Chapter 13: Blackfire's Premonition
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"You better appreciate this, Red." X shook the cold water from his suit and made the agonizing trip up to the tower. Starfire's body remained dry, but fresh blood ran from her mouth and now her eyes. "Better get this over now." Red X approached the tower entrance, but before he could knock, the door slid open and there stood Raven.
For a moment, Raven would have asked if Red X had come back for more, but when she saw the color fading from Starfire's face and noticed the weak pulse, she couldn't be cross. "Get here in here and upstairs now."
Red X made his way past Raven and a surprised Beast Boy and Cyborg.
"Hey, man, that's Robin!"
"Raven, you're just gonna let him in like that?!"
"Just get up there and help him!"
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"I guess no one's here to help me." Blackfire's voice traveled through the empty halls of Slade's headquarters. With each step, her heart thumped louder as she dreaded what Slade could and would do to Robin or even herself for leaving without permission. After all, no one believed Slade to be human, as even normal human beings displayed some form of emotion and compassion. He showed none.
And Blackfire knew he would show her no mercy.
Quickening her pace as her boots ran across the carpet, Blackfire punched in the access code and stepped into the main chamber. In the center stood Jinx and Slade; the former clutching a black cat card and the latter remaining unmoved.
"Well, look who came dying back."
"Set him down."
Blackfire did so, keeping her eyes on Slade.
"While I detest your refusal of the law I have enforced, I commend your effort to rescue young Robin here from a premature death. If Robin did choose to leave on his own volition, he was well aware of the consequences of his actions. As such, I take no pity on this body. Robin is still conflicted with his decision, despite his reasoning that he is not. He believes he has something to prove by going out and fighting on his own. He proved he isn't ready." He continued as Blackfire raised her head. "As for your intervention, be mindful that both you and Robin put yourselves and our organization at risk by exposing yourselves without warning."
"Not to mention Robin getting a little crazy with burning that city."
Slade ignored the interruption. "The Titans must now recuperate, as do we. Use the leisure period well and do not waste precious time."
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"Stop wasting time and answer the question!" Beast Boy never stopped glaring at Red X while he sat in one of the chairs, fingers gliding across one of his boomerangs. "Why'd you help Star, X Robin? You're not on this team."
Cyborg lifted his head. "And how'd you even find her, anyway? Did you put a tracer on her body, too?"
"How about a thank you for saving her life? You guys are so ungrateful. It's no wonder Robin left."
Silence fell over the medical center as Cyborg and Beast Boy fixed their gazes. This…Red X couldn't be trusted and liked jumping around questions. Why would someone so crafty, yet so evil help them right after Robin left?
"How long will it take you to heal her?"
Raven shot Red X a glare that spooked him a bit, but didn't let it shake his composure. "Do you expect me to start answering questions first?"
"I don't expect anything out of any of you, but I wasn't expecting old Red here to win, either. After all, if she can't control that monster inside of her, what good can she do?"
Red X ducked out of the way to avoid the chair Raven had sent his way. She made her way over to a shelf and began thumbing through various medical texts.
"It will take me at least three days; she's lost an enormous amount of energy not just in her physical and mental state." Raven slammed one of the books shut, walked over to Red X and stared straight in what would be his eyes. "What do you want with us?"
"Easy there, lassie; let me hang around you guys and maybe I can help you with your problem."
Raven raised an eyebrow. "And that problem would be? Be careful with your words because I will kill you on the instant you push me too far."
"Like good old Red, right?"
Realizing that this argument could drag on forever, Raven walked over to the stretcher and stood before Starfire. After opening one of the books to a certain page, Raven began chanting incantations to herself as she placed a hand on Starfire's head. She pulled back at the burning sensation now tingling in her hand. As blood bubbled from Starfire's mouth and her eyes darkened beyond belief, Raven pulled back her hood. Her heartbeat's erratic and her brain is almost gone, like she's a vegetable. How did Robin gain access to this? "She's been poisoned. I don't know how, but she's been infected with some kind of toxin." Damn it, Starfire. Why did you go out there alone?
As Raven went to work, X slipped out of the ward and into an empty corner. When no one came, he lifted his sleeve up and eyed the communicator. "It's official. I'm in. Yeah, yeah I remember the mission. Right, I'll remember the updates. X out."
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"Robin's in." Jinx tapped a clipboard as she watched the chamber fill with water and surround Robin's body. She turned to Blackfire. "A few hours and he'll be as good as new." More silence followed, the machine monitoring Robin's heart rate the sole noise in the room. "So…what'd you do?
"More like what did you do?"
"Me?" Jinx looked around as if an audience surrounded her. "I was here the entire time. You're the one that left and let him go off without telling Slade."
"Don't give me that crap, Jinx. You let Robin go. You tempted him. I know you."
"Well, the little bastard needed someone to wake him up. What I told him mattered- he had some fun and started living. Those people out there got what they deserved."
"They did, but why did you have to tempt him? Why coax him into killing when he can do for himself?"
"Because he can't!" Jinx rushed from her seat and began pacing around the room. "This is a guy who spent half his life cooped up in some cave. He's been lied to his entire life by adults who told him it was right to hold back, that it was right to trust authority and believe in your elders. You've gotta stop seeing this in red and look at in black and white. There's been some adult who lied to you when you were a kid. I know it."
Blackfire didn't respond. She didn't need more memories of that man's deceit again.
"Robin needed something to hold onto out there. I just gave him a little push in the right direction. He learned the hard way that the world is cruel, and so is your sister."
Assemble.
Before Blackfire could respond, a jolt ran throughout her body. Oh, great. It was that time again. Eight months passed already? She looked to Jinx, to Robin, then to Jinx again in frenzy as she made her way out of the medicinal center.
"Hey, where are you going?!" Jinx almost ran after Blackfire, but thought against it when she thought of Slade snapping her in two.
Damn it. Why this time? Blackfire ran as far as her legs would take her down the vacant hallway. Koriand'r, now you've done it! She didn't want this day to come so soon, but it was time. Her role would be fulfilled, she would be reborn and they would no longer look down on her, but why now? Fists clenched as the energy ran through her body, Blackfire kept running.
"This better be important."
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Elsewhere…the seven of them had not gathered for months at a time. Drips echoed as water plopped onto the various stalagmites and resonated throughout the hollow cavern. Six figures sat waiting on various boulders, their forms flickering on and off, but one remained.
The last one arrived, all eyes on the final form wavering in and out of focus.
"Heh, so when's the last time all of us got together like this?
"Try a few years ago when the Psions destroyed Planet Tamaran."
"And now Koriand'r has discovered what she is."
"Say, Komand'r, isn't that your little sister?"
The seventh one almost shifted at the gazes leering at her, noticing the decrease of air in the room. She knew it; they knew it, so no need to question or answer it.
"Well then, Komand'r, don't forget your objective. Killing her shouldn't take much time. She is a disgrace to our civilization and it is your duty as her sister to do away with her. If not…then I can't promise your safety anymore."
More water dripped as another figure cleared his throat. "She's still in love with the boy, though. What happens to him when he's dead?"
A chuckle echoed throughout the cave while another stood. "Don't worry about that. If Komand'r does her job, Koriand'r will be dead soon…right. Koriand'r must be killed by your hands, as it is up to you to climb to the top and attain the title as princess and eventual queen of the Tamaraneans."
Still, the seventh said nothing.
The leader noticed the silence and anger radiating from the seventh, so he spoke straight to her. "Yes, we linked you to thousands of Tamaraneans dying in Kysarr, but that's in the past. You couldn't fly at birth and sold information to the Citadel Empire, but that is also in the past. We are on your side. Those remaining Tamaraneans must be killed so you can plant the seeds of a new empire. Do you understand?"
At last, the seventh nodded and the rage swirling around the cave vanished.
"Then go forth and make us proud, Komand'r. The future of our race is in your hands."