HIVE MIND
Part Three
The rest of the Titans had cleared the area minutes ago. The semi-circle of heroes arched around Celine like a buffer. Celine stood perfectly still, both eyes trained on Red Hawk. Red Hawk paced back and forth, looking Celine up and down as if looking for a flaw in her design.
"So you're the original? My, my, my, what a pretty girl you are. I always thought my design was a little grandiose… but I suppose I shouldn't complain."
Celine's brown eyes darted swiftly looking for all the modifications that she knew were present: the bowie knife for throwing, the poison powder for spitting, and the exploding beads as a last resort. Every one was tucked securely against Red Hawk's body, accessible as she saw fit. Celine waited; letting the other girl rattle on, lest she invoke the use of any of them.
The Titans were a group divided. Half stared down the standstill in the middle of the room; the others watched Red X slowly, carefully expose layers and layers of defenses, working his way closer and closer to his goal. Robin gritted his teeth. Celine had told them all to stand back, that Red Hawk was much more of a threat than anything Red X could get his hands on. The warning her eyes told Robin that Celine knew more about the situation than he did, at least for the moment. Raven stood beside Robin, watching him watching Red X. Celine's warning had given Red X all the time in the world to achieve his goal, it all seemed like quite the elaborate set up. It was hard for Raven to understand what was going on, looking at near mirror images of a girl she trusted, one face showing good, one face showing evil. Raven let her eyes drop from Robin's profile to his hand at his side. It was a situation she had been in before; it was a situation Robin was suffering through for the first time. Raven resisted the urge to hold Robin's hand. Instead she placed a discrete hand on the swell of his right shoulder. He turned his head slightly to the side, towards the gentle touch. He took in a deep breath, closing his eyes. They opened slowly, hidden behind his mask.
"He didn't think we'd ever met. He hoped not… he said it might inspire jealousy that might lead me to break you… and he doesn't want that. He wants that pleasure all for himself." Red Hawk's voice dipped a little, whispering something that was beyond Celine's hearing.
"Who's he?" Celine asked.
"My creator, your creator, our creator! The one who inspired such a marvelous thing from you! It takes true genius to unearth the absolute potential in great minds."
"I don't have a creator… Return my weapon and my armor." Celine demanded, readying her fingers. The scouter shadowed her eye as it trained on Red Hawk.
"But… how will I play? Will you play with me? You like my toys don't you? You like your toys don't you?" Red Hawk took an offensive stance, drawing back her sword.
"Bingo." Red X's voice was the only sound heard in that moment. The safe finally gave way silently. He reached in retrieved what he came for. He tossed the small disk into the air sharply, catching it within a microsecond. When Red Hawk heard the clap of black gloves against a plastic disk a smile crossed her face. Her head tilted menacingly, her eyes trained on Celine. The moment she sprung forward, Robin did as well, racing across the parameter of the room, heading directly to Red X.
Red Hawk changed her movements faster than a human should have been able to. Her sword tilted and waved, dispensing a screaming energy blast to intercept Robin's path. At that moment, as the energy flew from the tip of Red Hawk's sword, Celine drove her heels into the floor and took aim. To the rest of the Titans it seemed like the moment came in slow motion. Raven watched the flaming hawk dive at Robin while the rest of the team stared at Celine's attack's dash, the backlash wiping her red hair behind her.
The other Titans could only watch the blue energy soar from Celine's cannon. It was almost beautiful, it was definitely tragic. Red Hawk turned slowly and faced the blue beam. Her head tilted with a mischievous smile. Just as the beam was about to strike her, Red Hawk spun her sword, bracing the blade against the palm of her hand.
"Ori-Daga!" Short silver runes began to glow along the length of the weapon. When the energy struck the sword, it rebounded and dispersed. The blue wave had failed. The red one did not.
The red hawk screamed and connected with its target, the Boy Wonder took another attack to his side. The force of the blow slammed him into the support column of the western wall. The column splintered with the impact. Robin slid to the floor holding his side.
"Robin!" Raven cried.
Raven rushed to his side. He was sweating heavily; the force of the attack had done a lot of damage. Raven laid her hands on him, sending her power to heal his body. Red X watched the display and decided that tender moments are best interrupted. With a flawless syncopation, Red X and Red Hawk stalked forward. X took to the air, foot aimed for the pair of teen heroes. Red Hawk had Celine in her sights. Robin watched the decent of X, from where they were standing Raven would have taken most of the blow.
"Raven! Run!" Robin shoved the girl as hard as he could. She slid back only a few feet, just enough to see Robin cross an arm over his face, bracing himself for the blow. Red Hawk's sword clashed against the barrel of the Fire Fly, each swing erupting sparks from the device. Celine stepped and parried, moving the fight away from the other Titans. The swift jab to her jaw knocked Celine off her feet. Above her head she could see Starfire and Sakura making a move.
Starfire dashed into the air and unleashed a frenzy of starbolts.
"No! Don't!" Celine yelled grabbing her footing. The starbolts blitzed and stung around Red Hawk. The dust rose with every blast, swirling the cloud around Red Hawk's hips and ankles. She stood perfectly still until one finally connected. The blow staggered her, knocking dust around her head, blanketing her form. The glow diminished from Starfire's eyes. The team watched the cloud of dust settle… Red Hawk wasn't there.
Red X's blow connected with an arm, but not the one he had targeted. Sakura had made it just in time, pushing Robin out of the way. Red X perched on Sakura's extended limb, looking down on her.
"Didn't see that coming." Red X admitted.
X pushed off, catapulting himself backwards. The expert thief recovered, turning a back flip and landing on his feet. Red X charged forward, kicking the older girl in the stomach. X continued his assault; lashing kicks and tumbling blows were matched until he ducked under Sakura's guard and delivered sharp kick. The blow left Sakura open, X grabbed her arm and flung her like rag doll, slamming her back into the wall. Red X dashed again, arm dropped back for another strike.
The Titans searched the area, trying to find a trace of Red Hawk's movement. It was Starfire who found her, or rather; it was Red Hawk that made her self known to Starfire. The Tameranian princess didn't have time to react when Red Hawk materialized behind her. The Celine-mimic spun sharply, the momentum driving her elbow into Starfire's back. She crashed to the ground with a solid thud. Aqualad and Blackfire ran to her aid. Red Hawk watched, a cool smile on her face. She drew her weapon back, the red feral glow taking over the blade.
X leapt into the air, palm stretched out to deliver his attack. His blow was interrupted when Robin dove and tackled him, sending both of the masked fighters rolling across the floor. Raven rushed to Sakura. The unconscious girl looked only slightly damaged. Raven put her hand on Sakura's forehead and sent her energy into her. The backlash hurled Raven back. She sat up weakly and saw the Holy energy retreat into the unconscious girl's body. What happened?
Before the flaming energy could escape the blade a blue sonic beam slammed into Red Hawk, knocking her from the air. She recovered, landing on both feet, to face Celine. The Fire Fly was becoming hot from use, the heat making Celine's red hair stick to the side of her face. Red Hawk smiled, flicking a lock of her own hair back behind her shoulder. The blade tip kissed the ground before she dashed to meet Celine head on.
Robin and Red X struggled for dominance, the masked fighters making each other strength for strength.
"Why do you want the disk?" Robin gritted out trying to force his arms back towards X.
X leaned in closer, pressing his advantage. "Why should I tell you anything?" A sharp pain ran through Robin's arms, two Xs pinned his wrists to the floor. He yelled in frustration as Red X abandoned him for the fever of the fight between Red Hawk and Celine.
The air shifted with their movements, dark red hair flicked and flew with every push of a weapon, with every block and parry. Cyborg and Terra stood stunned, side by side, watching Celine fight her double. Beast Boy bit his nails frantically, engaged in the action. Red Hawk and Celine fought evenly, a quick trip pulled the fight into Celine's favor. Red Hawk stumbled, Celine's boot shot out, knocking her the final distance to the floor. Before Red Hawk could pull herself up, she felt the warm barrel of the Fire Fly against her ear. She tilted her head to the side, just enough to let Celine know she was listening.
"Who are you?" Celine asked, keeping her finger tight against her trigger.
Red Hawk laughed silently. Celine watched the glimmer of mischief wink in Red Hawk's eye. "My name is Precis Anderson!" Celine's eyes widened in shock, taking in the information Red Hawk had so readily given. Red Hawk dropped her elbow quickly, sliding her form under Celine's guard. Her position was perfect for delivering an elbow into Celine's middle. Celine stumbled and received a strike with the butt of Red Hawk's sword. Celine fell backwards, directly under the target of Red X's boot. She watched helplessly as X maintained his dissent, neither of them saw the green kangaroo coming.
Beast Boy morphed, his kangaroo form leaped nimbly, delivering a heavy uppercut into X's side, throwing him off his course. Celine watched them both soar over her head. X slammed into the ground, rolling just in time to avoid a pair of two feet long feet stomping across his face. X spun on his hand, bringing him back to his feet.
"I never did like animals…"
Celine pulled herself to her feet as Red Hawk dashed at Beast Boy. Her Fire Fly dropped perfectly across her shoulder, the sonic energy charged and shot forward. Just before the energy connected, Red Hawk fazed. The energy shot by Beast Boy, missing X by a few inches.
Red X leapt into the air. The Titans watched as he and Red Hawk materialized on a support beam. Red X retrieved the disk from his belt and tossed it in the air, catching it swiftly.
"Well kids, it's been fun, but we've got very important people to see."
Celine dropped to a knight's kneel, raising her weapon to fire one more shot. The short blade embedded into ground not a foot away from her knee. Her eyes narrowed at Red Hawk and watched the two thieves shift and vanish into the darkness. Celine dropped her weapon to the ground, leaning forward to wrench the bladed weapon from the ground. It was Red Hawk's Bowie knife. It was her bowie knife… not a copy… the original.
Cyborg and Beast Boy approached Celine while Star and Blackfire wrenched the metallic Xs from across Robin's wrists. Robin rubbed the sore skin before stalking towards Celine.
"Celine! What was that?" Robin yelled.
Celine regarded the short weapon in her hand. "That was Red Hawk… my failed experiment."
"You made that?" Cyborg asked. Celine nodded, stashing the Bowie knife into her jacket.
"I made it… and someone stole it."
"We know who don't we? Don't we just need to find that Precis Anderson person?" Terra asked.
Celine shook her head in the negative. "We'll be chasing a ghost. Precis Anderson was the code name I used in Operation Red Hawk Sting. Chasing that name will lead back to me…"
"I think you need to explain." Robin said, stepping closer.
Celine nodded. "Let's go back to the tower… I'll make this all make perfect sense."
Robin nodded. "Wait!" Raven's voice broke up the short silence. The team turned to the long haired sorceress. They noticed what Raven had. Sakura hadn't regained consciousness.
"Sakura?"
Cyborg stepped forward and lifted the black haired girl from the ground. He turned back to the rest of the group, a grimace set across his face. "Let's get back to the tower. We'll take care of all of this there."
End of Part Three