A lone robot marched methodically down the long hallway, its metallic feet clicking against the concrete floor with the rhythmic precision of a metronome. Its laser rifle was slung over its mechanical shoulder while its gaze was fixed straight ahead.
The cell block was echoing with fists pounding on the cell doors, but it was that way more often than not. The prisoners could bang all they desired on the doors, it would make no difference; they were not going to escape.
The cell block was 300 feet underground and the only access to the level was via a service elevator and a concrete lined stairwell at the end of the hallway that was flanked on each side with 42 reinforced titanium alloy doors. The detention level with its 84 cells was virtually impregnable and the robotic guard was a mere formality. No one was getting out.
The robot continued to march in perfect military fashion, even goose stepping as General Immortus was going through one of his Nazi phases, no doubt driven by the villain's nostalgia for the years he served as one of the generals in the legendary Panzer division.
The robot stopped 10 feet in front of the elevator and performed a perfect about face that would have made any drill sergeant proud. What the android saw next with its electronic eyes was unexpected.
A man dressed in an old Soviet military uniform swung what looked like a crystalline statue of girl, which hit the droid in its mid section, splitting it in half.
Red Star continued to pummel the droid with Kole's crystalline body. Once he was satisfied that the robot was defunct he placed Kole back on the ground and she reverted to her humanoid form. As the others she too had grown up and had become a shapely young woman.
"Are you alright, Miss Kole? You are uninjured? I did swing very hard at the robot."
"Don't worry, Red Star, when I'm in my crystalline form you couldn't hurt me even if you tried."
Changeling ordered the Herald to open a portal at the other end of the hallway, which was a dead end.
"Where to?" He asked the changeling.
"Titans Tower East!" Gar shouted. "Bumblebee kept it active. Everyone else, let's get these doors open. We don't have much time before we're up to our eyeballs in robots. And don't forget, this is a rescue mission; we'll get the Brotherhood later. Titans GO!"
The Titans began searching at the end of the hallway near the elevator, so they would work their way back to the portal. The doors proved tricky to open as card keys were required. Wally had to hot wire each door one at a time. After what felt like a small eternity the first door finally opened. Raven was ready to assist and the cell's occupant was none other than Bumblebee herself. She was dressed in a pair of jeans and a T-shirt. Raven was able to immediately tell that she wasn't well and stepped up to assist her, pulling Karen's arm over her shoulder. Raven noticed that she couldn't see her wings and took a quick look at her back.
"Karen! What happened to your wings?"
"They … clipped them. Don't worry Raven, they'll grow back, it just hurts for now."
"We're getting you out of here, Karen."
Wally was already working on the second door while Changeling watched the elevator and stairwell doors nervously.
"Can't you do this any faster?"
"I am! Get off my back; I'm going as fast as I can."
"It isn't fast enough. I thought you were fast! We're gonna have company soon."
The second door slid open, revealing Argent's scowling face.
"It's about bloody time!" She howled as she charged out of her cell. "Where are they? It's payback time! They tortured me!"
"They'll be here soon. They'll be coming that way. Can you help?" He asked.
"Oh you'd better believe it, mate!" She growled.
Wally opened the next door in even less time and Garfield's eyes lit up when he saw its occupant.
"Tin man!" He shouted happily.
"I knew you'd come for me grass stain!" He replied as he noticed that Raven was standing next to the changeling, while a young Tamaranian child hovered next to her. They quickly exchanged hugs before Gar got back down to business.
"Can you hotwire these doors? It's taking Wally forever, and were gonna be up to our elbows with the Brotherhood real soon."
"Can I hotwire these doors?" He replied in an offended tone as he ripped a panel off the next cell, exposing a mess of wires. "Does Mallah have bad breath? Of course I can hotwire them!"
The next Titans to be freed were Jericho, Mas, Pantha, Menos and his wife Maricela. All looked worse for the wear and Raven quickly escorted them to the portal.
Just as she was returning to the next cells the stairwell door burst open and robots began to hemorrhage out the now open door into cell block.
"Heads up they're here! Cy, Wally you keep opening doors. Raven! Raise your shield and escort anyone else we find. Everyone else, stop those robots."
No sooner than he barked his orders the robots began to fire. Raven shielded Wally and Victor while they worked at opening more doors. Every time an empty cell was revealed they cursed over the time that was wasted.
Nightstar began to throw her blue star bolts from the safety of Raven's bubble, taking down robots with remarkable ease. Raven immediately noticed that her aim was better than Starfire's was during her early years as a Titan. Raven also used her dark energy to keep the robots at bay, crushing strategically selected droids.
Jinx put her bad luck hexes to good use and several droids began to smoke as they malfunctioned. Red Star and Kole charged into the fray, with the Russian swinging Kole like a baseball bat, mowing down the droids with impunity.
Gar morphed into a hummingbird and began to dive bomb at the droids, which clumsily aimed their rifles at him, firing and missing. He strategically flew between the droids, which wound up shooting each other. While they were keeping the robots at bay, replacements kept pouring out of the stairwell in a never ending torrent.
Victor opened another door and Raven looked inside.
"Gar! I need your help! It's Gnarrk and he's hurt!"
Beast Boy ran past Kole and Red Star.
"Keep holding them back, and don't worry, we'll take care of him." He shouted.
Raven pulled the giant caveman out of the cell with her dark energy. He looked badly beaten and one of his eyes was so swollen he couldn't see with it.
"Gar, get him to the portal!"
Changeling morphed into a green Sasquatch and threw Gnark over his shoulder. He ran down the hallway and disappeared into the portal. He returned within moments back in his human form. The first thing he noticed was that the robots were closing in and that more rescued Titans were headed to the portal.
"Who's missing?!" He shouted above the battlefield din.
"We found everyone except for Nightwing and Starfire." Victor replied. "But something's wrong!"
"Wrong? What do you mean wrong?" Raven growled.
"I can't hear Star! She spent the past 3 weeks cursing up a storm in Tamaranian. About an hour ago she fell silent, and she only does that at night when she sleeps."
Gar quickly surveyed the hallway. There were still 23 unopened doors.
"We have to push those robots back; Wally and Vic need more time."
Raven surveyed the battle scene, there were more robots than before in the hallway, pushing in like a steady tide. There was no way they could hold them back that long. Nightstar tugged at her cape, and Raven turned, and saw the girls tear stained face.
"Aunt Raven, where is my mommy? You said she was here."
Raven closed her eyes and focused with intensity, reaching out, searching for any sign of the Graysons, but found none."
"I'm sorry sweetie, but they aren't here."
Raven's heart broke as she saw the expression on the child's face and she could feel her grief as well as the sense of abandonment she was going through. It was a sensation she was all too familiar with herself. Her first encounter with it was when her own mother, who was overwhelmed with and to be honest not too fond of her demonic daughter, sent her away to live in the monastery on Azarath. Raven recalled the bitter tears she shed after being rejected by her own mother. Of course Starfire didn't reject nor abandon her daughter, but the child simply wouldn't be able to understand how her mighty mother was taken away.
"Rae! We need to open those cells and time isn't on our side."
"Gar, I can't sense them at all. They aren't here."
"No! We can't leave without them! We can't. They have to be here somewhere!"
Changeling's protest was interrupted by a scream of pain. Aqualad has just taken a laser shot to his leg, and fell to his knees. As he ran to assist the Atlantean, Gar realized that Raven was right. They had to retreat.
"Get everyone out of here, I'll hold them back."
"No Gar, it's too dangerous, we should all retreat together."
He didn't respond as he was focusing inwardly. Raven then saw his body begin to swell and grow. His face was replaced by something savage and feral. Raven gasped, as she didn't know that he had learned how to summon the green leviathan at will. The transformation was quick and he soon towered over her, pointing towards the portal. He opened his snout and roared. Raven thought she heard the word "go" within the primal roar and she did as he told her.
Everyone began to retreat. The Beast charged into the crowd of robots and began to slash them with his claws. Red Star and Kole stayed behind to help him, but there were too many robots and they slowly retreated to the portal.
"Changeling, it is time to retreat! Everyone else has escaped!" Red Star shouted as he ran to the portal, still carrying Kole's crystallized body.
The Beast nodded and turned around, ready to make his own retreat. He saw Red Star and Kole disappear into the void and noticed that Raven was waiting for him. The robots began to fire at him and as he approached the portal he howled in pain as one of the shots found its mark. Raven extended her shield to him as he reverted to his human form and hobbled to the portal. Raven wrapped an arm around him and pulled him into the black gate, which popped like a soap bubble after they passed through it.
-( scene break )-
The first thing that Gar noticed was that the common room smelled stale and musty. Unlike Nightwing, Bumblebee never gave up the Tower East to the government, in part because there was never any interest in it. She kept a room in the Tower even though it wasn't her primary residence. She visited the old eastern headquarters once or twice a quarter, mostly to air the place out and dust it. It was obvious from the layer of dust on the couch that she hadn't been around for months. He limped into the room and looked around. Jinx was carrying Nightstar, who buried her face into the enchantress's shoulder as she wept. Jinx did her best to console her, running her fingers through her long dark hair, but it was to no avail.
The next thing he noticed was that many of the Titans were not present. He continued to limp across the room and looked around. Before he could ask Speedy answered the question that was forming in his mind.
"They're all in the infirmary, it's full." The archer announced.
Gar nodded and hobbled up to the dining table, which he hit with his fist using a hammer strike.
"Dammit! We failed!" He shouted, his voice twisted in anguish and self loathing.
Speedy acknowledged his despair with a nod.
"You did great Gar, you rescued all of us. I think Cyborg's right; they removed them an hour ago. There was nothing you guys could have done."
"Where is Victor?"
"He said he had to go to Metropolis. The Herald took him. He said he'd be back tomorrow."
"He should have asked before leaving." Changeling snorted his disapproval.
"We're not Titans anymore Gar, some of us aren't even heroes. We don't take orders from Karen or Nightwing or from you. Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful that you guys came for us … but … let's just say that I work alone now."
"So you're not gonna help us, Speedy? Or are you gonna help us rescue them?"
"It's Red Arrow now, and I never said I wouldn't help. I'm just reminding you that you're neither our boss nor our leader. We don't need your permission to come and go."
Gar began to tense up. He never liked Speedy or his cocky attitude. To this day he wondered why the hell he was invited to become a Titan, as he clearly was a lone wolf with an attitude problem. Gar could feel his blood pressure rise until he felt a calming hand on his shoulder.
"Gar, there's blood on … your butt." Raven informed him.
"Yeah, that's where I got hit. It's no biggie."
"I disagree, your limp is getting worse and you're still bleeding. I should take a look at it …"
"There are a few spare rooms on the fifth level if you need some privacy. First aid kit should still be in the restroom." Speedy informed them before pausing.
"Also, I just heard the news. Congrats. I always thought you guys belonged together."
The Chromatically Challenged Couple™ nodded their acknowledgement before stepping into the elevator.
-( scene break )-
The guest rooms were Spartan in their appointment and were even dustier than the common room. Raven opened a window to let some fresh air inside.
She was right about Gar's condition. The wound was deep and the bleeding had yet to stop. He was limping so badly now that he couldn't walk without Raven's help by the time they reached the room. He was already resting face down on the room's sole queen sized bed. Raven approached him and placed her palm on his wounded cheek, which was still covered by his blood stained trousers.
"How do you feel?" She asked.
"How do I feel? A hot chick is grabbing my butt. I actually feel pretty good."
"Correction: You fiancée is healing your butt, or at least she will once you pull your pants down." She answered in her monotone.
"Dude, this just keeps getting better."
"Be serious Gar, you know I can't heal wounds if there is cloth in the way, the fabric could get caught in the scar tissue. And like I said, we're betrothed. We're gonna be seeing a lot of each other's bodies in the near future. It's no big deal, even if your green butt is cute."
Gar smiled and adopted a less flippant demeanor.
"Betrothed? I like the sound of that, its sounds so … I don't know … historical?" He replied as he loosened his belt and dropped his pants after which Raven's blue light made its appearance.
"The concept was still in use on Azarath when I lived there."
"So what's the difference?"
"When you are betrothed there is a very firm commitment to marry. You can't back out for a trivial reason, like getting cold feet."
"Really, so what would it take to break a betrothal?"
"Something really big, like adultery. Breaking a betrothal is like getting a divorce, but even harder, you need a valid reason."
"I like that. So, are we really betrothed?"
"I suppose not. This isn't Azarath after all."
"Hey, I don't mind. I kind of still can't believe it happened. I'm not saying I'm having second thoughts, though. Heck, I'm excited."
Raven removed her palm from his butt cheek.
"OK, it's done. Here's a fresh pair of trousers."
She politely turned away from him as he changed his pants, watching discretely out of the corner of her eyes.
"There are … perks … in being betrothed … Azarathian style." She blurted out.
"Perks. What do you mean?"
"Physical intimacy … is permitted during the betrothal period. In fact, it's not unusual for the bride to be pregnant on her wedding day."
Gar smiled upon hearing about the 'perk'.
"I think I can wait until we get married, Rae."
She returned his smile.
"Mento and Elastigirl were pretty old fashioned, right?"
He nodded.
"If we were in civilization we'd never miss Mass on Sunday." He chuckled. "And Rita told me more than once that if I ever deflowered a young girl that she'd personally wring my neck."
"Good thing I'm not a young girl anymore. But what do you think Gar? Do you want to wait?"
He blushed as he nodded his head.
"I think we should, it'll make the honeymoon more special, don't you think Rae? And it won't be that long to wait. Besides, we still have to rescue Star and Nightwing."
Raven sat down next to him and gently drew him into a very passionate kiss.
"You're right, we should wait." She replied between kisses.
Suddenly Raven felt emboldened. She didn't know where the urge came from but she decided to act on it, which actually surprised her. In a calm motion she gently took his hand and gently placed his palm on her left breast. He gasped his surprise and she calmed him with another kiss.
"This should tide us over until over until our wedding night." She added in her monotone.
Somewhere in the room a light bulb exploded.
-( scene break )-
Ooooh! That was naughty. Looks like Brave and Lust showed up unexpectedly. Good thing Gar's a gentleman, or who knows what might have happened?
I'm getting this put together before I go and get my eyelids fixed (I have something called ptosis – google it if you're curious). I am posting this before heading off for my surgery, which was postponed by one day.
There was a review that caught my currently droopy eyes, and it will be the only one I cover today:
"I'm still interested I've just been enjoying the story to much to review."
Let me say just one thing: this is the worst thing that you as a reader can do!
Reviews are the "currency" of fanfiction. It's how you, the readers, pay the us writers for the effort that goes into writing stories. Writing reviews is how you let us know that you are enjoying the story, as opposed to simply feeling "meh" about it, which is what a non-review tells us. We know how many people read each chapter and it's really sad just how few people bother to review. In some cases it's as few as one reader out of 100 who bothers to review.
I cannot emphasize enough how much reviews mean to writers. And you don't need an account to leave a review. You can do it anonymously. So if you're reading someone's story and you like it, then for goodness' sake, write reviews!