Long Road to Ruin
Resistance is Futile
"Come on!" The little boy laughed, his face glowing as bright as ten-thousand suns, his brown hair lighter in color and his eyes, those wonderful amber eyes that she can stare into for forever-and-a-day. Little Raven found herself blushing at the embarrassing thought of admiring those beautiful eyes of his. She didn't even know who the boy was … but … when he wrapped his little fingers around her own little hand it felt … right. Like they've been together for ages, been through hard ships, through tough times, and happy memories. Everything felt … Right. He tugged her down a trail still smiling, "Come on, Raven!"
Little Raven glanced at the trail and gulped when sudden dread filled her little heart.
The trail was simple and plain, like an average every-day beaten-trail grassy and basically innocent in appearance created by many different people, at many different times. Raven, however, knew better … there was something forbidden about this trail, something that warned her she wouldn't like what was at the end.
But still …
The boy pulled at her hand, tugged her, lead her to the trail, his impatient eyes pleaded with her, he needed her to come with him, and with one step … she caved. His eyes sparkled, like multiple exploding fireworks going off at once and lighting the night sky. It bedazzled her, hypnotized her, made her feel like everything was going to be alright and with every other step she took it was no longer heavy and full of hesitation or dread or reluctance. Suddenly, she was at running pace with him, racing him down the beaten-trail, racing him to the end, smiling, laughing, just letting go and being free, being a kid.
She gripped his hand tighter, he held onto hers equally, both of them happy they had a friend; happy they didn't have to travel alone anymore.
Then … they grew tired … all their running exhausted them … and now they were walking, hand in hand, just a boy and girl content with living in the moment. Smiling and giggling at stupid things that didn't make any sense, carefree at its fullest. Raven loved it, her heart so full of joy and laughter … she didn't want it to end. She never wanted it to end … that's why when he let go of her hand … her world …
Shattered.
The trail came at an abrupt jagged-cliff end and the boy, with his back to the end of the trail and his hand pulled away from hers still smiled naively and laughed while he walked backwards. The Joy, the Rapture, the Happiness, the Love she felt was replaced with nothing but Fear and Vulnerability. The once grassy and brightly lit perfect world had morphed into an ugly picture of shadows … darkness … ghouls-and-ghosties loomed all around her. She brought her arms up to wrap around herself as she stopped dead in her tracks too frightened to move, too scared to look up for fear of a shadow-monster that might snatch her away.
"Raven …" the boy … no longer 'little' grinned down at her, still walking backwards, he held out his hand to the now older Raven, he nonchalantly jerked his head back to the trail, but did he know the trail ended? There was nothing but cliff there! Raven's face contorted into horror when she realized he didn't know! He didn't know he was about to fall to his death over a jagged-cliff! She opened her mouth to scream, to warn him, to tell him to stop, to come back to her, but she couldn't. Fear silenced her voice, and she couldn't say a word, but held out her hand to him, violently shaking her head, trying to tell him to stop, to come back to her … but he kept going.
Further …
Further …
His hand still held out for her to take, but she was rooted in her spot, she couldn't go to him. Not now … not ever …
And his grin dropped to a frown, he tilted his head … and suddenly … that same sense of pleading, wanting, and needing her to be there with him returned to his beautiful amber eyes. Calling to her softly, begging her to follow him, needing her to hold his hand and come with him, but she couldn't and tears leaked down the sides of her face in frustration as he dropped his hands to his sides and stopped just at the edge of the cliff. His frown … suddenly turning to a passive, stoic stare, and for a second, Raven was hopeful.
He wasn't going to fall … now all he had to do was turn around and notice his dire mistake so he could come back to her!
Raven prayed …
And prayed …
And prayed …
But they were ignored when he once again held out his hand to her and smiled sadly while his eyes still begged her to follow him he whispered sweetly, "… Come with me …"
He took a step back …
And he fell …
With not a scream …
And Raven, be it through pure shock, or disbelief suddenly managed to find her voice all too late.
She screamed.
--
On pure reflex alone, my body jerked itself awake with a sudden jolt and my eyes flew wide-open. My heart, still pounding in my ear, ringing in my head, and shivering as cold unyielding chills raced up and down my spine. I gasped when my heart ached, stricken with sorrow and grief, a tear rolled down the side of my face, I twisted on my side and gripped the pillow my head was on tightly trying to get a hold of myself, of reality, but everything was blending. I went vertigo … I suddenly couldn't tell what was up, down, left, or right, right from wrong, evil from good.
Everything was just so confusing …
Everything hurt … especially my head … why?
Why was my head hurting so bad – then it hit me … I've been ambushed, No, I was lured into a trap … another part of my mind thought and my heartache returned as I slowly propped myself on my elbow to notice I was laying on an old musty cot. Weakly holding my body up, I also felt my cheeks were wet and my vision was blurry with tears, with my free hand I wiped it from my face and stared at the moisture on my fingers for a moment, dumbfounded. I was crying … my heart was breaking … I fisted my hands when the exhausting reality of the truth finally sank in; Betrayed … again …
Tiredly, my elbow gave out from under me and I plopped back onto my cot while I stared at the cold-steel wall, my violet eyes watered over yet again as a new wave of pain came over my body. From my heart radiating outward with my throbbing head, and my burning wrists, I sucked in a shaky breath and shakily exhaled to try and expel the self-pity from my mind. There would be time to beat myself for my stupidity once I found out why and where I was. So, sitting up again and tucking my legs under me I wiped the tears from my face and sighed when I took notice of an overhead. I looked up expecting the ceiling to be tiny, however was shocked to find that the cot I was resting on was actually a bunk-bed, did I have a cellmate?
I swung around, careful of the metal frame of the bunk to softly plant my bare feet on the freezing-cold metal ground, I paused for a moment to make note of my attire and much to my bittersweet satisfaction I was wearing pants. Dark blue in color with matching sky blue collared button-up and on the left-breast pocket was apparently my prison number. I sighed again and blinked as I looked around the tiny cell with a stainless-steel toilet at the corner, a small desk across from the bed, and to my left reinforced glass-shields that no-one can break.
I should know … I could feel the magnetic pulse and hear its silent invasive hum that reminded those behind it they weren't getting out. Not even those with powers, and speaking of powers, mine were completely suppressed, I scowled, Good to know the technology actually works … but where am I? It looked like I was in Jump City's Super-Max Lockdown Facility, but there was something different about it … it was too … metallic.
The walls, the floor, the ceiling … even the bunks were welded into the wall.
Privately owned perhaps?
Had to be … the government wouldn't imprison me … would they?
Back on Azarath … they did, because they feared the power I had.
I was locked in that tower with no one but my mother and the monks to interact with, I knew I was a special case because I would occasionally gaze down at the city and watch and wonder what a normal person's life was like. It was probably more interesting than mine's filled with hours, upon hours of meditation since the fear of losing control was always so real. With every little tantrum I'd throw as a child the building would shudder … I remember one time Arella had to knock me out to keep the peace.
The monks, scared for the safety of their own families threatened to banish us from Azarath at one point in time when it was discovered the Disciples of Trigon had infiltrated the Temple and attempted to steal me away to ensure their master's return. Of course their plan never worked, but afterwards the monks decided that for the betterment of mankind I had to remain in the tower to continue my training, but the animosity had grown thicker. They treated me with open discrimination … all they saw was a portal … never a person and at the tender age of ten that kind of indifference does things to a person.
I ended up becoming cold and introverted, contained and locked away from the world when I discovered even my own mother was afraid of me.
But … what's done is done … and what has been done can't be undone, so I just let the memory drift back into the dark corners of my mind to dwell once more as I again focused on my current predicament. I was probably imprisoned for my powers and my abilities, but unlike Azarath who feared it, whoever wants me now, wanted the raw power I was born with. The downside to being a half-bred demon I suppose, I attracted the crazies.
Speaking of crazies, I glanced up at the bunk overhead and wondered if there was someone else with me. I was just about to get up and have a look for myself when the bed atop of me shifted and a set of legs swung over to dangle just to my left. The person was also bare-footed and turned out to be X when he dropped from the top bunk to the ground. With his right arm still on his bunk, he crossed one leg over the other and grinned down at me, "I was wonderin' if you were really awake … didja know you sigh a lot when you sleep?"
I blinked, then scowled as the rage within me boiled hot with revenge, I lashed out before thinking. Faster than he could blink my right fist connected to his jaw with enough force to throw him back against the glass-shield. It repelled him and he bounced back to me, I didn't expect it and gasped when his entire weight fell on me. I made a grab for the top bunk to help my balance, but my foot got tangled with his and we ended up crashing to the ground with his dead weight on top of me. I nearly screamed in outrage, but held it in as I shoved him, "Get off of me!"
He managed to prop himself up on his hands while his fiery molten eyes found mine and he glared down at me with a small mark on his lower jaw where I hit him. I had to admit, it made me feel damn good to have left a mark, he snapped at me, "What the fuck is your problem?!"
I screamed, "You set me up!"
He sneered, "And you're surprised?"
Unbelievable!
"Bastard!"
With gritted teeth I crawled out from under him, curled my hand into another fist and sent it flying, but he caught it and when I raised my other hand to slap him he caught that wrist to. This time I did scream in outrage, I hated to be overpowered, just hated it! I fought for control, but without my powers he was stronger, much stronger, he ended up shoving me back to the ground and pinned my wrists together against my chest so it felt like I was chocking myself. He then effortlessly slid my entire body back under him so he straddled my stomach and kept me pinned, I growled, "Get off me."
"Not until you've calmed down."
I closed my eyes, I couldn't look at him otherwise the self-pity would return and all I'd see is the betrayal and not the thief, the thief that I've always known from the beginning would do something like this to me. So I repeated with more force, "Get off me now, X."
"Promise to play nice if I let you go?"
He was mocking me!
The bastard!
My teeth grinded together so hard it felt like they'd crack under pressure, my jaw started to hurt and my knuckles were still pressed against my windpipe making it very uncomfortable to breath. I didn't respond, I couldn't, so I kept my eyes closed and my head turned away from him, patiently waiting for him to release me, and within a minute he finally did. First he let my wrists go, but gently slipped his warm hand into mine and as if I were nothing but a feather to him, he hoisted me back onto my feet. I yanked my hand from his like he were a leper and dusted my shoulders from the imaginary dust that had fallen on it still refusing to look at him.
He frowned, "Aw, come on; don't be like that sunshine … it was a job, nothing personal."
That's when I snapped back, "I saved your ass and lied to my leader for you, don't you dare tell me this isn't personal."
He arched a brow and scoffed, "Well, I don't know if you've noticed this or not, but I'm as much a prisoner here as you are, so when I say it's a job, take my word for it."
Childishly I crossed my arms over my chest and pouted as I turned away from him to glare at the far wall, curiously wondering why no guard had come in to break us up … I was pretty sure we were making an awful lot of noise. I narrowed my eyes and curtly asked, "Where is here anyway?"
"Don't know."
I shot him a dry look, he shrugged, "Whoever they are, they blindfold you and sedate you just before transfer, so I really don't know."
I frowned, "Then how did you plan my capture?"
"I didn't, they did … they told me everything through the com-link in this room."
"How have they been feeding you?"
He gestured to the small desk, "There's an opening in the wall, but forget about finding a way out through there, it's too small for even you to crawl through, no windows, no recess, and I haven't seen any other prisoners either … but I have good reason to suspect there are more than just us."
"How so?"
He shrugged, "Just a feeling … I mean, in a place this high-tech why waste it on just two lousy human-beings."
I refrained from letting him know I wasn't entirely human, he didn't have to know and quite frankly I was forcing myself to talk to him. Despite the fact him helping in my capture was his job to do, I was still mad he went through with it. Just goes to show I can't trust him as far as I can throw him … but then again with my powers that was a bad metaphor, I can throw his ass pretty damn far if I wanted to. Lord knows, I want to so badly. Still grinding my teeth I scooted away from him and plopped back down on my bunk, I propped my elbows on my knees and tucked my chin on my fists as I glared at the ground.
X slid under his bunk to sit with me, but on the far side with his back leaning on the post and one leg propped up on my bed, I was tempted to shove him off just to spite him, but figured I've been childish enough. Now I had to set aside what he's done to figure out just what the hell was going on … so just to fill in some blanks I asked, "Did they tell you why you're here or why I'm here?"
He shook his head, "Nope … I haven't had any human interaction since last night when they abducted me after you left. I was stabbed twice, passed out, then woke up here in this cell, given the instructions and then was sedated and the next thing I know I'm in the building wearing my Red X suite getting shot at. I called you, and the rest is history … truth be told."
I stared at him, not analytically like he usually does to me, but thoughtfully, just mulling his words around in my head and drawing my own conclusions for the reason I was here. I blinked away from him and slid further back on my bunk to press my back against the wall and curl my knees up to my chest so to rest my chin on them. With my arms wrapped around my legs I thought a loud just to see what X would say if he chimed in, "If you were just here for one night … or more depending on how long I've been out … then that means whoever imprisoned us must want us together specifically. If anything those five men I went up against were probably tests, to see if I was worthy enough to be your partner."
He frowned, "So you actually fought a few people, without your powers?"
I nodded, "I do know hand-to-hand combat for situations such as these," I sighed heavily and closed my eyes, "but I suppose what good are they if we're stuck in a cage built to hold both you and especially me in. Unpickable locks, power suppressant technology … this was planned … someone has been watching us for a while; they know our strengths and our weaknesses. I bet if we were told to do their bidding they could blackmail us if we don't do so cooperatively."
He scoffed, "With my suit gone, it's gonna take a lot of convincing for your teammates to believe you've been hangin' with the enemy, especially since they have to prove I am Red X, and they can't do that without the suit."
"The suits in my room, I didn't have time to hide it properly, so all Robin has to do is look in my closet and we're both finished."
"…" he blinked, and then said aloud what we were both thinking, "Fuck."
I inwardly nodded in agreement; we were shit out of luck and jolly well fucked if we didn't find a way out of here and fast. I had no clue how long it's been since I've been out and judging from what X had told me about the sedation he would have been out cold too, so estimating from his given information would be useless. For all I know they could have upped his dose and days could have passed by with the rest of my teammates not having a single clue about where I was.
That was a scary thought.
It meant that I was all on my own.
With X as my common – or only – alley, how ironic, the one time I don't want to even know him is the time when I need him the most … the Fates have a cruel sense of humor indeed. I chewed on my lower lip as the cell was engulfed in a pregnant silence with nothing but the constant humming of the electro-magnetic glass-shield to fill the quite. Beside me, still leaning against the post, X had tilted his hand and begun to twirl a tuft of hair sticking out from the side of his head. Only the tuft was small so it kept evading his grasp and he kept trying to grab a hold of it, the constant struggle with the distant look on his face made him seem almost adorable.
Like a little boy when he scratches his head trying to make sense of whatever his parents were trying to teach him.
That is … if X even had any parents.
I only remember once he had mentioned he had a cool-uncle that taught him how to pick basic padlocks, and about that story of his birth and his mother, but he spoke about him and his mother in the past-tense, so I assumed they were dead. I never bothered to ask to confirm and I won't bother to now. It was a thought that occurred to me just now as we sat here in silence. My eyes transfixed on the twirling of his fingers and his evasive little tuft; tempted to ask him why he's doing it now when I've never seen him show me a single little character trait of his that made him human I again refrained from asking and tore my gaze away from him.
Just in time for his amber eyes swung in my direction; I stared at the far wall while I felt him stare at me. I let him for now, until I began to feel uncomfortable and I narrowed my eyes on him and his analytical look, "What?"
He blinked and shrugged, "Nothing, just thinking."
I decided to humor him, "Of …?"
"Well … back at the docks, you said you wanted to get to know me better …" He crawled closer to me on my bed and I flinched when he plopped on his back in front of me, with one hand tucked under his head and another resting on his chest. His brown hair fell over his right eye while his left peered up at me with a smirk, "Well, we got all the time in the world now."
I rolled my eyes, "That was before I discovered how much of a weasel you really are."
"Seriously, why are you so upset? We were never close … we never had any strong ties … I thought you'd suspect something like this."
"I did when I came to your rescue …"
"So why are you mad at me? What did I honestly do to piss you off?"
"…" I couldn't respond, because now that I thought of it, he was right … I really had no reason to feel betrayed or mad. I did suspect he'd pull something like this, and I never really trusted him enough to consider him a friend … until recently. I inwardly sighed heavily, it was all too complicated, maybe it was a repercussion of what Terra and Malchior had done to me that made me think this way. I don't know, and I was getting tired of thinking, caring, and sitting the way I was sitting all curled up in this corner. However, I couldn't stretch out since X was laying on my bed, trapping me against this wall, I was tempted to kick him off (and maybe crack a rib or two just to spite him) but I didn't.
Instead I crossed my legs, lotus-style and tucked my hands under my legs as I watched the hand on his chest rise and fall with every breath he took. He lifted up that hand to snap a finger in my face so I could respond to his question, so I did before he could snap them, "Forget about it now X, it doesn't matter anymore."
He put his hand back on his chest and shrugged, "I know, but we got nothing better to do … you missed feeding time and soon enough it's going to be –" he cut himself off when the lights in the cell and outside suddenly shut off and we were both drenched in dark silence expect for the consistent hum of the shield that remained. I could barely see X in this darkness, but I could feel him rolling out from my bed till he removed himself completely while grumbling, "Lights out, Rae."
I guess his way of saying goodnight.
I didn't bother to question it, only laid my head back on my pillow feeling the remnant of his body heat on my bed, it warmed my body that I hadn't known had gotten cold enough to send a chill down my spine. There were no blankets to cover me and the freezing-metal just seemed to mock me as I curled into a tight ball to retain my warmth. I knew I wouldn't sleep through this artificial night, when being incarcerated, who would be able to sleep at all? I chewed on my lower lip and stared at the far wall (or where I thought was the far wall) as I allowed my mind to wonder and weave and tumble and ponder about everything.
The seconds ticked … the minutes piled … and the hours stretched on endlessly.
The humming shield lulled us into a false sense of security.
I knew X wasn't asleep, because twice he's shifted on top of me and huffed heavily.
He seemed to have a sort of pattern that let me know he wasn't one for keeping still; he had to be in continuous motion when he is awake and a small part of me was glad that I wasn't alone in the non-sleep department. However I never bothered to speak up, I remained silent throughout the 'night' until finally the lights exploded back on after what I guestemated was at least 8 hours.
Bright florescent lights that I wasn't prepared for temporarily blinded me, I hissed and stuffed my face into my pillow and I heard X above me growl and curse in equal discomfort, "You'd think they'd give us a fuckin' warning bell or something, God!"
I couldn't agree more.
Then, suddenly a loud: BUUUZZZZZZ!!!
Shocked us both out of bed, I nearly slammed my head on X's bunk, but was smart enough to roll out and stand with my back pressed to X's back, both of us on high-alert. I fisted my hands and prepared for anything when the buzzing stretched on for what felt like five minutes. It was deafening and it kept either of us from relaxing, then, the intercom voice X was talking about boomed within the tiny room and enveloped us.
Metallically distorted, it said, "Resistance is futile; press your backs against the shield, palms flat on the glass, failure to comply may result in death, you have five seconds to comply."
From out of the top corners of the walls guns flipped out and aimed at our chests and heads with the assistance of laser-pointers. We looked back at one another, then quickly rushed to the glass and did as was told. Within a matter of seconds our hands sank through the glass and were grabbed by cold leather gloved hands, we were cuffed with what I felt were familiar magnetic laser-locks and then an odd metal ring was slipped over our heads. I gasped when it clamped around my eyes and completely blinded me, then yelped when my entire body was pulled through the glass and out into God-only-knows where.
I stumbled a bit trying to find my footing as the two men (I assumed they were men with how large their hands were clamped around my forearms) pushed me forward and guided me in their direction. I tried to make out where X was, but every time I tried to glance over my shoulder one of the men would shoved my head back around and force it down. Total control … that's all that came to mind was total, absolute, complete control. It would be the only other reason why they didn't want us seeing where we were. They controlled the day-time, the night-time, when we ate and when we slept … it was daunting, but effective since neither X nor myself could figure out just how the hell to get out.
We walked for what seemed like forever, but was surely only five minutes … taking turn after turn, stairway after stairway, hallway after hallway and they were all the same … metal. The sound of our footsteps were echoed and sounded like we were in a tin can, even my feet were starting to freeze at how cold and unforgiving the ground was. Until, finally, we came to a stop and I listened at the hissing of an automatic door slide open, but it sounded like many sharp parts … as if the door were circular and spun open like a flower. Besides that, I was shoved through the door till I fell against the far wall of the small room.
I grunted and pushed off of it; with my hands still cuffed and my vision still blocked I spun around to where I assumed the door was and shouted, "What the hell is going on?!"
Yet, before I even finished half of what I said the door spun closed and locked, I sucked in a deep breath and gasped softly when the ground shuttered and I felt myself moving downward … apparently I was on an elevator, but going where? I was still confined to the cuffs and the headgear, and much to my dismay and growing panic, X was not with me.
I was all alone.
I bit down on my lower lip and waited for the elevator to stop, when it finally did, it was with such a violent jerk I fell off balance and hit the ground on my butt and my head knocked against the metal wall, I winced, "Ahh …"
Another of those flower-doors opened and I gritted my teeth when I heard more guards come in after me, but this time, they were female. I felt one of their breasts brush against my arm as they lifted me back onto my feet, and plus their hands were much smaller. Yet, their rough treatment remained the same; they all but dragged me out of the lift and into another room, one where I felt much more activity, more life than ever before. Hell, I actually heard other's talking, having actual conversations, but the atmosphere remained the same.
Daunting, and controlling … for all I knew this was just another way to trick my mind into a false sense of security.
The women dragged me up a few steps then stopped, one of them let me go and I listened as she unlocked another room and then with the same manner as the men, they harshly shoved me into this new room. This time it was without the pretty glass shield, I listened to the heavy steel doors slam shut, and the moment it did the ring around my head loosened and fell heavily around my neck. The cuffs behind my back fell off and hit the ground with a heavy CLANK!! Once I was free I did a 360 to peer around my new small 4x3ft cell and scowled, "Great … now what …"
The moment I said that a section of the far wall from the door flipped and a blue screen appeared before me, it seemed to be calculating something in another language … but a language that made me do a double-take. It looked familiar; I know I've seen it before, but where? I wasn't fast enough to decipher what it was and ended up stumbling back into the door when a harmless laser (I didn't know that at the time) shot out and scanned my enter body. From head to toe and then zipped back into the screen and spoke in Azarian, it took a moment for me to register and to translate my native tongue.
It said, "Raven Rachel Roth, Central Azarath, fifty percent human, fifty percent unknown origin. Confirm?"
The screen showed a simple: Yes or No button for me to press, but it was still written in Azarian.
I frowned and hesitantly scooted closer to the screen, tapped on Yes, and the screen transitioned to black with blue equalizer lines as the computer spoke, "Raven Roth, you are chosen to participate in an underground tradition dating back to the origins of life itself. Failure to cooperate will result in your permanent expulsion that involves your ultimate demise." I sneered, Seems like everything results in Death here, I thought bitterly as the wall to my right flipped open and laid out before me was a new change of clothes (that oddly enough resembled the uniform of the guards on Azarath who defended the Temple Azar) and a set of wicked looking weapons.
The screen continued to talk, "You are to partake in the holiest of ceremonies praising the warriors of old who have fought and died to maintain the balance of life possible. Dawn your battle garments, and wield your weapons of choice with pride, fight to the death in this grand arena, prove your worth, and earn your freedom … may the ancients have mercy on your soul."
With that, the screen flipped back into its wall and left me to my thoughts as I stared at the wall lined with weapons and I gulped when the reality suddenly hit me. I am going to actually have to kill someone in order to survive! I've never killed anyone before … not even when I've lost all control of my power … there was always someone else there to stop me, or people would flee before I'd ever get the chance to actually maim a living-being. Every fighting move I've learned, every spell I've memorized, and with every flick of my wrist, I knew I had the capability to kill … but I never had the heart.
I couldn't do it then … I don't think I'll be able to do it now …
I stepped away from the shelves of weapons and pressed my back against the far wall still staring at the gleaming blades and blunt bullets thirsty for blood. Their jagged edges, their fine hairline points, their hard easy-grip handles, and their smooth tempting-to-the-touch surface that could carve a man like a Thanksgiving-turkey … and those were just the swords, knives, daggers, scythes, etc, etc that I could see. There were also staffs, clubs, guns, whips, and chains. Yet, the point being is they were all deadly, all of them with one purpose, one mode, one setting, and that's to kill.
I closed my eyes and bowed my head, I took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, "Relax Raven … you can do this … your life depends on it …"
Then again … how important was my life?
Was it so important to end someone else's life for it?
Was I worth the death of another – possibly fellow – prisoner who might even have a family, friends, a life that I would otherwise have sacrificed my own life to save to begin with?
I was a hero … my sole purpose was to die to save others.
That's my occupation.
Going against it now … wouldn't I be a hypocrite … especially when I took a Hippocratic Oath to do no harm?
I growled, Ethics … argh … why do they always have to be a constant conflict?
Screw it, I thought as I began to unbutton my prison uniform to slip on the long bell-sleeved, floor-length dark-blue hooded cloak that would only be held together by two belts, one that strapped just under my bust-line, and the other just above my waist. I left the waist alone and pulled on the clean-white shorts, then fastened up the dark-blue thigh-high boots. It didn't take me forever to decide my weapon; I just grabbed the bo-staff (very similar to Robin's) and sighed, hoping and praying the gods above that this fight wouldn't have to be one to the death.
Perhaps … maybe … if I put on a good enough show and convince the people in-charge that it'll be within their greatest interest to keep us both alive, maybe, just maybe I can spare us both (my opponent I mean) the conscience of either blood on either's hand. Or, on an even scarier thought, maybe my opponent wouldn't care! Maybe they were cold-blood killers who had no regard for life whatsoever and were just out for themselves; maybe … maybe … a shocked gasp escaped my lips when a frighteningly disturbing thought came to mind.
What if it's X I'm suppose to fight?!
That would be … cruel … just speechlessly cruel!
Especially after everything these … whoever they are had put us through!
Rooming us together, forcing X to help with my capture, forcing me to play nurse to cradle him back to health … actually, now that I think about it … it would make for interesting entertainment. Put two close friends (even though we hadn't established just what the hell we were to each anymore) together in a ring, have them fight to the death, and see what happens. That was if I were thinking objectively, granted I always strived to be objected, but this time … I just couldn't find the strength to not have a heart.
If it was X I had to fight I just wouldn't be able to do it.
I was weak like that.
Even after the small grudge I had against him for setting me up, I couldn't kill him, hell if it were Malchior prior to my 18th birthday I still wouldn't be able to kill him!
They were just … I don't know … I guess they were the only guys I've ever, ever in my entire life had actually given a damn about besides my teammates. My teammates were second nature, caring for them was like breathing, it was bound to happen after everything we've been through, but Malchior and X. They were a struggle, a struggle within myself to let my guards down long enough for them to be able to see into my soul and into the girl that hid behind the Ice Queen.
I shook my head, You're about to fight to the death and you're reminiscing about the past? That's just wonderful Raven! I shouted at myself and huffed trying to control my emotions, trying to seal it all up within a tight box to once again maintain my signature indifference. Despite the fact my powers were still suppressed, it was a habit of mines to lock myself away inside so no emotions would get in the way on a battlefield.
Especially one of this caliber.
Suddenly:
BANG! BANG!
Someone kicked at the steel door beside me, I stumbled away from it and glared as a compartment was slid open and finally a pair of some life-form's eyes peered into my cell and at me. They stared me up and down, evaluating my attire and my weapon then slid the compartment back shut, I expected them to tell me to come to the door so they could process me into the arena, but no. The compartment was opened once more and something small, metal, smooth, oval in shape, and about an inch wide in diameter was thrown in with me. I blinked at it, wondering if they wanted me to take it, but then stilled when the tiny device suddenly jumped and came to life!
It had six small rope-like legs that uncoiled from the body and lifted off the ground, it seemed to look around with a single glowing-red eye and once it turned and spotted me, the sucker moved too fast for me to react! Before I knew it, it latched onto my right arm, crawled up my shoulder and fastened itself around my neck. Its body pressed against the back of my neck, but surprisingly enough the act itself was the only thing that startled me, otherwise its tight grip was quite comfortable. I gasped and clawed at it for a few seconds, trying to see if I could take it off, but when it started to beep, I decided to stop touching it.
For all I knew it could be some kind of explosive that anyone sitting within a 500ft radius could set off.
That … was a scary thought.
So I stood silent and patient as the wall with the weapons closed up, and the floor I stood on suddenly jerked loose. I held onto the wall wondering what the hell was happening now, but then ended up shifting to the center of the floor when the floor turned out to be a platform being lifted upward. I went higher and higher, picking up speed and the ceiling started getting bigger and bigger till I was tempted to lift my hands up in a futile attempt to stop myself from being crushed. However, the ceiling suddenly slid open and sunlight, actual sunlight, bathed the metallic darkness and drenched me in the warmth of day.
I could have sighed in rapture, but the platform shoved me all the way up and came to a jerked halt that made me jump and land unceremoniously on my bottom (again). Ouch. I winced, and would have rubbed myself where it hurt the most, but stilled when I heard a thunderous roar of cheers that sounded like a thousand-plus people all around me. I quickly got to my feet and looked around to notice I was at the far end of an arena that would put the Roman Coliseum to shame!
It was huge!
And from what I could gather, it was built in a ditch, No … I reconsidered and concluded, it's a crater … we're in a giant crater … I gazed in awe at the thousands upon thousands of people that gathered to see the bloodshed and I noticed they weren't human. No, as a matter of fact, now that I noticed their style of dress, and their skin color I realized with shock and disbelief that they were Tameranians!
Starfire's people!
I had to be on Tameran!
Almost dizzy with this mind-numbing fact of being light years away from Earth, I nearly didn't make note of the fact that I was also stuck in a glass box. While in the middle raised on his own platform X stood free from any sort of glass-confinement. I frowned when we both stared at each other in wonder, and then looked off to the side when two other platforms were raised. Another glass-box with another person inside looked revved-up and ready to go; he glanced my way but disregarded me as if I were nothing but another face.
And to him … I probably was.
While on the side platform, beside X, also free from a glass-box was another man with a scythe in his hands and he looked like he knew how to use it to. He looked at X, also with no sign of regard for human-life, but just a dry acknowledgement of who his next opponent was and much to my shivering discovering, X matched his look with a curt nod. It was then did I see tucked into their holsters' crossed behind his back were two curved blades I knew were not of the defensive style. I didn't know X enough to say I was shocked and appalled at the idea that he didn't think about all of this the same way I did, but I had to be honest, the thought of X being a killer never crossed my mind. Even with all my talk about him being the first to draw blood if the chance ever presented itself. That was all metaphors, but put into context, it was disturbing.
However … it wasn't as disturbing as the conclusion I drew up with our positions on this chessboard.
I wasn't going to fight Red X (thank the gods for that), but he was going to save me.
This will make us even.
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Disclaimer: I don't own the Teen Titans, DC does …
A/N: Now ain't this something … Starfire kidnapped Raven perhaps? Eh, who knows … I do!! XDD!! Honestly, when I was writing the 4th chapter, originally I thought maybe it would have been the Teen Titans themselves to capture her and X and lock them in some kind of underground cell because they were unsure of taking them to the big-house and let the story run from there. However, I decided maybe that would have been too early a discovery, plus I didn't really want to completely alienate the others from Raven, and make them seem like asses, just didn't seem right to me.
So I changed the entire idea and now they're on Tameran … why exactly is for you to ponder to yourselves or share with me in your reviews while I prepare the next chapter for release. In the mean time, from where I'm at no matter what this site says I have updated this on Christmas day (Guam is a day ahead of the US if you're der), so Happy Holidays and Merry Chirstmas!! Love you guys!! Peace on Earth, good will towards man, and all that good stuff.
L8er daez!