Blanket Disclaimer: Poison Tonic LX does not own the Teen Titans or any characters therein. Don't sue her, please, because if you do I won't have a home anymore…-Ralph, the muse
Raven's POV"Big brother, what's the matter? Big brother?" Nemo asked concernedly as Rush fell to the ground in pain. "Miss Ren, what's wrong with him?"
"I don't know, Nemo…" She said, crouching beside Rush and putting a hand on his shoulder, shaking him softly. "Rush? Rush, are you alright?"
"I don't want to die…Nemo…I don't want to die…" Rush whimpered, coughing and vomiting blood. "Please…please somebody help me…"
"Rush, dude, what're you talking about?" Beast Boy asked.
She held up a hand. "I don't think this is Rush, you guys. I think…somehow…this is Neo!"
As if he heard her, Rush began crying harder.
"Neo? Brother? How are you doing this ?Why?" Nemo asked.
"Please help me, little brother. It hurts so much! If it was quick I wouldn't mind dying, but not like this! I can't take the pain, Nemo, I can't! Not anymore! Please, please make it stop hurting! I don't want to hurt anymore!" Rush sobbed.
"Neo…"
"He said I'm gonna die in three days, Nemo. I can't hurt like this for that long! God, it hurts!"
"Who said you're gonna die? What hurts?"
"Who else? He stabbed me, he fucking stabbed me!" Rush straightened a little and took his hands away from his stomach. "But it's not bleeding. I'm not bleeding at all, except I keep throwing up blood. I don't know if I bit myself or—agh!" He crumpled again, head making an audible crack against the floor as he held himself like he thought he was his own lifeline.
"Neo, I don't understand. If the knife didn't make you bleed or anything why are you hurting so bad?" Nemo asked, wrapping his tiny arms around Rush's head and cradling it to his chest.
"Nanobots. He said they're called nanobots. I don't know what they do but it hurts. He bought them…from a man…umm…Slade, I think? I don't know." He collapsed into tears again, snaking his arms around Nemo. "I don't know anything anymore. Maybe I never did. God, Nemo, it hurts so much." He gritted his teeth together, hands clutching the material of Nemo's shirt as a wounded sound seemed to be torn from his throat. "Make it stop, Nemo. Just kill me…just kill me…why couldn't he just kill me? I'd deserve this from anyone else but not from him…"
She placed a glowing hand on his back, sending her healing powers through the link between Rush and Neo. Rush…or rather, Neo, took in a surprised and ragged breath, relaxing slightly.
"W-what was that?"
"That was Miss Ren. She heals people." Nemo said.
"She shouldn't waste it on me…but thank her for me anyways…"
"You're welcome." She replied, keeping her hand on his back.
He didn't seem to have heard her. "I'm gonna run, Nemo. I don't know if the failsafe will kick in again but I don't think it will…"
"Where will you go?"
"Lucius Foxx. Hopefully he'll be able to get rid of these things, and maybe the failsafe, too. I don't know…Methuss said he's got the antidote, but only enough for one person. He won't use it on me. He's gonna go after his business rivals, so maybe one of them, if they pay him enough and agree to whatever terms he gives. I'll warn Mr. Foxx and he can warn Bruce Wayne."
"And what'll you do if Foxx cures you?"
Rush (Neo) was quiet for a moment. "I don't really think I'll get that far. If I do…then I'll worry about what happens next. Maybe I'll go after Methuss. I dunno…" He shifted a little. "Nemo?"
"What?"
"D'you think Dawson would kill me if I went back there?"
"Maybe if you keep calling him Dawson."
He smiled softly. "Heh…maybe. You stay with him, Nemo. He's not a bad guy, and I'm not just saying that because we're his clones. Y'know Methuss used to keep tabs on him? He lost him a year or two ago, about the same time you ran away. But before that…whenever he'd steal, he donated a lot of it to orphanages." His smile widened. "Okay, I'm lying. He opened his own when he was…thirteen and donated money to it. You'll never guess who his first charge was."
"Who?"
"Tandi's kid. She's about a year older than me…I think her name's Jaelyn. Dawson's got a soft spot for kids, I think. And for that woman…"
"What woman?"
He shrugged. "I don't know who she is. He sure lost his temper when Methuss tried to bad talk her. I thought it was funny. And he blushes, too…I saw him…" His hold suddenly tightened again and he moaned. "It's starting to hurt again…" He jerked violently. "I gotta go…someone's coming…probably one of Prime's super clones…I'll see you around, little brother…maybe…" He sighed and went limp.
"Dudes…that…was really weird…" Beast Boy said.
"It is most horrible what Enemy Methuss is doing." Starfire said, ignoring Beast Boy's comment.
"Who would do that to a kid?" Cyborg asked. "Even a clone…that's just sick."
"And it's all because of Slade." Robin growled, fisting his hands.
"Slade isn't the big problem, here." She said. "We have to stop Methuss from infecting all of his rivals with those nanobots, and we have to do it fast. We'll start with Bruce Wayne. Cyborg, since you got rid of the nanobots before, you might be able to help Foxx cure Neo. Then he should be able to help us out. Even if Methuss beat him, if he was supposed to be his 'pet' he ought to know a lot about him that'll be useful to us."
"Are you sure we can trust him?" Maxwell asked. "I mean, kid or not, he's still a clone…"
"So am I." Nemo said with a frown.
"You're different. This could be a trap!"
"If it was a trap he wouldn't have sent us to Lucius Foxx, even with false information." She said.
"She's right. There's no way Lucius would work for Methuss. He's totally loyal to Bruce, trust me." Robin agreed with a nod.
"I guess…"
"Besides, I could tell he was being honest." She said, looking down to where her hand still rested on Rush's back. "And the pain he felt was definitely real. If it wasn't, my powers wouldn't have done anything except make my hand glow, and they did much more than that. I might have even given him more time, if we're lucky, but I'm not sure."
"So…what're we going to do first?" Beast Boy asked.
She shrugged. "Wait for Rush to wake up."
(THE RUSH)