A/N: Standard Disclaimers Apply
A/N: Whoa, I thought this was supposed to be funny!
Chapter Seven: Meter
Cyborg slammed his fist against the computer console. He grimaced as the warning lights flashed across the screen. Titan Down. Titan Down. Titan Down. Titan Down.
The massive teen hero activated the communicators.
"This is all points distress signal," he announced. "Any Titan in the Jump City area come to the Tower." He solemnly repeated the message.
The messages came back almost immediately.
"Cyborg! It's Speedy. I'm on my way."
"Argent here. I guess I didn't really want to see Evanescence after all."
I'll be right there. –J
"Thanks guys," Cyborg responded.
He just breathed out a sigh of relief when a sudden rush of wind blew through the meeting room. The gold and scarlet form of Kid Flash appeared, leaning against the console. "You called, big guy?" he drawled lazily.
"Yeah."
Kid Flash looked up at the monitor. "Holy! Robin, BB, Raven and Star are all down? Where? How long?"
"Hold on Twinkletoes," Cy said. "We're waiting for back up."
The Fastest Boy Alive folded his arms and tapped his foot impatiently.
….
Starfire slowly opened her eyes. She was standing but bound. Her arms were stretched out, trussed like a scarecrow, and heavy gauntlets covered her hands completely. Starfire recognized the design immediately. They were Gondorian. Her broken rib throbbed with almost blinding pain. She breathed raggedly, each breath coming harder than the last. Her red hair hung around her, and she shook her bangs out of her large eyes.
Through her misty vision, she saw a caped figure masked in shadows.
"Hello, princess," the figure said. The voice was eerily familiar.
"Robin?" she asked hopefully.
"Not quite."
Starfire's vision cleared, and sitting backwards in a chair before her was the Red X. He stared at her unsettlingly. The skull mask completely covered his face, and the willowy girl couldn't read any of his emotions. She pulled at her bonds, but they held fast. Her eyes glowed brightly. She summoned her strength and rage to create her eyebeams, but X tapped a button on his gauntlet. Electric current tore through the girl. Every muscle in Star's already battered body contracted at once, and she fell forward.
"I didn't want to do that," X said softly. "I don't want to hurt you. I never want to hurt you."
X stepped out of his chair and walked over to Star. He dabbed a washcloth in clean water and mopped up the dried blood on her cheek. Star angrily narrowed her eyes and spat what little moisture that was in her mouth at X's face.
"Get away from me," Starfire growled.
"Suit yourself," X said, standing. He walked slowly toward the door, turned, and said bitingly, "I'll see you soon, love."
…..
Robin hated cages. He sat on a cot, his hands cuffed tightly behind him, staring at the blank plastic walls around him. The detective part of him took over, and he replayed the ambush over and over in his mind. The opponents knew the plan as soon as he arrived with Raven. Two conclusions sprang to his keen mind. Either there was another Titans Traitor in their midst, of, more likely, the enemy had a telepath. The Teen Wonder searched his mind and deduced his identity: Psimon.
He almost discounted the villain. Psimon, along with all but every one of their rogues, were in custody following the defeat of the Brotherhood of Evil. Then Blackfire and/or Red X broke him, Cinderblock, and Cheshire out.
Why? Robin asked himself. What do they gain?
Robin glanced around. He was obviously in a converted meat locker. The teen hero mapped out the dimensions, it was a large space with one large door about six feet across. That narrowed down the list of possible hideouts to empty grocery stores or closed butcher shops.
The door swung open and Blackfire of Tamaran sauntered into the makeshift cell. Shadowing behind the copper-skinned alien was the mysterious Cheshire, her face masked.
"Where are the others?" Robin demanded.
"You'll see them soon enough, Robin," Blackfire cooed.
She reared back and backhanded him. Only a last second shift saved Robin's cheekbone from shattering.
"That was for shoving my face in the filth," the Tamaranian villainess growled.
Robin rolled back to a sitting position. Stars blanketed his vision and he felt his face throb with pain and swelling. "I guess we're even," he said. "What are you after, Komand'r? Teaming up was never your thing."
Blackfire smiled darkly. "You're right, as you usually are. I've never had any use for a so-called team. But times change don't they?" She leaned in and got dangerously close to Robin. Her perfume (jasmine, like her sister's), the softness of her breath, the sheen of her flawless skin all filled his senses. "And I don't want to spoil the surprise," she whispered in his ear.
"Where are the others: Raven, Beast Boy, and Koriand'r?" Robin demanded again.
"Safe, for the most part," Blackfire said casually as she stood back up, placing her hands on Robin's thighs for balance. "Of course, their safety does depend on your cooperation, my sweet little bird. Although," she mused, "the changeling might make a rather nice pet."
Blackfire laughed at her own joke and left, Cheshire in tow. The vault door closed leaving Robin alone.