-1Chapter 15
Welcome to my Nightmare Part 2
Five pair of eyes now watched from inside the Tower as I slowly fell from my levitation, crumbling into a heap in the crater I had formed.
A shivering, wide-eyed Raven slowly stepped over the smashed door, making her way towards where I lay. Robin and Starfire walked out just a few steps behind, Cyborg and Beast Boy brought up the rear.
It was only a few steps before Raven broke into a run, displaying an unusual concern. The rest walked timidly behind her.
I lay on the ground in a pool of my own sweat, red drops forming on my skin as I sweat blood. I didn't shiver, I didn't quake. There was hardly even breath issuing from my lungs. I had used up so much of my energy, that I could do little more than hang on to what little shreds of life I had left. And then…my heart stopped.
The dark sorceress dropped to her knees next to me, and pulled my head into her lap. Robin arrived and immediately checked for vital signs
"Not breathing," he rattled off, callously, "No pulse, temperature dropping quickly."
He turned my head to the side, knelt next to my side, and positioned himself to begin CPR on me.
"Don't" Raven droned. "He'll be fine."
Robin stared at the pale girl.
"He has placed himself into suspended animation. His brain is working fine, even his heart still pumps, but at such an incredibly slow pace that you would never notice."
"Incredible," Cyborg's voice from behind them, "a perfect state of suspended animation. And from the looks of it, he placed himself into it."
I didn't move, I didn't breathe, I didn't even let my heart flutter. To do so would have been instant death for me, and I knew it. My friends…I could still hear them, feel them…had figured out what was going on, no need to confirm what was already being accepted as fact.
-A voice in Raven's head-
"Raven…I need your help."
She nodded, slowly.
"I have to rebuild myself, but I need help with it."
"What can I do?"
"Just be still, and relax and be here. This won't hurt, but you will become tired. Stay with me Rae."
"Ok, do what you must…I trust you."
I tapped her Telekinetic powers, pulling the energy that she used for that into myself…leeching off of my friend. A vampire, of sorts, that didn't have to use that power, but could should I need to.
Raven's eyes drooped, and she struggled to stay awake. She voluntarily let me feed off of her power, and within moments, my heartbeat started strong once more.
My eyes fluttered open, and I stared up into the drowsy sorceress.
"Rae?" Robin stammered, "RAVEN?"
Robin was ignored.
"Did it work?" Raven muttered.
"Yes…thank you."
"What just…" Robin blinked, confused. he cut himself off and turned to silence the others.
The remaining three Titans had gathered behind him, all staring down at the pair of figures on the ground.
Starfire hugged Robin's arm, cooing softly…
…Cyborg's jaw dropped…
…Beast Boy's eyes bugged out…
…and Raven and I slept, my head gently cradled in her lap.
-----------------------
…Later that day…
-----------------------
From the peak of the sky, the sun brunt down on the Titans Tower. Inside, four young superheroes went about their business. Outside, two figures huddled together in the center of a smoldering crater. One sat holding the other's head in her lap, her blue cloak spotted with dark stains from the blood she had wiped off of his face. Red streaks still ran down his arms from the blood he had sweat.
Silver eyes groaned open once more, their strange color back to the 'normal' silver they always were. I squinted into the light, and a pair of violet eyes came into focus, staring out over the calm ocean. I could still feel her petite hands gently cradling my head. With a groan, I sat upright, and the two of us sat side by side, not saying a word.
-----------------------
Night fell, and the Titans had all gathered in the main room.
Beast Boy put a voice to what everyone else was thinking. "What…exactly…happened to you?"
"I dunno," I replied, happier than I should have been, "but I think it was actually for the best."
That instantly gathered the undivided attention of every person in the room.
"In the sleep that I got after that…happenstance, I had a dream, or maybe it was a vision, or something like that. I saw things, learned things about myself, things I have never been taught, but somehow, I knew. Some things like this."
I held out my hand, palm up, clenched it into a fist, and concentrated.
A silver sparkle appeared around my fist.
A drop of sweat ran down my face and dripped to the tabletop.
The glittering silver grew brighter.
-FLASH-
A 'dagger' of pure, Psionic energy burned in my grasp. Each Titans eyes grew wide in surprise, but one pair of eyes were locked on the silver energy blade. Starfire stared in awe, before sliding off her seat and kneeling before where I sat.
Everyone stared at the alien girl.
"My Lord Psionic, as required by the law of my people, if by my life or death I may serve you, I shall do as you wish. My life…" she took my right hand in both of her own, and bowed till her forehead touched the back of my fingers, "…as required bye the law of my people, belongs to you."
Every jaw fell open.
Mine hit the floor.
"Star, I'm sure…"
"SILENCE Robin!" Starfire glared at the Boy Wonder. "We are in the presence of a Psionic! A descendant of the saviors of Tamaran! Our entire civilization owes them our very lives!"
The Tamaranian turned back towards where I was, only to find herself staring directly into my eyes. She gasped, fell backwards, and averted her eyes away from my gaze.
"Starfire," I said calmly.
Still she averted her eyes.
"Koriand'r."
Her eyes snapped to mine. It was the first time I had used her true name.
"I do not know what this savior of your world is that you speak of, but I am not the master of anyone."
Her eyes cast to the side again. "But after all your kind has done for mine, we must repay you for…"
A hand on her shoulder stopped her cold. "Then just be my friend. That is more than enough of a payment for me."
"But my lord, according to our law, my life belongs to you, the lives of my entire planet belong to your kind."
My eyes grew cold. "One: I am not worthy of being anyone's 'lord', Kory, I am your friend. Two: if you want me to give orders, I can, but I would rather you follow Robin's orders of your own choice, not mine."
She shuddered at the sound of her name.
"B-but the law…"
My hand turned her jaw so that she looked me once more in the eyes. "Am I truly that powerful over you that I hold your very life and death in my hands?"
Her hands glowed brilliant green, and she pointed them at her own chest. "Just give me the word…"
Robin gasped, and started to get up, but my glare shoved him back in his seat.
Raven's book hid the ground with a thud.
Cyborg shuddered.
And Beast Boy did the only thing he knew how…he rambled. "STAR! NO! Don't do it Star! Please, you're our friend…" he spat his pleadings endlessly, but Starfire's gaze never broke from my eyes.
And I knew what I had to do. I gave orders.
"Lower your hands, Koriand'r, there will be no blood shed today."
The burning green disappeared from her wrists, and she dropped her hands back to her side, still staring blankly back into my eyes.
"It has been an honor to fight alongside you, Koriand'r, and it is my wish that it continues."
She nodded, silently.
"I also wish for our friendship to continue…"
Again, she nodded.
"But something must be done about this whole master/servant ordeal, it is unacceptable."
Her eyes widened.
"I have a proposal for you. I know that if I tell you that I free you from your contract, it will mean nothing to you. I have been around you long enough to know that you will not take something like that freely, so I offer a trade. You teach me what my…kind did for you and your people, and I shall grant you freedom from this contract that holds you to me. Since I have power over your very life or death, I can force you to accept my proposal, but I would rather force you to think, and decide on it for yourself."
Starfire shivers.
"What do you say, Kory? Your freedom from the contract that binds you to not only myself, but to my entire kind. I want you to be my friend, Koriand'r, not my servant, not my soldier, and certainly not as my enemy. Think, Koriand'r, and decide for yourself. I do not want to destroy your honor with my proposal, but even more so, I do not want you to be bound to anyone. Think and decide, Koriand'r, for until you answer my question, all you have is my silence."
She still shuddered every time I spoke her name.
I leaned back into the chair that I sat in, pressing my lips firmly together.
All attention was given to the kneeling Tamaranian in the center of the room.
-FWEEEP FWEEEEEEP FWEEEEEEP-
The alarm went off, as usual, at the worst possible time.
We spun as a whole, turning towards the screen.
"…S.T.A.R. Labs," Robin mumbled
And like that, we all were off.
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Robin's R-Cycle was the first to arrive at the police barricade. The T-Car was the next on scene, it's tires screeching to a halt as it brought Cyborg and Raven to the source of the crime. I arrived next, landing in a swirl of black wings, a cloud of dust, and a scream of thrusters. Starfire and Beast Boy brought up the rear, landing side by side in tandem.
"So what's the situation."
The commissioner looked up from where he sat at the Boy Wonder. "Them, for starters." He jabbed his thumb over his shoulder at a veritable assault force of well armed thugs who had taken cover behind various hastily set up blockades. "But they're not the real problem, they're just keeping us outside."
One of Robin's eyebrows lifted.
It's those damn HIVE kids again. One of the guards recognized that little techno brat and his thick headed friend, but there was a new girl with them, he said something about her having wings or something."
Robin looked at Cyborg, to Raven, to Starfire, to Beast Boy, and finally to myself.
"Well," the green elf smiled, "What're we waiting for?"
And with that, he turned into a huge Brahma bull, and charged the line of defending thugs.
Robin shrugged, and turned after the charging bovine. "Titans, GO!"
Gunfire roared at us from behind the barricades, and bright streaks of bullet fire flew by our rapidly moving bodies. The Boy Wonder was the first to reach the gunmen, and sent them scattering from the end of his staff.
A green gorilla grunted into the side of a truck, tipping it over towards several hidden thugs, scattering them like chaff to the wind.
-Bl-Bl-Bl-Bl-Bl-Blam-
-Cl-Cl-Cl-Cl-Cl-Clank-
A barrage of bullets from a trio of gunmen were deflected off of Robin's spinning staff.
-SMACK-
A lightning quick fist instantly KO'd the first thug.
-TH-THWACK-
The first to fall was quickly joined by his to comrades, each falling silently to the ground from an expertly placed steel boot.
Robin stood victoriously in his corner of the battle, smirked for a moment, and dove into the fray once more.
"RAWR"
A green panther wrestled a Tommy gun from the hands of a shaking thug, morphed into a gorilla, and hurled the weapon into the gut of another. The gorilla morphed again into a raging T-Rex and stomped through the crowd with wild abandon, the small caliber rounds bouncing off its thick hide.
-FL-FL-FL-FL-FL-FL-FL-FL-FL-FL-FL-FL-FLAAAAAAAAASH-
Starbolts blasted through barricades, shattered weapons, and a final enormous charge blew several of the gunmen from their hiding places, and scattered them across the ground.
-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BLAM-
-P-P-P-P-POW-
-RATTA-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-
I blasted through the crowd with incredible speed, focusing in on the group in the back with the heavier weapons. I could hear the repeating rattle of several AK-47s and what even sounded like a few M-16s even.
My wings folded back, and I dove towards the machinegun nest, smirking as the rounds bounced off of my armor. I held my hand out, and returned fire with my needle gun. The weapon's projectiles tore through the weapons, heating the metal to an untouchable red almost as soon as they hit them. Sumersaulting in mid-air, I landed feet first on two separate gunners…
-TH-THWAP-
Karate chopped a third across the side of his throat, and bitch-slapped a fourth with my wing, sending him spinning across the nest.
I spun, victoriously, and gasped.
Four gunners glared at me, a twisted grin plastered on their face, each kneeling behind a fully loaded SAW assault weapon.
I roared out a warning both vocally and telepathically.
"GET DOWN!"
I spun to flee and saw Robin leap behind an overturned semi trailer, joining the rest of the Titans behind there, with a flash, I soared towards them.
-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BLAM-
An ungodly amount of lead poured from the barrels of the weapons, and tore into the wings of my hard suit. I fell hard to the ground, and rolled behind a stack of boxes.
My right wing sagged…sagged…drooped…cracked…and fell off.
-THUMP-
I stared at the fallen piece of hardware, blinked, and looked over towards where the rest of the team was hiding.
-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BLAM-
The torrent of lead never seemed to let up.
I looked at the team again.
Looked towards where the police department was taking shelter behind their squad cars.
Looked towards the team.
Groaned.
And dove, rolling, jumping, and running as hard as I could.
-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BLAM-
-CR-CR-CR-CR-CRACK!-
I took five rounds in my opposite wing
-SMASH-
Another round shattered the chest piece of my armor
-CRRRRAAACK-
One final round caught my helmet, destroying the electronics within it just as I managed to dive behind the semi trailer.
I grunted, and tore the helmet from my head, tossing the worthless piece of equipment away from where I sat, and sweat.
Robin growled, "Where in the hell did they get their hands on weapons of that caliber?"
I was peeling off the rest of the destroyed armor, cutting myself out of some places with my silver blades.
Beast Boy whimpered. "Don't they ever run out of ammo?"
I shook my head. "Those are SAW assault rifles, the box of ammo on the side holds 200 rounds of ammunition, and I saw over 50 extra boxes sitting behind them.
My eyes fell upon two of the officers close enough to hear me.
"Your guns!" I shouted, "Throw them here!"
They stared at me.
The commissioner growled at them "Dammit, do what he says, unless you wanna go toe to toe with the military's own technology."
The two officers went wide-eyed, and threw me their pistols.
"The clips, I'll need everything you have left!"
They each threw over two extra clips, then shouted to some of the other of the law. In short notice, I had two 9mm pistols and 10 extra clips of ammunition. In a crude fashion, the extra clips were tied to my legs in a peculiar fashion. I held the pistols up towards the sky, one in each hand, and leaned back against the side of the trailer, concentrating. My mind pulsed, and I felt my way through the guns. My gaze fell sharply upon the Cyborg. "Don't you ever suggest to me that I should do this more often."
I looked at the pistol in my right hand, then to my left, and my mind bonded with each weapon.
For some reason, Starfire jerked back. "A slayer," she whispered, inaudible to anyone but herself.
I stood, slowly, staring straight ahead. My mind reached out, sensing where the four heavy gunners were, and into their ammo boxes.
3.…..
-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BLAM-
2.…..
-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BLAM-
1.…..
-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-BL-CLICK-
NOW!
I dove from my hiding place, face first towards the gunners, my body horizontal to the ground. I rotated twice, and popped off a quad of rounds
-BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM-
All four ammo boxes the thugs were reaching for where blown out of their reach.
I landed in a slide, and brought the pair of pistols to bear against the four SAW gunners. My body jerked to action, and I exploded from my kneeling position, leaping forward and continuing in a flat out spring towards the nest.
-BL-BLAM BL-BLAM BL-BLAM BL-BLAM BL-BLAM BL-BLAM BL-BLAM BL-BLAM BL-BLAM BL-BLAM BL-BLAM BL-BLAM BL-BLAM CL-CLICK-
I fired the pistols in rapid succession, blasting each ammo box that the gunmen reached for back out of their grasps. I reached the cluster of barrels that they had been using for cover, and leapt over. As I leapt, my thumb hit the release for the clips on the pistols.
-Cl-Clack-
And reloaded them by slapping them through a pair of the clips that were tied to my thighs.
-Cl-Clip-
Landed in a crouch, flipped backwards away from a flying punch, and released the slides on the pistols.
-Sn-Snap-
My feet planted firmly atop the very barrels that had offered the gunners protection only moments ago, my cold eyes glaring back at them.
I jumped again, spun in mid air, and released four more rounds.
-BLAM-
-BLAM-
-BLAM-
-BLAM-
Each gunner fell to his backside, screaming, and staring at the new piercing in his right hand.
I glared at each one in turn.
Brought the 9mm in my right hand to the closest thugs forehead…
-THWAP-
Robin's staff cracked the bleeding man across the back of his skull, dropping him unconsciously to the ground.
I blinked, gasped, and dropped the guns.
"Good job Ryk," he said, his voice unnaturally calm, his eyes noting my own glossing over.
The rest of the team stood behind me, smiling in approval. Starfire held out my forgotten blades, offering them back to me.
I smirked, and took the blades from her hands, but still maintained my sworn silence to her.
"Well, shall we get to where the real party is?"
We all nodded in agreement at the little changeling, and turned towards the doors.
-PHWISH-
The doors slid open, and the trio of HIVE students walked out nonchalantly, laughing amongst each other. Two of them noticed us, and grabbed the tall, winged girl by her shoulders.
"So," Gizmo chuckled, "The Titan brats have finally shown up, and with that assassin no less, things never cease to amaze me."
"You leave Ryk out of this!" Starfire growled, clenching her fists into a combat pose.
"OOOOOooo!" Mammoth cackled, "I do believe the alien has a crush!"
I didn't notice.
Neither did Nightmare.
My eyes were locked on hers
Hers on mine.
My jaw fell agape.
Hers set in a firm line.
"Hello Ryk," she purred smoothly.
"N-Nightmare?" I stammered.
She smirked, spun at an amazing speed, and caught the flat side of one of her axes across my chest.
-WHAAAAP-
I rag dolled across ground, flying almost 6 feet back before crashing into the ground.
I growled, and pulled myself up towards my feet.
Gizmo laughed, and brought a quad of laser guns to bear against where I lay.
"YOU SHALL NOT TOUCH HIM!" Starfire screamed at the boy.
"And what are you going to do about it, ET?" he smirked.
Star gasped as Mammoth grabbed her in a bone shattering bear hug from behind.
Nightmare stood threateningly between the rest of the Titans and where I struggled to my feet.
Gizmo charged his laser cannons up to full power
-WHIRRRRRRRRRRRRR-
And aimed at my struggling self.
I hid a smirk with a 'painfully' raised arm.
"RRRRRUUUAAAAAAAGGHHHH!"
With an incredible burst of strength, Starfire ripped herself from Mammoth's grasp, and sped towards Gizmo
Gizmo fired
-ZZZZZAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAPP-
Just as Starfire stepped between where I clung to the wall and his path of fire.
-SPLOOORCH-
A brilliant laser beam tore through Starfire's shoulder and thigh. She spun a full three hundred sixty degrees from the blast, green blood leaking profusely from her wounds.
In the background, the rest of the Titans were fully occupied with Nightmare and Mammoth, and hadn't even noticed Star being hit.
But I had.
"KORY!" I screamed, dropped my 'pain' act and ran towards her at full speed.
Starfire knelt on the ground, green tears running down her face to match the green blood leaking from her shoulder and hip. "I have done everything I can in life, Ryk." she mumbled, "and now, I'll give you one more moment to escape with my death."
Gizmo glared down at her from where he hovered above. "Stupid alien bitch." he swore, "I'll kill you too."
-ZAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP-
End Chapter 15