95. For the Queen of Strings part 6

My left, metal hand gripped the window frame.

In stealth mode, I leaned my invisible head upside down and peered into the Main Room 'chamber'.

Beyond the gaping hole in the glass window, the place was empty of all life. Cold night winds rippled inward and caused the veils of hanging linen to flap and quiver. All the lights were out, and a sense of emptiness practically screamed from the inside.

I agilely snaked in and swung to my feet inside of the window. I took my shades off and covered the dark corners with my black eyes as I sauntered forward.

And yet…there was still nobody.

I reached the entrance to the Main Room. To the left of the elevator, a pair of double doors had been smashed down and there were……tire tracks on the floor.

I raised an eyebrow.

I spun about.

A beat.

I headed for the computer console.

I stopped in my tracks and gasped.

The console was completely smashed. Burnt at the edges. Charred beyond use.

I rushed towards it and desperately tried the keyboard and other input devices. No luck. It wasn't even on anymore.

I gritted my teeth and flexed my flesh and metal knuckles. How were we to operate the light controls now??

An exasperated exhale escaped my lips. I slowly turned around with tired black optics.

What was left of 'we' anyways?

I again turned and looked at the computer console. My eyes narrowed. I walked forward and ran my hand across the thick layer of ashes burned into the surface. I rubbed my fingers together.

A beat.

It seemed like……..the work of a starbolt….

I bit my lip.

Starfire was just as much under the Puppet King's command as all the other victims in this Tower.

I looked back at the tire tracks. Where they had ended, there was another charred circle from a flung starbolt. And I recognized what the tracks belonged to finally…

Did Robin and Sandy meet their end here while I was on the roof?

I paced a bit. Paused. Thought.

I took a breath.

No. The Queen of Strings wouldn't kill anyone. And the Puppet King wouldn't have her kill anyone. That wouldn't be anything like the silent movies Sandy and Control Freak have shared with us.

I rubbed my chin.

But what happens now? And if Robin and Sandy are alive…would they be under his control too?

A beat.

What's important now is where Robin and Sandy are. Under control or not, I have to at least rescue Robin so that he can help me operate the lighting controls and create a pulse bright enough to symbolically cancel out the curse holding these people hostage to the Puppet King's magic. But where would they be?

I sighed.

A pause….then…

I brightened.

The Puppet King and the Queen of Strings have their 'destiny in the stars'. What if that has literal meaning in regards to this night? We may have brought Control Freak here for absolutely no reason. If the Puppet King desires a honeymoon in outer space. Then the only place on this island where he might be now is…

I punched my metal fist into my flesh hand and smirked.

I've always wanted to see it up close……

I looked at a watch I was carrying that night along with everything else. I estimated that I had seven and a half hours left before the fusion reactor went biserk. Surely it was nothing to be utterly panicked about. But still, I had no idea (in regards to the overloading reactor) how soon the Puppet King was going to take off with Starfire. It was best that I hurried with all of my might. If Starfire had left the chambers by then, the ceremony was about to be complete. And if the Puppet King's idea of a wedding was relatively 'normal', then it would be just a matter of time before the curse was finalized between the two newlyweds with….

A kiss.

I winced.

I blurred down the hallway and made for the stairwell.

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

"Robin….."

"……….."

"Pssst! Robin!"

"………."

"R-Robin! W-Wake up—"

"I am awake."

"……….oh. Um. In case you haven't noticed, he hasn't brainwashed us yet."

"I've noticed something else, though," Robin grumbled.

He and Sandy were tied with their backs to the opposite sides of a slender, metal, support pole. It was one of many poles that formed the lattice/spider-web titanium of the rocket booster support system in the underground launchpad of the Titans' island. Looming heavily overhead was a giant upside-down 'cone' that made up the rocket thruster of one of the two boosters. Attached to the boosters was the Titans' legendary T-Sub, a veteran to space travel….a 'veteran' in that it had gone to space only once before.

It was prepared to go there again. But this time, not with the Titans. Unless one counts Starfire or the electrons discharged by the burning bodies of Robin and Sandy upon liftoff.

"All my life of crime-fighting," Robin muttered. "It never fails to amaze me. Crooks are always taking the impractical way out in trying to kill me and my companions. It doesn't matter why we're here. Maybe we pissed off the Puppet King so much that he couldn't bear to mind control us and make us blend in with the other 'royal subjects'. Maybe it's part of his curse to torture those whom he captures. I frankly don't give a damn. I've been here a million times before. It's all the same."

"Were you able to escape those million times, s-sir?" Sandy gulped.

"I dunno. You tell me."

"Think you can…..perhaps….have us escape this time?" she simpered with a sweatdrop.

"If I had my utility belt and all the other lovely tools given us on this mission, then yeah," Robin said. His eyemask gazed forlornly at his barren costume and he sighed. "Kinda late for that now."

"That's—like—your weakness, isn't it? Having or not having your utility belt?"

"That and root beer and redheads."

"H-Huh?"

"Sorry," Robin grumbled and tilted his head down. "Lame attempt at a joke."

Sandy bit her lip. "You seem down, s-sir."

"Yeah….well…," Robin glanced up at the obvious rocket booster looming overhead. "I'm not exactly in the mood to be all 'fired up' at the moment."

"We've been through some pretty tough scrapes on this mission before now," Sandy remarked. "Why were you not so glum then as you are now?"

"I wasn't in so helpless a fix before," the Titan Leader remarked.

Sandy tried glancing at him through the corner of her goggles and over her shoulder. "Or perhaps it's because you hadn't directly run into Starfire before then?"

"……"

Sand's goggled eyes blinked. "Robin??"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I've noticed that you're………very sensitive."

"About…."

"What the Puppet King is doing."

"……."

"To Starfire."

"She's my teammate."

"Well, that's obvious."

"It's only natural that I care about her."

"Yes," Sandy looked off across the barren launchpad crater and smiled to herself. "Only natural."

Robin's eyemask went crooked. "Why are you smiling?"

Sandy tilted her head back. "You can't see my face. What makes you think I'm smiling?"

"………"

"You're one heck of a mystery, sir. But there's one thing that I can see through when it comes to you. And that's your level of compassion."

"I'm the leader of the Titans," Robin grumbled. "I'm supposed to be compassionate at times."

"Correction, s-sir," Sandy replied. "You're the leader of the Titans…who learned his stuff under the Batman in Gotham City. Am I correct?"

"Uhhh…..yeah."

"How does one manage to wield 'compassion' after such tutelage?"

"You don't know anything…."

"Perhaps not. But think about it. I bet you're nicer a person now than when you started this legendary team!"

"I……"

"Well?"

Robin shook his head. "Why are we even having this conversation?"

Sandy glanced up. "Can you think of a better thing to talk about prior to your cremation?"

"I……," Robin sighed and slumped against his restraints. "Starfire came to this planet seeking understanding and companionship. She's just an innocent creature from another world trying to make peace. And for her fate to be in the hands of some possessed little piece of furniture wearing a crown and bearing Cookie Monster eyes…..well….I-I just don't think that's right. And I can't do a damned thing about it. Moreso now—this very second—than ever. And yes…that's why I'm glum."

"You make things sound so simple…"

"And why shouldn't they be?!?!" Robin barked. He gritted his teeth and frowned off into nothingness. "Starfire had a home and friends before the Puppet King stepped into things. That was simple enough. Why did he have to get in the damned way?!"

Silence. The faint lingering of an echo.

Robin groaned. "It's….it's all my fault," he muttered. "Me and my ego. My knack for keeping things. For exalting in myself at the administration of justice and its fruits. When the Puppet King was defeated, I decided to keep it in our evidence room. It didn't occur to me that the thing might come alive again someday. And it has. Because of me, Starfire's got a demon of an unimaginable curse forcing her into some nuptial Hell. Even if we were to bring Starfire back from the Puppet King's spell……what…..wh-what would she think of me?"

Sandy thought for a moment. Then smiled and said: "I think she'd believe you were brave."

"Brave??"

"Yeah. Brave for nearly being drowned to death by flooding Bay waters in a cramped tunnel. For fighting s-suffocation in a ventilation shaft. For almost having your soul stolen in front of a bunch of citizens by an irate muppet. For testing your brawn against a big green animal atop a crumbling elevator. And for putting your life on the line on a motorcycle and….er….a l-launchpad. All for her."

"Pfft…for the City."

"Sure…for the City," Sandy smirked.

"………"

Silence.

"I think Starfire would be so very happy for what you have done, Robin."

"Heh….she's always happy."

Sandy raised an eyebrow from where she sat, facing away from him.

Robin continued under his breath: "So happy, she almost hurts herself." Another sigh. "I don't want to end up with my only memory of the girl being a loss. Not like before…."

Sandy leaned her head to the side. "'Before'??"

"Forget about it," Robin grunted. "There are more pressing things at hand."

Sandy blinked. "…………L-Like…..?"

"How quickly we are going to burn alive," Robin looked straight up again. "I theorize that if we exhale right before the boosters blow, there'll be less oxygen in our lungs and hopefully less of the sensation of being a living inflammatory grenade."

Sandy gulped. "Lovely. I should keep that in mind."

"You just might have to—" Robin's speech was cut short by his own….cutting of his speech.

Sandy seemed Maybe both. "Robin?" she remarked. "You oka—"

"Shhh!!" he hissed and seemed to crane his neck. "Listen!"

Sandy's goggled eyes darted every which way. "T-To what?"

"Tilt your head up!"

She did. BONK!! Her head struck the pole. "Owie…," she whined.

"Shhh! You sense it??"

Sandy was silent….still.

There was a rhythmic tapping reverberating straight down the length of the metal pole they were attached to. A tapping with a pattern. Morse code.

"Noir…..," Sandy breathed.

Robin squinted his eyemask and leaned his skull against the vibrating pipe.

"What's he saying?" Sandy asked. "I'm good at sign language, but I'm rusty with this stuff."

"Something about the computer system," Robin remarked. "Hang on a sec…."

He positioned his bound wrist and started racking his knuckles against the metal to which the two were bound. Clanking sounds echoed off the surrounding walls of the launching pad crater.

Sandy winced…hoping nobody heard them.

But Robin was relentless. He delivered his message expertly…swiftly.

'Can you get inside the launch bay.'

Silence.

Sandy waited nervously.

Then…

Robin gasped, "He's responding!"

"What now?" Sandy said.

Robin listened.

'I was hoping you could tell me.'

The Boy Wonder groaned.

"Please don't tell me that's a bad thing," Sandy murmured.

Robin listened as the message continued.

'I am on the outer lattice of the launchpad above the closed bay doors. The inner doors to the launch preparation room are also locked and the Puppet King and his victims are the inside preparing to approach the pad.'

"That's a long message," Sandy remarked. "Good news? Bad news?"

"Shh!" Robin frowned. "Be patient for once!"

Sandy glanced at her restraints…then at the booster rockets directly above. "I think I'm doing a good job, considering…."

"It would appear that the Puppet King and those under his control are about to enter this place…," Robin said. "Noir's on the other side of the doors, locked out."

"Can't he teleport through?"

"I'm sure he's tried that already," the Boy Wonder replied. "Besides…," he glanced her way over his shoulder. "…the inner doors are just as airtight as the huge bay doors above. Prevents oxygen from being burned by the combustion of launch of course."

"Of course…."

"H-Hang on…," Robin leaned his head back against the pipe. "He's sending another message."

"Oh joy."

'The computer console in the Main Room is fried. Is there any other way I can abort the launch then through the master control program.'

"Damn…," Robin grunted.

"Uh oh."

"Uh oh indeed. The Main Room's computer is smashed. Noir can't interfere with the launch from there."

"Much less access the light settings of the entire Tower…," Sandy said in a depressed whisper. "Then again…the bright plume of the rockets' launch might simulate the 'Sunrise' for the cursed citizens…but what's the point?"

Robin suddenly beamed. "I know!!"

"You know what?"

"This could still work!" Robin smirked. He started striking his knuckles rhythmically against the pipe again. "Just gotta remind ourselves that this is our Tower….not the Puppet Dunce's!"

"'Our'?" Sandy smirked. "Gee, I'm flattered."

"Shhh!"

"Heh."

Robin's message: 'The fusion reactor. Overload the energy banks. It will cut off the power to the entire Tower and the launchpad.'

Almost immediately, a response: 'What of explosion.'

Robin chuckled slightly and tapped. 'Not if this early. Forces of the Puppet King are elsewhere. Now is the time to take care of the reactor.'

'And you two.'

Robin bit his lip.

'We will take our chances. Besides. We should be fine if you cut off the fusion reactor in time.'

Silence.

'How do I do it.'

Robin groaned. He tapped back.

'Use something that Sandy and I do not have.'

'And that is.'

'Your sword.'

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

The wind kicked at my hair as I perched on the metal lattice emerging up through the metal structure of the launch bay doors. Smoke was pouring heavily out of my eyes. My fleshly, right hand was gripping hard to the metal structure. By running a current of smoke down the lattice and into the launch bay itself, I had sensed the presence of Robin and Sandy. And I had thoroughly received Robin's last message.

I took my right hand off.

With my naked black eyes, I glanced over my shoulder at the hilt of my blade.

I took a deep, shuddering breath.

Never one of those easy nights……

I whipped my shades on, spun around, and blurred back towards the Tower before the defenses could spot me.

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

"I sent him on his way to the fusion reactor," Robin said to Sandy. "It's a bit of a stretch…but if he shuts the thing down before the launch…we may still have a chance."

"Is it just me…," Sandy bit her lip, "…or does Noir save our butts a lot."

"Y-Yeah….," Robin blushed. "He's good at that. At least tonight."

Sandy smirked.

A beat.

Her smirk fell. "Wait….if the Puppet King is relying on the Fusion Reactor to explode and repeat the contents of his last silent movie….th-then wouldn't he have the reactor heavily guarded?"

Robin shrugged. "So far, we've all pretty much incapacitated Cyborg, Beast Boy, and Raven. What cards could the stupid doll have left up his sleeve now?!"

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

FSHHHHHH!!!!!

The huge metal doors to the reactor room slid open.

I dashed in one or two steps, Myrkblade raised high.

My shaded eyes darted about.

Silence…save for an annoying alarm and the hiss of an overheating fusion reactor.

Nobody was there.

I raised an eyebrow….feeling uneasy.

Still, I slowly shuffled ahead with my weapon in grasp.

I was in an atrium. A chamber before a chamber. Before me stretched a smooth, reflecting set of doors. Translucent and shiny. Something fit for a sci-fi film. And according to the warning insignias across the panels, the fusion reactor lay beyond in the chamber.

Ahh…the mysterious depths of the Titan Tower a newbie like me has yet to see…

I walked to a stop, Myrkblade raised.

A beat.

I looked over at a wall console.

I pressed a green button on it.

Buzz!

'Access Denied!'

I gritted my teeth and hit it with Myrkblade's hilt.

SMACK!

FSHHHHHH!!!!

The doors opened automatically with a spark or two.

'You are entering the structural containment chamber to the Tower's Reactor core. Warning. Presence of biological elements may cause contamination in the engine's containment field.'

I glared up at the ceiling as I tip-toed through….reminding myself to smash the speakers later also.

The chamber to the reactor core was a circular….thing. Like the interior of an upside down dome with ridges all converging upon the center. And in that center—nestled amidst a wreath of rising and falling steam—was the glowing yellow reactor core, which was fluctuating with an amber hue at a tempo surely faster than 'normal'. Nestled in the ceiling from ridges identical to the six or seven that met on the center of the floor, flexible metal tubes arched downward and came together on a metal nub directly above the core.

I had no freakin' clue what all of that stuff meant. But in some fashion or another, I was to shut it down. In some sadistic fashion, all I wanted to do was smash it.

I took a slow step forward and paused. I glanced at the obsidian surfacing of my wooden sword.

Robin had suggested I use my blade somehow in canceling the reactor core's overload. I just hoped the solution at hand was obvious enough a thing for him to so purposefully mention it to me.

I was about to approach the reactor when—at about my second step—a ruby red aura emanated from behind me and drowned the chamber's shadows with crimson.

I narrowed my eyes under my shades and frowned.

"I've been waiting for this….shinobi…."

I groaned and turned around. I gave Control Freak an annoyed look, leaning my hand to my hip.

He stood in the doorway between the atrium and the chamber. Smirking. Holding a very familiar, double-sided lightsaber in one hand. In the other hand was his vicious remote control.

"Oh, we duked it out before. That was just a sneak preview! Now it's opening night! The greatest show in town! And I'm ready and rearing to go all Wichowski Brothers on your ass!" he pointed with the unearthly blade and bore a cheesy grin. "But of course you know I've been working for the Puppet King all along! Pfft! Like I was of much help being your psuedo-friendly-off-and-on-annoying-ally! I swear….those subplots are so predictable! It's like a Kevin Costner movie…..or the Italian Government!"

I sighed and leaned on Myrkblade.

"What?? Not surprised?" he cackled. "If you were Robin, you'd be cussing your head off at me by now! Surprising how such a heroic bird-brain got such a potty mouth. Maybe it's because everything he had to say with his tongue was utter crap! HA!"

I shook my head and twirled Myrkblade into a ready position.

"Awwww…must we end this so quickly?" Control Freak leaned his hairy head to the side and coiled the lightsaber behind him. "You know, you're like Battlestar Galactica. You only last for one season and you're full of funky hair!"

I slowly approached him across the chamber with my blade.

"Have it your way!" he fatly sing-songed and paced across from me. "Once I finish you off, the wooden munchkin will grant me a gift of post-modern value one hundred times better than the Boy Wonka could! But one miniboss stands in the way, and I'm chock full of phoenix down. In the spiritual sense of course." He winked a crusty wink. He twirled his lightsaber at ready and sneered: "There can be…only ONE!!"

I sweatdropped.

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

Inside the preparation chamber to the launch bay, a finely constructed layout of metal displayed five space suits hanging in chambers for instant fitting. Just a few feet away were wall consoles that could slide open and present spacefaring tools at the press of a button. Then in the ceiling and floor were special plasma sweepers designed for cleansing Titan astronauts of all contaminates before entering the final frontier.

All of these fine necessities of space travel….were being ignored.

A flock of mind controlled people stood numbly in rows across the cramped interior. Their eyes were blue and bright….but not in the lively way. Finely dressed men and women—victimized citizens of the City—faced the shut door to the actual launch bay itself, still dressed in the fashionable tastes of the eighteenth century that sharply contrasted the slate gray and blue of the futuristic, metal chamber.

In front of them stood a line of the Puppet King's 'guards'. Equipped with spears, they blue-eyed the brainwashed crowds and protectively circled the Puppet King himself. The wooden despot was busily working away at a mysterious device on a work bench along with two mind-controlled 'engineers'. Though it was the most awkward timing, the King persisted in his construction. After a few minutes of intense effort, the midget of magic stood up and took a paranormal breath. If his wooden skin had pours, he'd be sweating a sea of sap.

"Alas…I was not sure if this royal treat would be completed in time…," he uttered. He and the two engineers stood back as a curved, silver, hover platform lifted up from the ground between them with a fancy hum of deep-throated technology. "But as fate would seem, the Queen of Strings is to be granted every bit of honor this evening."

"Does it serve to your liking, your honor?" the engineer mumbled in a zombie fashion.

The Puppet King's googly eyes rattled in his direction. "My liking matters little, waif!!" He whipped out his sparking scepter and jammed-pressed a button on it. CLICK.

The blue in the engineer's eyes fluctuated. He gasped, writhed, and suddenly slumped in an awkwardly sedated fashion.

"It is for my beloved first and foremost," the Puppet King sneered. "I shall whisk her away to our honeymoon with it. Only if absolutely necessary will it serve 'my liking' and my liking alone! Are all the infidels working at Phaser Labs as presumptuous as you?"

The engineer merely drooled.

"It matters little…," the Puppet King aimed his scepter at the floating platform. The craft drifted over and he stepped onto it. "You and the other guests have been so…..kind to assist me in my expenditures. I promise you 'sunrise'….you will know nothing but peaceful sleep. In the meantime…," he forced the platform to twirl about and face a corner where two 'handmaidens' flanked a mesmerizing beauty in veils of white satin. "….join me, my beloved. We have our destiny in the stars…"

The redheaded bride slowly nodded. The Puppet King hovered over and offered her a hand.

She took it and gracefully stepped up with no more than a slight ruffle of her skirt.

The Puppet King warmly stroked her hand, then turned his googly face towards the doors to the launchbay. "Let us proceed to the end!"

The guards pressed two wall consoles simultaneously. The doors hissed open. Awash with the zombie applause of the richly attired guests, the bride and groom floated angelically out to where the T-Sub rested on the huge, looming rocket boosters.

Aimed at the stars…

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

Control Freak and I circled each other.

The center of our circle was the fusion reactor core.

The rising mists around the apparatus covered our footsteps.

Dangling metal tubes from the ceiling blocked our eyesights intermittently.

And between all of this was the constant, warbling glow of Control Freak's red lightsaber.

The two crimson beams throbbed and illuminated his fat, grinning face.

I narrowed my black eyes under my shades.

Myrkblade was held high.

I wasn't about to strike first.

He was.

"Engage!!!"

He jumped at me with that impossibly acrobatic twirl of his blubbery body.

I gritted my teeth and held Myrkblade out vertically.

FL-FLASH!!!

The two beams bounced off my wooden sword.

Control Freak ended his twirl by kneeling down, letting out a happy gasp, and sweeping his leg out at my feet.

I backflipped, reached a metal hand up, grabbed a dangling tube, swung back, swung forward, and leapt towards him with a downward stab.

SLASH!!! CLANK!!!

My blade struck metal floor.

Control Freak rolled to the side, jumped up, and twirled the double-blades.

I stood up straight, took a breath, and charged.

He got up, twirling, blocking—FL-FL-FLASH!!!—and jabbed at me with a desperate lunge. "HA!!!"

I blurred murk, turned weightless, leapt off his thrusting arm, jumped over him, and twirled in mid-air with a hard slap of Myrkblade's broadside against his spine. SWACK!!!!

He stumbled forward and landed face-first against the glowing reactor.

SMACK!!!

"Mmmmfff!!"

I posed into a ready position, my legs instinctively flexing and flexing as I hobbled in place…ready for another agile strike.

He got up slowly, rubbing his fat cheek. "Nnnghh….I just KNOW that's gonna mutate in the morning!"

I furrowed my brow.

"Where were we? Oh yes. ASS TEARING!!!"

He ran at me and performed a flying, belly-jiggling jump kick.

I gritted my teeth. What could this fat freak not do?!?!

SWOOOOOSH!!!! He came at me like a missile.

I held my breath. I tossed Myrkblade up into the air. It spun near the ceiling. I blurred my arms. Grabbed the fat fiend's incoming ankles. Tossed him past me. And grabbed Myrkblade on its descent.

CLUMP!!!!

Control Freak landed on his feet and skidded towards the far wall.

SW-SWISH!!! I twirled Myrkblade into a fighting position, charged CF, and stabbed low.

At the end of his skid, he blocked in reverse, stabbed both of our swords into the ground, ran up the wall, flipped, and spun—unearthing his lightsaber and flinging it at my face with a twirl. "HA!!!!"

I ducked with backwards bend. The red ruby hotness of the beam blade streaked just an inch or two above my nose.

I sweated.

SWOOOSH-FLASH!!! One of the blades of CF's weapon stuck into the wall from the swing.

I tilted back up and tried to stab him.

YANK!!! Control Freak pulled the sword out with its reverse blade coming at me.

I twirled out of the way, but had the back of my shoulders skimmed straight through the shirt by the saber. Burning the skin.

SLASH!!!!!

I exhaled in pain and stumbled towards the reactor in the center.

"Ha ha ha!!" Control Freak cackled. He twirled the lightsaber mightily above his hairy head and smirked. "You're not half the Titan that you used to be, shinobi!! Allow me to amend that!!" With such succinctly said, he slashed one of the lightsaber blades directly at my waist on a cutting path.

I gritted my teeth and summoned murk at the last second.

SLASH!!!!!!!!!

Control Freak's blade went through me……and I was still standing.

"Er….," Control Freak sweatdropped.

My waist materialized back to a solid from smoke form. I took a deep breath and effortlessly uppercutted CF's double chins at the vulnerable end of his swing.

SMACK!!!

He flew back five feet and struck the wall of the circular chamber hard.

WHAM!!!

He winced. His crusty eyes reopened to see me running towards him.

"I wonder what else is on…," he smirked. He whipped his remote out and aimed at me.

I skidded to a stop—gasping—and scrambled awkwardly to leap out of the way.

CLICK.

A red beam zapped the floor where my feet were. The metal instantly melted.

I landed in a squat before a wall console.

"Hahaha!! Electrifying!!" he aimed again.

CLICK.

I dove out of the way.

The wall console was zapped and exploded in blue, electrical fury.

I rolled on the ground, leapt another remote control zap, flipped, skidded to a stop on my feet, teleported to the side to miss another zap, and charged full force at Control Freak.

The fat fiend thinned his eyes and aimed with a smirk. "Ya know, those sunglasses of yours are just da bomb!!"

CLICK.

I was too slow.

The remote control zapped my shades….and the eyewear suddenly started to flash with a deep red strobe.

I gasped, came to a stumbling stop, and desperately flung my glasses off of me and towards the far corner of the reactor core's chamber.

SWOOOOOSH!!!

The shades impossibly began to smoke and—

BOOOM!!!!

I dove away from my….er….grenade lenses. Panting, I got up halfway into a sitting position and realized I had dropped Myrkblade. I reached over to grab it—but a Klingon boot stomped down and blocked my reach.

I looked up—squinting through naked black eyes--and then had to lie back down straight as a red lightsaber blade was aimed down directly to my throat with its burning tip warming the scar.

Control Freak smirked. "The force is strong with you, shinobi," he said. A beat. "Or maybe it's just that you're dead sexy." He laughed his fanboy head off and then threateningly pointed the glowing blade of burning energy at my crotch. "Not for long, however! Ha ha ha!!"

I frowned. That wasn't funny. Especially to me.

So I kicked him in the groin.

WHUMP!!!!

His crusty eyes bulged. He dropped the lightsaber in unJedi fashion and flopped to the floor a few feet away. "Ohhhhhhh Mommy….my phaser banks!!"

I ignored that. I rolled to the side, snatched Myrkblade's hilt, and agilely leapt up to my feet.

"Seriously….man….," the fanboy writhed and whimpered with tears streaming out his eyes. "How'd your foot even manage to find it?!"

I snarled and angrily brought my sword down the center handle of the double-bladed lightsaber. SMASH!!!! The uncanny device shorted out and died.

"For the love of Mark Hamill!!!' Control Freak sat up, frowning. "One bruised ego is enough!! Why'd you have to take it out on all three?!?!" He whipped his remote out and aimed at me.

CLICK.

I gasped and side-stepped.

The red beam struck one of the hanging metal tubes…..which promptly came alive and twirled viciously towards me like a ravenous snake.

My black eyes bulged and I ducked the offensive tentacle.

Control Freak laughed. "Oh ho ho ho!! That's rich!!" He zapped all of the tubes hanging above the reactor in quick succession. "Here come the snakes, you'd best be sure!"

CLICK. CLICK. CLICK. CLICK.

I sweatdropped…..

The tentacles shook, swarmed together, and all converged as one huge flagellum that whipped about and swung at me.

I backflipped with a blind swing of Myrkblade.

CLANK!!!!

The mass of converging tubes were deflected back.

I landed.

The tentacles recoiled and swung back as one.

I winced.

SMACK!!!!

My body flew hard against the wall.

Before I had a chance to regain my lungs---GRIP!!

All of the tentacles were circling my waist at once.

I gasped for breath…but was suddenly lunged across the room in the tentacles' grasp.

SWOOOOOSH!!!

I flew straight at Control Freak's fist.

"This one's for Ensign Crusher!!"

WHAM!!!!!

A red welt in the shape of the fiend's knuckles formed in my cheek as I flew back from the impact.

The tentacles flexed.

I was swung at him again.

"And this one's for Jar Jar Binks!!"

WHACK!!!!!

Red saliva flew from my mouth as I swung back from the impact.

Then at him again….

"Raiden of Metal Gear Solid 2!!!"

THWACK!!!!

I flew back with the tentacles again. My lips bleeding.

Control Freak cracked his knuckles and smiled. "All lousy characters of the sci-fi world!! And just like you…"

The tentacles swung my battered body at him as he raised his fist again.

"….they should all end up dead!!"

At the last second of the swing, I held my breath and flung my legs up. I wrapped my ankles around Control Freak's torso.

"Wha---?!?!"

Smoke danced out of my black eyes. I snarled with reddened teeth and pulsed a wave of murk down my lower limbs and enveloped him.

FLASH!!!!

I switched us both into smoke form and teleported each other so that he solidified in the grasp of the tentacles and I was then standing where he was.

He blinked. "Uh oh."

I frowned, twirled Myrkblade, and swung it directly into the metal nub in the ceiling where the metal tubes were all attached.

CLANK!!!!!

My sword embedded into the conduit, and electrical sparks flared—ZZZZTT!!!!!—and coursed brilliantly through the metal 'snakes' encircling Control Freak all at once.

ZAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP!!!!!!!!!!!

"MOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

He convulsed, literally glowed, then slumped with a groan as smoke rose from his dangling body.

Silence.

I finished fuming and took a peaceful breath. I stepped up, yanked Myrkblade out of the ceiling conduit, and then knelt over the core…attempting to find a way to forcibly shut off the overload of the fusion reactor.

…..

Unknown to me…Control Freak's eyes slowly fluttered open. He wearily glanced at me from where he hung and grinned. Slowly, quietly, his hand pulled out of the tentacles' grasp and clutched his remote. He aimed at me….and pressed the red button.

CLICK.

A red halo of light glowed above my head.

My breath left me. My naked eyes darted up in concern.

SWOOOOSH!!!

My very own red bandanna came alive, snaked down from over my brow, and encircled my scarred neck like a quivering eel. And it began to squeeze….and squeeze….

I dropped Myrkblade and clutched my neck, struggling. Panicking.

Loss of air.

Wheezing.

I collapsed to the floor and writhed.

My black eyes saw a quivering world of mist and semi-darkness. In that teetering world, a fat villain was stumbling out of the entanglement of metal tubes from the ceiling. The combatant limped to a proud standstill and folded his arms.

"Do yourself a favor and buy yourself a tricorder, shinobi," he cackled. "The Control Freak never dies! He merely gets reruns! Surrender to the darkness, Noir. Just hope your next leap will be your leap home! Ha ha ha!!"

I sputtered and gasped. The bandanna constricted hard around my neck. The last of blinding light faded and my black eyes rolled back in my head.

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

Robin and Sandy were anxious.

They looked eagerly up from their bottom position on the launch bay.

For the last few minutes, the zombie cheers and claps of the Puppet King's royal guests could be heard.

The last rites of the marriage ceremony were about to go underway.

And after that….takeoff.

"So….um….," Sandy gulped. "Do we speak now, or forever hold our peace?"

Robin frowned. "There is no peace." He tilted his eyemasked, frowning face up and growled: "STARFIRE!!! LISTEN TO ME!!! YOU MUST SNAP OUT OF IT!! YOU MUST WAKE UP FROM THAT SPELL!!!"

"Y-YEAH!!" Sandy joined in. "Y-YOU CAN'T GET MARRIED TO SOMEONE ELSE WHILE ROBIN'S ALIVE!!!"

The Boy Wonder snapped at her: "Hey!! Shush!!"

"Wh-What?! I was in the spirit of things!!"

"Yeah…well…," Robin blushed furiously but tried to hide it….even though Sandy couldn't see his face. "Try on another spirit for a change."

"Shhh!!" the volunteer uttered. "I think they got the message!"

Indeed, the sounds of the 'services' were ceasing. Amidst the eerie quiet, a soft padding of footsteps announced the silhouette of the Puppet King standing above the edge of the main platform besides the rocket boosters. Flanked by two guards, he glared googily down at the two captives and snarled: "How badly do you two want to burn….?"

"I swear…," Robin fumed, "….Starfire is no more your damn 'Queen of Strings' then you are the pimp of termites!! Or whatever it is you strive to be!! Let go of her now! Or else!!"

"You are hardly in the position to threaten me, infidel…," the Puppet King pointed with his scepter. "Right now, I control the entire population of this Tower with this rod alone. If you so much as interrupt this precious night for the Queen again…I could send a dozen so-called 'innocent' civilians to their death. And I'll make you watch."

"What's it all gonna matter to make a threat like that?!" Sandy shouted. "They're all gonna die anyways when that rocket of yours blasts off!"

"Sandy, you're not helping," Robin muttered.

"What?!?!" Sandy exclaimed. "Jeez!! Am I not aloud to talk at all?!"

"Silence!!" the Puppet King sneered. "You have nothing to fight for!! My beloved is totally on my side!!" He glanced over beyond the edge. "Isn't that right, precious??"

Starfire shuffled over into sight atop the platform in her shimmering gown. Her blue eyes swirled as she droned: "Yes, honey. I desire my destiny in the stars with you…"

Robin's eyemask wilted. "Star….," he breathed. "Don't you see who it is?? It's Robin. Your best friend! Please….for your sake….for….for m-my sake….wake up. This is all just a nightmare. A terrible nightmare. You can't run off with this madman! I-I won't let you!! Your life is…..is….t-too precious to be wasted away like that."

"Enough!!" the Puppet King shook his wooden fist. "You're not the judge of what is or what is not precious about the Queen!"

Robin frowned. "The most precious thing about Starfire is that she exists, asshole!! But you're too wrapped up in that curse of yours to possibly do anything but obsess over her and turn her into something she's not!! I swear…once you find yourself grounded, I'm so going to escape from this holding and turn you into mulch!!"

"What are you talking about….??" his googly eyes glared speculatively.

Robin smirked. "Just as we speak…your overloading of the fusion reactor has failed!! In case you've forgotten…we have a ghost on our side. And turns out his poltergeist has cost you your honeymoon and your big 'kaboom' in the end!!"

FSHHHHH!!! The sound of sliding doors echoed throughout the height of the launch bay.

Puppet King turned and gestured towards the unseen part of the launchpad. "Do you mean the ghost that has just been exorcised by my secret, winning hand?"

On cue, Control Freak waltzed into view with me slumped over his right shoulder and Myrkblade and its hilt on the other. He grunted and tossed me—hands bound—to the launch bay below.

THWUMP!!!!!

I winced and landed in front of Robin and Sandy.

They stared at me, dumbfounded.

I simpered with a sweatdrop.

"Well, if this isn't one tubular convention!!" Control Freak spun his remote in hand and smirked at the Puppet King. "How's about a round of cheese puffs on the house, boss?"

"Address me as I am."

Control Freak rolled his crusty eyes. "Sorry…'your majesty'." He looked down at us three and winked, humored. "I swear! He's like an anorexic Hutt!"

Robin blinked. "I wonder……"

"Wonder what?" Sandy stammered.

"What my excuse should be when I meet St. Peter in about half an hour…"