Hurt to Save
Victor Van Heiring
Wow…I really need a new title.
Alex's been gone for ages, working on loads of homework. He hasn't been able to write as of late so he asked me to apologize to those of you who read his stories. I think "The League's Hunt" is up on the schedule for his next update…
Anyway, I'm just going to give another warning for future violence and something else. In this story Marionette makes quite a few references to various theories, quotes and stories. I will put a number beside each reference and then the explanation at the bottom of the page so that you won't get confused. But…well, you'll just have to read to find out what exactly her purpose is in the story. Anyone who can guess what it is…I don't know. Gets a prize…
DISCLAIMER: Refer to chapter one.
CHAPTER THREE: Divide and conquer
Tuesday took forever to end. It made Monday look like a Saturday, and not in length. Having only one day to make up a plan, Dane was on his wits end as he paced back and forth across his office. He had indeed figured something out—had it in sitting in the background for a while, actually—but now he wasn't so sure about it…
Well, one thing was for sure. If you aggravated the leader of the Titans, the kid was sure to put up a fight. Then his crew of freakish vigilantes would follow suit—out of Dane's way and far from Slade's…hopefully. Dane knew exactly what Slade was up to and he also knew Slade would be contacting the Titans tonight after the bomb was set.
Bomb might have been the wrong word for it. It could be time and it could be set off with a controller but it was more of a large gun than anything else, fit tightly into one of the few fault lines beneath Jump City. One sonic blow and the west half of the city would come tumbling down on thousands of heads…
Sometimes he hated his job…
"Ready, sir?" Mark asked as he peeked his head around the door. "The rest of the men are ready to go and Jake wants to know when to call Marionette."
Dane sighed. "Tell him to call her now, and make sure they're watching her this time. None of the kids are allowed to die."
Mark, a short slim man with short blond hair, had to grin. "Jeez, Cap. You're really the only one on the team who wants anybody dead."
"Shut up, Mark. Monitor the air waves and make sure you intercede between any messages sent to Titans Tower. I don't want their alarms going off too soon and I sure as hell don't want Slade getting them involved."
The young man didn't need to be told twice. He disappeared behind the door as he pulled his cell-phone from his pocket and called up Jake. Tonight was going to be a night that everyone would remember…either fondly or with deepest regrets…
-R-
Tuesday was the day he had been dreading to see since the little letter Beast Boy had picked out from the newspaper clippings. The entire team was ready for that one little call that would sound once Slade made his move, although Robin was kind of hoping to find out what the insane villain was up to before his plot became a threat to the city. With one day to do that…well, he had next to no time to even start a proper search for this supposed "bomb" Dr. River was trying to warn them about. His guess was that it would be somewhere near the center of the city where the most damage would take place, or near the coastline where the water would contribute to the destruction of the city.
Either way, he still dreaded Tuesday night when it came.
"Dude, you're driving me bonkers here! Can't you pace in your mind?"
Robin only paused to glare at BB before continuing his march. Cyborg was still at the consul looking up more on the "Anti-Freaks" while Starfire and Raven were somewhere off on their own in preparation for another full-out attack from Slade.
"What if he doesn't do anything tonight?" BB murmured. "Maybe he sent the letter through Dr. R. to lead us off…"
Robin nearly tripped at that notion.
For someone as stubborn and clueless as Beast Boy…he could sure have a stroke of genius when he put his mind to it.
"No kidding." Cyborg added, turning to look at his two pals. "Did Dr. River look like a brave enough man to put letters in the newspaper ratting Slade out? That's like…a published death-wish."
"I know…BB's probably right too, but we have nothing else to go with."
Beast Boy's eyes lightened up again. "And what if he didn't mean this Tuesday? He could have meant any Tuesday!"
Hopefully not…Robin didn't think he could stand dreading every Tuesday that rolled by. That would be…absolutely horrible.
"You look pale." Cyborg said.
"I just wish something would come up." He admitted wearily. If he had to wait another minute he'd just about—
'I hope I'm not interrupting anything?'
Startled, Cyborg jumped away from the main computer and stared up at the screen as it black-out before showing the team's archenemy. Shoulder's up with a black background, all the three could see was Slade.
Beast Boy rolled his eyes. "Do you have us on call-forwarding or something because you're really the only one who doesn't call us through the phone?"
Slade ignored him, focusing his attention on Cyborg and Robin, and the two girls as they flew into the room. A silent alarm was set to go off in the halls once the main computer was contacted from an unknown source.
"Make it short." Robin said bluntly, voice hard and frustrated. "Before we hang up."
'I—'
"I hope you don't mind if I steal your kids for a sec." A second voice came, younger and female. The screen hit static for a moment, cutting Slade's shot in half as his eye narrowed dangerously before blocking him out completely. "I promise to make this quick."
The screen blacked-out entirely. The Titans waited in eerie anticipation for the newcomer to show and were quite surprised to see what they saw next. Also with a dark background, but with barren trees lining the faint horizon, came the picture of a woman from the waist up. Adorned in a fit black body suit with long black hair braided into many small braids was their newest caller. It would have been nice to at least see her face but that was covered by a smooth white mask, the eye sockets and an upside-down crescent over the mouth both painted crimson red to conceal her identity entirely.
"Dude…who are you?" Beast Boy breathed, making an odd face at the sight of her. She would have been the first person to interrupt a conversation between the Titans and Slade…and they doubted Slade was the kind of guy who would let that pass.
"Marionette, little boy. And I'm just calling…" She titled her head to one side curiously. "…to see if you want to play."
"Now…might not be the best time."
Her head turned ever-so-slightly, just to show that she was staring at Robin. "And this is coming from a hero? I thought your everlasting duty was to defend the weak and innocent, and yet, here I am, with the fate of your city in my hands. Bravo, boy. You make a wonderful negotiator."
The screen found static as the young lady prepared to disconnect their conversation.
"Wait!" Cyborg yelled. "What do you mean?"
"I know much of your history and I grew jealous of your adversaries. Surely you would grow to become the champions of this world, but the one who caught your attention first was the Halloween man. And with one eye only! Woe…So I followed suit and called you up."
"Why?..." Robin was cautious now. It wasn't too often that someone called out of the blue just to pick a fight with them…but this woman didn't sound like she was in her right mind. Who knew?
-S-
Being cut out of a conversation was not something he would put up with. He didn't care if it was Satan himself who interrupted—he wasn't going to let some woman humiliate him like that!
But still…she must have been insane to do what she did. Perhaps her conversation held some importance to him.
Tapping into his computer once more, he reconnected to their conversation but remained hidden. Fooling around with the screen, he divided it in half. The right side showed the Titans as left revealed the most peculiar girl…
It was the woman who killed Dr. River, but this time her face was masked.
"And this is coming from a hero? I thought your everlasting duty was to defend the weak and innocent, and yet, here I am, with the fate of your city in my hands. Bravo, boy. You make a wonderful negotiator."
"Wait! What do you mean?"
"I know much of your history and I grew jealous of your adversaries. Surely you would grow to become the champions of this world, but the one who caught your attention first was the Halloween man. And with one eye only! Woe…So I followed suit and called you up."
"Why?..."
What an interesting question.
"Why else? I came to fight the great Teen Titans. And unless someone dies tonight, I'll set off the bomb I have planted under the city."
"Another one!" He heard the green changeling squeak.
"I'll see you at the park, lovelies. Don't be late. I press the button unless I have a fight…"
Then he screen blacked-out, and the picture of the Titans filled his screen. Still oblivious to him, they conversed amongst themselves, almost all at once.
"Great—that makes two—what about Slade's—what do we do about this one—we split up—someone stays back in case Slade shows up—three go find the bombs—but what about the Anti-Freaks—how long do we have—someone has to go after her—"
It was amazing they understood each other.
"No offense, man…" Cyborg started. "But maybe it's for the best that you don't run into Slade in the city—"
"—or stay back to take his call." Raven added.
"So…I should take on this 'Marionette'?"
"…Well...it is a fight she seeks, does she not?"
Robin turned to Starfire with a grin. "Alright, if it's a fight she wants, then it's a fight she gets. Cyborg, you stay back and see what Slade's up to. Raven, Starfire, Beast Boy—you spilt up and start searching potential hide-outs for her bomb. I'll make my way down to the park…"
Maybe this wasn't a bad thing after all. Robin would be alone and he knew there was nothing inhuman about that woman. He could take her out and get the boy while he was miles away from his friends.
Shutting off the screen, he turned around and signaled to his robots. Just in case the Titans did find any bomb, he wanted to keep them distracted as long as he most possibly could.
-M (Marionette)-
She watched the men leave as they took down their equipment, off to find Slade or stay in the shadows in case she called for help. She doubted she would need them though. What she said was true—someone was going to die tonight and she suspected that would most likely be her.
The wait wasn't long though…the boy came right on time.
-R-
"The Park" in general was rather large and he was taking a stab in the dark by going down to Aimsville Park instead of JC Park. But that seemed to be the perfect place for a small criminals hide-out, and the background showed a thick crowd of trees, none evergreens. That meant she was most likely in Aimsville.
But he could be wrong.
Something drew him to the area where he last saw Dr. River, in the clearing with the cement benches laid out in a circle. The Anti-freaks…perhaps she had something to do with them. It couldn't have been coincidence that she interrupted Slade's conversation at that exact moment. She had to have monitored their line, and even then…no one worked alone anymore these days unless they had a robotic army behind them. Everyone had been waiting for Slade to make a move.
"All alone? What is expected of a friend when the world continuously changes the expectations of one? Surely they wouldn't send you on your own…"
"You said you wanted a fight." He growled, looking for the source of her voice. It came from above. "You never specified who you wanted to fight."
She laughed…and he shivered. "The pen is mightier than the sword (1), but the sword is sure to meet its mark. Perhaps I should have been more specific…"
"You should have also been more specific about the location."
There was a pause…then something hit the ground gently behind him. He spun around just in time to see something shimmer in the darkness toward his face. Reaching up with his right hand, she caught her wrist and blocked the punch that followed with his other forearm. The knee that met with his gut was unexpected and she was able to free herself long enough to jump back…
She kept her appearance, still wearing the eerie red and white mask. Her braids hit her leather suit and made a small noise as they fell across her mask.
He could almost see her smiling.
She pointed the tip of her dagger at him and laughed again. "You're not bad, little boy. Good enough that I could almost eat you alive…(2)"
He didn't answer to that comment and instead reached to his belt for his bo-staff. She charged again and he blocked her out-stretch blade with his extended weapon. He blocked twice again as she swung her arm back and tried to catch him in to ribs before hitting her directly in the face and knocking her backwards. He hit her hard enough to knock her into a fumbled back-flip. She landed with both feet and one hand digging into the cold earth to stop her slid backwards. Then she charged forward again, making it look as though she was about to strike with the dagger, but instead bringing both feet up toward his chest. He blocked with his bo-staff once more, but it pushed him down so he fell and propelled her high enough into the air that she was able to grab a branch with her free arm.
"Not bad…" Marionette stared down at him. Tilting her head back slightly, she laughed again before swinging herself up to sit on the branch.
"Why are you doing this to the city? Why did you plant a bomb!"
"Why did the towers fall (3)? Why do you have representatives running the country? Why do we have religion? It's all about proving a point, letting your voice be heard, showing what you believe in. Someone out there thinks that their thoughts are more important than anyone else's…Why are you a hero?"
"…Long story."
"I bet mine is longer." Then she jumped back down, foot aimed toward his face. But this time he didn't block it with the staff. Instead he moved it aside and grabbed her foot, swinging her around until he let go, throwing her into a tree. Back colliding with the trunk, she gasped in pain and hit the ground.
"Fair shot, lovely…let's move on to round two…"
-V-
(1) "The pen is mightier than the sword" –the first part of Marionette's sentence is taken from Voltaire, a famous philosopher who spread the ideas of liberty in France before the French revolution.
(2) "…that I could almost eat you alive…" –I personally don't know where this saying comes from and I really don't care—what you should know is that this is a reference to Marionette's strange nature, which will explain why she's insane in the first place. You'll see more of these kinds of saying from her and will later find out she is cannibalistic in her ways, hence the comments Dane made on her 'diet' and the bet she made with him about him trying one of her 'meals' for once…You'll find out why to that soon.
(3) "…towers…" –reference to the Twin Towers.
And there you have it! Chapter three! I tried to make it nice and long so…here it is…I hope you liked it.
Signing out,
Victor Van Heiring