Disclaimer: I don't own anything!
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Inside Speedy's room.
Anyone who would come in at that moment would immediately have found themselves drowned in a wave of heavy metal rock 'n roll. The source of the sound was coming from a hi-tech looking stereo system with huge, surround sound speakers. While most would find the volume of the music quite deafening, the room's tenant, Speedy, didn't seem to mind at all.
Speedy was standing next to his closet, putting on a new vest in place of the old one that was almost completely ruined in his last battle. He reached in to his closet again and took out a new mask which he quickly put over his bare eyes. He closed the closet door, and stared at the full length mirror that was attached to the closet door. He seemed satisfied at the sight of a fresh new costume.
He walked towards another part of the room. On the wall adjacent to the closet was another door. Speedy slid it open. Inside was a small space that Speedy used to organize his personal arsenal of bows and arrows. Bows hung on pegs attached to the wall and a set of quivers, already filled with arrows, were sitting on the floor. But that was just one side of the space.
On another side of the space, standing vertically, was a heavy looking steel case and another quiver filled with arrows. The quiver seemed color-coded since unlike the other quivers which were plane yellow, this one had a large red stripe running from the top right to the bottom left side. Speedy smiled at the special-looking quiver then took it at slung it onto his back securely.
He then looked at the tough-looking steel case then grabbed it. He took it to his desk next to the weapons closet. He unlocked it then opened it. Upon looking inside, most would assume that it was just random junk, but Speedy knew better. He picked up the pieces and began putting it together like a Lego kit. Each part seemed to fit perfectly with corresponding parts.
Once a single solid piece was made, which looked like a long curving contraption with two small pulleys on the ends, Speedy took the final piece from the steel case which was a small box. He opened the box and took out a long piece of a special-looking wire. He expertly weaved it around the pulleys of the curving contraption. When he was done he raised the thing to the light to admire the finished product. Speedy held up a high-tech compound bow.
Speedy seemed very satisfied with his personal handiwork. Now that his body was fully recovered and he's rearmed himself, he was ready for whatever would come next. Luckily that has already been decided upon by Silicis, and Speedy was thankful for her decision .
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In the Zen garden.
She may not know much about meditation but Silicis did know one way of getting a rise in her body's inner energy. Silicis was in the middle of the sand, performing a myriad of graceful, yet striking martial arts moves into thin air. As if combating an invisible enemy, she threw her arms and her legs outwards in a beautifully choreographed manner as if it was a dance.
The expression on her face was that of pure focus and calm. One would think that she's been doing this for years. And in a sense she has but that wasn't exactly a technicality. Her moves mostly consisted of some jabs, hooks and an occasional chop with an open hand. Every one in a while she'd also show some fancy kicks and spins.
Behind Silicis, seated on a rock in the lotus position, Chu-hui, the True Master, watched her new student intently with a carefully analyzing eye. She took careful note of how she moved, when she moved, and how focused she seemed when moving. She smiled satisfyingly.
"You are doing very well," said the True Master, "Channel your energy, move with a flow. I'm glad to see that you haven't forgotten your training."
Silicis chuckled a bit while continuing on with her exercises. "Well Master, technically speaking, I've never had any training and that this is the first time I'm performing these exercises."
"It doesn't matter where your memory comes from. Just as long as you know how."
"Hmm, I was kinda expecting you to say something a little more profound than that, being the "True Master" and all that."
Chu-hui looked slightly annoyed. "You are much worse than the boy with the spiky hair. You have plenty more to learn."
"Can I interest you in teaching me then?"
"What do you mean by that, young lady?"
Silicis stopped in her exercises and stood straight. She turned to look at Chu-hui directly. Chu-hui looked at Silicis inquiringly whereas Silicis had an expression of a person that was asking for something. Silicis took a deep breath before stating her request.
"I'd like to complete my training," she said.
The True Master was caught somewhat by surprise by this. Although by the look on her, it seemed that at some level she was actually hoping for this.
"I never did finish my training," said Silicis, "or at least Terra never did. But that also means I'm also a little short on experience. I want to complete my training only because I want to better understand myself, understand my capabilities and maybe… find something worth living for."
Chu-hui looked thoughtful for a moment. Silicis waited anxiously for her response. A long period of silence hung in the air. Eventually Chu-hui smiled and looked back up at her new student.
"You are more than welcome in my home, young lady," said the True Master.
Silicis beamed. "Really? That is so awesome!"
"Of course, you do know that it will only mean a lot of work, don't you?"
"Sure, I know that. But after everything that's happened lately… I know I need to get stronger… and I'll do anything for it, for the things I believe in."
"…Good…"
The two women smiled at each other for a while. The silence was then broken by the sound of Silicis' communicator. She took it from her utility belt and answered it. Predictably enough, it was Speedy on the other end of the line.
"What's up, Speedy?" she asked.
"Well, I just calling to ask if you're ready to go," said Speedy's image, "I've finished all my preparations. I'm just waiting on you. When you're ready, just meet with me here, okay?"
"Okay, I understand. I'll be there in a few…"
With that, they signed off. Silicis pocketed the communicator away and looked back at Chu-hui.
"Well," said Silicis, "it's now or never."
Chu-hui nodded. "Time to save your friends…"
They both nodded to each other, then made their way out the room.
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Moments later.
Silicis and Speedy, along with Chu-hui, meet at the main room. Chu-hui was lounging on the couch, content in watching the two teens at work planning. The two teens were standing in front of the main computer screen. The screen was again displaying a digital map that showed the general area of the city and its borders. A separate box on the screen zoomed in at one part of the map showing four blinking lights.
"So," said Silicis, "I'm guessing that's where they're held up, huh?"
"Yeah," said Speedy, "I'm sure since their signal is in close proximity to that place where we fought off those stonecutter things along with that spellbinding girl, Fallacy. I have no doubts now that Blood and Chang's secrete facility is somewhere around there."
"Looks like it's a little ways outside the city."
"It won't be a long trip if you fly us there."
"And once we do get there, what can we do next?"
"I mainly propose busting in, saving our friends, and shutting down that facility for good. Unless you've got some better suggestions?"
Silicis shrugged. "I've got no arguments to that. But how do we blow the place up? I'm all for it but it's certain that that place is gonna be huge."
"We'll just have to cross that bridge when we get to it."
"By the way, I noticed you're carrying a new bow. And there's something different about your quiver."
Speedy took out his bow. "Oh this? A little more stuff that I've been saving for a rainy day. Tough yet lightweight carbon fiber construction, titanium alloy, pulley assisted load distribution system, and a Kevlar fiber draw string. As for my quiver, aside from carrying most of my regular arrows, it also holds a few special ones. All in all, this stuff is actually still in its experimental stage."
"Perfect time for a field test, huh?"
"Exactly!"
Speedy slung his bow. He then looked at the screen in front of him once again. Looking at the four dot on the screen that indicated the location of his friends was comforting to him. Growing up in a rough world has taught Speedy to always look for hope wherever one can find it. Knowing his friends were alright and that they had a chance in saving them as well as the world gave Speedy enough hope to last the night. Looking at Silicis who was staring up at the screen, he thought that she felt the same way.
"You know," said Speedy, "For a self-proclaimed "evil genius master minds," Blood and Chang are making an awful lot of the same old mistakes. You'd think they'd learn by now."
"What do you mean?" asked Silicis. "You mean like letting you, me, and the others, openly potential threats, remain alive while they gloat over their so-called victory, ignoring said obvious threats, while all the while they're actually leaving us with a large window of opportunity act against whatever they're planning essentially creating their own self-destruction scenario?"
Speedy did a double-take on Silicis.
"Blind optimism, Speedy," continued Silicis, "It's common among most people whether they're a good guy or a bad guy. It's a common, yet very ugly and often heavily damaging, mistake committed by people all the time. Even the most logical people fall for it sometimes. The prospects of blind optimism are so tempting that even geniuses, good or evil, tend to overlook logic."
"How do you mean?" asked Speedy.
"Whenever a person has a lucky streak, as in they have good things happen to them or everything happens according to their plan, they often make a mistake of illogically thinking that they'll only have a better chance of everything else to continue going their way. Because of that, they ignore common sense and choose to overlook obvious threats to their being. And when something does come along that they don't agree with, they really never see it coming and they end up getting bit right in the ass, hard. Worst part is that in the end they end up on an island not knowing where they went wrong and they are stranded with nothing but regret. It's the kind of thing most people loose sleep over. Believe me, Speedy, it's not pretty."
"You sound like you know all of this first hand."
Silicis turned her head to Speedy with a knowing smirk on her face. Speedy was confused for a moment before he realized that in a sense she really did know all of this first hand.
Silicis was a clone of Terra. Terra was once the apprentice of one of the most notorious and evil villains known in history. Speedy slowly started to remember all those reports he's heard as well as stories from the Teen Titans themselves about the last few days of Terra's reign as Slade's apprentice. Despite the negative circumstances of that fateful day, it turned out to be, if nothing else, a good learning experience.
"Oh, yeah," said Speedy, "I guess you do know first hand…"
"Terra learned her lesson then, "said Silicis, "and so did I. Now it's Professor Chang and Brother Blood's turn to get bitten."
"Amen to that. Now that we're ready, what do you say let's do it to it?"
"Let's…"
The swung their right palms out towards each other until they ach caught the other's palm with their own. They shook their hand and let go. Silicis turned to the old woman sitting on the nearby couch who was watching them this whole time.
"You okay with staying here alone, Master?" asked Silicis.
"I'll be fine," said the True Master, "You kid go on ahead. I'll hold the fort down."
They all nodded to each other in total agreement. Both teens quickly made their way to the exit. On their way out, Speedy looked behind him at Chu-hui and quickly said: "Wish us luck!" before the door closed behind them, leaving the old woman alone.
"Good luck…" said Chu-hui into the empty air.
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Somewhere in the GeoHammer facility.
Professor Chang sat alone in the middle of a private office working on a laptop on a desk. The room was dimly lit and most of the light was actually coming from the laptop he was using, illuminating his face in a very creepy fashion. He seemed all too focused in his work to care to give attention too much of anything. So he didn't even register the fact that his door opened.
Fallacy walked in with a nervous vibe around her. She looked towards the far side of the office where Professor Chang was working diligently on his laptop. The way the screen lit up his Face was of no comfort to her yet she swallowed and mustered up the courage to move forward, deeper into the room. All the while, Chang never gave her a hint of attention.
Fallacy has always hidden it from view due to pride among other reasons. But, truth be told, she was actually quite nervous around Professor Chang ever since they met in person. She managed to hide her insecurities rather well, knowing that the Professor had absolutely no reason to betray her or his partner, Brother Blood. But there was still something about Chang that didn't sit right with Fallacy.
There was something about Chang that somehow told Fallacy that the old man had a secret. Something that he felt he had to keep to himself, like a personal agenda. Fallacy was nervous about this because she didn't know whether that was a good thing or a bad thing to the HIVE Academy. But, whatever it was, Fallacy knew that it wasn't important at that moment.
"Professor Chang?" called out Fallacy.
No response whatsoever. The old man in the corner simply kept typing on and paid absolutely no attention to the silver-haired girl standing in front of him.
"Professor Chang?" she called out again.
Again she received no answer. Professor Chang continued to divulge him self into this work. Fallacy simply stood where she was, feeling slightly annoyed by then.
"Professor Chang, please," she called out, "I came here to deliver a message from Brother Blood."
Whether it was out of irritation or interest, Chang finally acknowledge the girl's presence. He stopped typing and crossed his fingers then looked up to Fallacy. His face was completely expressionless, not a hint of emotion. Fallacy grew even more uncomfortable.
"Yes," he said, "what is it that you want to say to me, my dear?"
Fallacy summoned her nerves. "Brother blood invites you to dine with him this afternoon, Professor. He says that he would like you to celebrate with him."
"Celebrate? What's the occasion?"
"Surely you have heard by now that the GeoHammer's trial run was a success, have you not, Professor?"
"My dear, of course I've heard news of it. I know that the trial run went smoothly, not that I had any doubts in the GeoHammer."
"Yes, Professor, and Brother Blood believes this to be a cause of celebration since it almost insure the success of your plans."
"I appreciate the offer, but you'll both forgive me for declining. I have plenty of work to do now and I'd rather that I don't be disturbed."
"Are you sure about that, Professor?"
"Yes I am, my dear."
"Can I ask you what you are working on that is so important?"
"No you can't and it's nothing that would interest you."
Despite the fact that he had a calm tone in his voice when he said that, fallacy still felt that she shouldn't question the Professor any further than that. Since she couldn't respond to that, an awkward silence fell between the two.
"Is there something else you wanted, my dear?" asked Chang.
"N-No, Professor. I'll inform Brother Blood immediately, thank you for your time--"
Fallacy was interrupted and startled by the sudden out break of alarms that suddenly went off. The sirens could be heard clearly even through the closed door of the office. Both occupants of the room were very surprised to here the alarms that indicated that something was wrong. Fallacy, who was very familiar with the HIVE Academy's alarm system, knew what the alarm meant.
"Intruders," she said, "inside the facility."
"Hmm, I thought as much…" droned Professor Chang.
Fallacy did a double-take on the Professor. "Excuse me, sir?"
"Nothing. You should see to this incident, my dear. Nothing must interfere with our operations. I will see to it that my men will assist you."
"Y-Yes, Professor. Thank you."
With that, Fallacy exited the room a little bewildered about what just happened. Professor Chang was left alone in the room. In side the dimly lit room, Professor Chang mumbled to himself with a smirk on his face. The turn of event that just occurred didn't seem to bother him. As a matter of fact, it looked as if he was actually expecting something like this to happen.
"You made mistakes, my friend," he said to nobody, "and you will pay for it. But this really wouldn't mean anything in the long run."
He reached into the drawer of his desk and pulled out a little glass tube. He looked at it. Inside the glass tube a small piece of crystal that was glowing a bright golden hue. Chang smiled proudly at it.
"The truth is nothing will matter in the end…"
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Somewhere else in the GeoHammer facility.
Speedy and Silicis were standing in the middle of what seemed to be an oversized garage. The space was huge, measuring the area of a soccer field. The ceiling was at least three stories up. The space they were in seemed to have been dug out of the ground and left like that. The walls and the ceiling were basically solid earth but the floor was tarmac. One wall was actually a set of giant garage doors from which the two teens entered from.
The place was moderately lit by rows of florescent bulbs that were attached o the ceiling. It was somewhat clear that the space was not totally finished since there were piles of dirt and rocks lying on certain spots around the space along with an assortment of construction vehicles all over the place. The two teens thought that this space would probably serve as a garage when it was complete.
As with everywhere else in the facility, alarm sirens were going off in the unfinished garage as well. The two teens in the middle of all the racket knew all too well what those sounds meant. They were detected, plain and simple.
"Well…" said Speedy, "so much for the stealth approach."
"We'll have to hurry now," said Silicis, "If they know we're here then they'll only try to stop us,"
"Oh, I can handle a few brainless foot soldiers here and there but I'm most worried about what might happen to the others if this keeps up."
"They're our top priority now. We find them first then get them out. Hopefully afterwards, all this chaos is gonna leave us with an avenue to work through--"
A sudden stomping noise grabbed the attention of the two discussing Titans. Turning to the source of the source of the sound, Speedy and Silicis found themselves looking at three, very threatening, stonecutters. They all seemed primed for battle and the pilots inside the cockpits of the three machines looked hungry for blood.
"Aww man," said Speedy, "it's more of those stonecutter things."
Speedy, like his name implies, drew out an arrow and slung it to his bow. Just as he was about to aim his arrow, Silicis raised her arm to block Speedy's shot. Speedy dropped his aim and looked at Silicis inquisitively. Silicis responded to him with slight smile on her face.
"Don't worry Speedy," said Silicis, "I got this."
"Are you sure?" asked Speedy, a little worried.
"You should go on ahead without me and try and find the Titans. I won't be long."
Speedy looked at Silicis worriedly. But eventually, he resolved himself to trusting her and returned his arrow back in his quiver. Speedy nodded at Silicis and she nodded back. Speedy ran off to the side leaving Silicis in the center of the space. As Speedy ran to a door located near on of the corners of the room, a stonecutter chased after him. The stonecutter was interrupted when a boulder suddenly came between it and the fleeing archer allowing Speedy to disappear.
All three of the stonecutters now turned their attention to Silicis who was facing them the whole time. The leading stonecutter's pilot said something on his communications instrument that only the other two pilots heard. A second later, they all bared their armaments out towards Silicis like a predator baring its teeth. Silicis just smirked smugly.
"You guys want some?" mocked Silicis, "then come get some."
Silicis then stretched out her arms and her entire body started to glow a bright golden hue. The piles of rocks and dirt around her began to rattle as rocks and soil began floating into the air and gathering towards her. Soon, there was a virtual torrent of rocks and soil flying in orbit around her. The cloud of earth steadily grew and all but blocked Silicis from sight. Inside the stonecutter cockpits, the pilots were nervously raising their eyebrows.
As the cloud grew bigger, it also began to dissipate and become more transparent. The stonecutter pilots tried to see what was inside. When they did, it was clearly not the blonde-haired teen they were expecting to see.
Slowly rising out of the dissipating cloud of earth was a creature that was many a times bigger than the girl, Silicis. The creature's body was clearly made of stone that looked like jagged rocks pasted together into the shape of a body. All over the creature's body, cracks in its stony skin were glowing bright gold. It stood on two very thick legs that each ended in a large three-clawed foot. Behind the legs was a long, stone tail swinging freely. Its abdomen was muscular and tough-looking. It had two thick arms with clawed hands. It had two skeletal wings attached to its back but instead of bones they were made out of stone. Topping the creature off was a reptilian-shaped head that had twin horns growing backwards making the head look like a letter 'V'. It had two glowing gold eyes that were staring down the three machines in front of it.
The three pilots of the stonecutters shivered nervously. The Stone Dragon in front of them was much bigger and all the more intimidating. The pilots knew they had their work cut out for them this afternoon. Inside the giant Stone Dragon, Silicis smirked at their insecurities.
Then without warning, the Stone Dragon gave out a deafening roar, then lunged at the three stonecutters.
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Author's note: By now, the end to this story is almost near. Stay tuned for all the action to come. Pls. Read and Review as they are extremely helpful to me.