Long Road to Ruin
Nothing Personal
Trumpets (or what were considered trumpets) screamed so loud with such a screeched sound it made my ears ring, even X and our competitors flinched at the shrill noise that pierced through the buzzing crowd and silenced them almost immediately. For good reason to, because suspended above the arena behind the glass-boxes was a booth that held who apparently were the royal family. Not Starfire's uncle, or nanny, or whatever the hell she called him, but another fiercer bunch that consisted of a princess, a prince, a queen, and a king who all sat upon their thrones with indifferent glares, or bored stares.
The king – or who I assumed was the king – stood up, draped in attire that was no more royal than X was in his dark blue jeans and black t-shirt. This 'king' was old enough to be considered my father, but without the gray, he looked buff enough to hold his own in battle, but he seemed to lack the motivation to move across the platform much less fight. With his dull emerald green eyes, he raised his hands to the crowd to silence them and spoke into what I assumed was a hidden mic because it boomed through out the entire arena, and he spoke in Tameranian.
Whatever he said, I stilled when I heard it whispered in my language from behind my neck, I reached back, wondering what it was, but then remembered the device strapped around my neck. So it's a translator, I thought in realization, and listened carefully, "Behold! My fellow Outcast Brethren, on its axel this spit of a plant has crossed its twenty-fourth year since the last celebration commemorating those who have perished in the Twenty-Four Year War with the Forsaken Ones."
He paused when the crowd burst into a brilliant display of excitement, loud cheering, a lot of chanting, and when the king raised his hands again to silence the crowd all went quiet to hear what he had to say. He took in a deep breath, recollected himself, and proceeded with his speech, I glanced away from him for a moment when one of the other royals in the booth shifted in his seat and caught my attention. The prince, I presumed, leaned forward and to his right to speak softly to his mother, his mother listened, but then both of their cool lavender eyes much lighter than Blackfire's looked down at us … or was it just me? I moved to my right, her eyes followed me, I shifted to my left, her eyes now joined with her son's still followed, I narrowed my eyes. What were they thinking? What did it have to do with me?
The king's voice boomed through out the arena and recaptured my attention when he pointed at us, "You fighters have been demeaned the best of the best from worlds stretching across the galaxy and shall start the celebrations with your display of power, and skill. To the death you shall fight, the only rule that applies: No Mercy." Then, with a lazy flick of his wrist, the crowd erupted in another onslaught of screeching cheers as the trumpets sounded and the match commenced when a Tameranian flew into the center of the arena between X and his opponent and smiled maliciously.
He raised a hand into the air, and the moment he did it activated a transparent screen which hovered over the crowd far on the opposite side of the arena from myself. Upon the screen was a picture of X and his opponent, both with what apparently were life-bars beside their pictures, but it didn't say life-bar exactly. What it said was 'Shield-Integrity' … but what shield? That's when I listened to the 'ref' explain the tech, "The devices on your necks serve more purpose than just translating dialect, it is your only chance to survive a fatale blow in this battle. Take too many hits, the shield will collapse and leave you wide open for a Death-Blow, but fear not Earthlings. The shields can be restored, but only if you exchange places with your fellow cellmate. Eliminate all of your opponents and victory shall be years, earn your freedom, and may the Gods have mercy on your mortal souls!"
The referee flew high into the sky and with one word, suddenly the ground beneath all four of us disappeared and the arena was suspended in mid-air with more than enough floating platforms that I did not trust to hold our weights. The platform with the glass-boxes started to glow bright blue and I heard the device behind my neck beep slowly … fully charged. I searched the arena for X and found him on my far left crouched with his blades clutched in each hand parallel to his elbow. The other fighter was on my extreme right twirling his scythe just waiting for the green-light, and he got it.
The referee snickered, "FIGHT!!"
I rushed forward and nearly pressed my face up against the glass when X moved with fluid agility across the field leaping platform after platform towards his opponent who came at him with equal eagerness. My breath caught in my throat as the guy with the scythe jumped clear over X's head and came down on him with the pointed tip of his scythe. X threw himself forward to avoid being sliced, but it was too late, it happened so fast all I did was scream and bang my fist against the glass, "X!!!"
The blade of the scythe carved X straight up his spine from stern to neck; he cried out and slid on his side upon the platform then rolled and nearly fell to his doom. His doom being the ground we were once on now turned into a deadly spike-bed that would not end well for any unlucky bastard who went over. I couldn't stop my heart from racing even if I tried, especially when I glanced at the giant screen to see X's 'life-bar' drop dramatically, nearly half of it was gone and that was with one hit. With my fists still on the glass I felt myself bounce on my toes excitedly (in a bad way) while chanting softly, "Come on, get up, get up, get up."
X was still lying on his side too close to the edge of the platform and his opponent now standing on the far end of the same platform had his scythe resting on his shoulder stoically watching X for any sign of retaliation. When X still seemed out of it to the man he twirled his scythe and rushed in for the final blow. I almost couldn't bear to watch when the stranger took another swipe at X and seconds before his blade came in contact with him X rolled off and half-fell, half jumped to the next platform below. I breathed easier when X was finally on his feet and his blades back in his hands, but I could tell with the way he held himself the hit he received may have been repelled, but he could feel the pain from the impact.
It was a direct hit to his spine; his back was probably killing him!
I bit down on my lower lip as his opponent glared down at him, then jumped, but this time X smartened up. He went on the defensive and leapt away from the scythe when the blade swiped at where his head use to be, but then he jumped forward and swung his left arm around to land a solid punch on the stranger's jaw that stunned him. He continued with a vicious combo that would have left a bloody mess if there were no shield to chip away at. With his right curved blade he sliced diagonally-downward and then made an 'X' on the man's chest with his left blade.
He then twirled his right blade so it was once again parallel to his arm and spun around so the edge dug into the man's neck, and the edge of the left blade sliced open his stomach. After going the complete 360 he flipped backwards in a flip-kick that landed the man flat on his back. The stranger's life-bar dropped almost as dramatically as X's, but after all that he still had half a bar left that was plenty more than X's. I looked away from the screen back down at X to see him lifted his right blade up to stab into the man's chest, but the man still had a lot of fight left in him.
He flipped himself back on his feet, scythe in hand and suddenly they were all over the arena and moving faster than before. Counter-blocking and counter-breaking, clashing fiercely, and attacking ruthlessly it was almost hard to keep up with every move they made (I even suspected that most of their moves were improvised to keep up the pace). So I kept my eyes on the screen and noticed with great despair that X was losing! His bar kept going down faster and faster, chunk after chunk was going away until all I saw was a tiny portion left. I looked down and searched for X, to warn him and tell him to come to the box so he could re-charge, but apparently I didn't have to.
Seconds passed and before I knew it something solid smashed onto my box from the top, I looked up to find X down on one knee with one hand pressed to the glass and panting relatively hard. He stared at me and nodded just before the glass suddenly disappeared and he dropped in, I couldn't even ask if he would be okay before an invisible force shoved me out of the box and sent me flying onto one of the many platforms.
"Ahhh!!" I cried out in shock as I landed on my back unable to gain my bearings until I sat up and realized I was free of the glass-box … which was nothing to celebrate.
Back on my feet I looked at X now trapped in the box glaring at me and pointing at something furiously as he shouted, "Get him!"
'Him' being the opponent he knocked the life-bar down low enough for me to finish the job. To actually end it, to kill a human life … I acted without thinking, I started running towards the second glass-box, trying to beat the man, to stop him from re-charging his shield, but just to stop him. Killing him … I still had a problem with that … I don't think I have the mindset for that, granted, I am half demon, but the human in me had a problem with taking a life.
I couldn't do it.
In any case, the man smacked the side of the glass-box for it to open, but just as it did I leapt off the last platform and fly-kicked him in his chest then used him as leverage to spin around and kick him again before I flipped off him and landed in a crouch. He stumbled back with a grunt of pain and with my bo-staff in hand I extended it to trip him off his feet, but little did I know there was no platform for him to fall on and he ended up going over the edge! I didn't know this … I swear I didn't, all I was aware of was the fact that with each previous hit I chipped at his life-bar till it was complete obliterated, the device on his neck fell off and plummeted to the spiked-pit below. By then the glass had already slammed shut before his partner could come to his assistance as he dangled over the edge clutching hold with just his fingertips.
I was not aware of this, and if I was I wouldn't have perfectly executed my twirl as I held up my staff and dropped it back down with the intent of knocking him out cold, never to kill him. Never, but this wasn't the case, I ended up slamming my staff on his fingers which ultimately made him release his hold so he fell to meet his gruesome end. I gasped and nearly dropped my staff altogether when the reality of what I had done hit me so hard it winded me.
His scream of true terror pierced the air despite the roaring excitement of a demented crowd.
No! It was an accident! NO! My knees grew weak, I started to shake, the world was tilting, I was going numb.
How could I … what have I done …?!
"RAVEN!!" X screamed from within his box and snapped me out of my tilting world; I looked to him as he slapped the glass with a panicked look on his face as he pointed behind me. With the staff still in my hands, I slowly turned to see the man's partner's box had disappeared altogether and my new opponent was free, he charged me. I was too slow to react as he dug his shoulder into my gut and shoved me over the edge, I felt myself suddenly suspended in midair, a feeling that I was already familiar with, with my ability of flight, but this was different. This wasn't flight, I was falling, I had no control, I was going to die!
One part of me accepted this fact; I didn't deserve to live when I killed an innocent life that was as much a prisoner to this deranged-game as X and I were. I had to be punished for my sins.
Yet … another part of me, the more stubborn portion of my shady personality wouldn't accept Death without a fight.
It was this portion, much to the dismay of my self-pity that won and like a cat dropped from twenty-stories, I flexed my body, twisted in midair and caught the edge of a nearby platform. I gripped it with one hand and used the momentum of my angled fall to swing myself back on solid ground. I sank into an offensive pose and allowed my instincts to take over completely, I would need it if I were to survive this for I wasn't as skilled as Robin in hand-to-hand, but lucky me he saw fit to train me in his martial-arts, Tae-kwon-do being my greatest interest.
However, none of this would be helpful when I discovered my opponent was a gunslinger.
With automatic handguns, one in each hand and each of them loaded, I gulped when he glared down at me and pointed the barrels to my head. He was cocked, locked, ready to rock, and I was so screwed when he opened fire, I took off running realizing much to my great distress that he was a crack shot when I felt one of his bullets nearly graze my heel when I fell into a back-flip. I landed the flip and rushed him head on when he ran out of rounds, I had to disarm him before he reloaded and I figured if he was a gunslinger he would be useless without his weapons so I hit him with everything I had.
But I was dead wrong.
When I came down on him with numerous combinations of the staff and my foot he blocked each hit, but with each hit I shoved him towards the end of his platform. With two more impacts of my staff blocked I spun around and kicked him in his gut hard enough so his heel went over the edge, but he flipped off to land on another platform. His guns still in hand and new magazines loaded, he jerked it down on the sides of his legs, locked the magazines, loaded his bullets and at pointblank range let loose a string of bullets that impaled me.
One! Two! Thee! Four! Five shots nicked me as I tried to run and it brought the integrity of my shield way down. The impact was as real as getting shot by actual bullets and I found myself panting heavily by the time his rounds were out and I rushed him again, this time I was determined to get those guns away from him!
Another hit like that could mean the end of me, and I won't have it!
"Hyyahh!!" I screamed as I dropped from the sky with a drop-kick after his last shot was fired, he scowled and grabbed my leg to swing me around, but I hooked my staff around the back of his neck and held on. So with my free leg I kneed his chin hard enough for him to stumble back and lose his grip on me. Still on him, I made sure he hit the platform with a bounce when I kicked off him and flipped so I was back on track.
The crowd went crazy.
Through my peripheral vision I saw X cheer me on, especially when I had managed to separate the gunslinger from his guns.
Now, it was a piece of cake, right?
Wrong again.
When I rushed in to further more destroy his shield, he suddenly jerked himself up and in his right hand was a handle, connected to the handle was what looked to be string and on the string were miniature blades sharp, jagged, and mean. It took me till it was too late to realize that it was a bladed-whip when he unraveled it, swung it over his head and with a single crack the very tip of the whip slapped me on my right cheek hard enough that it felt like a punch to the face. I fell back with a cry of shock and pain while I watched my life-bar fall a bit more.
I bit down on my lip and flipped myself back on my feet, but leaned back and fell to another platform when I heard the crack of the whip and felt the air it sliced over me where my head use to be. I scowled at him, but then he shrugged and in perfect English said, "Nothing personal."
Nothing personal … I repeated in my head and let it marinade in thought for a moment.
He was right.
This wasn't personal.
Kill or die.
Fight or flight.
So I once again sank into an offensive pose and nodded, "Nothing personal."
He grinned when I understood him, but then swung his whip around to again let me have it, but I managed to stab my staff into the platform and used it as a block when the whip wrapped around it and got stuck when he tried to pull it back. He frowned and again jerked to yank it loose, but it was firm, that's when I leapt onto the bladed-whip and used it like a tight-rope to run across before he let it go to have me fall to my death. I jumped off and came down on him, he thought it was another drop kick, but he was gravely mistaken, I landed with my knees hooked on his shoulders and his head caught between my thighs. I fell back and with his head firmly held within my thighs I jerked him forward as I fell into a back-flip and dropped him into the spike-pit.
With that, I ended the game …
Still gripping the edge of the platform and panting heavily as the adrenaline rush in me almost drained to nothing, leaving me with not enough energy to lift myself back on the platform. So I dangled there, trying to catch my breath, and trying to come to terms with what I've done … Two people … I've killed two people … I closed my eyes and bowed my head when that one pathetic part of me whispered in my head and told me to let go.
Just let go …
"Raven!" I blinked back the blurriness in my vision to look up and see X leaning over the edge with a hand held out for me to take and a smirk on his lips. He looked happy to see me alive … but when he saw the tears in my eyes staining my cheeks he frowned and instead of waiting for me to take his hand he grabbed my wrist and hoisted me back on my feet. He probably saw it … saw that pathetic side of me wanting to pay for my sins and with what little of himself that was still human probably didn't want me to die.
However, knowing X, that was probably thinking too much of him.
But nevertheless I fell into his arms when my legs weren't ready to hold up the weight of the guilt bearing down on my shoulders; it felt good to be held, to be in the warmth of another person knowing that I wasn't completely alone here. However, no matter how good it felt, I made sure not to stay there long. Only two seconds and I shoved him away from me to wipe my face and rebuild my mask of indifference … as I've told myself before, there would be plenty of time for self-pity once I got back to Earth. With one hand on my hip I looked around the crowd and saw them cheering us on, their cries for bloody-entertainment met, and I hoped that I wouldn't have to do this again in the future. The next time I'd probably destroy my own shield first before I kill another life-form.
Beside me, X stared at me, most likely wondering what my problem was.
Well, he'll have to ponder away; I wasn't in the mood for idle chit-chat.
Not now.
Not ever.
So while we stood there waiting for whatever was suppose to happen after winning a life-or-death battle, we both tilted our heads up when about seven Tameranians dropped from the sky wielding sheathed swords hanging from their holsters at their sides. Who I assumed to be the leader pointed at us both then pointed to the ground, the intergalactic symbol for 'on your knees' I guess and so X and I dropped to the ground and laid our weapons at their feet. Another solider rushed to swipe the weapons up and only then did two other guards finally subdue us with the familiar laser cuffs and metal rings around our eyes.
Without much effort at all we were literally lifted off the platforms and into the air, how high, I have no idea, but I knew it was too high for any of us to survive the fall if one of these guards were to let us go. I prayed to Azar that wasn't the idea when the guards holding me suddenly tossed me high into the air, I nearly let out a frightened scream when I dropped back down a few feet, but gasped when someone grabbed me by my waist. Like a sack of potatoes I was tossed onto a shoulder and flown even higher until finally I recognized the stability of solid ground.
Was I on solid ground?
I hated being bound like this!
Why?!
Why did everything have to be a goddamned mystery?!
Hell, I wasn't even sure if X was still with me or not!
"…"
I heard talking, but it was in Tameranian and as multilingual as I am I did not speak Tameran, so why weren't these neck-thingies working now? I patiently waited in silence still hanging off this man's shoulder trying not to breathe since every breath I took his shoulder dug into my gut, it was getting very uncomfortable. Before long, I gasped when he dropped me to the ground on my feet, it took me a moment to gain my balance, but when I did I flinched when the speaking turned to shouting.
Someone was arguing with someone … well … actually now that I listened closely there was more than one person and much to my discomfort they were all male. All male with one female (being me), ugh, I didn't want to think it, but I had to consider all the possibilities on why I wasn't being thrown back in my cell with X. I bit down on my lower lip when one of the male voices, though younger than the others seemed to have authority when he raised it in volume and gave his orders the others did not agree with.
The guard holding my arm let me go, but not without the final word as he left my presence altogether. I sighed and tilted my head wondering if I was ever going to be released from these damned confinements. My wish was surprisingly granted when I felt someone hover beside me and pick the lock of my cuffs. Hands free, the ring around my eyes came next and with the cuffs they clattered to concrete ground. I blinked and looked around to immediately gain my bearings and I quickly noticed I was within the VIP booth that once held the royal family, but was now only occupied by the young man I had assumed was the 'prince' … oh, and X.
X was once again beside me massaging his wrist and glaring at the 'prince' who had a cool smile and a handsome face. He couldn't be no older than X, with pitch black hair cut short and combed back, it looked gelled with a sleek-shine and besides the fact that he was probably hosting a very illegal-game he seemed like a nice guy, but then again I could be wrong. I was already wrong on many other counts, what made this one any different?
The 'prince' said nothing, only held out his hand for me to take, I stared at it hesitantly, then glanced at X who's brows furrowed with a dark frown as he discreetly shook his head in the negative, telling me not to trust him, not to take his hand. He had a point; I didn't know what would happen, especially when the 'prince' didn't say anything. Yet, when I looked back at him that cool trustworthy smile remained and his hand remained outstretched for me to take. I bite down on my lower lip, and held up my hand to slide it into his grasp, but X grabbed my wrist and pulled me back to him with a scowl and growled at me through gritted teeth, "What the hell do you think you're doing?"
I yanked my wrist from him and scowled, "We need answers X."
"Yeah, and you're going to trust this yuppy scum-bag for answers? He's probably the one that locked us in that cell!"
"Well, we'll never know just standing here arguing about it, will we?"
He glared at me in frustration.
I matched his dark look before I turned back to the unflinching 'prince' who's smile turned into an amused smirk. Obviously, he didn't need to know English to understand what the dispute between X and I was about. Again, I lifted my hand up and this time unhesitant I slipped it into his grasp, and let him gently pull me closer to him, X shifted uncomfortably. His frustrated glare turned into an anxious look when I glanced back at him as I took a few more steps to stand only inches away from the 'prince'.
With my hand still in his, he raised his other hand and gently brushed my hair away from my neck, the back of his rough fingers brushed against my exposed flesh and I kept myself from flinch or panicking when his hand slipped behind my neck and tapped the device on it. It beeped twice, then chimed an odd note before he slipped his hand away from my neck to place it on the side of my face. I gulped when he leaned down and his face inched closer to mine, I leaned away on instinct, he paused in his advancement to stare deeply into my eyes and softly, in his language said, "Glophnex …"
I blinked in confusion.
He repeated, but with a little more emphasis on tone, a tone that sounded … pleading, unless I was hearing things, "Glophnex …"
Then it hit me, Starfire … the first time she met Robin she kissed him, and it was just to learn the language … it made sense, but why did this guy want to do this with me when the device on my neck worked just fine back on the field? I was tempted to look back at X for help, but he didn't know that little Tameranian language-trick, so to him this probably looked pretty bad. I better just go with it … so with my heart racing a mile a minute I nodded, and he smiled gratefully as he leaned down and softly pressed his lips to mine.
I closed my eyes as a tingling sensation crawled throughout my body on contact, a natural response I suppose since the lips of the human body were extremely touch sensitive. He massaged his lips against mine to open my mouth, I tilted my head to the side and back when I felt my breath leave me while he took in a deep breath and before I knew it he pulled away and nodded, "Thank you for understanding."
I walked back to stand beside a bewildered X that stared at me as if I had grown a second head and that second head was now shooting out flames, I ignored the 'prince' for a moment to clear things up with X, "They're Tameranians, and … a kiss is a way for them to understand another's language."
He arched a skeptical brow then shot a suspicious look at the innocent 'prince' and shrugged as he asked the same question that came to my mind, "Why couldn't you just use the things behind our necks? They work the same in translating don't they?"
The 'prince' tilted his head and shrugged, "Yes, but they can be programmed to lie in translation and I wanted to be as honest as possible with you both in these uncertain times. As I'm sure you're –" he gestured to me, "– already aware of the fact you're on Tameran, correct?"
I nodded in affirmation.
X glanced at us both then shook his head in confusion, "Whoa, where's Tameran, who are you, and why should I care?"
"Tameran is apart of the LyLex System on the outskirts of what you know as the Milky-Way Galaxy, not too far from Earth if you have warp-drive, but I, on the other-hand, am Ja'marnixzz, or Strongheart in your English tongue. My father is the leader of the Kuriphim'gar, The Embarrassments, or Outcasts. He and my mother as well as the many others you've seen within the crowd were thrown out of Lenphog'Dor for various crimes. Whether it be cold-blooded murder or just those that have brought shame to some higher-power on Tameran." He gave pause to ponder something, then gestured to me, "I'm sure you know Toriand'r, correct?"
"Koriand'r's sister, yes."
"Well, before she was banished from this planet altogether she lived here and made quite a name for herself …"
Through my peripheral I noticed X was looking at me in inquiry, I filled him in, "Koriand'r is Starfire, Toriand'r is Blackfire, her older sister."
He tilted his head curiously, "She has a sister?"
"Apparently."
"So Tameran is Starfire's home planet?"
"She's the princess."
"…" X stared at me waiting for the punch-line of the joke, but when it never came he scoffed, "I always knew there was something about her …"
I shook my head and let X ponder that piece of information as I turned my attention back to Strongheart, "As much as I like being filled in on my whereabouts, I'm actually more curious about what you want with us."
Strongheart blinked then sucked in a deep breath and sighed heavily, "Toriand'r … we grew … close. I listened to everything she had to say about her sister, I know the hatred she has for Koriand'r and as her close friend I've come to understand that hatred when news of Toriand'r's banishment finally reached me after all these years. It's unforgiveable."
I frowned, "Well what Blackfire did wasn't exactly anything to applaud about either, she tried to sell her sister to slavery, and then later marry her off while she steals the throne. If you ask me Blackfire just pushed too hard."
Strongheart looked down at me through his brows and his eyes lit up furiously the color of light-lavender, I took a step back in anticipation with X who tensed and prepared for a fight when Strongheart slowly said, "Toriand'r may be malevolent, but she does not deserve what fate has brought about for her."
Still on guard, I went ahead and asked, "Meaning?"
"Banishment from her only home lead to her capture on Crisious Prime, where no mercy is shown to a Troq … do you know what that means?" Strongheart glared at me with that dark look of his, his innocent nice-guy routine completely unraveled.
I nodded sullenly when I remembered how I found out.
For a while after the Titans had saved a planet from certain destruction, I felt guilty about the events that played out before hand, but I pushed it out of my mind, memory-lane would have to wait. My eyes found Strongheart's glow finally dimmed to nothing, but he continued to stare at me with a resentful look, as if he expected me to think of his kind in the same manner as others did. I could careless, and I showed it too with a bored huff, "So, what is the point of all this?"
He stepped up to us, X tensed, but it was all for not he simply walked passed us to stand near the edge of the floating booth that now looked over an empty arena. X and I both watched him lift off the ground in a gentle levitation as he floated out over the arena with a doozey of a drop under him. He turned to face us as he held out his hands and began to tell us a story. A story I thought had nothing to do with our predicament as he explained to us the origin of this barbaric tradition, of this Death Match.
Apparently the Embarrassments were once pitted against each other and used as entertainment for who he called the Hexezbrk'fe, the Forsaken Ones, also known as the Royal Family, deemed so because the Embarrassments considered them 'heartless hypocrites'. Hypocrites since the Forsaken tried to eradicate the Embarrassments altogether because they were seen as corruptions to their ideal society. Thus the Twenty-Four Year War broke out, many were killed on either side, but of course the Forsaken had ultimately won the war. The few remaining Embarrassments that survived fled to the desolate deserts to escape the ongoing genocide and thus an odd sort of community of Outcasts was created.
Outcasts that honored the past through reenacting the arena matches that are done voluntarily, but the opening of the 24 day ceremony required the capture of outsiders such as X and myself. X, as he revealed had been studied, watched, and recorded along with myself when it was discovered I was a Titan, however they had to be sure I was functional without my powers, hence the reason for X's distress call.
Everything fell into place with that explanation, and it was about to get complicated when Strongheart finally told us why it was important for us to know all this, "You both are still prisoners here in Tameran, yes, you can still earn your freedom through popularity, but it will take the full twenty-four days till you're deemed worthy for release. That's twenty-four days of fighting, killing, and surviving … the chances of either of you living to the last day are slim, do you want to take this chance?"
X, having been silent throughout Strongheart's entire story finally spoke up, "You make it sound like we have an ultimatum, what are you pitching?"
Strongheart arched a brow at the slang X used, not entirely familiar with it, he went ahead to say, "You can either try to cheat Death for the next twenty-four days, or you can go to Crisious Prime to save Toriand'r and bring her back here, with me, where she belongs. Do this, and I will personally send a message to your Koriand'r stating where you both are and freedom is yours."
X arched an interested brow, "A rescue mission? That's it?"
"Don't be naïve, Crisious Prime is not a very forgiving planet, its people are exceptionally strong and possess … strange powers that I myself will not meddle with. It is also the reason why I cannot ask those under my command to come with me on an expedition and my father would never let me out of his sight, not without my sister that is. So what is your decision?"
X glanced at me, I said nothing, expressed nothing, so without anything for him to go on he instead went on to ask, "Can we think about it first?"
Strongheart nodded, "You have till sundown to make up your mind, otherwise I leave you at the mercy of the arena."
With that he flipped in the air and spiraled down, probably to retrieve the guards so they can take us back to our cells. I ran both of my hands through my hair, sighed heavily and then plopped down on the ground with my feet dangling over the edge of the booth. Not exactly a safe thing to do considering my powers were still suppressed, but at the moment it didn't matter to me. My head was killing me, the pain from my prior fight was starting to throb, and I haven't meditated or had herbal tea in a long time. I was jonesing for a fix; I could already feel my mood turning sour when X sat beside me.
I looked away from him and closed my eyes when he said, "It's our best bet."
I whispered back in response, "I know …"
He looked at me, I didn't see him actually do it, but I could feel it, hear it in his voice, "Then what's with you?"
"… Tired … very, tired …"
"…"
He stopped talking for a while and I was thankful for the silence.
The wind whispered in my ear and caressed my hair as it whipped between X and myself … the distance between us only two feet away, but in this silence it felt like he was pressed up against me. With my eyes closed I could feel his warmth tickle my arm and the side of my leg, I almost wanted him close to me, just to feel that warmth, to remind myself that I wasn't the only one going through this.
As a matter of fact … now that I thought of it … I had an obligation to protect X.
I was still a Titan, we were both in trouble and it was my duty to defend the helpless (of course I know that X wasn't helpless, but it's the context not the facts that matters in these situations). Not to say that my views on him changed from criminal to victim, no, he was still a criminal … but when I opened my eyes and lifted my head up to stare at X and to find him staring back at me as well. I came to a sense of closure about why I felt betrayed earlier in our cell; it was because I had already considered him a close friend.
Red X is my friend.
Been so since our first night.
Slowly, I watched as a lazy smirk worked its way on his lips and his aloof-nonchalant attitude returned as he shrugged and asked, "What?"
I blinked and sighed as I leaned back on my hands and stared up at the purplish-orange Tameranian sky, "Nothing … just tired."
He chuckled, "Oookaaay … so what's the verdict, we gonna save the evil older sister or not?"
I nodded, "Of course we are. It's our only ticket home"
"… So why didn't you say anything earlier?"
I looked at him, "Because if I said yes right off the bat he would have had us on the next ship to Crisious Prime and I don't know about you, but I'd rather have a moment to collect myself before going off on a rescue, to a planet I've never been too, to save a girl I don't even like. Better to mentally prepare myself for it, you know."
"True, true …"
"… And … if we decide to escape somewhere in between … I'd rather come up with a plan first, don't you think."
His amber eyes twinkled at the idea and he grinned down at me with an impressed look on his face, "I love you, you know that right?"
I knew it was joke, he's said to me a dozen times before and it never bothered me, not even now, "You're not the only one."
--
Disclaimer: Don't own the Teen Titans, DC does, but Strongheart is mine :)
A/N: …. Okay … not exactly satisfied with how this chapter turned out, I actually wanted to end the fight with X, but that last move I made Raven execute was stuck in my head and I had to get it out on paper which ultimately had her end the fight :/ … hmm … yeah, still bothered by that. Oh well, what's done is done … now … moving on … I don't know if anyone's noticed this, but X's 'fighting-style' was inspired by another character, try to guess who he is, he's written on my profile and he's come out with a new game … XDD!!
If you can guess who then a cyber-cookie for you! In the meantime thanx for reading and reviewing …
L8er daez