First of all, it has been too long since I updated! Stupid ff. net was down again where alerts are concerned… Are we even really surprised at this point…?
Secondly, the Round 2 deadline for Author Idol was up on Thursday, so judging will be soon. O.o I am worried! Two people dropped out so they had to cut the competition by one round – making it so that FOUR people will dropped this time around instead of only two. Thankyou to everyone for your kind words so far – it means a lot to me! I don't know how far I will get, though… My Round One entry, a Teen Titans one-shot called Jillionaire, is kicking around on my profile somewhere (thanks to everyone who checked it out). Unfortunately I can't post up my Round Two entry, Adéle, since it is original fiction. Our task was to create an OC that the judges could give two figs about. We couldn't use already-created OCs, and I decided to steer clear of the Teen Titans OC genre since, while Seth and especially Jonathon Vaughan proved to be reasonably popular with you guys, they are also technically Mary Sues, according to their litmus test scores. So I wrote something original. I am quite pleased with it, but… well, there is some tough competition over at TGN.
Oh, and… it's a misnomer title. It's not about a girl called Adéle. It's about a man called John. Go figure.
Thankyou to: LoopyLouise123 (yes, you should definitely be worried for Robin. And Raven too…); YamiTai (yes, I am mean. This chapter, just for you: Terra and Roy, and a mention of someone you like…); Someone (yes, Robin! You heard Someone! Don't die, do you hear?); Guardian of Azarath (no, Guardian! No lynching! Excellent theory, BTW…); KGDiva (I am soooo glad you liked that scene with baby Robin, because I loved writing it. It was such a refreshing break…); Quinn and His Quill (you're right, Robin should have just done that. But he's noble and heroic, so he didn't. AND WE DO NOT LOOK LIKE TOTALLY SPIES!); Dark Austral (yes, wanting Robin to listen to Slade. What is the world coming to?); Me (aww, you're no fun…); Kami-Elf (hey, uh… You're bleeding all over the web browser, dude… Oh, and… I have so many things in store…); TheFallenAngel67 (I am glad I haven't lost a reader because I like your reviews! Just don't get too emotional!); CrazyInsomniac (while axing Seth to bits is a good idea, don't worry… There are plenty of others here to kick his ass! Actually, there ARE some inconsistencies, created by the fact that there are actually two similar-but-non-linear versions of Black Magic/Remember the Titans, but so far, no-one has noticed…); Simmie (don't worry, you'll get yours answers soo enough…); and Athena's Wings (yes, I am evil. Feel my evilness. I am noticing a pattern in these reviews here… O.o Right, and I am going to be honest,. And I should have know this, being British and all, but… I didn't know Shakespeare had a brother. I know he had three kids and a wife called Anne Hathaway (what a coincidence…), but I didn't know he had a brother, least of all one called Richard…).
Narroch, you didn't review, so you didn't get a reply. That's how it works. Suck it up, pal.
And the most cliché title I have come up with yet…
Clash of the Titans
"When the very Earth itself bleeds;
When vows and promises are broken;
When apprentice shall turn on master;
When such love is the cause, and promise, of a sacrifice for another;
When Said Duplicate Souls are merged with a power beyond a mortal capability;
Only then shall the power within be unleashed, bore by its rightful owner;
Only then shall tyranny reign once more…"
TT
"What are we… gonna do?" Arsenal panted, groaning as he clutched at his badly-wounded shoulder. "There's… so many…"
Terra backed up against him, pushing back her hair. She too was badly wounded in places, but even with the endless reams of robots closing in on them, they refused to back down.
"Better to die on your feet than to live on your knees," Terra replied savagely.
"Keep fighting, then?"
"Yes." Terra's power began to rage through her once again. "Keep fighting."
"Admirable words, Ms Markov."
It was a voice neither of them recognised; Terra, hearing a hiss and crackle behind her (the sound of robotic minions dying), turned sharply towards the source of the voice.
It was a man – young, dark-haired, dressed in flowing crimson – with a small army.
Even as Slade's robots began to close in, making up for the hole this powerful young man had torn in their defences, Terra and Arsenal stared him down.
"Who are you?" Terra asked him carefully.
"And what are you doing here?" Arsenal added, not lowering his bow.
He offered them a grim little smile, his indigo eyes burning.
"I am Marcus Vandiver, Head of the Azarathian Senate," he replied calmly, "and I am here for the same reason you are…"
TT
"Then by your word and your vow," Seth finished, taking the knife from Raven's throat, "may your mortal flesh be cast to the fires of sin and despair to save her. May this charm protect her from further harm, and may your selfless death not have been in vain… Let the prophecy be fulfilled…"
Seth Elliott's eyes faded back to their regular green as he finished speaking, and as he did so a ripple of magic seemed to spread across the entire circumference of the powder circle. The blood lines widened, joining together, being flooded…
…Until Robin found himself standing in a vast, perfect circle of blood. For a few painful seconds nothing happened…
Terrible spectral creatures suddenly burst from the blood, implying that it had suddenly become a… portal… They were demons, certainly, slimy and drenched in blood, and there were hundreds of them, swarming to the surface of the lake of blood, clawing and scratching at his bare legs…
"Oh, perhaps I forgot to mention?..." Seth sounded innocent as he spoke. "This is the part where you are dragged below the surface of the mortal realm and devoured alive by demons. Knew I'd forgotten to mention something…"
Panic exploded within Robin's mind and he tried to tear them away, kicking at them despite his weakened condition. Blood splashed up his body, and that only made them grab at him more. Blood was what they wanted, and they were being attracted to his bare wrists too like magnets to an iron bar.
Ripping at the "A" magically carved there.
He hadn't realised but he was up to his knees already; they were slowly but surely dragging him to his impending death below the surface of this portal. He did not know what lay beyond, nor did he wish remotely to, but they were dragging him under, scratching deep gashes into his bare legs, climbing up him, going for his bleeding wrists…
"ROBIN!" Raven screamed, watching in despair as he was pulled to his death by those demons. She struggled wildly in Seth's grip but he was far too strong for her. She opened her mouth to summon her powers and he slapped a hand over her mouth again, silencing her.
"I don't think so, my little bride," he whispered, smiling. "Soon my powers will be returned to me, and then you and I shall wed and rule Azarath together, and then, when the time comes, you shall give birth to our child. You will soon have no memory at all of that wretched mortal boy, Raven, once you have tasted the life that I will give to you as my wife and queen."
Raven refused to look at him, her gaze still fixed on Robin.
Up to his waist, Robin knew that he was done for. But it did not keep him from fighting, even though he was getting weaker by the second. He had demons clinging to each of his wrists, making the wounds deeper, drinking from him; the others grasped at his red tunic and cape, pulling him under further. There was blood splashed all up his face, plastering his hair to his forehead, in his mouth, causing him to choke…
Seth patted Raven's swollen stomach lovingly.
"He did it for you," he whispered. He laughed. "A mere mortal, sacrificing himself for Trigon's daughter; offering himself to be devoured by demons for the daughter of one…"
Still gagged, Raven turned her face to him; four eyes blazed as red as the blood all over Robin as he was dragged to his death.
Seth only laughed still.
"Control that dark side, Ms Roth," he said calmly, "lest you bring about an end far greater than any even I can muster…"
Robin took a deep gasp of air as the demons forced him under. Only one hand – from the elbow down – was still above the opening of the portal.
Still in the mortal realm.
In icy horror, Raven recalled seeing this in the vision Robin had had during his demonic possession, back in Azarath. A lake of blood, and a single bloody hand disappearing beneath the surface of it…
Around him, the portal began to close, the circle tightening, drawing in, ready to close up on him forever—
The doorway to the room was suddenly smashed in, the entire wall exploding outwards by the force of it.
Through the wreckage came Marcus Vandiver, Head of the Azarathian Senate, flanked at either side by Arsenal and Terra.
Behind them was the rest of the Azarathian Senate. With the exceptions of Jonathon Vaughan (murdered), Raven's mother, Arella Roth (powerless, as "mortal" as Robin or Slade), and the mysterious Cordelia Silver, they were all there.
Marcus Vandiver.
Aurora Mariotte.
Sarah de Marçon.
Michael Shelly.
Emma Tomasi.
Calica White.
Lawrence Westten.
Catriona Darke.
James Sinclair.
Zachariah Warrix.
All of them; white, their eyes blazing with a common power not unlike Seth's own.
Terra's eyes too blazed gold still from where she had unleashed her power on the wall.
Arsenal held an explosive arrow taut in his bow, his masked eyes narrowed; both of them had been impeccably healed by Marcus.
The good guys.
The gods.
The Titans…
Marcus Vandiver stepped forwards and gave a tiny, complicated flick of his fingers.
Fifteen feet away, Seth Elliott was thrown backwards, being torn away from Raven. The pregnant girl steadied herself and darted forwards faster than seemed possible.
She was not mortal.
She smashed through the human-proof energy wall and grasped Robin's hand – now only from the wrist – stopping him from being completely dragged under. She could feel the demons hauling at him, feel him struggling beneath the surface of the portal, and stood, heaving at his hand.
Little by little the portal began to be forced wider again, and Raven put every ounce of her strength into pulling Robin back out of it. However, the demons below it weren't taking no for an answer, and they pulled back at him – he was their next meal, after all – forcing Raven to her knees. Tears streaming down her face, she could feel her grip on him slipping; the blood was making him very hard to hold on to…
His hand slipped through her fingers—
-To be caught firmly by a slim, leather-gloved hand. Startled, Raven looked up to find a fifteen-year-older Terra – blonde waves cascading down her back and around her beautiful, thirty-one-year-old face – leaning over her. Although the presence of the other – and the way they each looked – ignited a million questions within each of them, Raven read the message within Terra's pale blue eyes and gripped hold of Robin again. Together the two females pulled at him again, until finally the portal burst open again and he was bequeathed to them in a torrent of blood as though he had been pushed from the womb.
Behind him, the portal closed entirely and vanished from existence, taking with it no sacrifice.
Covered in blood too, Terra and Raven lay Robin back; he was near unconscious, having gone without air for a long time, and also having lost a lot of blood.
Raven burst into tears, half though relief that she had gotten him out again, and half through despair that he might die anyway.
"Oh, hey, hey!" Terra seemed alarmed by Raven's reaction. "What's up with you? Come to think of it, why are you even here? Robin said you were dead!"
Raven gasped, stemming her sobs, just as Arsenal, followed by the now-freed Slade, joined them.
"Guys, what's…?" Arsenal trailed off as he saw the blood all over the place, then saw Robin. "Jeez, bloodbath," he quipped. "And I mean literally."
His gaze was on Robin; the boy was utterly drenched in blood, having been submerged in it. There was not one part of him or his clothes that was not dyed crimson by the liquid.
"He needs medical attention," Slade put in from the back, his voice hard as diamonds. "His wrists have been cut. I'm sure that none of you need for me to inform you how lethal that can be if not seen to immediately."
Terra looked at Slade briefly and then averted her eyes with a small, prominent shiver; then looked at Raven again.
"Well, you're the magical healer, if I remember correctly," she said, her voice not without bitterness. "Heal him up already."
Raven shook her head, choking back more sobs.
"I cannot save him now," she whispered. "He's already lost too much blood…"
"Then what-?" Arsenal started.
He cut himself off abruptly as senators Michael Shelley and Catriona Darke were thrown past them, scraping to a halt a few feet behind them.
Seth Elliott was approaching the small group of "mortals", his eyes blazing.
Behind him, the rest of the senators were sprawled out all over the room, out for the count.
"C'mon, you bastard," Arsenal muttered to Slade, raising his bow again. "Let's do this…"
The two masked men both darted forwards at Seth, Arsenal stopping short and firing an arrow right into Seth's heart. Seth didn't even flinch, instead grabbing Slade by the throat as he came at him from the left. Arsenal made the mistake of running at him and he grasped him too, holding the two fully-grown men aloft with inhuman strength. He threw Arsenal to join Michael and Catriona, turning his blazing eyes on Slade.
He smiled twistedly, the arrow still sticking out of his heart. He looked down at it, then looked back at Slade.
"I'm already dead," he whispered. His smile twisted more. "But not for long…"
His hand glowed a transparent blue and he plunged it right into Slade's chest, searching within him…
Slade went rigid in his grip as Seth found what he was looking for; then fell limp like a broken puppet as Seth pulled back out, taking with him a wisp of transparent energy, an ever-so-slight red tinge to it.
Seth threw Slade to the floor, where he collapsed in a heap and didn't so much as twitch. He wasn't dead, but he might as well have been.
Seth laughed wildly, holding Slade's struggling soul aloft. He forced it into the stone pendant at his neck, sealing it there as it tried to escape, to flee back to its flesh-and-blood counterpart.
"One down…" he whispered, turning back to the others; Terra, Raven and Arsenal – limping slightly – were clustered protectively around Robin, who was slowly but surely bleeding to death on the floor behind them.
Terra and Raven's eyes and hands were glowing.
Arsenal had his bow pulled back once more, even though his first arrow was still sticking out of Seth's heart.
"Ah, the earth-mover and the archer," Seth mused, chuckling softly. "I was wondering when you would turn up… Still, it's not as though you can stop me…" He tugged Arsenal's arrow from his chest and snapped it in half, throwing it aside.
Arsenal blinked, realising…
"You're the Master of Time…" he whispered.
Seth smiled.
"Of course," he drawled lazily. "And a whole host of other blasts from the past. The seer, for instance, or... Well, it didn't happen in this time, but I persuaded the Terra of Robin's time to help him out of his demonic predicament. Fully disguised, of course, as a fat, middle-aged guy in a tux hanging out in a jazz bar. Worked like a charm…"
"I don't know who you are, pal," Terra spat in reply, "but let's see how you like having a boulder dropped on your skull…"
Stepping forwards, Terra's blue eyes blazed gold; a crack spread like a ripple across the far wall as a massive chunk of concrete loosened itself. With a flick of her hand and a high-pitched cry, the earth-mover threw the mass straight at Seth—
He gave a lazy flick of his fingers and it exploded into shimmering dust, falling to the dark ground. Terra gave a strangled squeak, staring at the glittering powder that had once been a lump of solid concrete.
Even as she gaped at it in disbelief, Raven stepped forwards;
"Azarath Metrion Zin-"
Seth snapped his fingers and black tape materialised over Raven's mouth, silencing her. Startled by it, the pregnant girl stumbled and tripped over Robin, landing on top of him.
Seth closed in on them, his hand glowing blue again. He cut an arcing movement through the air, materialising a blue blade of energy that he sent right at them—
At the forefront, Terra and Arsenal flinched, attempting to block—
With a sound like diamond scraping across glass, the blade was deflected by an invisible wall, soaring up into the rafters. With much screeching and flapping, the bats that had begun to roost up there took flight again, unsettling and flitting everywhere. Seth looked up at them briefly, before turning sharply back to see how his attack had been blocked…
Marcus Vandiver decked him, sending him staggering backwards.
Knowing he had bought precious little time at all, Marcus whipped around to face the "mortals". His dark brown hair, usually neat, was messy from where he had previously been scrapping with Seth, there was a tear in the front of his crimson robes, and blood was trickling down his chin.
He bent down, pushing Terra, Arsenal and Raven aside to get at Robin. He ran his fingertips over Robin's slit wrists, healing them, replenishing his blood supply as he did so. The "A" did not heal, but remained there, as fresh as it had been the day he had gotten it. Ignoring it and standing up, Marcus waved his hand vaguely over the boy, dissolving the blood all over him into nothing.
Raven watched him intently; there was a sudden real, serious, almost frightening coldness about the way he was dealing with this situation; as though it was not his empathic compassion that was driving him, as was usual in Azarathians, but something else.
Rage. Sorrow. Perhaps even a thirst for revenge…
Turning again, the senator caught Seth's arm as the other man attempted to strike his throat, kicking him backwards by a blow to his gut.
"Do not let Seth near that boy," Marcus said flatly over his shoulder. "If he gets his soul, it could all be over…"
"But the sacrifice wasn't completed!" Raven cried, kneeling next to Robin, who was beginning to come round. "We got him back out of the portal! Even if Seth does get his soul, it won't-"
"Robin offered his life to spare yours," Marcus interrupted, turning to her. "He was willing to die for you. That might have been enough to fulfil the prophecy. We can't take the chance that it wasn't, and now that he already has Slade's soul, we simply cannot allow him to take Robin's too."
"We'll protect him," Terra vowed.
Marcus smiled thinly.
"I very much doubt that, Ms Markov," he replied softly.
His robes whipping behind him, he lunged at Seth again, and the Head senator and ex-Head Senator faced off once again.
"Jeez, are they all as charming as that?" Terra mused sarcastically, watching Marcus and Seth clashing, their incredible powers bouncing off one another's deflective manoeuvres.
She looked at Arsenal, who shrugged.
On the floor, Robin sat up, his hand at his forehead. He was startled when Raven threw her arms around his neck.
"Oh, god, you're alive…" She kissed his forehead, then buried her face in his shoulder.
"Okay, that's weird," Terra commented, folding her arms. "Seeing Raven showing that much emotion, I mean. And towards you, Robin, of all people."
Robin shot her a death glare and got to his feet, helping Raven.
Both Terra and Arsenal's eyes widened as they saw them both properly, standing next to each other.
Robin's neat hair and skimpy, too-young uniform.
Raven's immensely-swollen stomach, accentuated by the tight, glowing fabric of her crimson gown.
"Don't go appearing together dressed like that on the cover of TIME, guys," Arsenal said weakly. "Somehow, I don't think it would be very well received…"
Terra's eyes were on Raven's abdomen.
"Jeez, Rob, you sure knocked her up good," she mused, unable to keep the surprise from her voice. "What the hell did you put into her?"
Robin paused, his gaze flickering in Raven's direction.
Looking at her stomach.
"A monster," he replied finally.
Truthfully.
Arsenal and Terra both did a double-take.
"A… what?" Terra was stunned, not sure if she had heard him right.
"You heard me." Robin didn't smile. "It… it isn't mine."
He bent down and retrieved his discarded gloves as the two of them gaped at him all over again. Pulling them on (covering the "A"), he looked up at them again. Raven was clutching at his cape, the way Starfire often did when she was afraid and happened to be "conveniently" standing next to him.
"But… but if you…" Terra floundered. "You just said you… if you didn't, then…"
"Whose is it then?" Arsenal bit out, looking from Robin to Raven and then back again.
As though he was suddenly disgusted by the pair of them; as though he suddenly saw Robin as one of those irresponsible boys ridden with imbalanced hormones, but never with a condom in his jeans pocket; as though he suddenly saw Raven as a whore; as though he suddenly saw them both as just another couple of teenagers who had gotten drunk one night and been very stupid about it.
And it really wasn't anything like that at all.
"It's Seth's," Robin replied heavily.
Terra and Arsenal exchanged looks.
"Seth?" They repeated together.
Robin nodded in the direction of the fray between Seth and Marcus.
"Guy with the black hair. The one that just attempted to kill us…"
Terra blinked, staring at Raven.
At her stomach.
"Jeez, you actually…?" She trailed off, seeming disgusted.
"No, no!" Robin said sharply, stepping in front of Raven. "It wasn't… he did something to me, made it so that I would impregnate her with his child… I don't know how he managed it, but that's what happened. Ray and I got the kicks, but it came with strings." He sighed heavily. "I impregnated her with a monster."
"So what's the lesson here?" Arsenal put in, sounding bored. "Use. Contraception."
Robin smiled thinly.
"It's not that simple…"
An idea suddenly taking hold within his mind, he whipped back around to the direction of the fight between Marcus and Seth. One by one, the other senators were also getting to their feet.
"…But beating him might be," Robin finished in an excited whisper.
Raven gripped his wrists and he looked at her.
"You have an idea?"
Robin looked back at Seth again.
He smirked.
"An inkling," he replied. He turned to Terra, his blue eyes glittering with intelligence and excitement behind his mask. "Terra, the Orb of Azarath holds his power. I need you to-"
"Hold up," Terra interrupted. "It holds his power? I thought… What about all that other crap about the Avenger and the mortal gods and the power of the apocalypse?"
Robin sighed, forgetting that she didn't know.
"It was all a lie," he said quickly. "Seth made it all up because he needed me and Slade for another prophecy."
He noted the confused look on her pretty face and shook his head.
"Look, don't worry about that," he instructed. "If we survive, I'll explain it later. In basic terms, the power within that orb is actually his own. With it is almost all of his soul; when Arella tore his powers from him, she killed him, in effect. I think that it being sealed away is the only thing actually keeping him "alive"; in full, in order to "live" again, he needs that power back. So…"
"…If you break the orb…" Raven put in, her voice hushed.
"…He should die altogether," Arsenal finished. He nodded in approval. "Right, good plan, Robin. But where does that leave us all? Where is this orb?"
"Seth has it," Robin replied vaguely. He turned to Terra again. "Which is where you come in, Terra. The orb is made of some kind of stone; you should be able to summon it to you with your powers, right?"
Terra nodded, smiling.
"Right," she confirmed. "An excellent plan, Boy Wonder."
Perhaps it was an effect of her pregnancy, but Raven threw her arms around him again.
"I knew you'd think of something," she whispered. "Now I know why they call you the "Boy Wonder"…"
"Well, it's not just because I make great French toast," Robin quipped; but his heart wasn't in the joke.
Watching Terra's eyes become aflame with her dangerous power, he could only hope he lived up to his title…
—
Rolling with the blow Seth had just dealt him, Marcus Vandiver got to his feet, already muttering an incantation under his breath, focusing the energy on Seth. The newly-appointed Head Senator was indeed far more powerful than he first appeared, but even so – and with only a quarter of his power – Seth was holding his own.
Beating him, even.
Which made Marcus more furious than he had ever been in his life before; because he hated Seth. He hated him with everything within his very being. He hated him for his lies, he hated him for his evil deeds, he hated him for defying Azar's way, he hated him for the way he had used Robin and Raven and Slade.
He hated him for murdering Jonathon.
Finishing his spell on a high-pitched note, the magic exploded from his fingertips, spiralling straight at Seth. His eyes blazing, Seth threw up a barrier, deflecting it back. Marcus swept beneath it, another spell already on his lips. He traced Azarathian lettering through the air, and the shapes glowed there for moments after he had moved his fingers. Air became solid, and Marcus gripped the sword as he drew it from nothing. It glittered with white magic, the hilt engraved with Azarathian lettering, more spells and enchantments. He twisted the sword over in his grip and sliced it at Seth's midsection, a glow marking the arcing movement it had cut through the air.
It was a technique he and Jonathon had shared; one that Jonathon had already tried against Seth, and now Marcus was going to try it too…
Seth put up another barrier, sidestepping as he did so. The blade clashed against it and couldn't move any further.
Seth snorted with laughter.
" A sword? " He mocked, speaking in his native Azarathian tongue. " Please, Marcus. I know you're a sad little rulebook-basher, but allow me to give you some credit… Jonathon tried that one the night I killed him, and it didn't work then either. "
" Believe it or not, Seth," Marcus whispered, his reply also in his mother-tongue, "Jonathon did not hate you as much as I do. You will pay for everything you've done. "
" And who is going to make me pay? "Seth crooned, as the two circled each other. " You? You expect me to believe that you will defeat me, after I have led you along all this time? Don't make me laugh.. "
His shape melted even as his emerald gaze did not shift from Marcus's visage; his form became slender, feminine…
But Marcus only offered "Cordelia Silver" a vague, odd little smile.
" I know, Seth. Here is where you can give me my 'little credit'… "
"Cordelia" smiled.
" Why, certainly, Marcus… "
"She" sent a forcefield of pure energy straight at the new Head Senator, throwing him backwards. Marcus lost his grip on the sword as he was sent sprawling, and Seth plucked it from the air, turning it over his hands and gripping it as his form faded back to that of his own.
Shaking his head, Marcus sat up a little…
…Just in time to see the point of the sword coming straight at his face. With no time to block, he flinched—
-And the blade never did sink into his skull. Opening his eyes, he found Lawrence Westten was standing over him, the blade caught flat between his palms. Before Seth could pull back, Lawrence pushed the blow upwards, knocking the hilt into Seth's face. Seth dropped the sword, backing away with his hands at his mouth. Blood trickled between his pale fingers.
The other senators joining them, Lawrence helped Marcus to his feet and they all closed in on Seth again.
Seth smirked, wiping his lip.
Until the Orb of Azarath suddenly burst through the silk pocket of his black robe, a golden glow surrounding it. Distracted from the Senate, Seth whipped around just in time to see the orb rocket into Terra's outstretched hand.
The glow faded from her eyes and she smiled prettily.
A Reese Witherspoon smile.
Even as Seth screeched something in Azarathian and started for her, the Senate swarming after him, she tossed it neatly to Arsenal, who caught it lazily in one slack hand.
"Oh, hey, I know this game," he drawled as Seth turned his attention to him. "This is the one where you torment the fat kid in the hall by stealing his brown paper lunch bag and tossing it about over his head until he cries." He smiled sunnily. "Always one of my personal favourites."
"Give me the orb, mortal," Seth hissed, effortlessly backhanding Marcus and flooring him as he swept behind him. Snapping his fingers, the rest of the Senate suddenly fell slack; under his spell.
Despite paling a little at seeing how easily Seth had temporarily disposed of Marcus and the others, Arsenal grinned.
"What, this old thing?" He asked innocently, holding the orb up; it glittered in his fingers, catching the light.
"Yes," Seth murmured, his eyes taking on a murderous glint as he closed in on Arsenal. "You don't know of its potential…"
"That's where you're wrong, pal," Arsenal corrected him chirpily. "I do know what it's capable of, and that's why I think you won't be getting it back. Consider it confiscated, young man."
Seth pounced at him—
"Hey, Robin!" Arsenal called across the room. "Go long!"
He threw it, sending it arcing over the heads of all who stood clustered there, right into Robin's outstretched hands.
"Safe!" Robin whooped, holding it aloft as though it was a baseball.
Seth froze, as did the entire Azarathian Senate; then whipped around, his robes still moving long after he was still, his green eyes blazing white as his gaze settled on Robin.
He smiled.
"You are weak, Richard Grayson," he said, his voice almost hypnotic. "You will give me the orb, and then you will give me your soul. Come here now, there's a good boy…"
Confusion overwhelming his senses, Robin lowered his arm. Somehow, he was losing control…
"Come here, boy…" Seth hissed.
He attempted to take a step forwards and suddenly found himself enveloped in blackness. His mind became clear again, although he could hear nothing, and could see nothing.
"Robin…"
Raven's voice.
But she was not next to him. She was…
…In his mind?…
"I have taken you into my Soul Self," Raven's voice explained. "You need to relax. He's trying to control your mind; this is the only way I could prevent it. When I let you go, you must not listen to him. Smash the orb, Robin; don't give it to him."
Floundering in darkness, Robin nodded, vaguely aware of the orb still in his hand.
"Do you hear me, Robin?"
"Yes."
"Good…"
The darkness drew back and he found himself on his knees back in the tiny room. His knees were weak but he got to his feet, his gaze defiantly meeting Seth's.
He raised his hand above his head. He felt Raven's hand on his shoulder.
"Give me the orb, boy," Seth ordered again.
Although he could again feel his consciousness clouding, being subjected to Seth's will, still he kept his eyes locked with the ex-Head Senator's.
"No."
Firm. Unswaying. Final.
Before Seth could get him any further under his spell, Robin threw the orb at the concrete floor with all of his strength.
It didn't merely smash.
It exploded.
Seth screamed in despair.
Becoming encompassed within her own dark energy again, Raven drew Robin in with her and sank them both below the surface of the concrete floor, protecting them.
Arsenal flung himself at Terra, bringing them both to the floor. She brought up a barrier of rock in front of them and he lay on top of her, his arms and head over hers.
The Senators, with Seth's distraction, all snapped out of their trances and threw up barriers against the blast, Marcus already on the floor.
Soulless, Slade did not react at all.
TT
Oho, and you thought last chapter's cliff-hanger was bad…?
Ka ka ka.
I had little "v" chevron thingies at the beginning and end of the italicized translated Azarathian between Seth and Marcus, but I think ff. net ate them… I am sorry.
Also, contrary to popular belief… Remember the Titans is not ending soon! Despite the fact that I have put in my big showdown now, which typically should be at the end, RTT is not nearly over!
So keep reading, keep reviewing, and keep enjoying!
RobinRocks xXx
P.S: Yay for Reese Witherspoon!