In Purgatory's Shadow

Chapter 4: Frost Bite

"Robin," the dreary feminine voice called to him, "Robin!" She called louder.

"Huh (snort) what, who?" Robin sprung he head off the laboratory desk, a piece of paper stuck to his forehead, "Raven? W-what time is it?" He asked as he shifted some documents around on the desk and quickly swiped the paper from his face.

Raven rolled her eyes, "It's morning. I tried to knock on your door but got no answer. Then Cyborg said something about you being paranoid. And here I find you doing… whatever you do. Look, I want to talk to you about this whole Isis thing."

"Ah ha," Robin sounded disinterested as he organized all of the papers into a folder and tapped the edge of the folder on the desk to put the papers in a nice, neat formation.

Raven's eye twitched, "Look, I can understand why you didn't tell Isis about Terra's betrayal, if only for the notion that it'll give her ideas. The fact is, I don't trust her one bit. Everything seems too convenient. First she shows up in the middle of battle, then she welcomes herself into our home, and then she wraps Beast Boy around her little finger. And what's worse is that everyone here seems to be just standing by, watching this all happen again! I'll make this perfectly clear Robin, I respect you as a leader, and as a friend, but if you don't get off your lazy… what is this?" her ranting was subsided as she glanced at the computer screen. The image of two strands of DNA, split screening each other, was displayed on it, one labelled 'Terra', the other 'Isis'.

Robin looked over to the computer screen and turned it off, "Reasonable cause for suspicion," He said flatly.

Raven's eyes widened and a rather surprised smile spread across her lips, "You don't trust her either, do you?" She couldn't help but grin.

"Of course, I don't trust her anymore than I can throw her," Robin thought for a second then smirked, "Actually, she's really scrawny and I'm pretty good at throwing people. So maybe that expression doesn't apply."

"I bet I could throw her farther," Raven said under her breath, "So what is all of this then?"

Robin took a disc out of the computer then locked it in a drawer along with the documents before rising from his chair, "Okay, Cyborg's the only other one here who's in on this. But I think that there is more to all of this than Isis is telling us. A lot more."

"Like what?" Raven asked.

Robin sighed in defeat, "I don't know yet, but there is something there; something in Terra's DNA that's not in Isis's… no, scratch that. It's not in her DNA, more like… around it. It's… it's like the air in front of our faces. We know it's there we just can't see it."

Raven cocked an eyebrow, "Have you been sniffing some of the beakers in here?"

"Well, this place could probably use some better ventilation… but really, it's mainly the sheer difference in their power levels that I'm looking at. Maybe what I need is to get some field test data from her. That might give me something more to work with."

"And how do you plan on doing that?"

"Simple," Robin answered as he moved towards the door. He then stopped at the door way and smiled at Raven, "Ask her to join the team."

The closing door took the impact of dark matter, but Raven was only deterred for a moment, using her power to come through the wall. She quickly snagged a retreating Robin in an attempt to force some answers out of him. "Are you insane!" Raven asked, shouting. The groaning of metal from the wall beside her alerted her to the fact that she was not containing herself as well as she had thought. "We've already given her free run of the place, like her sister before her. And now you want to let her join up, give her the chance to stab us in the back too! I suppose I'm answering my own questions, because the very definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result!"

No longer in the sound proof sanctity of the lab, Robin responded to her in a whisper, "Good, you just keep doing what you're doing."

A puzzled look slapped onto Raven's face, "Um, you… want to run that by me again?"

"Isis sees you as apprehensive and mean," Robin boldly stated, "To do otherwise might make her suspicious. So, even though it's part of the plan, keep acting like you are against her in every way."

"No acting required," Raven sneered, "You had better know what you're doing."

Later that day, after breakfast, The Titans congregated at the outdoor training field with Isis at the starting point, a Titan communicator clipped to her belt. "What exactly I'm I supposed to do here?" Isis asked, yelling up at the teens standing around the control panel overlooking the entire course.

"It's just a little training exercise," Robin explained over the speaker, "You're part of the team now, and we've all got to be at the top of our game. Don't worry, it'll be easy."

"Just one problem," Isis shouted back at the top of her lungs.

Robin shook his head, "You have a communicator, try using it," He suggested, to save the girl a lot of effort.

Isis took the communicator from her belt and tried again, "One problem. I freeze liquids and manipulate ice. But this course is bone dry, how am I supposed to use my powers to get through it?"

"That's why this course runs along the edge of the island, so you have plenty of water to work with."

"Don't worry, you'll do fine." Beast Boy assured.

"Yeah, sure," Isis nervously said to herself as she ended the communication.

Cyborg took over the speaker system, "Training simulation starts in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, GO!"

Isis started off at a full sprint down towards the first marker of the course, only to be halted as a large steel door closed off her path. She then threw her attention onto the coastline and willed a large pillar of ice to rise from the depths. Gesturing with her hands, she summoned it over to her then used it as a battering ram against the door. The first attempt only left a dent; the second attempt created a crack between the panels but broke off a large portion of her ice pillar. Working as quickly as possible, she willed the broken shards that fell off the pillar to form into a wedge in the crack. With that in place, she gave the door one last good ram, widening the crack enough for her to squeeze through.

"Truly a marvellous display," Starfire clapped.

"I would have just ripped the door in half," Raven objected.

"Couldn't you just phase through it?" Cyborg asked.

"Yeah, but where's the fun in that?"

The next marker of the course called for Isis to navigate through a sentry of motion detecting turrets. The first one sprung from the ground and caught Isis by surprise. She barely dodged the thick, sticky substance that was spat at her. The second turret popped out in the path of her evasion, she scrambled to change direction but the substance fired from the turret snagged her by the feet. She fell down on the ground then turned to freeze the substance off of her. To her surprise, this substance actually had an easily obtainable freezing point. Shattering the crystallized restraint, she got to her feet and continued to run down the path with constantly emerging turrets nipping at her feet. She was doing fine until one turret popped out right in front of her, causing her to stop dead in her tracks. Trapped between oncoming fire from all directions, she circled her arms around her body and caused all enemy fire to freeze and be suspended in air before they all hit her. She then threw them all back to the turrets, disabling all that were present on the field. She was about to move on until one last turret, different from the others, came out of the ground to guard the next marker of the course. Isis stared it down until it fired off a constant, heavy stream of the substance. Isis met the substance by freezing it as it came at her. Eventually, and at great effort, she managed to work the crystallization up the stream and into the spout where she was able to tear the machine apart form the inside. She breathed heavily but with great satisfaction as she cross over of the next part of the course.

"She seems to know what she's doing," Cyborg spoke up.

"Yeah, but she's already getting tired," Robin observed before clicking on the speaker, "That's good Isis, only on more marker to go. The course will end when you defeat your opponent."

Isis stepped into the final part of the course, which was revealed to be a large circular arena, enclosed by high steel walls and flooded with a deep pool of water. She bravely walked into the arena, stepping onto the surface of the water, a task effortless to her as she made the water solidify under her feet. Once she had progress in a given distance, the gate behind her slammed shut and a large metal cylinder exploded from the depth of the water. The waves it created nearly caused Isis to loose her balance but she froze more water around her feet and crouched down into a battle-ready position. The cylinder hovered in place for a moment with a dull hum until it quickly rotated around to reveal a glowing red eye that instantly locked onto Isis. She felt a growing warmth melting the ice around her and she quickly leapt from her iceberg as a concentrated heat beam obliterated her frosty creation. Landing on another iceberg that she quickly created on the opposite side of the cylinder, she launched a barrage of icicles at her opponent. But the cylinder easily evaded her attack by diving back into the water. Isis frantically looked around but the water was too deep and dark to see anything. Then the cylinder shot out form right under her, shattering her creation and sending her flailing into the air. Regaining her bearings in mid air, she looked over to see the cylinder's eye readying another heat beam aimed right at her. She responded by willing a large sheet of ice to emerge from the water to take the impact from the heat beam as she fell into the pool.

She disappeared into the depths for a while. All of the Titans looked on with concern. "She's drowning! We've got to get her out!" Beast Boy exclaimed as he reached for the control panel. But Cyborg gripped his hand and shook his head. Just then a large icicle shot out from the water, which the cylinder promptly dodged and obliterated. Then another came up for the cylinder to dodge and blast, then another, and another. Soon the cylinder was so overwhelmed with constantly appearing targets that it ran out of room to move, it's only option was to dive back into the water. But just as it was about to do so, one last giant icicle shot up from directly underneath. Impaling it from bottom to top. The red eye flickered then dimmed out. And finally the icicle that finished it off exploded, ripping the cylinder into pieces, revealing that Isis was hidden within.

Beast Boy and Starfire cheered ecstatically while the rest of the team clapped a little. Beast Boy then leapt from the control platform as pistons lowered it to ground level and ran over to the opening gate to congratulate Isis. The girl emerged from the arena on a floating ice platform then collapsed onto the dry ground in exhaustion. Starfire came to her side as well to give the wet girl as fresh towel to dry herself. "You… you guys re… really play hard, don't you?" She panted heavily as Beast Boy helped her to her feet.

"Work hard, play hard." He grinned, supporting her weight a little.

"Wonderful, Isis. You're centre is most durable!" Starfire smiled. This caused everyone to look at her awkwardly. She caught them looking and became self-conscience, "Um, is that not how the expression goes?"

"Hard core," Raven corrected with disdain, "You're trying to say that she's hard core."

"Isn't that what I said?" Starfire cocked her head.

Everyone laugh, except for Starfire whom still didn't get it. Afterwards the Titans retreated back to the tower. Robin and Raven hanged behind "Did you get what you needed?" Raven asked in a whisper.

"Perhaps," Robin answered as he flipped through some pages on a clipboard, "I'll have to compare it with the rest of the data later."

A while later, a refreshed Isis wandered aimlessly down the hallways, "Why is this place so huge, doesn't only, like, five people live here?" She stopped casually in front of a door marked 'Lab' and thought to herself how cool all of that science stuff is. So she explored inwards. Strolling around, she peered through the various beakers and dared herself to touch large machines that appeared as if she would have gotten in trouble for doing so.

She walked over, sat herself in a desk chair, and began spinning around, "He-he, this place is so cool!" She then noticed that her foot clipped the edge of a paper that was sticking out of a drawer in the desk. She would have disregarded it except that she saw her name in the corner. She leaned over and tried to pull the drawer open but it was locked tight, so she slowly and carefully shimmied the paper out of the drawer until she held the entire thing in her hands. She read aloud the contents to discover that it was about her and her morning training course, "Isis shows excellent control and range, probably the result of rigorous training on her part." She stopped and gleamed at the flattery but then her eyes narrowed as she read on, "However, her stamina gets used up pretty quickly and her concentration seems delayed and somewhat limited as compared to… her sibling's?"

Anger enveloped her at the thought of being compared to her sibling so casually, and she looked down to see that the entire paper had been frozen solid, the frosty touch of the document stinging her hands and leaving a raw mark. She dropped it with a start, and the report hit the floor and shattered into four pieces. Isis cursed, knowing she had just left evidence of her intrusion.

She rubbed her hands together to bring some warmth into them, frowning. Now she didn't have much choice. They would surely notice the missing report, and no one would have any motivation to see it other than her. She scowled, wondering what to do, when the answer came to her easily. She walked to the sink, picking up a discarded beaker and filled it with water. She then splashed it against the lock on the drawer as hard as she could, trying to get some of the liquid into the crevasses. She repeated the process twice before she was certain she had enough. Using a small amount of her power, she expanded the water that had drained inside the keyhole into ice, causing the locking mechanism to burst. She easily opened the ruined drawer, desperate to learn what else her new "friends" were thinking about her.

Some time later, Robin progressed down that very hallway, destined to continue his work in the lab. With his attention lost in the pocket computer that he was beeping away at, it took him far too long to realize that he could see his breathe hanging in the air, and even longer for it to dawn on him the message of this omen. Dropping the device in a start, he sprinted down the remainder of his path. Skidding in front of the door, he opened it and ventured inside. Doing so nearly caused him to fall on his back, as the floor was excessively slippery. Gripping the doorframe for support, he reached over to flick on the light. What lay out before him was the remains of a laboratory that appeared as if it was hit by a hailstorm. Long running tests ruined, delicate machines rendered useless, but his chief concern was certain documents that he kept under lock and key. Sliding over to his desk, he saw that the drawer was broken open and all of his sensitive documents lay scattered around the desk and floor. The computer screen, broken off its base but still clinging on by a cluster of wires, dimly flickered the image of the twin's DNA comparison. He shivered, both for the cold and for the horror, as he reached for his communicator, "Cyborg!"

"Yeah?" his comrade responded in a moment.

"We have a security breach, where's Isis?"

"Isis? She's… she's in the lab with you."

Robin looked around to find her discarded communicator on the floor, "Of course," He muttered to himself before addressing Cyborg again, "She ditched her communicator… Wait, where's Beast Boy?"

"He left the tower a little while ago. You want me to track him?"

"Don't bother, I'm sure that I know where both of them are going. Get Raven and Starfire together, we're going to visit Terra!"

He abruptly shut off the communication, turned around, and scoured at himself for letting this happen. He then looked up at the wall he was facing for the first time and backed into the desk in shock at what he saw. Covering the entire wall, written in frost and with large, jagged letters, was the words "THE GAIA" repeated over and over and over again.

Robin swallowed hard, "I just hope that we get there before it's too late."

Author's Notes:
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy… hehehehehe. Oh that felt good. So now it's kind of out in the open that Isis is a manipulative psychopath, eh? I bet you're all wondering what 'The Gaia' is right now. Well that's my little secret. And you'll just have to wait for the next update to find out Mwa ha ha ha ha ha! Okay, maniacal laughter aside, I really liked how this chapter turned out, getting good dialogue from the opening Raven and Robin scene, and leaving a chilling premise at the end. I know that Isis's training scene was a bit wordy, but I don't feel that it was a bad thing. Okay, that's all for now. R&R as always.