Pairings: Implied RobxStar, BBxRae, AqualadxSpeedy, BumblebeexCyborg, JinxKidFlash
Warnings: Kickass girls, starfire being competent, bad language, idiots, slash, violence, threats of rape
Genre: Action/Adventure, Humor
Rating: PG-13
Summary: The girls can take care of themselves.
A/N: Hm. First really long chapter. Rather proud of this; it seems to flow rather well. However, I think I have to make it rated 'M', because of the stuff implied in this chapter, and stuff actually done later on. This is my first action fic, and it's quickly becoming less humorous and more dark. Don't know if that's good or bad. Anyways, hope you people enjoy this fic. Oh, and to answer a few comments; yes there are pairings, and the boys powers will come into play later. They're plenty strong, but I want this to focus around the strength of the females. Also, while Jinx isn't technically a heroin, she isn't a bad guy anymore, and the kidnapper has their own reasons for taking her. Yes, Nightmare, Neko, and Trickster belong to me.
Dedicated to Meiriona, a fellow slash fan who supports me through all my SpeedyxAqualadness. Thanks!
Pitch-black. Darkness. It was as though a heavy satin blanket had been thrown over her face, muffling her thoughts and drowning the light. From a distance, what had to be miles away, she heard unfamiliar voices muttering all too familiar words, words that chilled her blood.
"Should we kill her? She's going to be a bitch to put up with, and I don't think 'Mr. Oo I give you bad dreams!' over there put enough spells on her." Male voice, soft and light, filled with hatred, anger, and even a tinge of fear. However, his smirk was evident in his voice, and it gave the girl chills. Why was he so happy about killing her? Who was this guy?
"No!" A harsher voice, more gutteral, and just as male, "I put plenty of spells in here. Besides, she'll kill you if you take away her prey before she gets a chance to play with it."
"He's right, I would." This voice was female, sweet and very out of place considering the circumstances, "You know I like to play cat and mouse with heroes..." She giggled, ignoring the groans of annoyance that followed her comment.
"Neko, do you have to use that joke every single time? We've heard it too much, and this chick isn't awake yet!" That was the first boy, the one she was quickly beginning to think of as 'The Sadist'.
"Are you sure about that, boys?"
"Huh?" Two male voices in unison.
"Look. Her eyelids are twitching; she's trying to keep them closed to hear our conversation. And her vital signs changed." A small hand with eerie sharp nails tapped her on the cheek, "Wake up my little witch! Don't you want to see what we have in store for you?"
Raven hesitated, then gave up the loosing battle and opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was bright gold. Then, the gold melted before her as the face moved back, becoming eyes, and around the eyes...fur? Fur and cat ears.
She blinked again, and finally the girl, 'Neko?', stepped back enough for the disoriented sorceress to actually get a good look at her. The girl was average hieght, about 5'4, and her slender form was much more lithe then curvy. She seemed to be covered in a thin layer of fur, enough that her skin was visible, but not enough that she look 'normal'. A long tail whipped around her body, expressing the annoyance that her face refused to. Her ears stood perked on top of her head, and the fur coating them was the same mottled pattern of brown, black, and gray as all the rest of it.
"Ah, our little witch is awake. Hello, dear. I'm Neko. This is Nightmare," The boy she motioned to was the one that had set off the bomb, dressed in the same outfit as before, except that his mask now only covered half his face, revealing hair as white as his eyes, "And this is Trickster, my own personal monkey."
"Hey!" The boy standing on her other side, the sadist, scowled and crossed his arms, before turning back to Raven and winking. She shuddered, noticing a sudden pain in her shoulders, waist, wrists, and ankles, before Trickster's voice dragged her still drugged mind back to the matters at hand, "Glad we kidnapped a hottie this time."
The now-leering boy was a few inches taller then Neko, about even with Nightmare. He was the exact opposite from the other boy; black hair and eyes, eyes that seemed oddly like Aqualad's, if Aqualad's eyes had been filled with hate and coldness that seemed almost palpable. He wore a simple black outfit, with a black trenchcoat that fell to his ankles. He seemed to blend into the shadows, and there was a darkness about him that scared even her.
"What..." The gothic girl licked her lips and swallowed, unable to force words through her dry throat, "What's going on?"
Neko giggled, "We kidnapped you, little one." She motioned to the girl, "Haven't you noticed the bonds?"
Raven looked down. The pain she had felt was metal shackles; one for each wrist and ankle. A large one held her back by the shoulders, while another controlled her waist. All of the metal was inscribed with spells -- powerful ones, too, if her inability to use her powers indicated anything. Her eyes then darted around the room. It was small, much like the room her friends had built before her father's attack. This ones spells were not for safety, however, but for control.
She hesitated. She knew hostage situations, and knew what they expected her to do; beg and plead. And while she doubted they would underestimate her, maybe doing what they expected would give her a chance to do something. She opened her mouth to plead, then winced. Her head hurt, her body hurt, and begging would make her ego hurt. More then that, though, she had the strangest feeling that that would engourage Trickster, and she did not want that. The boy was already unnerving, but she had no doubt that it could get worse.
After a few seconds, she realized that the female captor was talking again, "...don't worry, though, we don't plan to hurt you quite yet. You see, I have a few old grudges to settle first." She smiled, no doubt attempting to look comforting but only managing to make Raven more paranoid.
"We've never fought you. What grudges would you have to settle?" She managed to croak out warily, eyes watching Neko with a drugged sort of calm, not revealing the panic she felt.
"Oh, sweet, I've watched you enough that I hate you without ever having to fight you." The cat girl leaned in, eyes narrowed over a malicious smirk, "Do you know why, little bird?" She watched Raven mute head shake with a strange mixture of amusement and exasperation, "Of course not. It's because you're weak. Oh, sure, your powers are strong enough. But you've never really used them, really appreciated them. You even had the chance to join with some one who could have increased your powers, made you truly impressive...and you turned him down. And for what? Your little friends!"
The sneer in her voice contrasted sharply with her sweet, almost wistful smile. Raven arched an eyebrow, slinking back in her chair as far as possible. This girl was insane. And not in the 'Walking-the-thin-line-between-genuis-and-insanity' way, like Slade. This was flat out psycho, and she was becoming convinced that Neko was only loosely connected to what the sorceress considered to be reality.
Nightmare and Trickster watched the girls, almost completely expressionless except for the small smirks hovering around the corners of their lips. They were obviously enjoying the show on a fucked up level Raven didn't even want to think about.
"Alright, little bird, that's enough talking for today. Be good, and maybe tomorrow I'll tell you a little more." The smile shifted slightly, finally showing the madness residing behind the girls eyes, "Be warned, however, if you're bad...well, then I'll have to let Trickster deal with you, and he does love his little toys." With a final giggle the girl turned and headed out of the room, followed closely by the boys that were clearly more like minions then partners.
Left alone in the silence, Raven was forced to notice how white everything was. All parts of the small, circular room were made of the same dull white metal, and all inscriptions and writings were in white paint. Even her outfit had changed, though she really didn't want to think about that and what it meant. So she sat, and what seemed like hours passed. Not even mediating helped the mindnumbing boredom.
'Anyone who ever complained about being in the dark should try being in the light...' Her head was tilted, laying on her shoulder, and she stared ahead blankly. The brightness was blinding, and she was sure this had to be one of the tortures they had in mind for her. Who could keep their sanity in this...snow...? Cold...harsh...her eyes slid shut and she sank thankfully into sleep, grateful to block out the white if only for a few hours.
Everything drifted in an odd haze, creating tracks before her eyes when anything moved. Not that that said much; nothing had moved in the room for a few hours. It was still disorienting though. After another few seconds of staring at the mirror across from her, she tried agian to struggle. They had done something to her, the cat-girl and her friends. It was...suppresing her somehow. Why couldn't she break free?
The bonds holding her wrists and ankles to the walls should have been easy to escape. All of the bonds should have been. Reflected back in the mirror was a sight that scared her; her manicals, of course, but there was more. A few feet down the wall was a chair, and strapped to it was a familiar pink-haired girl. Jinx stared back at her grimly. She hadn't been drugged, but the broken arm splinted and strapped awkwardly to her chest showed that she wasn't in exactly the best shape.
On a small bed in the corner lay a rock, a collar around it's neck. The collar prevented Kole from returning to her human form, and the chain connecting the collar to the wall made sure she couldn't move even if something did go wrong. Next to the bed lay a young girl, still unconcious with a dark blue and yellow bruise spreading from her temple to her jaw. She was slumped against the bed frame, close enough that she could lean her head on the matress, but not so that she could actually climb up. Small handcuffs were wrapped around her wrists, and she had about six inches of chain on both side. Besides that, she was powerless and immoble.
Finally, in a dark corner that Starfire had trouble focusing on, a table stood. On the table, a small jar was attached, and within it was a bug. This particular bug, however, was screaming very rudely and very loudly. Bumblebee darted around the jar, clawing at the collar that stuck her at the miniscule size she was beginning to hate. This was the most insulting thing they could have done. The jar was bolted to the table, and only the small holes in the lid made sure she still had oxygen.
The young tameranean frowned. All of them were accounted for...except for Raven. She did another slow, painful survey of the room and frowned. Yes, Raven was missing. She hesitated, letting her tired mind take its time to focus. Okay; They were here. Hurt, but here. Except for Raven. What did that mean? Was she being experimented upon by the disgusting villains?
Her thoughts were interrupted by a soft whimper from the corner. Starfire, Bumblebee, and Jinx turned towards the sound and weren't overly surprised to see that Melvin was awake and crying. The small girl stared at them, her pigtails slowly coming loose and her eyes red and swollen, "Where's Bobby?"
"Bobby?" Jinx said, blinking. She had been so close to snapping at the younger girl, but her surprise sidetracked her. She was amazed the girl wasn't asking for her parents; Bobby sounded more like an imaginary friend. It could be her way of coping, but it was still strange.
"Hey, kid, calm down." Bumblebee called, looking calmer then she had in over an hour, "Your name is Melvin, right?"
The blonde sniffed and nodded, rubbing away her tears as best she could, "Uh-huh. How did you know?"
"Raven told me."
The girls eyes widen and her eyes darted around the room, "Raven? She's here? Where?" The older girls exchanged nervous glances and Jinx sighed, deciding to be kind to the kid.
"We...don't know. But we're pretty sure she is."
Melvin's face twisted as she tried to control tears, "Oh, look, you made the little princess cry..." A soft voice cooed from the doorway and the older girls winced, recognizing it. The nine year old craned her head to get a look at the speaker and then pulled back, terrified by her and her friends.
"Don't be scared sweetheart." Neko patted the child on the head, "Wouldn't you like to know where your big sister is?"
"Robin, calling Cyborg. Cyborg, are you there?"
"Yeah man. I'm on my way; what's up?"
"The girls were kidnapped."
"...WHAT? Why the hell didn't you tell me?"
"We just found out! Melvin, Kole, Jinx, Raven, Starfire, and Bumblebee."
"Bee...? They took Bee?"
"Yeah! They took all of them, Cyborg!"
"Who? Slade? Brother Blood?"
"No. I've checked up on all of them. None of them could have kidnapped the girls."
"Fuck. I'll get back as soon as I can."
"I need you to make another stop first."
"What? Rob, man, we need to find them!"
"Melvin was kidnapped. So was Raven. Timmy, Teether, and Bobby are freaking; I need you to stop and reassure them, at the very least. If you absolutey have to, you can bring them back."
"...Fine. I'll be back tonight."
"Good. See you then. Robin out."
The boys sat scattered around the control room, drooping over various objects. Beast Boy sat at the kitchen table, head buried in his hands and hair more tousled then usual from the way he kept running his hands through it. Aqualad and Speedy sat curled up on the couch, whispering tersely, trying to think of a villian they hadn't considered. Mas y Menos sat leaning against the side of the counter, staring at pictures of Starfire and attempting to hold back tears. Meanwhile, Robin paced, checking the clock every few seconds.
"Robin, when is going to get back?" The green boy slammed his hands agianst the table, unable to bear the waiting any more.
"In about an hour." Kid Flash appeared suddenly flopping on the couch next to the other boys. They all jumped, then scowled, slowly becoming more accustomed to his startling way of entering the room.
"Damn, Flash!" Speedy scowled at him, "If you can move that fast, why don't you just check the world for possible suspects?"
"I did. Didn't find anything." His cocky grin was gone for once, and he looked genuinely worried.
"You searched the whole world and didn't find anything? How is that possible?" Beast Boy glared at the speedster.
"Woah, dude, just 'cause your girlfriend isn't here doesn't mean you need to yell at me!" Kid Flash returned the glare, and threw in a pout and crossed arms, "I miss Jinx, but we have to work together or they'll be gone for good!"
Robin winced and rubbed his temples, trying not to think about all the things that could be happening to Starfire. To any of them, for that matter. He sighed and leaned against the wall, lacking the energy to make even the most lackadascal attempt to stop the quickly developing fight between Beast Boy and Kid Flash. Fortunately, Aqualad stepped in and calmed them down.
"Guys, save your energy for the sick fucks that did this." The other two hesitated, then resumed their previous seats, still muttering under their breaths. Robin sighed again, and fidgeted, giving the clock one more look. None of them moved much over the next hour; in fact, Beast Boy was about to fall asleep was Cyborg thundered into the room.
"Yo, Robin! I brought the little kids, and that one threw up in the t-ship!" He pointed accusingly to Teether who lay in Bobby's arms, sobbing. The older of the children stepped forward, diffiance written all over his features.
"I told ya Teether would get sick!" He scowled and crossed his arms, "And you made him cry!"
"Which made you cry. I know, I was there!" Cyborg bit his lip to control the words he would so like to say Timmy. The screaming that had gone along with the boy's tantrum had cracked most of the windows; it would take him at least two weeks to fix all the damage, and the annoying little bastard didn't even care. All he wanted was to see Melvin and Raven.
"Woah, Cy, calm down!" Robin put a hand on his arm, tense lines etched all over his face, "They're just kids."
Cyborg snorted, and glared at the boy, then flopped down on the couch, exhausted. Beast Boy glared at him, "Dude, get a move on! We have to find them!"
"Well I'd love to, BB, but unlike some people, I haven't been sitting around all day! I'm tired!" He returned the glare, and the hostility returned to the room effortlessly. Robin gritted his teeth and stepped between them.
"Enough! We're all stressed and tired. Get some sleep, and we'll start work tomorrow."
"Don't you care?" Beast Boy stood up, hands clenched at his sides.
"Of course I do!" Robin's look made the shapeshifter take a step back, "But we can't find them like this! Now get to bed, all of you! That's an order!" He watched as the boys left grudgingly, heading towards the dorms. They were going to end up with three of four in each room, but sleep was more important then modesty, and so were the girls.