In case anybody read the last chapter before I updated it, Hurst is 15. Also roben launches into fights at 100 percent (the percent sign doesn't show on uploaded documents for some reason) not 100.
Ok guys, here's Chapter 3. As always, questions, comments, criticism or anything else is welcome via way of review.
To any fellow Australians out there, I take it that you approve of the choice of car (for the non rev head Aussies, the Pontiac GTO is an exported left hand drive Holden Monaro prepared by HSV with an Pontiac nose) If you're in the Ford or Mitsubishi camp, seek counseling. There is hope for you yet.
Enough of me waffling on, let's get down to business
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Glossary of Terms
Mag(s):Short for magazines, clips
'Uncle Sam':US Armed Forces/Government
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There was something about Web that Robin couldn't place. He was somehow different to the photo. It was the same person but not. The photo was a few years old but physically speaking Web hadn't changed much at all. It was a subtle change in the expression that made them seem like two completely different people. In the flesh, Web seemed very focused and direct though he lacked the ruthless aura that the photo radiated. In the photo Web's face also looked troubled like he had a massive burden on his shoulders. However in the flesh he seemed relaxed, as if he'd put what ever it was behind him. What probably made web look so different with just change of expression was how
Web seemed playful, not unlike Beast Boy or Cybourg when they were pulling one of their more 'elaborate' pranks. The big difference was that this involved flash bangs, high quality competition grade firearms and one very powerful sports car. Cybourg and Beast Boy rarely resorted to using anything more potent than paint and motor oil. Robin's thoughts drifted back to the time Cybourg put paint in Beast Boy's shampoo and turned him brown for two days. Robin smirked at the thought for a half second then winced at the pain emanating from bruise on his face which was shaped like the base of a magazine for a Desert Eagle.
"Here, let me fix that."
A pale hand reached out covering the bruise; glowed black for a couple seconds then poked the section of skin to be sure that the bruise was completely healed.
"Thanks Raven"
"Any time. You look disturbed, anything you want to talk about?"
"This mourning wasn't particularly tough or dangerous, it was just weird."
"How so?"
"These guys are supposed to be ruthless criminals, Web's even wanted for murder. But his sidekick, Hurst, deliberately fired well over my head when he had a clean shot. And Web, he's just something else…"
"Why is that?"
"He played the whole thing one big prank."
"Let's hope Beast Boy and Cybourg don't get any ideas."
"It would have been so much easier for him if he'd just started blasting with that cannon of his. He probably could've fired off a couple mags worth and cut us all to pieces before we knew what hit us. Instead he charges in and hits me in the face with it. Hurst even told us that they didn't want to hurt us though I wouldn't have thought that'd extend to the MPs"
"Each person is the way they are for a reason. The same is also true of their actions. To understand a person and their actions one needs to understand where they came from and what they've been threw. We know very little about these people and they apparently come form uncommon circumstances. After we see them again a few times and we find out about more them you'll understand them better. This is what will bring you closer to catching them. It's all a matter of patience. Anything worth doing is worth taking a long time to do."
She had a point, as always.
"Thanks again"
"What are friends for?"
That was the good thing about having a friend like Raven. You could discuss absolutely anything with her and expect a calm and objective response without repercussions. This came in handy when there was something that had you worked up, she'd come up with something profound that would just let you think clearly enough to get back on track and deal with whatever problem you were faced with. For personal problems she never gave you the answer, merely pointed you in the right direction so you could discover it for yourself. In many ways,
Cybourg and Beast Boy were good friends and great company though they lacked Raven's wisdom and understanding. For instance, Cybourg had been laughing the whole ride back to the tower about the circumstances of Robin and Beast Boy's defeat earlier. However their specialist expertise on anything high tech and any animal respectively often proved useful.
Starfire was great company and great to talk with though more and more these days Robin found himself getting distracted, getting so wrapped up in the conversation and Starfire. Not that this was a bad thing, far from it, Robin loved his long chats with Starfire. Often they were just what he needed to remind Robin to let go when a case got too personal.
Web now had his hand on Angela's shoulder, trying to comfort her while she fought back a fresh wave of tears. He wore a tan trench coat over his black attire to conceal his shoulder holster. As the pair trudged down the path to their friend's current resting place, both were taking it badly but Web wasn't showing it.
"It doesn't make sense! The others had a couple incidents where their skin started to get rocky when they pushed too hard but never anything anywhere near as bad as this. And it NEVER happened to Terra. And why's she covered in these 'S' logos?"
"We're definitely missing something here." His voice calm and even, as if trying to figure out the identity of the culprit half way threw a detective movie. "The logos sound like they belong to Slade. He's that terrorist that we've been hearing about for a while who popes up now and then, has a solid go at the Titans, then disappears. If Terra was working with him why are the Titans mourning her?"
"But how do we cure her?" Shouted Angela, obviously not caring about anything else.
"Didn't they have a serum back at the facility?"
"Bt that had to be injected, Terra's definitely got no flesh left. More importantly, that stuff KILLED some of the others. It could kill Terra"
"Let's take a look at her, we may learn something."
Web had already accepted that Terra was quite possibly dead and there was nothing they could do for her but he didn't have the heart to tell Angela. He knew that he probably wouldn't even be able to bring himself to tell Hurst for that matter.
"I'm no stranger to death." thought Web "I've killed many more people than I care to remember for 'Uncle Sam' and I've even seen quite a few good friends, family and my girlfriend murdered well before their time. So why does the idea of Terra's death bother me so much more than the rest? Is it just because it's been so long that I've forgotten how bad the rest felt? No, they still haunt me to this day. Terra was an innocent, fun loving teenager that everybody at the facility loved. Her antics made everybody laugh. To me, the troops, the scientists, the older kids and even the officers she was the cute little sister we all looked out for. To the younger kids, she was the cool older sister they all looked up to. After my time in the Middle East she played an instrumental part in me re discovering my humanity. She helped show me the joys of life. What did she do to disserve this? "
His train of though was interrupted by Angela tapping him on the shoulder and pointed at Terra's rocky form. Web gritted his teeth, the sight was plainly disturbing him.The first thing that drew his eye was the look of sheer terror and sorrow fixed in her eyes. The sight caused Web to wince. Then his eyes moved on to her raised arms and hair.
"She went out fighting. She clearly knew what she was doing. She was there when it happened to some of the other sand knew it might happen to her if she pushed too hard. Then why did she do whatever she was doing?"
The scent of the bouquet at Terra's feet reached his nostrils.
"Those roses are fresh, they can't have been bought more than six hours ago. They're expensive ones two. Whatever she did, someone's real grateful. There were some old rose petals on the ground further back, whoever left these must have taken away a set of old ones. Looks like she left an impression on the green fuzz-ball, possibly the bird brain as well."
Web's eyes paused for a few seconds on the un natural pattern her hair was in.
"She has something on her head. What is it?"
Conceding that he couldn't examine the objects concealed by her hair, Web proceeded to examine her clothing.
"That's definitely a 'Slade' symbol. That gives no answers, merely more questions. Then there's this disk shaped chest plate. I've seen something like it before…"
A few more footsteps brought web's face to within a foot of the ridged girl before him. He carefully examined the chest plate carefully for a few seconds.
"IT CAN'T BE"
Web looked like he'd seen a ghost. He took two steps backwards.
"What is it? What can't be?"
What scared Angela was the fact that Web was quite visibly scared. As long as she'd known him, web had been as tough as nails. No matter how bad things looked, he kept his head and dealt with seemingly impossible situations where death seemed certain and got out, usually without a scratch. As to the source of this fear, Angela was blissfully unaware.
It took a few seconds for Web's shaky hand to reach for the radio on his belt. He brought the radio up to his face and held it there for a few seconds, still unable to hold it steady.
"Kid, get in here." His voice full of fear.
"On my way, almost…"
"NOW!"
Angela just stared at Web wondering what was going on. It only took Hurst a few seconds to charge threw the cave and reach his comrades. His Colt was drawn and leveled. He figured if something spooked Web, it had to be bad.
"What's wrong?"
"I don't know." Replied Angela "He just freaked out."
The ordinarily soft click of the safety switch echoed threw the cave before Hurst returned the gun to the holster under his jacket.
"Easy pall. Would you mind not scaring me like that?"
Web finally spoke
"Is she wearing what I think she's wearing?"
"Huh?"
Hurst walked over to Web, stood next to him and examined Terra for a few seconds.
"NO!"
The same whide eyed scared ex
This was the last straw for Angela.
"OK. One of you is going to tell me what's making you two freak out about this! RIGHT NOW!"
"It's a neural interface suit." Came Hurst's subdued reply
"Yes but what is it?"
"Mass produced evil."
"You're not making any sense"
Web's state gradually progressed from fear to blood curdling rage.
"It turns the wearer into a human puppet" His right arm was now shaking, buckling the plastic casing of the radio. His voice was nothing short of frightening. "It's thanks to these damn things that they hit the facility!"
It was bad enough that someone could be a prisoner in their own mind, unable to do anything other than watch and silently scream as you saw and heard yourself say and do the most terrible things. What truly sickened them all was the realization that someone would do this to Terra, the innocent fun loving girl who was one of their only surviving friends. But most of all, this sickened Web.
"I spilt an ocean of blood to protect the free world from tyranny! Then I threw EVERYTHING away to see these things wiped from the face of the earth and THIS happens. Of all the people in this world, WHY DID IT HAVE TO HAPPEN TO YOU? I swear, Terra, someone WILL PAY FOR THIS!"