"C'mon, Robin, this is ridiculous." I wasn't complainin', either. It was ridiculous, tryin' to catch the guy Raven had seen.
He was fast. Really fast. Even Star was having trouble stayin' with him, an' that was saying somethin'. After you added that to the fact that he was basically sensor-invisible, it was difficult keepin' up with him, t' say the least.
"This guy is a murderer, Cyborg; we can't give up." Though he hadn't been on the best of terms with Batman the last time they met, Dick Grayson, or Robin, still shared many of his old mentor's ideals, justice bein' one of them.
An' he was as stubborn as a mule, t' boot.
"How're we supposed to catch him if we can't reach him, or see him?" That was the one glaringly obvious flaw in Robin's plan. But, yeah, the guy wouldn't give it up for anything. Not 'til he had the perp.
A falcon swooped from the purple sky above, green feathers circling overhead. Beast Boy, or Garfield, if you were into the whole first name thin'. To me, though, he was BB.
"Have you found him?" Robin was cold as ice. He hadn't seen what the guy had done, none of us had, but there would be no vigilantes running around Jump City. Not on his watch.
"Not exactly." BB shook his head nervously, pointin' at the sky above him.
An' there was Star, holdin' what appeared to be a mangled umbrella. Mangled wasn't even that accurate a descriptor, seein' as it was basically crumpled like so much paper.
"Robin, this is a glider, not a criminal," she landed next to BB, who had by now transformed back into his normal, impish self, "but still, it would make an enjoyable kite, yes?"
"No." Robin was mad. Really mad. Not that it was hard t' tell or nothing. His face looked like he'd jus' eaten a bowl of fresh chilli.
"I'd say it makes a much more convenient distraction." Succinct as always, Raven. But she was probably right. An' by probably I mean almost definitely.
"You're right," Robin was kicking himself, not literally, but he was pretty damn close to doin' so, "I just picked up something on the police scanner. A bank robbery in progress, halted by a vigilante. Criminals are dead, officer down."
"He's killing police now? Dude, that's so not cool." BB ran his hand nervously through his hair, green, so much like the food he ate.
"Not unless they got in his way. Like he told me, if people join him, or stay out of his way, they're fine." Raven again. She has a point, but not a good one. Much as Robin hates crime, he doesn't extend that to the criminals themselves. I mean, they're people too, after all. Just bad, confused, misguided people.
"Titans, head out. Bank of Perez." Robin took only a moment give his command, then he was gone. Along with Star, BB an' Raven. Man, they sure don't wait for you t' keep up.
"So, you've finally decided to show up? How rude of you; I worried that you hadn't received my invitation." A shadow, with one eye. Or one normal eye. The other glowed, glowered, a dim red, so much like mine it was scary.
There were cops everywhere, or there had been, until we showed up. Then they got out, took their buddy with them, an' trust me, they were so leavin' so quickly they nearly forgot him. Had to remind them.
But now all that mattered was that we had the guy. Jus' about, anyway.
"Titan's, GO!" An' there was the signal, Robin dashing ahead off the rest, BB and Star not far behind. Rae hung back, just a little.
"I see my offer has been rejected. So foolish." He just stood there, even when Robin threw a birdarang right at his head. Not that he had needed to actually dodge the thing. He jus' caught it, tossed it aside, right before it blew up, too. Man, this guy had sharp reflexes.
So, what does Robin do, but hurl another birdarang. 'Cept this time the guy doesn't just throw it aside. He tosses it back.
Not that it should've been that surprisin', but it is when you're trying to dodge a whole bunch a throwing stars. They missed me, but the birdarang came outta nowhere, caught me right in the shoulder. It wouldn've been so bad, if it hadn't of exploded.
That's what it did, flung me pretty far across the street, too. Didn't hurt that much, but it fried the targeting on my sonic cannon. Not that it made too much of a difference. The suit this guy was wearing made it impossible to get a lock anyway.
But man was I angry. The thing still worked an' everything, so I blasted him. Or tried to. Did I mention how fast this guy was? 'cause I sure wasn't expecting it. He just jumped, avoided the blast by a mile, an' then pulls out this sword of his.
A katana, or somethin' like it, anyway. I didn't actually get that much of a look at it, seein' he swung it so fast it was there one minute, an' the next I'm missin' an arm. I guess it's a good thin' it was missin' in the first place.
Well, even though I was down a gun, I still wasn't givin' up that easily. I threw a punch, clobbered him good. Or the air where he had been, anyway. 'Cause he wasn't there anymore. I jus' heard a thump, saw BB land next to me, a crumpled heap.
I turned, tried to see where this guy was now. Got a fairly good view of him knockin' Starfire into a wall, too. Thought she would've survived pretty much unharmed, but when she got back up she had a pretty bad nosebleed.
That got Robin mad. Angrier than he was to start with, an' that was saying something major.
"Raven, will you be helping us today?" Huh. Sarcasm wasn't anythin' he used in casual conversation, either.
She looked pretty out of it, too. Raven, I mean. Seemed like she was almost… well, not afraid, but… wary.
"What is it Rae?" Man, if she was like this, then there mus've be somethin' she wasn't tellin' us. I thought maybe I'd get her to tell, before we got creamed.
"There's something about him, something strange. I can't read him, but even Einstein over there," she extended her index finger toward BB, who was jus' pickin' himself up, "should know a normal human could never do that to Starfire."
"So, a meta-human, eh?" If I could've cracked my knuckles, I would've, but, yeah, I was a little short on them. An' arms. It was good an' bad, since it'd make the fight that much harder, but now I wouldn't have t' go as easy on him as I would've otherwise.
"I'm glad to see you finally figured out what has been staring you in the face for the past ten minutes." One thing I had to admit 'bout the guy is that he knew how to fight. Managing to get that sarcastic comment out, while BEATING Robin in unarmed combat… well, he was somethin'.
Seems like Raven decided to help after all, seein' as she started chanting that mantra of hers.
"Azarath, metrion, zinthos…"
Strange thing is, the guy wasn't even concerned. If anythin' I'd say it actually made him happy to see this.
"Well, friend Raven, it gladdens my heart to see you summon the righteous fury, as friend Starfire seems incapable of doing so." A perfect, mockin' impersonation of Star, who was having a little trouble pickin' herself up. If it had've been a joke, I might've laughed. What came next wasn't so funny, though.
"But perhaps you shouldn't use such fury. Losing control might cause another incident, like the one on your sixteenth birthday." This stopped Raven dead in her tracks, an' I mean fast.
"What?" Her voice wasn't quite normal, there was so much… emotion.
"How does it feel? Knowing that you held yourself back for your entire life, remaining void, emotionless, where you should have been happy or sad or angry, to protect the people that stood all around you, when they didn't deserve to be saved from what was coming."
"What are you talking about?" This time it was Robin, an' now he was more confused than anythin'.
"Who is more accurate than what. I speak of Trigon."
"You know-?" Raven again, tryin' to sound unfazed but doin' a pretty lousy job of it.
"Of course I know. Your father had dominion over the entire Earth, but the Earth only. Not every part of this Earth is terrestrial in origin. That is all that saved me."
"So….. anyone else get that?" BB looked as though he'd jus' been forced to sit through a speech on general relativity. Not that he's slow or anythin', despite what Raven may attest; Even I had trouble understandin'.
"What I just told you is unimportant. What is, however, is this; your luck is very quickly wearing thin. Until now, your pathetic attempts to stop me have been amusing, sufficiently so that I am feeling charitable. Leave now, and you will do so with your lives intact."
Well, to say that the mood darkened at this point would've been pretty accurate, if only 'cause what little light had remained simply up an' vanished.
Of course, then Robin had to go an' do his little spiel about how virtuous the Titan's were, an' how we never surrendered, ' specially not to murderers. Then this other guy, the villain, I 'spose he'd be called, if this were a cartoon, simply turns away from us an' says:
"I'm sorry that you disagree with me. The last man who did so would attest to the folly of it, but unfortunately he finds himself quite decapitated."
The air around us grew murky, dense, like some sort of living shadow. Then the wind picked up, started buffeting me, an' everyone else. Like nature itself was turning against us. I'd be lyin' if I didn't admit that I was pretty freaked out by this point.
"You don't scare me." Robin was starting to sound about as arrogant as this guy did.
"I should." That's all that he said, but it made me feel like somethin' was going to happen. Somethin' none of us would like. I think all of us got that feelin' about the time he started hurling bolts of shadow at us. An' man, did they hurt. Not physically, not that much, anyway.
It was more than that… once they touched you, sunk in, all these horrible thoughts an' emotions, things you bottled away deep inside so you'd never feel 'em again, began welling to the surface. It felt like I was hit by a train, one that backs over you again an' then kicks you in the nuts. I don't even think I got the worst of it.
Robin jus' fell to his knees, retching. Thank god he was doin' it dryly, since I don't envy the guy that's gotta clean that up.
BB stopped in his tracks, a Sabre-toothed tiger, went belly-up like a dead fish. Star, she fell right outta the sky, an' by fell I mean… well, it's probably more accurate to say that she crashed into the pavement an' blew a crater at least thirty feet across.
Raven… it was horrible to watch. First up, she don't know what hit her, just hovered there starin' into nothin'. An' then she started reeling around in the air, flailin' about like she was getting' stuck by a hot iron.
Then she grabs her head, screamin'… not any human scream, either. 'Cause then, she jus' stops movin' an' looks up. 'Cept now she's got more than two eyes , an' I can tell you, that's not anythin' you want to see.
Her cloak, it becomes like a part of her, an' all these scary tentacles an' stuff start sproutin' out… but instead of goin' at him, they start attackin' her, grabbin' her arms an' legs, wrappin' her up in her own cloak 'til I couldn't see her skin anymore.
All the while, she's in there kickin' an' punchin' an' bouncin' around from the inside, like a bunch of cats in a sack.
An' then it stops, bursts open, Raven was back with us again. But she was lookin' a helluva lot worse for it. She jus' turns her head toward me, moves her lips.
"If I stay… sorry…" Then she's gone, up an' teleported away. I don't blame her for it. If she stayed, got hit again by whatever the hell he threw at us… she nearly lost total control after one hit, jus' about killed herself, too.
It might've looked cowardly, but it was smart. Sometimes, retreat is better than defeat. 'Specially if you're a half-demon who could destroy the planet if you ever lost control of your power, even once.
"Robin, man, we gotta get out of here!" He knew I was right, too. BB, Star, both lookin' like they aren't goin' to be doin' anthin' for a while, me, doin' the best I could with one arm an' fried targetin'.Then there's Robin, fightin' a fight he knew he couldn't win, stubbornly battlin' on, because it felt like the right thin' to do, when anyone coulda told him it was jus' the opposite.
"It's too late for that, too late for you. The choice was made by you alone, a choice you must abide."
Then, he pulls this grenade from his bandolier, an' tosses it at me. Like one off those stickies from Halo, 'cause once it got on me, it didn't wanna let go. An' then it went off, an' whaddaya know? I'm out cold.
Pathetic. Worthless. The heroes of Jump City, and they can't even defend themselves. No wonder vice is beginning to gain a foothold within the city. Father was right. If I do not guide the other shadows to this place, then soon it will become worse than Gotham.
Another birdarang flew at Vance Freeman, cutting wildly through the air like a dagger. Brushed aside by a gloved hand, it spun into a wall.
"Determined as always, Robin. Yet you fail to realise that you should have run when you had the chance." He dodged a punch thrown by the younger, knocked him, gasping, to the ground with an elbow to the sternum.
"Don't get up." A warning, followed by a sharp kick to the torso when compliance was not met. Jarring agony, two broken ribs. Sharp, laboured breaths escaped Robin's lips as he tried to get up. The best he could do was prop himself up against a wall, staring at each of his fallen allies, friends, in turn.
"Who…" This single word was all he could manage, barely an excuse for a sentence.
"Who am I?" an amused sigh, "I am all that you have fought for, that which you hold dear. I am justice, blind and true, unbridled by ideals that should not exist. I am a product of your own creation, dear Robin."
"How can that be? I've never even met you before!"
"Once, long ago, you failed in your duty as protector. Perhaps if you had not, then I would not be what I am today," he looked to the sky, as though trying to remember a time long forgotten, "now I am a shadow, nothing more, destined to strike down all who dream of fell deeds."
"Criminals do not deserve to die simply because of what they do." It made Robin feel sick, the thought that he was completely at the mercy of this madman. Along with the fact that he could feel his ribs floating around inside of him, shifting with every tiny movement, every moment of speech.
"And yet their victims deserve to die, simply because they were in the wrong place in the wrong time? Look around you, at what you have become. Beast Boy, Cyborg, Starfire, Raven. Once you were strong, powerful. Now you are nothing more than targets for the affections of your misguided worshippers."
A blade slid free of its scabbard, runes glowing dull blue, just barely visible in the unnatural darkness. "Nothing more than targets for my sword."
Robin knew what would happen next, knew that there was nothing he could do to save his friends, nothing at all. Unless he bargained. He could see them, unconscious upon the ground, his friends… his family. He could not bear to watch them die this way.
"Take… take my life in exchange for theirs."
These words surprised Vance. The nobility of them.
"You would sacrifice yourself to ensure they were spared?"
"I see no other choice."
For a brief moment, Vance found himself looking upon the Titan who lay broken at his feet with newfound respect.
"Very well. Your death will be painless, if that is the only condolence I can offer you."
Some condolence. There was no life flashing before his eyes, no revelation, nothing. No comfort as the faceless executioner lifted his sword.
Then, a starbolt caught him in the side. It was weak, feeble, barely even felt. He turned, pinned Robin to the wall with a Shuriken. Not that he was going anywhere, but those who were prepared were those who survived.
Starfire, hanging over the lip of the crater she had blasted, barely conscious, blood flowing from her nose. She was crying, tears peeling gently from the corners of her eyes, only to evaporate on her hot Tameranean skin. Tears of grief, frustration, fury, at what she could only describe as having her soul violated in the worst way possible.
Fear, for what would become of her friends, of Robin.
"Please, leave Robin." Miserable was the single word Vance could find to describe her. He had seen her previously, flying about the city as he watched from the shadows, so joyful. Now she was earthbound, barely able to even summon a wretched starbolt.
"Please…," she reached up, arm stretched towards him. He remained just out of reach, aware that he should not underestimate her strength, or her intelligence, "you have beaten us, and we are defeated. If you kill us, even if you kill Robin only, then you are no better than Slade. Then you are a monster."
Something about that last sentence struck a chord deep inside of him, brought something to the surface, something he hadn't remembered in a long time, something he didn't want to remember.
"You- you're a monster, get away from- argggh." Brains, splattered on the wall, splattered on the ground, squish, squish, brains go squish.
"No. I'm not a monster. Sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind. True strength comes from willingness to do the unthinkable," he strode back to Robin, lifted his sword over his head, and… sheathed it. "Which is why I'm not going to kill you, Dick Grayson. Why I'm not going to kill any off you."
Then, he leapt, up, onto the roof, into the darkness. He had to defeat them, he was meant to kill all who stood in his way. But he would not become him. Not the one who had made him.
My mind presents...
Chaos
A Teen Titans story
Written by Kieren P. McGovern (AKA Untractable Evocation, or Loki, or Fedaykin Guard).
With thanks to Corey W. Smith (Cylor) for everything he's done to help, which, trust me, is a lot.
The Teen Titans universe and all characters depicted therein, apart from those of my own creation, are the intellectual property of DC comics and Time Warner productions. The (original) characters and situations depicted within this fanfiction are MY intellectual property, and use of these characters without my expressed permission will result in serious action.