DISCLAIMER: I don't own the titans, nor do I own anything affiliated with them. I do, however, retain the right to call any unique characters I create my intellectual property. That about sums up the disclaimer. Have fun reading the story!
Yay! Chapter 3! That's one more than Chapter 2! I smell progress. Anyway, just wanted to assure you that there will be a rather nice fight scene coming up, as well as a dramatic cliffhanger ending (sort of).
Hope you like it!
Cyborg set a questioning look upon the young empath, a sense of worry evident in his human features.
"Rae, you alright? You looked kinda…shaken." Raven cast her eyes upward briefly, causing Cyborg to slip his hand off her shoulder, and looked out to the other titans from beneath the concealing shadow of her hood. In an instant, she quelled any rising emotions and once again embraced her cold persona.
"I was right. We have no idea what's going on here. His thoughts were…jumbled. I'm not sure even he fully understands what's happening." At that, she shook her head, trying to sort out everything she had seen and heard. The effort was difficult, even for her, as there were many images too disturbing to examine regardless of what state of mind she was in.
"I think it would be best if we don't become involved unless we absolutely have to. This whole confrontation might be set off by one single wrong action on our part. " Starfire was quick to cast the pale young woman a questioning look, crossing both arms over her waist in a curious manner.
"Please, Raven, are we not to work together as a team? Would not Robin expect us to assist him in such a time as this?" Raven gave the alien a bland stare for a few moments, thinking of how best to answer such a simple yet profound question.
"Starfire, Robin is our leader, and I trust in him, and I know you do, too. We just need to show some faith in his ability to handle things on his own." The young Tameranian smiled weakly, nodding her affirmation that she, too, would place her faith in the Boy Wonder. Raven took a deep breath, relieved that Star had been so receptive to her words. Had she not, the empath felt there would have been little that could be done to prevent total havoc from ensuing.
Beast Boy, on the other hand, was not so easily deterred. Marching right up to Raven's cowled form, he looked up into her hood, more than a little agitation evident in the tone of his voice.
"So, what you're saying is, the best thing we can do right now is just stand here and do nothing?" Annoyed by his attitude, she shot him a dangerous look before turning away. Concentrating on keeping her emotions in check, Raven took a deep breath before responding.
"That's exactly what I'm saying." Beast Boy threw his hands up into the air before turning around and stalking off a short distance. Cyborg didn't want to see an argument break out between them, especially when things were so tense, and thus he asked a question of his own before Beast Boy could return with another biting comment as well as set Raven's mind on a new course of action.
"What about the other guy? Did you check out his mind, too?" The young woman turned slightly, regarding the cybernetic teen with curiosity.
"Do you think that's necessary? I already know something big is going on, what else do you think we stand to gain?" The large young man scowled, his eyes drifting off to the scene all around them.
"A reason." It did not take long to see the value in his argument, and thus it was with a curt nod that she turned around and began to focus her mind once again.
Cyborg and Starfire looked on with anticipation, and even Beast Boy came back around to see what was going on. Half a minute passed in nervous anticipation, eventually giving way to the green changeling's lack of patience.
"How long is it gonna take her?" A reinforced titanium hand whacked him in the arm, quieting him in an instant.
"Zip it BB, you'll break her concen-" Raven abruptly came out of her trance with a cry of surprise, causing all three of them to take a quick step back from shock. Not wasting any time, the empath spun around, locking a wide-eyed stare on each titan in turn. Cyborg immediately tried to calm her with gentle words. They all knew what happened when Raven got too worked up.
"Rae, what's wrong? What's the matter?" At first, she just continued to look blankly ahead, her eyes glassed over. After a few seconds, she closed them tight, muttered something under her breath, and regarded them once again with a deathly calm demeanor.
"I don't know. I can't sense anything." Initially startled by Raven's odd behavior, Starfire smiled gently and felt slightly relieved.
"Perhaps he is doing the 'masking of thoughts'. Can that be why you are unable to sense anything?" The young woman was already shaking her head side to side before Star finished her sentence.
"That's not what I meant. I can't sense anything, at all." Cyborg and Beast Boy were slowly beginning to grasp what Raven was saying, but Starfire still looked puzzled.
"Please, how can the Doctor Morgan Wraith do such a thing? I do not understand." The young empath regarded the Tameranian girl with a cool look, refusing to let slip any of the trepidation she now felt in the pit of her stomach.
"The reason I can't sense anything is because there's nothing there for me to sense." She let her gaze shift to the side, catching both Cyborg and Beast Boy in her unsettling stare. They in turn looked away, already perceiving what it was Raven was trying to get across to Star. With a sigh, the pale young woman once again locked eyes with the inquisitive figure before her.
"As far as I can tell with my powers, that black suit is completely empty." Starfire put a hand to her mouth, surprise and confusion evident on her tan features. Turning back to the ensuing quarrel between the tall man and the newcomer some distance off, a mounting sense of horror began to build within her slender frame. She didn't quite understand the significance of what Raven had said, but she nonetheless had a very bad feeling about how things were going to turn out.
Her mind wandered amidst her friends, Cyborg and Beast Boy displaying twin expressions of fear and uncertainty while Raven remained as emotionless as ever. She wished all of them to be safe, and even found herself worrying for the young man that had so unexpectedly fallen into their lives. Above all else, she feared most for the well being of one person in particular.
Oh, Robin. Please remain unharmed.
-
The masked teen, on the other hand, was watching the verbal exchange with growing interest, though it was watered down by a distinct sense that things were beginning to grow out of control.
Already, Dr. Wraith had begun to shed his charming demeanor for a more authoritative stance, demanding that the youth accompany him back to the institute without any further trouble. The young man, however, was growing bolder by the second, claiming that the good doctor no longer had any say over his life; that he was free, and intended to stay that way.
At one point the mysterious teen had stopped abruptly mid sentence, whirling around and staring wide-eyed at the remaining titans some twenty-five feet away. Despite the profoundly odd behavior, he managed to regain his composure almost instantly. From that point on, his features had seemed to soften a bit, and he even went so far as to relax his arms at his sides and take deep breaths every so often in an effort to remain calm.
Eventually, the conversation, which at this point had ostracized Robin altogether, took a turn for the worse. Both the doctor and the youth were beginning to lose their tempers, the latter shaking with fury while the former remained cool and collected.
"Come now, boy, stop this charade and return with me to the compound. If you surrender peacefully, I promise there will be no punishment for your disobedience." The young man laughed uneasily, his eyes constantly darting from the slim figure before him to the row of seekers lining the sidewalk a short distance away.
"You can't expect me to believe that. I know what you do to test subjects who don't follow the rules." The black-clad man gave a hearty laugh.
"Zero one seven two always was a handful." A scowl played itself across the young man's face, his features darkening in an instant.
"Use her name!" At his heated statement, Doctor Wraith shook his head in amusement.
"Yes, you children always did like to play that game. Not like it made any difference." Noting the enraged look building upon the youth's visage, he conceded the point.
"Very well, Theresa always was a handful." He gave another playful shake of his head, though now his bright sapphire eyes were burning with such intensity that Robin unconsciously shifted his stance to allow for a better fighting angle.
"It just goes to show you what happens when you don't follow the rules." Tears began to form in the young man's eyes, and he could feel a lump rising within his throat.
"You're the reason she's dead! You murdered her!" The tall man let out another laugh, a condescending air overtaking his false pretense of sympathy.
"She murdered herself, you fool! Her death was of her own design." A dangerous glint enveloped the eyes of the youth, his penetrating glare aimed exclusively at the hateful man standing some distance before him.
"You pushed her past her limits, she wasn't ready yet…" An accusatory tone entered the voice of the man.
"Are you so naive? She did it on purpose!" A sadistic glimmer settled in the man's eyes, and he cocked his head slightly to the side.
"Probably to get away from you." That caught the youth off guard, and he hung his head low in utter shock. It was a long while before he could bring himself to say anything, let alone look his persecutor in the eye. When his head did come back up, tears were running down his cheeks, and his breathing had become uneven and ragged.
"Don't you ever talk about her like that. I loved her with all my soul, and I know she loved me, too." His voice was beginning to grow stronger, as well as his confidence and sense of purpose. Little did he know all that would be stripped away from him in a matter of seconds.
"My dear boy, you don't even have a soul." Confusion and rage consumed every fiber of the young man's body, encasing him in a brilliant yellow aura. Golden eyes burned brightly as he mentally latched onto a sizeable chunk of concrete and hurled it at the black clad man with everything he had. Dr. Wraith caught the missile in one outstretched hand, reducing it to dust in an instant.
He hadn't even flinched.
The golden light subsided, fear and loathing quickly overshadowing any feelings of rage that had so briefly dominated the youth's mind. He was unable to speak, and felt as if his entire body had gone numb. The only thing he could do was glance over at the masked boy who held a similar look of astonishment swathed across his face.
All too quickly, a movement to the side once again caught the young man's attention, and it was with a renewed sense of horror that he saw the black outline of his long time captor walking so ominously towards him.
"I tire of this game, boy. You're coming with me." Luckily for him, Robin had regained his senses almost immediately, and quickly shot out a hand to catch the man by the arm as he passed.
"Wait, I still want some more ans-" The Boy Wonder was unable to finish the sentence before he realized that there was no arm resisting the pressure fashioned by his grip. His eyes grew wide indeed when fingers from opposite sides of the black limb met in the middle, pinching together the rubbery material with absolutely nothing in between.
Before he could even wonder how such a thing was possible, a gloved hand shot towards his throat from the opposite side, lifting him off the ground. One solid kick was all Robin could deliver before he was thrown far off to the side, his body sailing through the late evening sky as if he were nothing more than a rag doll. Starfire caught him in mid-air, and it was with a start that he found himself behind the T-car, a good thirty-five feet from where he had started.
"Robin? You are unharmed? The Doctor Morgan Wraith did not injure you?" He shook his head, directing a smile at the alien girl.
"Only my pride." The young woman gave him a quizzical look, not understanding the expression for what it was.
"And where is that located?" Robin only smiled, patting Star on the hand with affection. He immediately got back up, setting his attention once again to the situation at hand. At that moment, he felt very unsure whether or not to let things play out as they may, or rush headlong to the defense of the young man standing before them. After a few seconds, he nodded his head in self-satisfaction, murmuring under his breath in a grim tone so that only Starfire could hear him.
"Let's see where this goes."
-
Relieved that the masked boy was apparently all right, the youth turned his attention back to the still approaching figure.
"Leave them out of this. They have nothing to do with me." His remark was met only with a cold stare.
"They have interfered with my plans for long enough. After I'm done with you, they're next." A sharp pang of worry shot though the young man, his thoughts momentarily centering on the girl whom he had let into his mind. For some reason, the thought of her at the mercy of this man sent a shiver down his spine and a twinge of guilt through his heart. He flushed at the mere thought of this terrible person anywhere near her, and began to feed off of a peculiar emotion that he hadn't felt before.
"I won't let you hurt them." The doctor bristled at the words, his patience worn out from the youth's constant impudent behavior.
"You have no say in the matter! I will do what I want, and you will do as I command! Be quiet and come with me, now!" The young man's temper rose to new heights, and in that instant, he realized that it was now or never if he truly wanted to be free. With a great roar of defiance, he arched his back, flung his arms behind him, and regarded the man with as much hatred as he could muster.
"NO!" With that passionate cry, a flaming white light blazed deep within his eyes, casting everything around him in an iridescent radiance. Both hands came together in a deafening thunderclap, sending the black-clad doctor hurtling backwards into several of the stationary seekers on the street, knocking over a number of them in the process.
That was it. He had cast the first blow. An unsettling feeling began to grow deep within his chest, and the youth knew beyond any doubt that he was committed to the path he had chosen, even if it ultimately meant his death.
The stage is set, the players are ready, and everyone involved wants a piece of the action. Well, things may not be that intense, but I assure you that the upcoming battle will be just as good as anything you've seen on the real show (I hope). Remember that cliffhanger ending I mentioned at the beginning? That will be happening in chapter 4.
So, did you like the update? I hope it answered a few questions you might have had, as well as provide several more questions to ponder over. Don't forget to leave a comment after you read, or I'll never know what people think of the story so far.
