began to crawl back. "Well!"
"I am what I am, and what I am is what I was bent to be…" She smiled. Then she reached behind her back and her belt jolted around her waist as she detached something. Bringing her hand to her front, something silver flashed in the faint starlight. "I don't know what you are, but I know what you'll be…"
"No! Stop!" Scrambling back further and making it to his feet, he felt his package slip from beneath his arm.
"Hush, hush. I promise to be quick…"
-S-
He didn't intervene when he saw the girl come and go; didn't even care to show he was watching. But he did watch, and he saw her hoist the heavy body over her shoulder wearily and started on her way to dispose of it. Maybe she didn't notice the package on the ground…
Smiling to himself, Slade stepped forward from the shadows and bent down to pick up the small parcel. Weighing it in his hands, he turned around and left…
-D-
"Where is he?"
She shrugged, crossing her legs. Marionette tended to ignore them when her arms were locked.
"Mary, the sooner you tell me, the sooner I can let you go."
"Where else would the Riverman be besides in the water?"
"You killed him?" Placing his hands on his hips, he let out an irritated sigh. "It's a little late for that, don't you think? You were supposed to kill him before he gave the parcel to Slade—and, by the way, where the hell is that?"
She shrugged. "I do what you say. You say kill him—I kill him. But you said nothing of a parcel. You said nothing of a specific date."
"It's implied. Why the hell else would I want the doctor dead."
Again she shrugged. "I am what I am—and I killed him. Be thankful I kept my word about my diet."
"Yeah, yeah…just wait until the police find the body…" Stroking his chin with his hand, he shifted his weight on his feet and tried to think. "Well, the only thing left to do is gather my team and stop Slade head on before he came set the bomb off. You…"
"More fun?" She asked hopefully.
"No one dies this time."
"Oh…" She paused to absorb the words again. "Oh…"
"AND!" He thrust his finger forward inches away from her nose. "You're going back to the looney-bin, little miss, right after you complete your second task. Is that clear?"
She laughed. "Scouts honour!"
A lot of good that was…but she had the tendency of keeping her word. She had…her own laws that she prevented herself from breaking. And those laws had an interesting history behind them, something that had to do with her current mental state.
"So, you know what you have to do?" He asked for assurance.
"Inside and out." She replied, but then her voice softened, almost to a beg… "And…will you return my mask …?"
"I don't know…" He tapped his chin this time, thinking hard about the request. When she put on the mask it was like she was another person, but, then again, she wasn't any less crazy now. "Will you behave yourself? You should know that we'll be watching and that the moment you're done—wham! Back to the white room."
She shivered at the term, but nodded anyway. "Yes, yes—you have my word! And I swear: the little kittens are safe from my teeth."
"They better be…" He grumbled. Turning toward the door to the small office, he nodded at the small one-way mirror to Frank. Frank was one of the few other people Mary didn't attempt to bite or scare off by threatening to eat them.
Opening the door, he slammed it behind him and leaned against the nearby wall until Frank came over.
"She one screwed up patient." He muttered.
Frank smiled. "But she gets the job done."
"Ha! And to what degree?"
Frank laughed, turning the doorknob. "Just tell me when to call the asylum—Oh, and Mark called. He wants to know what we're going to keep the Titans out of this."
Dane was silent.
"They saw us last night."
"I know."
"They saved us last night."
"I know."
"They questioned the men too."
"…That I didn't know."
Frank laughed. "Don't worry. The two that were there got called off by their alarm. Thank God for the crazy villains."
"And cruse Satan for Slade…"
-R-
"So…they just appeared out of thin air?" Starfire did a circle around him, almost expecting to pick up trances of magic off him.
"No…They were stationed there. And so were Slade's robots." Sighing to himself, Robin made his way toward the main computer, tossing Beast Boy a bag of ice. He found his teammate unconscious in the thick mass of trees, the sole of a boot imprinted on his face in dirt. Judging by the side, it wasn't a robot. It had to be one of the agents they found around the area.
And who exactly were they working for? Since when did they take up major villain cases without the permission of the JL and either the Teen Titans or Titans East (depending on which city the crime was taking place.
Making it to the consol, he stood next to Cyborg. The half-robotic man was typing away at the keyboard feverously; eyes pinned on the screen as multiple windows popped up.
"Anything?"
"Nothing." Cyborg replied. "Whatever they're doing and whoever they're working for, they don't have any permission whatsoever to—oh wait, here we go." He grinned to himself and back clicked a few of the windows. "No one gets past me…"
They're eyes widened.
"Anti-freak?" Raven asked, reading one of the words. "The government permitted a separate branch to operate against all hero organizations."
"In hopes to replace us?" Starfire asked meekly.
"No idea." Cyborg began again, searching through the hacked information. "It says they've been operating for three years and have so far stopped three world-wide crises that went absolutely unnoticed to everyone else. They're against…apparently, anyone with special, un-human ability."
"Including us?" Beast Boy squeaked from where he sat. With one hand he pressed the ice pack to his forward, and with his other her rubbed his face clean with a washcloth.
"Yep."
"Even the JL?"
"Yep."
"Even Robin, Batman, Green Archer and Speedy?"
"Uh…" Cyborg searched further. "They might be penalized for working with us, but I don't actually know…Maybe they'd get angry at them for being vigilantes."
"Name one organization that's entirely good and isn't made up of vigilantes." Robin muttered.
Starfire raised her hand. "The force of the police?..."
Raven sighed. "They're corrupt too."
"Oh…"
-V-
Oooooh…long chapter. I wonder when I'll find time to write the next one. Alex's coming home in a day or toy, so he's going to be updating again. Oh—and I might change the title…I don't know…it's sounds pretty lame to me, but that might be because Alex never stopped me for making it…I'll see.
Signing out,
Victor Van Heiring