The Wicked One
Chapter 21: Understanding
XXXXXX
Most of us remained silent as we hung against the blackened walls. The way the blackness held us reminded me of that bearded guy on a cross I seemed to always see hanging on kitchen walls in the houses I used to steal from. Across the room hung 26 and a very large, bearded Tamaranian, the prior had been trying to goad the floating Titan in the center of the room into an argument since we all awoke while the later remained silent as he continually glared at See-More who was hung up on the wall beside me. Not that my fellow thief would ever notice—the blackness having wrapped itself around his single eye.
"Come on Rae, you are going to have to answer me sometime." Number 26 was saying, smiling and looking very confident despite the position we were all in. "My guards are going to find us eventually, and I don't think you can keep us all like this forever."
"No one will find us here." Raven finally answered, though she remained floating Indian style with her eyes closed, "I destroyed that device you had on your wrist—I believe you used it to communicate with your associates?"
Amongst other things…
I caught Number 26's glance in my direction. It was quick, but I caught it. I raised my shoulders slightly and still to my surprise I felt nothing cold and metallic press against my neck and face. The collar…was gone.
Not that it does me much good right now.
For what felt like the millionth time I tugged against my black restraints, I might as well have been melted into the walls themselves.
"Well then what are your intentions?" Number 26 continued as she now glared at the Titan, smile gone, "Are you just going to keep us here until your powers run dry?"
"Why have you captured us, Blackfire? Why bring us to Tamaran?"
Number 26's smile returned slightly.
"Like I am ever going to tell you."
Raven was silent then. Slowly her eyes opened until the clear, black orbs were focused on 26.
"Then I think you and I are through."
And with that the blackness began to pull Number 26 into the wall.
"Wait wai-!" Number 26 cried out but the blackness wrapped around her mouth as it continued to pull her further and further in.
"DO NOT HARM HER!" A great thunderous voice bellowed, I looked over to see it come from the giant Tamaranian who was now pulling against the blackness, strangely looking almost as though he could pull free. "I WILL NOT LET YOU TAKE ANOTHER CHILD FROM ME!"
Raven's eyes focused on him and immediately dark strands reached out from the black walls, but only to hold the alien in place.
"I remember you…" Raven spoke softly, "You're Starfire-."
"I was Koriand'r's k'norfka." The large alien growled, still breathing heavy, "Until you godless cretins…you Titans murdered her!"
Raven looked at the great alien and a brief glimpse of horror overtook her face, but it was quickly erased.
"We did not murder her," Raven insisted, managing to remain calm and stoic, "Starfire is still alive, she-."
"Don't spit your lies at me!" The alien interrupted, glaring even more fiercely at the Titan, "I've seen your tower, I've seen what lows Earth has sunk to gain Tamaran's attention!"
"What are you talking about? What about the tower?"
Number 26 then giggled. I looked over to see that the blackness had removed itself from her mouth, probably because the Titan wasn't as focused any longer.
"Do not think you can play dumb with us little Raven." Number 26 spoke, a smile bigger than ever on her face, "Our spies caught everything that occurred in your precious base…my you all must have really had it out for poor sweet Starfire…going so far as to sick a dragon on her…"
"You dare…" the great alien breathed, his entire bearded face consumed with malice as his body fought against the black restraints.
"We didn't…" Raven began but trailed off as a look of surprise and then horror overcame her face as she looked between Number 26 and See-More, and this time it did not go away.
Raven outstretched her hand and suddenly See-More came flying out of the black wall, the previously silent thief letting out a long scream of surprise before stopping short before the Titan's hand, his entire body now encased in blackness.
"Tell me you didn't do it." Raven spoke, her head bowed low and hood up so that none of us could see her face.
"Um…tell you what?" See-More asked nervously as his single eye darted all around the room.
"Tell me…you did not release…the dread dragon…MALCHIOR!" Raven roared the final word before slamming See-More back against the wall, the entirely of the black room vibrated as a result, See-More letting out a horrid scream of pain.
"Rae? Hey Rae, what's going on in there!" A shrill voice asked from right outside the room, the door was sealed in blackness as well.
"H-He is my friend I had to-!" See-More tried to explain until the Titan slammed him into the wall again, See-More let out another cry.
"Raven! Stop it!" the other Titan shouted from outside the room, a banging soon followed but the door remained sealed shut.
"What has happened to my home?" Raven demanded in a voice not her own as she rounded on the giant alien, all the while keeping See-More pinned against the wall. The blackness around my own body felt much tighter than before and as I followed Raven's gaze the two Tameranian's didn't look much more comfortable.
The larger one just continued to glare hatefully back at Raven, though I could sense that there was a bit of fear he was battling with now, not that I could blame him. I looked over to 26 only to see the cynical alien smiling now. That same smile I always managed to catch whenever 72 and I used to fight over her. I fought against my restraints to be able to clench my hands.
"Simple, little Raven. Are you still trying to play the innocent card on us?" Number 26 spoke, Raven's dark black eyes immediately rearing on her, "My spies were there, my eyes were there. I saw everything Rae, you were the one who released the dragon, you were the one who ordered him to kill my sweet sister. It is such a shame your little home got caught in the…crossfire."
"You…" Raven began and immediately all of her dark energy began to tighten at once. I could feel it squeezing my insides together, I could see it crushing the walls it had a hold. But suddenly, it all stopped when a great, big, voice boomed over everything.
"DAMN YOU TITANS!" The great alien roared louder than ever before, it rang in my ears louder than a police siren, "I WILL NOT REST, I WILL NOT EAT, I WILL NOT FEEL JOY UNTIL EVERY LAST TITAN IS WIPED OFF THE FACE OF THE UNIVERSE!"
The massive Titan then seemed to pull at the black bindings, trying to break the Titan's hold through sheer force of will. We all watched in amazement as the dark energy began to free itself from his body. Raven quickly called out her mantra and what looked like thousands of small dark arms reached out and gripped the alien, but he did not get pulled back.
"Starting…" the great alien rumbled as he pulled ever harder, one by one the tiny hands fell off him, Raven then released her grip on See-More and focused both her hands on him, and although the blackness now consumed his body the vibrant white outline of the Tamaran kept pulling, "…with…YOU!"
And with a mighty roar that no doubt shook the entire palace the giant alien freed himself from the wall and, while still coated in the black energy, hurled himself into the Titan. The two collided and the force of the blow flew them ever further back, crashing through the wall.
Then it was as if a drain had been pulled, all of the black energy that coated the walls ceiling and floor suddenly disappeared, vanishing through the hole in the wall after their conjurer. The three of us landed just as the door flew open, revealing a very concerned looking green rhino. I had to act fast; already Number 26 had her purple sights on me. So I landed with a run and, without really thinking, I aimed myself at See-More.
My former teammate only had time to look back at me in surprise before I plowed into him. I heard the starbolts from 26 and the frantic roars of the green rhino for only a moment before pulling my cape around us and vanishing into the cold, silent, darkness.
XXXXXX
"I just got through talkin' with Titan's East." Cyborg announced as he walked in.
"And?"
"They have a ship, but it's a prototype if anything-."
"Will it fly?"
"No man, Bumblebee says they are months from even trying to fly it."
"Then we try it now-."
"Don't start this with me Robin." Cyborg interrupted, folding his large, metallic, and newly replaced arms, "We aren't going to kill ourselves trying to save BB and Rae, how will that help them?"
"It's our only shot." Robin insisted, standing up from his seat, "The longer we sit around the harder it's going to be to even find them!"
"Dearest Robin…" Starfire spoke up, standing up as well so she could place a gentle hand on her boyfriend's shoulder, "It's my sister who stole them…I can fly to my home planet Tamaran and discover how Blackfire escaped…"
"We've been over this Starfire, I can't let you go alone." Robin replied, rubbing his eyes through his mask, "Knowing Blackfire that's what she would want."
"I can handle my own sister, Robin-."
"It's not just your sister, Starfire!" the boy wonder quickly pointed out, "For all we know she could have all of our old enemies free and working for her."
"I spoke with Jinx as well on my way back; she said Kid Flash checked on the old Brotherhood headquarters, the only bad guy missing was Kyd Wykkyd…"
Robin remained silent at that.
"I know you don't fully trust her," Cyborg went on, "But Jinx agreed to stay in a cell and go through all of the standard interrogations, you were there man, she wasn't lying."
"But it was her old teammates that were with Blackfire when she attacked the tower." Robin finally said.
"Yeah I saw. I also saw Fixit with them to, and I thought he was on our side when we left him. If she managed to convince that guy to work for her I doubt it would've taken much to convince a couple of low-key criminals to tag along to."
"Robin please," Starfire began, turning Robin slightly so that he was facing her, "let me go to my people, if I can just speak with them-."
"I said no Starfire!" Robin interrupted, shrugging off her hands, though he quickly placed a hand on her arm after seeing her hurt expression, "We need to stay together…"
"Robin, I know you don't want to hear this…" Cyborg spoke up after a few moments of silence passed between the two, "But Starfire might be our best shot."
Cyborg said this as he was looking through a screen on his forearm.
"I am starting to get replies from the rest of the Honorary Titans and it doesn't look like any of them have ships of their own…and of course the Justice League is too busy with their own problems to even bother with a reply."
Starfire felt Robin's hand tighten slightly on her arm; she could tell his gaze was focused on the ground. She didn't need to see his face to tell that he was upset.
"Dearest Robin…" Starfire whispered, placed a soft hand on the side of his face so that he would look up at her.
"Starfire…you can't…" Robin began before Starfire placed her hand over his mouth.
"Please, silence yourself for but a moment."
Robin nodded as he continued to gaze up at her.
"Dearest Robin," Starfire repeated, she then brushed aside a few stray bangs that had made their way to his face. With their Tower all but gone their fearless leader no longer had the time or the equipment to keep his hair up, even if he wanted to. "You mean more than both of our worlds to me."
"Uhhh…" Robin mumbled, his face getting red before he looked over at Cyborg, only to see that his friend was already in the middle of leaving.
"I'll be in the other room." Cyborg quickly said before making his way out. He looked as uncomfortable as Robin felt.
"Starfire, really-." This time Starfire clamped a hand over his mouth.
"Please, just listen." And while Robin nodded Starfire did not move her hand, just in case, "I care for you deeply Dearest Robin, and I know you feel so for me. This is why you fear for my safety, but know that you are blinded in your concern for me. Friend Raven and Friend Beastboy are in trouble and you must allow me to save them, you must not be blinded by your emotions. Is this not what you taught me when we first started to do the dating?"
Starfire waited for Robin to nod, he did so slowly.
"Then let me do this. My people will help me to find my sister and her…how you say…accomplices?" Another nod from Robin, "Yes, I will find them and with my peoples help we will stop them. You understand yes? I shall not be alone and I shall not let Blackfire nor her…accomplices take me by surprise, I shall remain vigilant and I shall promise to check in with you frequently."
Robin looked into her green eyes as she spoke and when she finished he placed a hand on the wrist of her hand that kept his mouth closed. Starfire smiled gently as she removed her hand. The two then stood there in silence for a good few seconds before Robin finally sighed and keeping his fists clenched and head facing the ground he mumbled:
"You have to really promise that you will keep m- Cyborg and I frequently updated-."
"Oh dearest Robin I promise!" Starfire interrupted, wrapping the Titans leader in a fierce hug, which she quickly released when Robin began to squirm in pain.
"Every fifteen minutes…at least." Robin continued, following after Starfire as the orange girl made her way out of the police department's waiting room, "We'll keep looking for a ship so we can be with you as soon as possible…so please be care-."
"Dearest Robin, I already promised I shall remain vigilant." Starfire interrupted, turning to face him, they were outside now, the cold night air whipping at Robin's torn and frayed cape. Starfire then pulled him into a hug, this one much softer and before the boy wonder knew it he could feel his girlfriend's soft lips against his. Caught off guard Robin quickly returned it, though the kiss was still broken sooner than he would have liked.
Eyes still closed he felt Starfire's lips brush against his ear.
"I must go now." Starfire whispered, "Please tell friend Cyborg goodbye for me, and be safe Dearest Robin."
"You to Star…" Robin replied, but when he opened his eyes Starfire was gone.
XXXXXXX
"That dragon Malchior is still nowhere to be found." Cyborg spoke up after Robin had returned to the waiting room and sat down. "You'd think it'd be easier to find a bus sized, flying lizard."
"You'd think." Robin agreed with a simple shrug as he sank back against his seat, his unseen eyes focused to the ground.
"You know Titan's East offered us to bunk up with them until we have time to fix the tower. I wouldn't mind stayin' with the twins and I'm sure you and Speedy have a lot of hair gel secrets to catch up on."
He threw his friend a playful smirk but he wasn't even sure if Robin caught it.
"You can go if you want, I'm fine where I am, I wouldn't want to burden them."
"You know I'm not gonna just leave you here by yourself."
Robin only shrugged in reply.
Cyborg sighed. Their leader was impossible to deal with anymore if Starfire wasn't around. The two sat in silence in the dark room for what felt like hours. Cyborg was lucky that his room remained mostly intact after that battle with the dragon. He made sure he had enough backup power so that he wouldn't need to sleep for the next week or so, and he knew Robin was a master at staying up through the nights. This could turn into a very long night of silence if he couldn't think of something to say.
"Beastboy and Raven will be okay." Cyborg said at last, though he wasn't all that sure why he said it. None of them had really sat down and talked since their friends were taken, for Cyborg at least the past few days had just been a blur of communicating with other Titans and trying to track down any known leads. Sadly what few criminals that weren't frozen statues had nothing to do with Blackfire or her plan, whatever it was.
"I'm not worried about them." Robin replied, breaking Cyborg from his train of thought.
"You're not?" Cyborg asked, genuinely surprised. Robin shook his head.
"They are both very capable fighters, and whatever Blackfire has planned I don't think it involves hurting them…well…at least not killing them."
"And why do you think that? You know something I don't?"
Robin shrugged again.
"Not really. But Blackfire fits the bill of an intellectual manipulator. She could just be using Beastboy and Raven as hostages to keep us from going after her."
"So…sending Starfire might be a bad idea after all?"
"Maybe…but unless she can contact Starfire before she reaches her home planet she won't be able to stop her from joining with her people, then Blackfire will be at a major disadvantage."
"But Blackfire has Raven's communicator…if she's somehow keepin' tabs on us she'll know that Starfire is heading for their planet, she'll be able to get to Starfire before she can make it."
"Not unless Starfire doesn't have this." Robin replied, holding up a Titan's communicator in his hand. For some reason Cyborg was expecting some kind of cocky grin, there wasn't one.
"Dude…that isn't-."
"It is."
"What are you thinking? Without that-."
"Starfire won't be able to contact us—I know." Robin quickly interrupted, "But you remember how the Brotherhood of Evil got to us, the communicators are a double edged sword, if Blackfire managed to reconfigure them like the Brain did not only would she be able to contact Starfire, she'd also have the capability of hunting her down."
Cyborg sat there, head in his hands for another moment or two, before looking back up at his leader.
"Look, I get why you did it, but now if Star gets in trouble how are we even gonna know about it?"
"Because I placed a tracker on her about the same time I stole her communicator." Robin said, this time there was a faint ghost of a smile on his lips as he finally looked up at Cyborg, "It's that new one you built that syncs up with your systems."
"You mean the one I had locked up in my room?"
"Well the lock was broken after that fight with Malchior and I thought we might need it sometime soon."
"…aw man, don't tell me you knew Starfire was going to go off on her own this whole time…"
"I just knew I wouldn't be able to stop her if she did." Robin said simply with a third shrug.
"So the next best thing is to steal her communicator and stick her with my tracker like she's one of the bad guys?"
"…yes."
"Dang Robin, I can already tell you two are going to have a nice, long, and loving relationship."
"Starfire will understand when I explain it all to her."
"Yeah, not that you'd be able to do much explaining without her communicator."
Robin looked back over at Cyborg.
"Wait…what about your tracker?"
"What? No…"
Robin's face went white. Cyborg stared back, his expression blank for only a moment.
"Are you serious man? Why would I build a tracker that would allow me to communicate the guy I'm trying to find!" Cyborg exclaimed, "So I could be all like, 'hey bad guy mind sitting around a bit so I can catch up'?"
"Okay, okay I get your point." Robin replied, pinching the bridge of his nose, "But are you saying there is no way we can get in contact with Starfire now?
"Don't get me wrong, that tracker you put on her is probably the most state of the art device ever made. I can pinpoint her location anywhere on Earth and even anywhere our T-Ship has been, so as long as she's heading to Tamaran we'll know exactly where she is…but as far as we are concerned she is on her own."
Robin sat in silence then, fingers interlocked, his gaze obviously elsewhere. Cyborg long understood these as signs that his friend was in a very deep train of thought. It was soon broken when Robin focused back on his teammate across the room.
"Are there any other Titans that can go into space without a ship?"
"You see I was just thinking the same thing…but the strange part is…" Cyborg then pulled up different monitor on his other arm, the one that acted as a communicator, "The only guy I could think of is that Herald dude—you remember, the guy with the trumpet thing?" Robin nodded. "Yeah anyways, he hasn't exactly been talkative since the fight with the Brotherhood, but he also hasn't answered any of my calls when I was contacting the Titans for info about what happened with BB and Rae…"
"Something must have happened to him…" Robin mused.
"That or we made a pretty bad first impression." Cyborg replied, switching off the communicator.
The two then sat in silence again for another few minutes until Robin suddenly stood up.
"Are there any villains that can enter space?" The boy wonder asked, looking over at Cyborg expectantly.
"Uhh, a few maybe, why? You don't expect we can just unfreeze them and ask politely for help do you?"
"We won't need to ask them, we just need to ask a Titan." A smile then crept on Robin's lips.
"What-." Cyborg began when the same revelation hit him. "Oooh."
"What is the status of the T-car?"
"A little banged up, but nothing a little elbow grease and a few hours in the shop won't fix." Cyborg replied, now standing up to.
"Well we better get started then." Robin stated, making his way out of the police doors.
"Uh Robin, you sure we should leave?" Cyborg questioned, motioning to the small gathering of police officers that were knocked out in the corner of the room, "What about those guys?"
"I didn't hit them hard; they should be awake with only minor headaches in a few hours."
"You know, we're going to eventually have to explain why a dragon flew out our tower and nearly destroyed half the city…"
Robin's eyes were on the ground again, he glanced over at the cuffs that lay broken near the chair legs.
"I know, Cyborg, let's just deal with one disaster at a time though, alright?" He then looked up at his friend to see the half metal man looking back at him before Cyborg gave him a helpless smile and shrug.
"Whatever you say man, the sooner this nightmare is over the sooner I can go back to sleep in hopefully one piece. Now let's go save Raven and the grass stain."
Robin nodded and with that the two remaining Titans left the police station.
XXXXXX
The 36th child that I took
The 36th mother that I shook
The 36th father I killed with a hook
How frightened do you look
Oh 36th child that I took
Do your eyes be spoiled?
Do your pants be soiled?
On how little I toiled
How hot the bodies boiled
They tasted oh so sweet
Red blood and raw red meat
You sat there at my feet
Watched me as I eat
Eyes unspoiled
Nor pants even soiled
A smile you had, on that bright face
A smile, I dare, I shall not waste
We took you, She and I, with great haste
To new home, new friends, and new life…to taste
"Fixit, wait man, just wait!" See-More cried out almost as soon as we flew from the darkness. The momentum carried through my teleportation, sending See-More bounding onto the large, soft bed, and I face down on the hard stone floor.
I glanced up from my painful position to see See-More seemingly struggling with himself, or more accurately, his large mechanical eye, on top of the bed. I considered trying to help him in some way when he suddenly cried:
"Kyd! Don't let me see you! Fixit's in control right now and he's trying to kill you man! He thinks you're the enemy!"
With that fair warning I kept my body firmly against the ground, while keeping both eyes on my former teammate as he thrashed around the bed. Various large, plush pillows fell like rain from the bed as he struggled, the great purple blankets thrashing around like they were alive.
"Fixit! Cut it out man, it's cool, we're cool!" See-More was saying between grunts, "Look let's just- no wait! Don't shoo-!"
See-More was suddenly cut off when a bright red laser suddenly fire out from his eye. I watched as See-More lost control of the eye. It immediately swiveled on its own when it was free of See-More's hands, the laser moving across the room with it, searing through furniture and paintings as it went. I immediately rolled across the floor and under the bed, hoping that I wasn't caught. The piercing sound of the laser stopped then, and I was about to let out a breath of relief when See-More's voice suddenly cried:
"Kyd Wykkyd! He switched to x-ray! He knows you're under the-!"
See-More was cut off again as the laser kicked back on, scorching through the bed and hitting the spot I had just been hiding less than a second ago. I stood up as soon as I rolled from under the bed. I could see See-More desperately try to remain lying on the bed, but as the laser cut through beneath him the giant piece of furniture finally cave in on itself. The laser immediately stopped but I barely had time to grip my cape before See-More's eye repositioned itself to face me. The laser fired just as I pulled the cape around me, immediately I felt a white hot pain reverberate from my right ear. I reappeared from the darkness hitting one of the bedroom walls, though the impact was nothing compared to the pain coming from my ear, I reached up to grip it only to feel nothing there.
What remained of my cowl fell down around my neck, the part that once concealed my now missing ear was gone to. I screamed silent screams of pain. Though I did not have long to mourn my loss.
"Kyd Wykkyd! He found you again!" See-More cried and I leapt without really looking, narrowly avoiding another laser to the face.
"Fixit, stop it! Just…REMOTE CONTROLL OFF!"
Suddenly the laser noise vanished again. I immediately jumped back up, preparing to vanish again, but when my eyes found See-More my fellow thief was lying amongst the rubble of bed, his eye was looking back at me, but not with the intention to kill.
"I'm sorry man…so sorry…Fixit…I turned him off." See-More spoke through heavy gasps of air. I could only nod back before falling back on my butt. Subconsciously I reached for my ear again, hoping against hope it might have come back. All I felt was a singed nub before the pain forced me to retract my probing fingers.
"Oh man!" See-More exclaimed, I looked over to see that he had noticed my missing part as well, "Did Fixit really blow off your ear! Aw man I'm so sorry, so so so sorry!"
See-More then carefully stood up amongst the splintered remains of bed and made his way over to me. I gripped the cloak with one hand but See-More quickly held up his own hands in defense.
"Hey man, it's okay, it's okay, really, I turned Fixit off, I'm back in control now."
I looked back at my teammate with a raised eyebrow, using one hand to cup over the burning stub of ear. I was hoping it wouldn't take him long to realize that I was missing something…besides my ear.
"…oh right! Dude, oh man, some crazy stuff happened while you were gone, like not what'd you ever believe man…huh."
See-More then looked at me, with a very confused look in his eye; I looked back into it and could see my reflection. With my hood now gone my pale gray face was even more visible but what's more it revealed my…my…
"Dude! I didn't know you had white hair…or pointy ears-…ear."
I shot him a dirty look then, but I didn't hold it long, I was too distracted by the whole white hair deal. It was black just days ago…
"I thought only old guys had white hair man. Are you sure you're a teenager?"
I could only shrug. I honestly had no clue at this point. I reached out to grab one of the longer strands of hair, but I made the mistake of doing it with the wrong hand.
"Whoa, dude, DUDE!" See-More cried out as he bounced slightly away from me, I looked at him to my extended, clawed hand, and back again, "Is that a…a…claw?"
I nodded.
"And…that wasn't there before…right?"
I paused but quickly decided to shake my head. Truth or a lie it wasn't like I had to explain myself to him anyways.
"Dude…how'd that happen! I mean I know you can't tell me but…did one of the Titans do it? Was it Raven? Blackfire? Dude you have to tell me!"
I could only shake my head and then finally shrug, resulting in an unhappy sigh from my former comrade.
"Well then…I mean…are you alright…like that thing doesn't hurt does it?"
I looked back down at the claw. I never really had time to examine it this closely before. I could see that the tips had torn through the fabric of the gloves; they were pitch black in color and made me really against taking off the rest of the glove to see what's underneath. Other than that though it just felt like a regular hand. I shook my head in response to See-More's question.
"Oh well that's good…I guess…" See-More mumbled before falling silent for a second, though his eye quickly lit up in an exclamation point, "Oh dude, right! You still don't know what all went down! So like we were at the Tower right? And Blackfire and Fixit were trying to figure out how to unlock the Titan's ship so we could leave right? Oh and I had to fight Raven after she escape, how did she escape anyways man? Oh never mind, anyways so there we were in her room…"
See-More then began to delve into everything that happened after they left me with Raven, though he didn't get very far when another voice suddenly invaded my head.
Kyd Wykkyd.
I immediately recognized it and immediately knew what to do next.
Fixit, what the hell!
Keep your face and emotions in check. Do not let See-More know that you are being distracted.
To hell with you! You blew off my ear!
And if you do not control yourself I will take control of See-More and incinerate more than just your ear. Now act natural.
The unfamiliar anger in Fixit's voice shook me from my own anger for a moment, which gave me enough time to realize See-More had paused in his story and was giving me a strange look. I quickly shook my head to tell him it was nothing before motioning with my clawed hand for him to continue.
Alright we're good. I thought as See-More picked back up where he left off. Now are you going to explain to me why you were trying to kill me?
I was not trying to kill you, I was merely attempting to sear off an arm or a leg to rend you incapable of escaping. If it were not for See-More's attempts to stop me you would not have been in fear for your life.
Okay…and why were you trying to sear my arms and legs off?
Perhaps because you have betrayed us.
I…that collar that was around my neck, Num- Blackfire threatened to have it kill me if I didn't do what she wanted-
Yes I know, I was the one who designed it for her.
Well she told me to find you, See-More, and Red-X…where is Red-X? And you?
Ah, I suspected as much. I hypothesized that we might be hunted down so I…forced us to split apart. Red-X left us and I…I am a part of See-More now.
So…you are like…in his head or something?
No, to put it simply I am a hyper-advanced upgrade that See-More's hardware has received. I am a part of his eye, not of him.
So could you communicate with him to?
Yes.
And…have you?
No.
Why?
There was silence then and I quickly took that opportunity to nod and appear that I was still listening to See-More's story, which from what I could pick up sounded very interesting. I would have to remember to somehow ask him to tell it again when I could actually listen.
Blackfire is planning something. I do not know what it is. And shall I assume she has not divulged it to you?
I was about to shake my head but quickly stopped myself, knowing it would more than likely confuse the still talking See-More.
No.
From what I have gathered her plan involves heavily on us being alive and in her custody.
So she was never in any trouble then? She went through all this trouble just to get us to her planet? How did this happen? Why us? Why choose to involve us?
I am not entirely sure. Kyd Wykkyd. Something is troubling you.
Well, yeah. Just found out that I'm getting stabbed in the back.
No, it is more than that. I can feel your thoughts. You are more than angry, you are hurt…
Fixit, please, don't look into this more than you should.
Normally I would not. But I fear anything more hidden between us will only hinder our escape from this planet. Now I know everything there is to know about See-More, Red-X is no longer an issue now that he is on his own, but if you still wish to join us I must know everything Kyd Wykkyd.
I let the silence drag on then. I even focused back on what See-More was saying.
"…and we totally crashed on the planet man! I didn't get too banged up, neither did Fixit or Raven really, but Red-X was in pretty bad shape, oh man it was nuts! When I woke up we were all in some small cave thing and another one of the Titans was there and about to attack Red-X! Naturally I came to the rescue…"
Kyd Wykkyd.
I knew Blackfire, alright? I really had to fight to keep in control of my face now. I had been doing my best not to think about the past. I had been upset whenever I thought on what happened before…but now. Me and her were a part of this secret cult. I didn't even know she was an alien at the time, she must have had make-up on or something. But yeah I was kind of friends with her until she left the place; I haven't seen her since…well since today.
I sense that you are not telling me everything.
Just trust me, that's all you need to know.
I see. Now, do you mind explaining to me what has happened to your hand?
What do you mean?
Do not play dumb. It was not clawed the last time I had seen you. Did Raven or Blackfire do this to you?
No, I…well I guess you can say I did this to myself…
Please, do explain.
Is it really that important?
Kyd Wykkyd-.
Alright, alright. It's my cape. When I use it to teleport I have to…do it with bad intentions…otherwise it…corrupts me.
How would an inanimate object know such a thing?
Probably because it's not exactly inanimate. The person I got it from apparently made a deal with a demon to get it herself.
You knew this yet you continue to use it?
I didn't know until just a few days ago…when I was trapped inside Raven's head.
Oh?
Oh…right, none of you know about that either…we have a lot of catching up to do.
This is true. Unfortunately I fear my time has run out, See-More is preparing to finish his relation of past events and you two must then begin to plan our escape.
What? Why can't you help us?
Because See-More must not know I can communicate with him. Currently he believes I have simply been reduced to a program in his hardware and that would be the story he tells Blackfire should she capture him. If Blackfire believes my conscious is all but gone that is one more advantage we have.
So why let me know you're still alive?
Two reasons. One, because I will need someone to salvage this hardware in case See-More falls. And two, because I believe you deserve a chance to explain yourself before I killed you.
Ah…so are we still on the same side?
Your head is still on your shoulders. Is it not?
With that I knew Fixit would remain silent. Emotionless or not I knew he enjoyed scaring people.
"…and Fixit was dying man, dying. I think he said something about downloading into me? I don't know but I thought he'd be okay after that, like he would be able to talk in my head and stuff, but I just get these warning and suggestions messages all the time about what I should do or whatever. He can even take control of my eye man! If it's even him, or like a program based off him or something, it's really fast, faster than I could ever move it around! But right man you were there! Sorry again about that, I thought Fixit was after you or something, but if he was…you know, really here he wouldn't ever attack you like that, we're all friends! But yeah I guess the program just saw you as a threat for some reason, I guess I'll have to be careful with it around you man. But yeah so after that Fixit or the program or whatever totally kicked the two Titans butts! With my help of course…but then Blackfire that big guy and you showed up and then we were all captured and then we all got free and then you tackled me…and well I guess you know all that and the rest…"
I nodded and See-More took a minute to catch his breath but then he smiled at me before standing up. Keeping my hand clamped around my missing ear I stood up with him, we then finally decided to take a look around the room we had just a few minutes ago been sort of fighting in.
"Is this like a bedroom or something?" See-More asked out loud.
It was Number 26's bedroom. I thought with a satisfied smile.
"Oh man, is that…outside!" See-More exclaimed as his eye fell over the large window that had been smashed open by a stray laser. The thief than ran over to step out in the porch, being mindful of the shards of glass that now littered the ground. "It's not Earth, but it's a lot better than being in that dungeon place any longer!"
I made my way over until I was standing on the porch with See-More. I could see the sunrise beginning way off in the distance, though it looked like more than one sun was rising.
"Do you think Blackfire even had a way of freeing our friends?" See-More randomly asked as we stood out there.
I turned to him, surprised that I had not been thinking the same thing. I could only shrug, my desire to kill unsurprisingly growing stronger. See-More's smile was all but gone as he kept his gaze on the multiple rising suns.
"She got you out though, for whatever reason, she's got to know how to do that again…do you think Fixit helped her do it?"
I wanted to shake my head, if Fixit had the technology to free our friends I was sure he would have told me while we were talking. Again I could only shrug.
"Then we force it out of her." See-More said, he then let out a groan before smacking his eye a few times, "Enough with the warnings! Kyd, before we get out of here we have to get Blackfire to tell us how she freed you. Man, we can't have gone through all of that and get nothing, that's not how we do things!"
See-More was then looking at me and I was looking back at him. His costume was torn in multiple places, the exposed part of his face was caked in orange and red dust and dirt, his eye, although apparently fully functional, was still cracked and damaged looking. For the first time I could see how worn and beaten my comrade really looked. And I could see in the reflection in his eye that he was seeing the exact same person standing before him. In a single motion I placed my last remaining normal hand on my comrade's shoulder before giving him the best smile I could muster. See-More quickly smiled back.
"That's it then man! Let's go hunt us an alien princess!"
As See-More turned around I had to let my smile vanish. Righteous or not, revenge or not, not matter how badly I wanted to stop the bitch's heart from beating, I knew this was going to suck.
XXXXXX
Starfire could not stop kicking herself for leaving her communicator behind. It was bad enough she had waited so long to even attempt to use it. Robin would be furious with her whenever she got back home, even if she had Raven and Beastboy with her.
But it was too late to turn back now. Already Tamaran was within her sights. Starfire couldn't help but allow a smile to fall on her lips, despite her current troubles. Even though it really had not been that long since she had last been at her home planet she still missed it all the same.
Now that was strange. Starfire could not remember her people ever guarding the perimeters of Tamara. Nor could she remember the guards ever wearing such extravagant looking purple armor.
Even stranger still was the fact that they were now approaching her, at a very rapid speed, with long, sharp, and elaborate looking spears….
XXXXXX
To Be Continued…
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