Finally, after what seemed like an eternity without an answer, Apollo finally knew who it was she had seen at the armory- she knew the true culprit behind her false conviction; and now she would stop at nothing to prove to the others that she was telling the truth. Swiftly, she dodged the strange woman's attacks, determined to reclaim her communicator and call for the others. She could handle the explanation later, but for the moment, she just needed backup. "Starfire! Robin!" Apollo shouted as she rolled across the floor, once again effortlessly dodging the slamming fists of Madame Rouge. As she sprung to her feet and resumed her defensive stance she saw- out the corner of her eye- the faint traces of a glowing green light down the hall. "Now!" she shouted again, hoping that her friends would hear her and arrive to help her put an end to this battle.
"Hmm, there's no need to call for help," purred Madame Rouge as she flung her whip of a leg towards Apollo's face. "This will all be over soon… HA!" she roared as she punched the girl in the face and sent her crashing into a wall.
Around the corner Robin and Starfire were racing at top speed to the safes, still searching for their friend and her presumed captor. "Apollo?" called Starfire as she continued to light their way down the pitch-black halls. "Oh, where could he have taken her?" she asked, looking back to a distraught Robin. Just then, they heard a loud boom followed by an unfamiliar voice and what sounded like breaking glass and metal.
"Apollo!" shouted Robin as he snatched out his communicator to call for Cyborg and the others. Sprinting while he spoke, he commanded for the others to meet him upstairs and be ready to fight; Red X was still in the building and he had Apollo!
Thrown against the multiple locked drawers in the safe, Apollo fell to her knees gasping for air, as she continued to fight Madame Rouge. As the drawers cracked open, millions of dollars in priceless objects littered the floor. Scattered around her feet, Apollo tried to keep the criminal standing before her from reaching any of the valuables which had fallen before them. With her friends nowhere to be seen, it seemed like Apollo would soon be defeated, however, the equally determined femme fatale refused to give up; whipping out a series of explosives and blades from her utility belt, Apollo flung the projectiles at her adversary and continued to fight, quickly gaining the upper-hand, even without her teammates. Agilely, she leapt to the side and scooped up her communicator from the floor, then- with a series of blades protruding from her wristband- she slashed her opponent's arm- but within seconds, she found herself watching in disbelief as the once open gash rapidly closed and healed as if there was never any injury to begin with! Frustrated, Apollo began to shout at the cryptic criminal demanding to know exactly who she was and what she was planning. "That doesn't concern you," Rouge calmly replied, clearly showing no interest in elaborating in her intentions with a child. "Besides," she continued. "I see no reason to even consider revealing my plans to a traitor like yourself."
"What are you talking about?" asked Apollo as she and her opponent began slowly circling one another. "I haven't betrayed anyone!" she shouted, though in her head she knew that Cyborg and the others were clearly willing to disagree. "And what do you know anyway!" she growled angrily.
"Much more than you I'm sure," Rouge replied. Furious and frustrated, Apollo sprung into the air and struck Madame Rouge in the face with her fist; she then flipped backward and struck her again with her foot. While her foe hurriedly regained her composure, Apollo managed to send a quick signal to the other titans before closing her communicator and continuing her argumentative battle. "I must admit you are skilled for a juvenile," sneered Madame Rouge as she swung her fist toward Apollo. "Considering you're upbringing, I find that to be expected of you. Seeing as you were the heir to an empire…" Cynically, a dark smile graced Rouge's lips as she studied the angered expression that spread over Apollo's face. Listening to the guys questioning her past was hard enough, but there was no way she was going to take it from an awful-accented criminal! Charged with a mixed hate for her father and the woman standing before her, Apollo began to strike, determined to bring her foe to justice by any means necessary.
The final moments of the fight were intense. Like caged animals, the two women fought; scratching, kicking and striking one another with everything they had. As Apollo continued to vent her frustrations into her opponent, it seemed like Madame Rouge's frustrations continued to grow as she soon realized that perhaps she had been right- the girl's combat skills were indeed exceptional- but no matter how good she may have been, there was no way that she would allow herself to lose at the hand of a child. As the battle ensued, Apollo heard the thumping of footsteps and the sound of her teams' voices. Determined to hold her rival at bay until they arrived, Apollo shouted for them one final time before turning to face Madame Rouge and strike her hard enough to knock her out. However, as she prepared to deliver her final blow, she was suddenly caught off guard and blind-sided by the elastic felon's fist creeping up from behind. Struck square in the chest, Apollo fell to her knees gasping for air as Rouge slithered to her feet and made a break for the nearest exit. Still determined to hold her captive, Apollo mustered enough strength to reach into her belt and pull out a final weapon- a freeze disk- which she flung at her target's back. Just as she regained her footing, Apollo watched as Madame Rouge made it out of the safe. As she began to push the door closed behind her, Apollo rushed to exit herself, but then stopped and watched confidently as her disk made contact with the Madame's arm- causing her entire right forearm to freeze! Infuriated, Rouge left the safe's door cracked as she continued to flee, just in time to evade the other titans. However as she crept out of the window her hand- which remained frozen in a block of ice- slammed against the pane, causing a piece of the ice to break off, taking a frozen finger with it! Yes she had made it out, but the ever sly Rouge had unintentionally managed to leave the ultimate finger print…
Apollo's POV
Stuck behind the heavy metal door inside the safe, I tried my best to push the door open; though Rouge had left it cracked slightly, it still wasn't enough for me to slip through. As I continued to push harder, I took a small step forward and from under my feet came a small crunch. 'Uh oh' I thought to myself as I looked down in the darkness and saw the few shimmering glares of what appeared to be broken jewelry. "Shoot!" I said to myself as I bent down and began to pick up the pieces of whatever it was that I had stepped on. Though it was still very dark in the safe, the slowly rising sun shining through the crack in the door allowed me to see what I was doing and abled me to continue in putting away the fallen valuables from the fight. 'Hopefully I'm putting everything in the right drawers; ugh would it kill the guys to hurry up!' "And they wonder why I prefer to work alone?" I couldn't help but mumble to myself as I continued to clean the scene, "Super heroes? Heh, super slow is more like it… Robin!" I finally shouted. I was ready to get out of this cell of a safe, and this bank. "Ro-" suddenly, I heard the sound of grunting as the large steel door slowly inched open. Once it was wide enough, I squeezed through and walked forward, ready to thank Cyborg for letting me out, then blast him and the rest of the team for taking so long. I mean really, this building isn't that big; but when I began to look around, there was no one there. 'Really funny,' I thought to myself as I continued to look around listening for the sound of breathing or an immature snickering from Beast Boy, but there was no one there. Immediately, I assumed Rouge had come back, so I whipped out my staff ready to beat her senseless again, but even she wasn't in the room. Tired and freaked beyond belief, I finally shrugged it off and walked out of the door; but as I continued to step forward, something sparkling on the floor caught my eye- just as I heard the sound of Star's voice around the corner. 'I've been calling them forever,' I thought to myself. 'They can wait a few more seconds.' Walking towards the small sparkle on the floor, I finally bent down and picked it up to examine it; within seconds of picking it up, I dropped it back on the ground in disgust- that stupid ring… AGAIN!
He came back! Geeze, can't this guy take a hint? Loathsomely, I stared down at the ring for a moment, then- unsure of what possessed me to do so- I bent down and picked it back up, placing it in the pocket of my belt. Maybe I could use this thing to my advantage; I mean he's touched it million times trying to give it to me, it's gotta have some of his DNA on it, somewhere. As I continued to rise to my feet, the guys finally rushed into the room- late as usual. "Apollo," Robin sighed, almost out of breath.
"You are unharmed!" cheered Starfire (I still don't understand how someone can be so happy all the time.) "We were sure the Red X had captured you."
"Well he did," I replied trying not to sound too irritable. "Took you guys long enough," I said as I walked toward everyone. "You'd think someone had you guys captured too? Is everyone okay?"
"Yeah," Robin and Cyborg replied. "Just had a little 'hang up' downstairs." Still drained from the fight, I was too tired to understand what they meant; fortunately Robin cleared everything up, "It seems Red X had some additional traps set all around the building-"
"And of course someone had to trigger the biggest one of all," added Raven, angrily glaring at a blushing Beast Boy.
"Well at least everyone's okay," said Robin. Looking around at everyone, he then turned back toward the door and gestured that we leave. Part of me wanted to tell them about Rouge, but like everyone else, the more exhausted part of me wanted to get back to my room and sleep for the rest of the day. Still fiddling with the ring in my pocket, I walked forward with the others as we exited the building and prepared to go home. Once on my bike I reached for my keys; when I couldn't find them, I sloppily jammed my hand into my belt and began to feel around for the missing keys. Once I had finally found them I began to pull them out, but in doing so I accidently pulled out the ring as well! As the blue sapphire sparkled on its way to the floor I quickly tried to pick it up before anyone noticed, but, I was too late.
"Hey what's that?" asked Beast Boy ask I slammed my hand over the ring trying to cover it up and nonchalantly put it back into my pocket.
"What's what?" I asked innocently as I started my bike.
"That, in your hand," he continued as he and the others surrounded me trying to see what I was hiding. Finally, despite my resistance, they managed to coax my hand open, revealing the priceless piece of jewelry. Immediately they all looked up at me in shock; though each expression was different, I could tell that the same thing was buzzing through all of their minds: 'I knew it.'
"What is that?" asked Robin as he and Cyborg stared down at the ring which now rested in my open hand. Annoyed, I let out a long low sigh, then, without answering, I looked up at them and flashed the ring again.
"That looks like the ring from your drawing," said Starfire softly.
"What drawing?" Robin grumbled, looking back at Starfire, then back at me- his eyes narrowing.
"Just, a drawing," I mumbled under my breath, trying my best to maintain my composure. Clearly my response wasn't elaborate enough as he and the others continue to pierce me internally with their stares. As they all continued to stare down at me, I grew even more tense; part of me wanted to put on my helmet and just speed away to find Rouge- take care of this mess myself (seeing as this was basically what had been happening anyway). But at the same time, another part of me was ready to stand up and verbally pound some sense into these guys; I had enough of the 'third degree' treatment and it was time they knew! Growing more frustrated by the minute, I could feel their stares growing more focused on my face, immediately I turned my head and shut my eyes before they could ask me anymore pressing questions. "Let's just go back to the tower," I finally managed to exhale. "I'll explain everything there."