Cyborg the Barbarian
Chapter 3
Disclaimer: I don't own the teen titans!
REVIEW!
Shark turned and yanked the dark grey lever next to his hand down. Soon after, a loud beep pierced the silence. Cyborg looked down at the churning black water and hissed when it came into contact with his skin. He shivered, causing his damp sweat suit to cling to his body. What's the point in being half metal, if I don't even have a device to get me warm? He thought angrily. I have to get out of here.
Cyborg looked up the dark ceiling: "No cracks."
He looked around the dank room: "And no way to get out either."
Cyborg pulled at his restraints and kicked his feet wildly.
"Okay, what would Robin do? Da*n I shoulda paid attention to that spiky haired lil midget... Wait a minute!"
Cyborg closed his eyes and flashed back to several months earlier. The once blue sky was covered with angry grey storm clouds and lighting occasionally flashed. Rain fell in buckets and forcefully struck the ground. High above the sky, the roofs of buildings turned from grey to black. A six foot four man covered in black Kevlar leapt from roof to roof. Grey braces covered his neck, arms, stomach, legs, and feet and two black pistols hung from his waist. However, his face was hidden by a black and orange mask. The man's one lone eye peeked through a slit in the orange side of the mask. The man turned and slammed his foot into a small boy's knee. The boy's black cape wrapped around his body as the boy smashed his green, gloved fist into the tall man's mask. He reeled back and swept the boy's legs out from under him.
In a mocking voice, the man snickered, "Sloppy, Robin."
Robin snarled and threw himself at the man. He lifted his leg high and slammed his foot into the man's shoulder.
"You're going down Slade!"Robin shouted.
A leggy girl with bronze skin thrust her damp hair out of her face. She released two twin beams of green light from her eyes; the man dodged it and shoved the flying girl off of the building.
"STARFIRE!" Robin screamed in fear. He pulled out his grappling hook and leapt off of the building.
A small green raven swooped down and pushed his hooked beak into the man's side. The man roared and ripped several feathers off of the raven, causing the raven to cry out in agony. In retaliation, a six foot six man slammed his metal fist into Slade's stomach. Slade grabbed the metal man's arm and threw him onto the ground.
Suddenly, a hoarse female voice shouted, "Azarath Metrion ZINTHOS!"
A long beam of black energy shoved the man forward. Starfire flew back up to the roof and threw Robin into Slade.
Slade pressed a button on his wrist and an army of robots, which had hidden in the garbage covering the roof, appeared. They easily subdued the Titans and clamped blue, glowing chains around their arms. The Titans were shoved to the ground. Each one glared at Slade with hatred in their eyes. Slade stood up straight as the robots gathered behind him. Slade's lips parted underneath his mask. He pressed a button on his wrists and Beastboy, Raven, Starfire, and Cyborg screamed. Robin watched in horror as electricity shocked his friends. The pounding rain caused the electricity to shock them even more.
Slade smirked, "Powerless once again Robin? You're weak! You can't even protect your friends." Slade stretched out his hand towards Robin. "Join me. Become my apprentice. Or I'll kill your friends."
Robin spat in Slade's face.
Slade wiped his mask with the back of his hand and slapped Robin's face. "You would let your friends die, just because you don't want to become my apprentice." Slade grinned, "How sadistic."
Slade turned to his robot army and waved his hand. The robots vanished. Robin nudged Cyborg's arm with his foot. Cyborg opened his eyes and nodded at Robin. He shifted his hand into a long knife. Expertly slicing through his bonds, Cyborg leaned over and sliced Robin's bonds. Slade turned around and pulled a gun from his belt. He pointed the gun at Starfire's writhing body, and then he turned the gun onto Raven and Beastboy. "Who should I kill first?"
Cyborg stood up and shifted his left hand into a large cannon. Slade snarled and whipped around to face Cyborg. He pointed the gun at Cyborg and pulled the trigger. The bullet pierced Cyborg metallic stomach and shot out of his back. Then Robin crept behind Slade and punched him in the back. Slade growled and kicked Robin so that his back hit the brick roof. Slade stood over Robin and lifted his fist back.
"So weak Robin. There is nothing you can do to stop me." Slade gloated.
Robin smiled: "No. I think there is one way." He threw a light blue disk at Cyborg's arm. The disk latched onto the nozzle of the cannon; a great beam of blue light shot out of the cannon and knocked Slade off of his feet.
Back in the underwater prison, Cyborg grinned and thought, I know exactly what to use to get me outta this. His lips parted into a cruel smirk as he pressed a button on the side of his wrist. The metal parted, revealing a small, whirring blade. The blade touched the shackles on Cyborg's wrists and began to cut. Surprisingly, the metal did not budge and thin, grey tendrils of smoke wafted from the blade. Come on, COME ON! He shouted mentally. Ahead of him, Shark tilted his head, intrigued. He barred his serrated, ivory teeth and narrowed his pinkish-red eyes. Cyborg looked up and shuddered when his eyes met Shark's. He then growled and shifted his hand into a cannon. After arching his back, Cyborg shot blue sonic energy out of his cannon. The energy bounced around the prison and struck Cyborg in the leg. He keeled over and growled in frustration.
Suddenly, the water beat against Cyborg's cell walls as the walls began to crystallize. With wide eyes, Cyborg stared at the light blue walls that were rapidly turning white. Behind him, the prisoners beat the walls with their fists and hands and teeth. Roaring loudly, the horizontal flukes at the ends of their tails twitched and curled in anticipation. The water inside the cells began to leak out and the shackled covering the prisoner's wrists disappeared. The walls shattered and the thin white pieces dissolved in the water. Under Cyborg, the thick grey floor snapped in half and retreated into the prison walls. Water climbed up the walls and covered the platform Shark stood on. When the water touched his feet, he sighed and pressed his arms to his sides. First, his feet transformed into water, then his calves, things and buttocks changed into water, and afterwards, his arms, torso, and head turned into water until finally, his entire body was a column of water.
Bright pink scales with thick black stripes appeared where his calves were and long horizontal flukes that were translucent and pink grew where his feet were. The thick black armor gradually appeared; it covered his wiry muscles by wrapping around him like a sheet. The webbing stretched until it covered him from head to toe, only leaving the flukes bare.
Shark hissed at the prisoners, and then he extended his hands, clasped them together, and swam forward. A hairline crack appeared in the wall and with one tap of his long fluke, the crack turned into a gaping hole. He gracefully slivered inside. When his tail passed through the hole, it shrunk until it disappeared completely.
Cyborg gasped, "What the fu*k!"
The briny water continued to fill the room. When it touched his lips, Cyborg closed them tightly and winced. He pressed his head and hands against the top of his glass prison and gulped air. Gasping loudly, Cyborg tried to press his entire body against his prison's ceiling; however, the water continued to rise until it covered his head. The prisoners' cries became louder and louder until the prison's walls rattled and shook. The prisoners swam freely around the building. Cyborg dug his fingers into his glass prison curled himself into a ball. Suddenly, the cage dissolved as the salty water touched it. He screamed as he fell into the water. As Cyborg screamed, a multitude of droplets leapt into the air, but they returned to the large body of water underneath them. He opened his mouth to squeal again, but water slid into his mouth instead of air. His hands pressed down on his throat, in order to stop more water from entering. Cyborg looked to the left and to the right. He frantically moved his arms back and forth while his legs flailed wildly. Keep calm, KEEP CALM! Aw fuc* it, I'm gonna die! He mentally screamed.
More water poured into his lungs. His chest became tight and his heart leapt to his throat. Red spots clouded his vision.
"Lungs have twenty percent oxygen left. Only ten more minutes until organic brain tissue dies." A robotic voice whispered in a low monotone.
A multitude of large, round sea turtles with broad brownish-green shell brushed his legs. Cyborg winced when one of them brushed his legs with its yellow arm. Cyborg reached out and grabbed the tip of its arm; he let himself be pulled forward by the turtle until its head broke the surface. Cyborg pressed his face against the ceiling of the prison as he gulped air.
Below him, pandemonium erupted. Several tall mermen were engaged in a brutal fight. One of them stuck their finger in the other's eye while the other wrapped their tail around the other's fluke and yanked them down. A small sea turtle struggled to swim out of the mermen's lethal embrace; one of the mermen ripped off a large chunk of the sea turtle's arm with their teeth. The sea turtle flapped its other limbs in an attempt to remain afloat; however, the turtle began to sink. One of the mermen extended his fingers and grabbed a corner of its thick shell. The merman ripped the shell clean off of the turtle's body. Blood stained the azure water pink as Cyborg groaned.
Underneath him, one merman with a long yellow tail wrapped his webbed fingers around another man's neck. The other man waved his light gray tail around and leaned forward. He bit the yellow merman's small nose and swatted him with his long tail. Throughout the prison, pieces of bloody sea turtles floated in the water, staining it pink.
Cyborg gagged: "Now I'm starting to understand why Beast Boy's a vegetarian. I need to get out of here."
He looked to the left and to the right. Cyborg gritted his teeth and jerked his hands back and forth while his legs sliced through the water. A thick slab of a mangled sea turtle brushed Cyborg's leg and he shuddered in revulsion. Suddenly, a man with pitch black skin and a long, white tail swan beside him. He swam as fast as a rocket and clutched the large slab of turtle floating next to Cyborg's leg. The merman crammed the slab into his gaping mouth and crushed the small bones holding the slab together. Cyborg jerked away while blindly kicking the water. The merman snarled at Cyborg and dove down into the dark, bleak water. Cyborg sighed in relief. He placed one of his meaty, metal hands on the smooth ceiling and pressed his forehead against it.
All this water has gotta come from somewhere. Maybe if I dive down, I'll be able to find a way out. Wait a minute, wouldn't one of these things tried that already. It's a pretty obvious plan. Cyborg thought as he looked at the smooth ceiling. No cracks. Diving's my only option. He looked down at the mermen desperately cramming parts of the sea turtles into their mouths. Beside him, two mermen touched a thick chunk of bloody sea turtle at the same time. One of the mermen turned and sank his teeth into the other's red and white fluke. Cyborg covered his ears as a howl cut through the silence. Or not.
The ocean water was pitch black and the only light came from the clunks of golden sand that frolicked in the water. Inside the dark, damp cave, voices cried in anger.
"Mhdja Sarasim (Lady Sarasim.)" A woman with long red- black braids and a black and red polka dotted tail inquired. "Pouthdba ehaujk rarrteyebcjae,edhjfalbejhkf edbjka. (We have spent hours discussing this outsider's fate. Can we not discuss something different?)"
A burly man with a muscular emerald-green tail raised his fist and shouted, "Rtuaidhjka fhuskehf hfjkafb ajdka Atalanteans fchajkl? (What about the damage the Atlanteans caused? Can we not determine how much money it will take to fortify our defenses?)"
A small man with a brownish-green tail spoke in a mocking voice, "Njadhuak dhjakle dhjakl. Dhjskfnh. (Yes. Let us discuss money when an outsider is in our camp! The Atlanteans could be using him to spy on us.)"
Sarasim looked at the group of unruly mer-folk: "Cufbsjfk adfbajke wklwllnnadhj. A dfhakle dfhujekla fchjela dnjs. Insjs shl tgethat dnjalks acceuuptablne? (Perhaps and perhaps not Rtuanff. I want to interrogate him and find out why he came here. Is that acceptable?)"
The group of mer-folk twitched their tails in irritation. Sarasim grinned, "I will take your silence as a yes then."
With a flick of her powerful tail she flew out of the watery cave. Behind her, a stream of mer-folk shot out of the cave and swam in opposing directions.
Once she was several miles away from the cave, Sarasim lazily twirled in a circle. Behind her, a small man with an orange tail pumped it furiously until he swam beside her. His gills rapidly opened and closed while his chest heaved. Sarasim opened her mouth and sang in a clear soprano voice, "Nikdhusfiobehujfklhnf fhasifbg ghjksbrf (What prison is the outsider located in?)"
The small merman replied, "Njkdgh dgyaje dhuiako (He was placed in Blackgate prison.)"
Suddenly, his body jerked and flopped around wildly; his arms smacked the water while his tail thumped against the tall, brownish green coral. Sarasim curled her hands into claws and hooked them into the coral. The current shoved a thick wall of water at them, forcing them to huddle against the coral. When the current changed direction, Sarasim peeled herself off of the wall and tentatively swam forward. Sarasim pulled the sash tied around her tiny waist and her white dress that had wrapped around her flukes straightened immediately. The man growled as his black skirt wrapped around round his flukes. He tossed and turned, trying to find the sash. Sarasim giggled, sending a stream of bubbles up to the surface. Multicolored fish of all shapes and sizes swam around them; one swam in and out of Sarasim's braids. She snatched the brazen fish out of the water and crammed it into her mouth. Several drops of blood stained the sparkling black water as her razor-sharp teeth pierced the fish's skin.
Annoyed, Sarasim turned towards the small merman, "Whuy djalpalacfed inj Blackgate promsion? (Why was he placed in Blackgate prison?)"
"Krall orgdetred (Krall ordered-)"
Sarasim turned around and snarled, "Krall nkaedlnhdaw (Krall should not have interfered!)"
A blue screen appeared in front of Sarasim. The screen showed a dark skinned half metal, half- human man shooting blue sonic energy out of two cannons at armor clad guards. Shark appeared on the screen. He bared his teeth and said in a bland voice, "Njdaujdkh dgakdgbd ehjkd mhdja Sarasim (The outsider is attacking the guards Lady Sarasim.)"
Sarasim said," Mkguecf (Put him in solitary.)"
The screen collapsed and Sarasim shot forward. The small man struggled to keep up with her. After swimming several miles, they came across a clear, glass crystal. The cube bobbed up and down as small waves gently pushed it. She pressed her finger against the cube and a small blue square covered in symbols appeared. Sarasim pressed a series of buttons and one of the cube's walls slide back.
The armor clad guards covered Cyborg's mouth with their webbed hands as Cyborg tried to kick and punch the guards. He released blue sonic energy from his cannon and bit the guards long, thin fingers. The guards dragged him to the bottom of the prison. Cyborg's body became limp and everything faded to black.
Hours later, Cyborg looked around, bewildered. He pounded his meaty, metallic hand against the cube's walls. Outside of the cube's walls, multi-colored fish lazily swam around the cube. He lightly pressed his finger against the cube's wall. It rippled and then crystallized. Cyborg kicked the wall repeatedly, until his metal foot had a larger dent. Suddenly, a small hole appeared at the bottom of the cube. Cyborg gasped and leapt away from the water that was filling the cube.
A woman with long, black braids and caramel skin swam up to the hole. Cyborg gasped when she appeared. The whites of her eyes were not white, but turquoise and gills adorned her neck. Wow! She's beautiful. Get a grip Cyborg. Maybe I can use her to get out of this thing.
Cyborg clenched his fists and stared at the woman.
She parted her plump, pale pink lips and said in a harsh voice, "Uhdujak dagjk enkldfo(Who are you?)"
Cyborg covered his ears when he heard her musical voice. It was razor sharp and it shook the ground he was standing on. He ground his teeth as the debilitating pain washed over him. When she stopped singing, he slowly took his hands off of his ears. Blood slowly dripped out of his one ear and nose. What the fuc*? If she continues singing, I might hemorrhage.
Cyborg twisted the knob near his metal ear and sighed as the pain slowly faded.
Sarasim angrily tapped her tail against the cube and dug her nail into its surface. "Uhdujak dagjk enkldfo(Who are you?)" She repeated.
Cyborg tensed and then sighed in relief when he didn't feel any pain. "Can't understand you," He said cheekily.
Sarasim's eyebrows crunched together in confusion and her gills pulsed frantically: "Uhdujak dagjk enkldfo(Who are you?)"
"What?" Cyborg asked.
Sarasim bared her teeth and snarled viciously, "Uhdujak dagjk enkldfo(Who are you?)"
Cyborg leaned against the cube's wall and crossed his arms rebelliously.
Sarasim lift her wrist to her mouth and pressed a button on the grey bracelet. It beeped twice and then stopped.
Sarasim opened her mouth and said in perfect English, "Who are you?"
The he*l! How'd she just start speaking English?
Cyborg opened and closed his fists. Okay. He thought. Don't tell her anything. She could be working with Slade. Then again, would Slade really design a prison this elaborate?
Cyborg blinked and sarcastically said, "Yea. I'm just gonna tell some lady who I am."He kneeled down, "How about you tell me who you are."
Then he looked down and noticed something long and blue moving back and forth. He tilted his head and noticed Sarasim's long blue tail. He reeled back and pressed his hand on his heart. Da*n it! He thought. This isn't a dream. I've been captured by mermaids!
Sarasim lifted her head out of the water and attempted to bite him. Why is this imbecile looking at my tail like it is something vile and disgusting?
Sarasim looked at his metal hands, "Who created your weapons?"
His one eye narrowed into a long slit: "That's none of your da*n business."
Sarasim lifted an eyebrow and her tail slowly moved back and forth, "So you do not want to answer these questions?"
Cyborg stroked his chin: "Let me think. NO!"
"Oh? Your answers decide whether or not you live or die."
"Oh really. See I don't believe you. Cuz it took five guards just to knock me unconscious. It'll probably take all of your lil lackeys to bring me down." He gloated.
Sarasim closed her mouth and stared at him.
Cyborg looked at the fish swimming outside of his cell. Okay. I may be hundreds of feet under the sea. Even if I get out of this cube, the pressure alone might kill me, if I don't drown first. My only option is to withhold info from her 'til I can figure out how to get out of this thing.
In a soft voice, Sarasim whispered, "Do not underestimate my guards. If you do not answer my questions, I will personally make sure that you die."
Cyborg narrowed his eyes. "My friends will rescue me before that happens."
I'm bluffing, I'm bluffing. They are literally ten thousand years away.
"I doubt that." Sarasim said in a cold voice.
She slowly slid under the water and the hole above her closed. Cyborg sat in the cube and placed his head on the cool surface. How long am I going to be in here? Do my friends even know I'm gone? What are they even doing?