A/N: Whew! I just typed out seven chapters to another fan fic in about two and a half weeks. Usually it takes me that long to type one chapter! I'm worn out, but I'm still typing my heart out. I've really missed working on this fic! Well, sorry for the delay. Please enjoy the chapter and give a review! Thanks!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything that's Teen Titans!
Chapter 4 Gene's Wonderful Life of Doom
Journal Entry 7
It seemed like the second I closed my eyes I was in that nightmare I call sleep. The bitter darkness that engulfed me was warm, too warm actually. The scorching air immediately made me sweat big drops of the odious liquid. A breeze filled with ashes would sometimes pass by from what seemed like nowhere, making me cough my lungs out.
The dreams were getting worse every night. They started out being dead cold and had built up to this lava like blackness. They were getting more life-like. Many times I would wake up expecting to be falling in some hot pit of molten rock.
I stood there in the darkness, waiting for the four infamous red eyes that would soon accompany me in my nightmare. For a minute I was left there alone to my own dreaded thoughts. The only sound was of my pounding heart and the rush of ashes being swept away by the wind.
I felt the eyes rather than saw them. A gasp escaped me as I spun around to be faced with the large blood red eyes that I knew could easily bore a hole in me. A sickening chill rested on my sweat laden shoulders as the deep Voice laughed at my fear. I could fight a million monsters and never feel the weakening sense of terror I felt when around this Voice.
"Soon, child, you will release me," the Voice said menacingly.
"I'm releasing no one, dude," I yelled at the Voice. Once again I was using anger to keep my fear away. The second I stopped to think about what I was doing, I knew I'd be a crying baby. I couldn't allow that.
The laugh boomed from all around me as the Voice found me pathetically amusing. I growled in anger and frustration. I was sick of coming here every time I tried to sleep. Every time I was met with fear, confusion, and millions of questions that seemed to never be answered. I just wanted this to stop. I'd give anything for a peaceful nights rest.
But no! I was Gene Summers. My life could never be fair! I was doomed to suffer and struggle for the things I wanted out of anything. Pain was my mentor and teacher. If I needed or wanted something, I'd have to fight tooth and nail for it. Torment was the bed I rested my head on every night. As rebellious as I was, I'd never change my path in life. I was going to have to deal with it.
Finally I couldn't stand being there in the dark anymore. "Who are you?" I screamed my frustration. "Show yourself for once!" I should have kept my dumb mouth shut.
"I believe it is finally time for you to see," the Voice said ominously.
Suddenly the darkness fell away as if someone had pushed a curtain aside to let in bright sunshine from a window. Just that this wasn't as nice as being awoken from sleep from a harsh ray of light. It was worse.
All around me was black and red rocks. Ash and pieces of skeletons accumulating dust were scattered throughout a barren hot wasteland with pools of boiling and hissing lava. The air somehow got hotter than before, threatening to kill me right there from the massive heat. No forms of life were seen, just the haunting feeling of tortured death.
"What is this place?" I whispered while taking a tentative step back. I wished for the black veil again, but I knew it would never come. I looked to where the eyes had been and had to fight the urge to scream.
There stood the massive body of which the Voice belonged to. I was a puny ant compared to the dude. He had red skin that matched his four narrowed eyes. He looked down upon me with a cruel smile touching the corners of his lips. Just seeing me almost freak out was making him very pleased.
"Oh jeez!" I muttered before taking off in a sprint. I tried to use my powers to make a force field to hop onto so I could get out of there faster, but of course my powers weren't working. I wasn't even surprised, just seriously pissed.
The ground hissed below me each time my shoe hit the rock. I winced as the heat went through my shoes and started to burn my feet. Suddenly I felt an earthquake and stumbled off balance, hitting the rocky ground with a cry of alarm. I glanced behind me just in time to see the Voice reached down with a hand to scoop me up. I was beginning to feel sorry for Thumbelina.
Before I could get up and run, the hand wrapped around my body and lifted me up to the Voice's face. The fast ride upward felt like a rollercoaster gone wild. The G forces which I experienced made me grimace as my head exploded into a migraine. My hope for passing out wasn't exactly coming true.
I was jerked to a stop, suspended maybe three stories into the air. I desperately tried to get out of the hold the one hand had on my whole body. No matter how much I squirmed and struggled the giant's hand wouldn't release me. I could feel the faint pulse of the giant's heart beat as his grip on me tightened slightly.
"You can not fight destiny, boy," the Voice boomed. "You will release me from this world and into yours. It is only the matter of time before your world is destroyed by my ultimate power. It is pointless to struggle."
I took in quick gulps of the searing air. My heart beat was sky rocketing. It took all I had not to totally freak out. I realized that if I let this guy loose, earth would be destroyed! But how was I going to stop this guy or even stand up to him? At the moment he was beating me with one hand.
Suddenly the Voice tightened his grip on my body. I let out a cry of pain as my body began getting crushed under the pressure. I couldn't breathe or move at all! Panic threatened to overtake my mind, but I fought the forbidden thought off. I wasn't going to die like this!
"C'mon, Gene!" I croaked to myself, eyes squeezed shut from the pain. My bones were going to all be crushed if I didn't pass out from the lack of air. "Wake up!" I screamed.
In a rush, I was back in my bed. I sat up with a giant gasp for air. Fat sweat drops fell off my forehead and soaked my sheets as I sat there taking big gulps, trying to get over my latest nightmare. I could still feel the hotness of that hellish place. My body ached all over as if the squeezing of the Voice's hand around my body had all really happened. I was scared out of my mind!
"Gene?" a soft voice from the door to my room called to me in a whisper.
I looked up and saw little Yuri there with her stuffed bear pressed closely to her chest. Yuri is the daughter of the Japanese family I was staying with in Tokyo for a few months. They were overjoyed to take me in because apparently the Titans had saved the city a little while back. Yuri took English classes at her private school, so she was fluent in the language. Her parents knew the language, but not as well as there beautiful seven year old daughter.
"Yeah, sweetie?" I asked with a weak smile. I could be the biggest bad ass if I wanted to, but when it came down to Yuri, I was a motherly pushover. She was like the brightest star in the sky at night. I loved her like the little sister I never had.
"I heard you were having a nightmare," she said softly. Her big black eyes showed concern for me. She lingered in my doorway for a second before racing across the wooden floor and to my bed. I let her jump into the bed next to me as she said, "I brought a book to read to you so you can go back to bed."
I smiled down at her and said, "You're so sweet. Which one did you pick out?"
Her face lighted up when I asked this. She placed a book on my lap and said, "I got this one just for you, so you won't have to be so slow when you read it to yourself. It is in the language you always speak in."
My eyebrows rose in surprise. The book was in English! It was the first thing in English I had seen in months. My smile widened at this. Yuri had gone out of her way to get a book for me to read. She was the sweetest little girl I'd ever seen.
"Thank you so much!" I said while giving her a small hug. She giggled at my over excitement as I opened the book, which was Green Eggs and Ham. I read part of it to her and then let her try and read the rest. She was still beginning to read in English, but she was smarter than any first grader I'd seen in the States.
Soon, she got too tired to stay awake. It had to be at least five in the morning by now. Arabell and, surprisingly, Kid Wicked were sleeping in the living room down the hall. The Hive Five member had been waiting for me when I got home early this morning. It was just another scoop of the crap that was piling up that day.
Since the teen was mute, he had written to me and Arabell that the Titans and other superpowered people had been kidnapped a week or two ago. He had been freed by Robin and told by the leader to find Gene Summers. I don't know what Robin was thinking when he asked for me to rescue him, but of course I couldn't just leave the whole team hanging. I'd have to go after them and hopefully not get caught myself. Goody.
Yuri fell asleep in mid sentence and curled up next to me. I gave a sigh, got out of my bed, and picked her up into my arms. The wooden floor creaked under our weight, but no one waked up as I carried the precious girl back to her pink and frilly room. I tucked her back into her own bed and headed for the bathroom to take a cold shower. I was burning up!
It was after the well needed ice cold pour of water on my head when the beginning of my torture began. My left wrist suddenly felt like it was on fire. I gave a muffled scream of pain and sat down on the side of the tub, looking over my arm with wide eyes.
A certain swear word threatened to escape me as I saw a strange mark start to burn its way onto my skin on my wrist. I watched with dread etched on my face as the mark burned there for a few seconds before retrogressing to a dull throb.
"Great, I'm going freaking insane!" I hissed at myself, getting up and marching across the bathroom. I yanked the closet door open and grabbed an old cleaning rag out that no one would notice missing. I tore the fabric a few times with my teeth and a good pull before wrapping the strips around my wrist where the mark was. I knew ignoring it would never make it go away, but I didn't want the constant reminder of my doom.
With that done, I silently left the bathroom and walked back to my room. The hallway was all dark, but light from a few windows in the living room in the front provided enough light to get me down the pathway without stumbling. I was halfway down when I felt a presence. For a second I couldn't pin point it, so I crouched down low in full stealth mode.
In a flash, the presence was located. The person was standing calmly right behind me. But instead of attacking, I slowly stood up. I knew who the intruder was even before my powers could detect recognition. It was Slade.
"Just give me a second," I told him in a low whisper before quickly walking into my room. After sniffing a few shirts I had littered around my room, I picked one that didn't smell like sweat. I shoved on a pair of jeans while at the same time managing to slip on my tennis shoes. I had always heard that both Robin and Raven were neat freaks. I for one could be one of the biggest pigs if allowed to. I absently wondered how I got that untidy trait from a combo of perfectionists.
Slade was waiting silently for me at the door with his arms folded in front of his chest. I tried to ignore the snoring Arabell and the mute Hive Five member while crossing the living room to the door. Slade narrowed his eye on me as I refused to give him more than a glance as I put on my sleeveless coat and walked right out the door of the upscale apartment in the middle of the busy metropolis.
Soon, the two of us were out of the apartment building I'd been living in for the past two months and were seated in the back of a small restaurant a block away. It was a nice little place, fashionable just like the Japanese family I was with. But I rarely visited it because it was so expensive. I had a budget with that card the Titans and Slade had given me.
I was all smiles and politeness when ordering my herbal tea, but went straight into business when our waitress retreated to the kitchen. Only a few drunks and early risers were seated around the place, but I still kept my voice low and dark as I demanded, "What do you want, Slade?"
The man paused for a second, not to choose his words carefully, but just to make me wait. We somehow had found the other's biggest pet peeves and whenever near we just picked at them to death. He loved to watch as I sighed in frustration and ran a hand through my hair. Patience was not my thing.
"Today is your birthday," Slade said in his usual unemotional tone.
"I have a birthday?" I asked sarcastically with a wicked grin flashing across my face. By the small rise and drop of temperature in the room, I knew I had made him annoyed with me. He didn't express the emotion outwardly, but my powers picked it up just the same.
"Yes," Slade answered, "You do. I stopped by to see if anything was wrong."
"Aw," I said, "You care about me. How nice. Can you leave now?"
"Well, is anything wrong?" Slade asked nonchalantly.
For some reason I felt disappointed not to feel the calming sense of concern from the man. Caring was never part of Slade's dictionary, but for once in my lifetime I just wanted to have someone feel something for me. I was confused why I wanted it so much out of this man. No matter what I tried, I could only produce anger and annoyance from the man. I felt more of a burden than anything else. But then why did he still pursue me?
"I'm fine and dandy," I answered with a simple shrug, "As fine and dandy as my life gets."
Slade studied me with a critical eye for a few moments. I fiddled with a pair of chopsticks, never raising my gaze to his as I suffered under his cruel speculation. I hated it when he observed me like he would a lab rat. I feel so exposed, as if under a microscope.
"You're lying," he finally said matter-of-factly.
I glared up at him and retorted, "I am not! How would you know, anyways?"
In a flash, Slade had a vice grip on my hand with the rag wrapped around it. I struggled for control, but Slade had already unwrapped the bandage to reveal the burn mark of an unknown symbol. He looked down at it for a moment with dread vibes engulfing me. Busted.
"When did this happen?" Slade demanded steadily. His mixed vibes betrayed his voice, though. Somewhere in there I tapped upon a hint of fear. Slade ever expressing this emotion surprised me. Like caring, I didn't think Slade had that emotion.
"It's a birthmark," I retorted disdainfully with the roll of my eyes. "I got it right before you showed up." I paused to let Slade get over my latest irritating comment to gain something of his favor before asking, "What does it mean?"
"That shouldn't concern you," Slade said while letting me go. I looked up at him with skepticism and waited for more. Yeah, like I shouldn't be worried about the mark that just so happened to be burned right into my skin! Oh, Slade could slay me with his jokes.
"Pack your bags and meet me at the airport in an hour," Slade said seriously. Before my stunned self could ask the big question of why, Slade explained. "You are too dangerous to be let out in public. Too many people might come after you. You will be safer with me."
I actually laughed right in his face after this. "Wow, you amaze me with all that confidence," I said with a wry grin, "Like I'm actually going to willingly fly on a plane back to the States with you. Sorry, Slade, but I already have another mission on my mind. Your rescue thoughts will have to be put on hold."
"What mission?" Slade asked me even though I could tell from his emotions that he had no confusion. He knew what I was planning to do. "The Titans and I have not given you any new missions recently."
"'Cause the Titans are kidnapped," I said. "I'm going to go save them. Robin sent Kid Wicked to come get me with an SOS. But you already knew this."
"You are foolish to believe you can do anything to help them," Slade pointed out.
"You are not talking me out of anything yet," I said stubbornly.
His eye narrowed in silent anger as he leaned forward in his seat. I could feel his fury wash over me in massive heat waves. I clenched my jaw and glared away from him. He wasn't, and actually couldn't, make me go with him, and he knew this. I had become pretty powerful with my dark abilities. He'd have to drag me back to the States with me kicking and screaming the whole way, which was something he wasn't prepared to do.
"If you do not obey me, boy, I will take away this life you now live," Slade hissed at me, his voice so dark it sent a spike of chill shooting down my spine. "I will take away the card, won't permit you to live with this Japanese family, and help you no more."
"I never wanted your help," I growled back. "I don't need your crap. I can save the Titans with Kid Wicked and the annoying future girl. Your assistance won't and never will be needed. I won't let the Titans hanging just because you said I wasn't safe for the public. And since when did you ever care for strangers or even me? I'm the lab rat, remember?"
His voice was like ice as he said, "You are not a damn superhero!"
A light bulb somewhere in the room exploded as my frustration and anger got the best of me. I had to close my eyes and calm a part of me before I could respond with as much coldness, "Everyone tells me this! I get the point by now! But I don't want to be heartless like you!"
With that said, I stormed out of the restaurant, ready to burst with the emotion swelling inside me. It was just the beginning of my suck fest that day.