A/N: Another chapter is up, and before the end of the end of the month too! I'm making progress! Also, as strange as it sounds, I am no longer sad about having to rewrite the chapters I lost of "Firelight". To be honest, I like this version of this chapter a whole lot better than my previous one. My previous version was good, but this one is so much better! So, yeah. I guess losing five chapters of "Firelight" wasn't much of a tragedy after all. It only means that I can write the chapters I lost so they turn out better! :D Even so, I don't plan on losing any more chapters. If it happened twice in a row, then it would be truly tragic. The mere thought of losing more chapters makes me sad :,(
Well, enough useless prattling from me. Enjoy the chapter! (P.S. I absolutely LOVED writing this chapter! Fight scenes are the best! :P)
Disclaimer: I do not, nor will I ever, own Teen Titans.
Part I: Inception: Chapter Seven
"This is all that's here? You have to be kidding me!"
If Speedy says that he's never felt irritated before, then he's lying. There have been many occasions when he has felt annoyed, most of them consisting of those days when girls use him to get to Aqualad or when civilians refer to him as "that powerless East Titan with the arrows". Right now, however, Speedy feels more irritated than he ever did in any of those situations. After spending ages collaborating and trying to pinpoint which corridor out of the two-dozen hallways is the west corridor, all of their efforts have amounted to nothing. This isn't the first time they've been wrong, either. So far, this is their fifth failed hallway.
Hearing his complaints, Bumblebee responds to him. "Don't jump to conclusions just yet, Speedy. Who knows? There might be something here."
His bland expression morphing into a critical frown, the archer looks up and down the empty hallway from his place in between Aqualad and Leila. There's no demolished furniture lying around, there are no doors leading to other rooms, there isn't anything. All he can see are brick walls, wooden planks on the floor in place of the musty carpeting, and a dead end. Crossing his arms, he looks at the Titans East leader in puzzlement.
"I still don't get what you're talking about. The only thing here is an empty hallway."
The next one to speak is Aqualad. "That could be true, or maybe it's not. I think we should take a closer look."
"I think we should too," adds Leila in agreement. "This is the only place in the building where there isn't any carpeting. Not just that, but the wood looks pretty new compared to everything else we've seen."
More than anything, Speedy wants to shoot the fire user a glare. She already made him look like an over-protective moron by pulling her impressive superpowers out of nowhere. What is she trying to do now, make him look like an even bigger idiot? Yet, despite his urge to argue with her, he decides to give a civil response. They are after dangerous criminals, after all. Quarreling would only get in the way of their goal.
Giving an internal sigh, he turns to her. "In that case, can you give us more light? Even with the flashlights, it's pretty dark in here."
Leila replies with a nod and a "Yeah, sure". Half a second later a soft orange glow fills the room, the result of a small flame that dances in the brown-haired girl's palm. As strange as it is, Leila's fire manages to light the area better than the Titans' high-quality flashlights. Satisfied with how well he can see, (though he would never admit it out loud), Speedy looks the hallway over once more. The moment he does this he immediately sees that Leila's assumption was correct. The wood covering the floor does look extremely new. Also, it is placed at an odd angle with small gaps in between several of the planks.
Appearing outwardly surprised, he says, "Okay. I see what all of you are trying to say. Maybe we should search this hallway before we move on. It might actually be the right one."
"'Might'?" asks Leila skeptically.
"Yeah. We don't know anything for sure. For all we know, there could be ten other hallways that are completely identical to this one."
"Exactly," Bumblebee agrees from Aqualad's opposite side. "So it's time for less talking and more searching."
The Titans spread out and search the area without another word. Leila searches as well, doing her best to maintain the flame in her hand while doing so. What they're looking for they're not exactly sure. The only thing they know is that it has to be a switch or a knob of some sort that will reveal the entrance to the secret room. It is because of this that Aqualad, Bumblebee, and Leila step on individual floorboards with much more force than necessary, hoping that one of them will sink down and act as some sort of button. Meanwhile Speedy and the twins press down on the bricks in the wall one-at-a-time in hope of the same result.
Approximately twenty minutes passes as they search the corridor thoroughly, not gleaning any results and looking like weirdos in the process. It doesn't take Speedy long to revert back to his original opinion that there's most likely nothing in this hallway and that all they're doing is wasting their time. Now that he thinks about it, a smart criminal would never put the entrance to a secret room here. With how empty it is and how new the floor looks, this part of the building sticks out way too much.
Turning away from his place near the wall, he is about to share these thoughts with the others. Before he can, however, one of the twins shouts something in Spanish. Even after being on a team with them for almost a year and a half, he still can't understand a word they're saying. Of course, he doesn't need to. With the amount of pride ringing through his voice, it's very apparent that one of them just came across something important.
"¡Creo que encontré algo!" shouts one of the twins joyfully.
Turning toward the tiny twins, Speedy watches as Mas presses down on a brick located in the middle of the third row from the ground. Two seconds later the brick sinks inside the wall and the ground begins to shift. As they feel the ground tremble, those who were standing in the center of the floor jump to the edge of the corridor next to Speedy and Mas y Menos. Once everybody is safely out of range, they watch as several of the wooden planks sink down into the ground in order to form stairs. The whole time the group of them exchanges pleased glances, feeling very satisfied at the level of progress that has just been made.
Bumblebee turns to face Mas with a beaming smile. "Great job, Mas! Later, all of us owe you a big thank you!"
"No fue un problema. No hay necesidad de agradecimientos," replies Mas with a shrug.
From here all of them turn silent as they make their way down the stairs with caution. Even if this is exactly the thing they were searching for, the need to be careful very much exists. Without knowing the exact number of masked henchmen or who it is they're working for, there's no telling what they might run into when they reach the end of the staircase. It is because of this that they stay close together and do their best to keep the area lighted. Aqualad with one flashlight, Menos with the other, and Leila with an orange flame dancing in her hand, there's not an inch of darkness to be seen.
It takes several minutes, but eventually they reach the foot of the stairs. None of them can tell how large the secret room is or what it contains. The area is washed in darkness so dense that even their flashlights can hardly penetrate it. It is because of this that Leila creates a flame in her other hand as well and causes both of them to grow in size, setting the room in a soft glow. Speedy watches as Aqualad, who is now standing right next to Leila, gives her a smile of gratitude. The archer wants to do the same thing, but immediately decides against it.
"Thanks for the light," says Aqualad. "Now maybe we can find a light switch."
As if on cue, bright florescent light fills the room from overhead. Each of them shifts their attention to the left side of the room and notices Bumblebee standing next to a lever in the brick wall.
"Found it!" she chimes proudly. "Now let's take a look around."
Turning around, they take in the large expanse and all of its contents. The moment they look, their eyes widen in surprise. When coming down here the first thing they expected to see were piles of money as high as their Tower or three-dozen masked men waiting to fight them. While the money is still sitting around in piles exactly as they predicted, there's something else here that they weren't quite expecting. In the middle of the room is an incredibly large table that is twenty feet long and fifteen feet wide. Of course, it isn't the table itself that disturbs them. It is what the table contains.
Their senses still on high alert, the Titans and the fire user saunter closer to the said object. As they do so they can't help but feel increasingly disturbed. Spread out all over the tabletop are replicas of at least a dozen cities. They aren't cheap replicas made out of cardboard and crayons, either. They're incredibly realistic without a single flaw to be seen. There are windows on the buildings, streetlights that actually change color, yellow lines going down the middle of the streets, there are even flowers on some of the bushes in the parks and ducks in the ponds. Whoever created these, it's obvious to everyone that they certainly put in a lot of effort.
As Speedy looks at the cities, he reads the labels that are taped down in front of each one. There's a replica of Metropolis, one of Gotham, one of The Hall of Justice, and much to his concern, replicas of Jump City, Star City and Steel City. Arching a brow beneath his mask, he clutches his bow and moves closer the Steel City replica. When he looks he can't help but feel both amazed and freaked out. There are banks where the banks are supposed to be, the jewelry stores are in the proper places, there's even a Lola's Café! When he peeks at their Tower, it's every bit as accurate as the rest of the city. Curiosity growing, he squints his eyes and peeks inside the mini Titans East Tower.
Sadly, the inside of it isn't empty. Upon gazing inside the front window, he sees an exact replica of the common room. There's the main console, the kitchen, Aqualad's pools, and the stairs leading out of the common room to the rest of the Tower. Feeling more disturbed by the moment, he leans in closer and peeks in through the Tower's other side where his room is supposed to be. When he sees a miniature version of his bedroom with everything from the maroon carpeting to the extra bow he has leaned against the wall beside his bed he releases a shudder.
Without looking away from the mini Tower, he speaks to the others. "I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm getting severely creeped out. Whoever this guy is, he made an exact replica of my bedroom! He even remembered the Skillet poster I have on the wall next to my desk!"
Sounding equally disturbed, Aqualad replies. "I know. It's the same with the Titans West Tower. Somehow he even managed to make a replica of Raven's room!"
At last Speedy pulls away from miniature Steel City and faces the others. Everyone else pulls away from the replicas they were looking at as well in order to speak. Based on their facial expressions, they aren't taking this any better than the redheaded archer.
"This criminal must be planning to do some real damage to these places," says Bumblebee contemplatively. "He wouldn't need any of these replicas unless he's using them to figure out how he's going to strike."
"Exactly," Aqualad replies. "That's why we need to gather more information and figure out how to counter-strike. Otherwise the Teen Titans might be done for."
Leila, who is currently scanning over the miniature version of The Hall of Justice, replies to their comments curiously. "Okay, I know that those two guys only mentioned destroying the Teen Titans, but right now I'm wondering if they might be after the Justice League too. I highly doubt that he built in-depth replicas of the cities of Justice League Heroes because he had extra supplies."
Turning to the side, Speedy begins eyeing miniature Star City. As he does this he can't help but agree with her. Not just because of the evidence sitting in front of them, but because of another reason as well. It isn't a hard thing for Speedy to figure out, really. If the rest of his teammates remember what Robin said when he contacted them earlier, then they should know what he's talking about.
"Guys…" he says slowly, "I think Leila might be onto something. Robin did say that Black Shadow escaped prison and that he's been spotted all over the country. The person in charge of the masked criminals and who plans on destroying the Teen Titans with this machine he's building? It's probably Black Shadow."
Speedy looks up from the Star City replica and looks at his teammates as he waits for a response. Opening her mouth partway, Bumblebee appears ready to speak. However, she doesn't get the chance. Before she can utter a word, the lights begin flickering and the air is filled by the sound of a deep, menacing, disembodied voice.
Upon hearing this, the Teen Titans and Leila leap away from the table. Speedy immediately removes an arrow from his quiver and holds his bow at the ready. Bumblebee takes out her stingers and holds them in front of her threateningly as Aqualad and Mas y Menos take on their own threatening stances. To Speedy's surprise, Leila doesn't respond any differently than the rest of them. Rather than looking frightened, she stands firmly and conjures long, thin, strands of fire. Speedy isn't sure what to describe them as, but they almost look like fire whips.
Meanwhile, the voice speaks to them in a tone that sounds both malicious and pleased at the same time. "Well, what a surprise. First I get to see the Titans West and now I'm being paid a visit by the Titans East only two weeks later. This is really turning out to be a productive month for me. After spending a year in solitary confinement at the Swarzberg Prison, productivity is a good feeling to have."
Recognizing the voice the instant he hears it, Speedy begins looking around the large expanse in determination. If there's one voice that every Titan should be familiar with, then it is definitely Black Shadow's. The Titans West team may be his favorite heroes to mess with, but that doesn't mean that they're the only team he's ever caused trouble for. To put short, Black Shadow definitely knows how to get around. Even if they've only faced him in battle once prior to this, right now isn't proving to be any different from last time. Speedy's only hope is that this time maybe they can capture him.
Feeling every bit as tense at the situation as the redheaded archer, the rest of the Titans eye the room in the same manner. Leila, too, gazes carefully at their surroundings; though her eyes are filled with caution more than they are determination. If he could, Speedy would take a moment to give her a quick synopsis of the situation. Not to mention, he would also like to throw in an "I told you so" at the fact that a dangerous villain actually did show up. Of course, once Bumblebee replies to the unseen criminal, Speedy realizes that both of these things will have to wait.
"Where are you hiding, Black Shadow?! Come out here and face us!"
Upon hearing the winged girl's demand, Black Shadow responds in mock offense. "Come out there? Honestly, Bumblebee. Why would I do that? I've been traveling around and exerting energy for weeks now. With as exhausted as I am, there's no doubt that I would lose." Pausing, he adds with a sarcastic laugh, "Who knows? You second-rate Titans might actually come close to beating me this time. I could get splashed to death, or stabbed with an arrow."
Despite the fact that he tries to keep his outer calm, Speedy can't help but grimace at that last remark. Why is it that everyone always degrades his arrows? Have people forgotten how many times he has helped save the day with his arrows?!
Meanwhile, Aqualad speaks to the villain in irritation. "All you're doing is stalling, Black Shadow! If you're not going to come out, then at least tell us why you're here and why you've been targeting Justice League heroes!"
For some reason the more the Titans speak with him, the more amused he sounds. "You found out that I'm targeting Justice League heroes already? You Titans are smarter than you look. How did you find out? Have the Titans West been tracking me, or did my replicas give it away? If it's my replicas, then let me tell you that Hobby Lobby isn't cheap! I ended up having to steal from there, too…"
Eyes narrowing under his mask, this time it is Speedy who speaks. "We don't care about your creepy replicas! I'm not even going to ask how you built an exact copy of my bedroom! The only thing we're interested in are answers! Tell us now, or we'll beat them out of you!"
Sounding more amused than before, the villain sounds nearly ready to burst into guffaws. "Beat them out of me? You honestly think that you can do that? The Titans East couldn't even win the last time we fought!"
All of the sudden, Black Shadow's laughter stops as do the flickering of the lights. The Titans along with Leila grow wide-eyed as this happens, each of them exchanging surprised glances. A moment passes and they begin thinking that the villain simply deserted them. That, however, is when they are proven wrong. Before any of them has a chance to blink, a black, shadowy, tentacle shoots out from one of the piles of money and shoves Speedy roughly by the shoulder.
Feeling incredibly disturbed, the archer releases a startled shout before shooting an arrow in the tentacle's direction. It takes less than a second for the arrow to make a direct hit, leaving a hole in the shadowy limb before dissipating altogether. It is only after this happens that Black Shadow begins laughing once more. The only difference is that, this time, it isn't from a hiding spot.
The first thing to emerge from one of the numerous piles of money is an odd-looking three-dimensional shadow that is in the form of a shapeless blob. A second later a male torso and a head begin to form as well as arms and legs. As they form, incredibly pale skin starts to appear, along with beady hazel eyes, and short coffee-colored hair. By the time he has completely emerged from the pile of money, he is standing on the cement floor in the form of a medium-height man wearing a charcoal black jumpsuit. Nonetheless, the Titans don't let his nonthreatening form deceive them.
As he's standing in front of them with his arms crossed leisurely, Black Shadow speaks. "The Titans East's spunky redhead is still as good a shot as ever, I see. I bet Green Arrow would be proud. Wouldn't he, Speedy?" Shaking his head as if he'd just remembered something, he adds, "Oh, that's right! You haven't talked with the guy in five years! That sure is an easy thing to forget! Sorry. I don't mean to rub salt into old wounds."
Cringing in anger, Speedy shoots another arrow at the villain's upper torso. Sadly, even if it makes contact, Black Shadow manages to turn that part of his body into a shadow and allows the arrow to pass through. As this happens, the man shrugs.
"Wow, that was a close one. You almost got me."
Narrowing his eyes beneath his mask, Speedy seethes, "Are you going to keep making cheap shots at us, or are you going to tell us what you came here for?"
He doesn't look at her directly, but the archer still sees out of the corner of his eye as Leila lengthens her fire whips. By now her expression of caution has been replaced by one of curiosity and a hint of nervousness. Leaning in closer, not to him but to Aqualad, the young fire user speaks.
"Do you think you could tell me what exactly what we're dealing with here? I've never heard of this guy before in my life!"
Aqualad doesn't have time to respond, and honestly, Speedy didn't expect him too. All it takes is a single instant for Black Shadow to convert back into shadow form, disappear, and re-emerge behind Leila. Somehow he goes through the stages of transforming from shadow to human more quickly than the human eye can see. Then, before any of them knows it, the pale-faced villain has one arm wrapped around Leila's waist while he uses the hand on his opposite arm to grasp the girl's chin.
"Oh, don't worry about that, Sunshine. You'll know who I am soon enough. Believe me."
It is here that Speedy removes several more arrows from his quiver. Based on the way she squirms under his grasp and on the expression of disgust that paints over her features, Leila wants nothing more than for the man to release her. The whole time the villain wears a twisted smirk, most likely sickly amused by the struggling girl in his grasp. Speedy can't quite place why, but for some reason the sight makes him want to beat Black Shadow senseless. Loading three arrows in his bow, this is exactly what the young archer is preparing to do, too. A second later, however, Speedy's efforts are proven to be very unnecessary.
Her emerald eyes filling with anger, Leila takes hold of the wrist Black Shadow uses to grasp her chin with one of her fire whips. The moment the fire makes contact with his skin, the villain releases a shriek of pain prior to being forcefully pulled away from her. Once Leila is free, Speedy watches in awe as the brown-haired girl flings him into the air, releases him with one whip, grabs hold of his ankle using the other, and hurls him across the room. When the villain lands it isn't in one of the soft piles of money, but atop the large table containing the replicas. When he releases an additional yelp of pain, it is very apparent that art supplies from Hobby Lobby do not work well as cushioning.
Meanwhile, the fire user shouts at him in fury. "Don't ever touch me again! Next time you lay a hand on me, I won't hesitate to reduce you to ashes!"
Groaning in agony, Black Shadow removes several pieces of sky scraper as well as a tiny traffic light from where they became embedded into his left shoulder. The whole time each of the Titans glance from Leila to Black Shadow and back again. A moment after their shock passes, each of them gives the girl a smile of approval. All besides Speedy, who gives a nod along with his trademark smirk.
Leaning slightly closer, he remarks, "Remind me never to get on your bad side."
Rolling her eyes, she replies to the archer bluntly. "It's too late for that."
It takes a moment, but at last Black Shadow recovers and works his way to his feet. When he glares at the Titans it isn't at the whole team, but at the fire user specifically. Rubbing his shoulder tenderly, the villain speaks at last.
"When the Titans pick others to back them up, they definitely pick people who are spirited. I can't decide who's worse, you or Frostbite."
Noticing the villain's weakened state, the Titans decided to use this as an opportunity to strike. Wings moving rapidly, Bumblebee flies over the man in a single swift movement and aims her stingers directly at him. Meanwhile, Mas y Menos go over to him as well and run around him in a rapid circle that is faster than light. With the three of them working together, one would think that they would be able to do at least a scant amount of damage. It's only too sad that this is not at all the case.
When the tiny twins halt in their movements and when Bee ceases in shooting her stinging bolts at him, it is clearly seen that he has vanished completely. Not a single trace of the man is left; not a hair or a shadow. Expressions of irritation cross the faces of the six youths along with surprise. After the hit he took from Leila, it was assumed that he would slow down at least a little bit. As the lights begin flickering again and as his voice sounds off out of nowhere once more, their irritation grows and their determination to capture the villain returns full-force.
"Well Titans East, catching up with all of you and getting to meet your fiery little friend has been fun, but unfortunately the fun can't last forever. It's time to get down to business." Giving a dark chuckle of amusement, Black Shadow continues. "You've been wanting to know why I showed up in Steel City of all places? To put simply, I've discovered these fantastic methods of how my shadows and technology can work together, and it has given me some great new ideas for inventions! So, I thought that I would test one of those inventions out. Originally I planned on using them against Justice League heroes, but then I decided to test them on the Titans East first. After all, no villain ever suffered from starting out small and building his way up."
Angered by the villain's words, not to mention curious, Speedy opens his mouth partway in preparation to speak. Based on the demeanors' of Aqualad and Bumblebee, they were preparing to say something as well. Of course, as is partially expected, the chance to address the villain once more never comes. All of the sudden the flickering of the lights increases, and the ground begins to shake rapidly. The table of destroyed replicas begins falling apart even more, and money from the various piles in the room flies up into the air like a flurry due to the movement.
Less than a second is what it takes for the Titans to regain their footing. Even Leila is able to adjust to the shaking in an incredibly swift manner. Once they're standing firmly against the awful trembling, they begin scanning the room with their eyes once more. With Black Shadow running the show, it's already bluntly obvious that this is in no fashion an earthquake. When they see the table sinking into the floor and the money being forcibly sucked into hidden vents in the walls, it is discovered exactly how true this is.
"¡No!" Shouts one of the twins as the contents of the room disappears. "¡Él está tomando el dinero!"
Sighing, Aqualad states, "Of course. He couldn't just leave the money here. That would make our job of returning it too easy."
After the room has been completely emptied out, that is when the section of floor where the table previously sat raises back out of the floor like a platform. The whole time the gap in the floor widens to make more room for the much larger platform that comes up. It is certainly larger than the portion of floor that held the table. It is only when the rising platform reveals several dozen robots that the group of teens discover why this is.
They aren't at all similar to the robots they fought when Brother Blood infiltrated their Tower, but instead are completely different. Rather than being bulky, gold, and having Cyborg's arm cannons, they have a medium build that is very similar to Black Shadow's own height and size. Not only that, but their torsos and heads are black with dark blue stripes running down the sides while their arms and legs are silver. Nobody knows what color their eyes would be due to the fact that the robots seem entirely vacant at the moment, but if they were functioning, Speedy assumes that their eyes would be red.
All of the sudden, a large amount of clanging comes from multiple areas of the spacious room. Looking around at their surroundings, it is seen as many more robots are shoved out of gaps in the walls and as more rise up out of the floor on additional platforms. By the time the clanging stops and the room is completely still, it wouldn't surprise Speedy if the number of robots was over two-hundred. Nonetheless, the redhead still manages to give a sarcastic snort.
"Robots? Is this really the best you can do? We've fought plenty of robots before."
"You're going to have to do a lot better than this to beat the Titans!" exclaims Bumblebee.
The unseen villain replies with false exasperation. "Sometimes you Titans hurt my feelings. You honestly think that my robots are that weak. I have always been the underestimated one. Even in grade school! Mrs. McDaniel was actually shocked when I got a C+ on my spelling test instead of an F!"
Black Shadow pauses in his speech after this. Normally he pauses only to be dramatic, but this time it is proven to be exactly the opposite. During the lapse in dialogue, several large shadows emerge from their places hidden amongst the robots. As they emerge they float to the center of the room and come together to form a large three-dimensional sphere. The sphere doesn't appear perfectly round like a bowling ball. Rather, the surface of it is rippling and unstable, making the tightly-knit ball of shadows almost seem like a floating sphere of oil.
As the seconds pass many more shadows come out from their hiding places to join the sphere, causing it to grow to a staggering size. Becoming slightly nervous at the sight, the Titans and Leila back away from the enormous thing by several feet. Even so, none of them hesitates to take on fighting stances and to hold their weapons at the ready. Glancing over at Leila, Speedy sees as she makes her fire whips thicker. The girl's stance is solid, and the courage and determination in her eyes can't be missed. Shifting his gaze away from Leila and back to the sphere, Speedy can't help but think that he underestimated her severely.
His bow and arrows pointed at the enormous ball the color of oil, the archer watches alongside the others as it grows several sizes before bursting. When it bursts it is instantly discovered that the contents of the sphere weren't aimed at them. Instead, the shadowy fragments make their way toward the robots. They inch along the floor toward the machines and crawl up their metallic legs to their chests almost like worms. Then, the moment they come into contact with their chests, the shadows seep into the metal completely. The instant this happens their mechanical eyes light up the color of pure soot. Then they move.
A single swift motion is all it takes for the black-eyed robots to completely surround the group of six, not leaving a single open space for escape. Speedy doesn't know how to explain it, but these robots are different from any type of machine that they've faced before. It isn't just their size and how fast they can move, but it's their eyes. Somehow the fact that they're black instead of red like he'd expected makes something about them seem…darker. It's like little pieces of Black Shadow are embedded into these robots, along with his psychotic intent.
Meanwhile, the unseen villain speaks once more. "Let me assure you that these robots are neither an F nor a C+! My henchmen and I worked hard to craft these guys, so they're not worth anything less than an A! Now you Titans going to see what it's like to fight three-hundred A+ robots!" Giving a slight pause, Black Shadow says only a single sentence after this. "Robots, attack mode!"
Speedy only has time for one last thought before jumping fully-fledged into battle. "You've been talking about how well you can fight, so now is the time. Show us what you've got, Leila!"
When first meeting up with the Titans this evening, Damiana knew that they would most likely run into a criminal of some sort. Sneaking around inside of a criminal's hideout looking for stolen money and any other incriminating evidence that could help them figure out what this criminal is planning? It would be ridiculous for her to think that they wouldn't run into a bad guy! Then again, Damiana wasn't expecting to fight a criminal on this kind of scale either. It is true that the alien girl has never once heard of Black Shadow. Yet, even if she has never heard of him before today, Damiana can still tell exactly how diabolical this guy is.
The moment she heard his voice, she knew that their situation wasn't good. When she looked into his cunning hazel eyes after he revealed himself, it became very apparent that Black Shadow is different from the henchmen she ran into the night before in the worst kind of way. Then, the moment he touched her, Damiana immediately realized that he isn't a villain that a person should ever take lightly. Right now as they're surrounded by several hundred robots in this massively expansive room, Damiana's assumptions have been solidified beyond the point of no return.
Speedy is on one side of her, Aqualad is on the other, and Bumblebee stands back-to-back with the fire user. Mas y Menos are somewhere within the group as well, but because they aren't directly beside her, Damiana doesn't take notice of them. Instead her false green orbs stare the charcoal-eyed robots down intensely. Out of all the times to join the Titans in one of their battles, it had to be against an evil, shadow-using, maniac, who decided to test his robots out on them.
"Don't complain, Damiana," says the girl to herself. "There's no backing out of this now. Since you're here with the Titans, fight like a Dabnodian!"
Directly after the thought, Damiana hears as the villain known as Black Shadow gives a shout.
"Robots, attack mode!"
All it takes are those three words for the machines to charge forward. Some of them run while others jump at extreme heights in attempt to land on top of them. Much to Damiana's expectations, this is all it takes to drive the six of them apart. Bumblebee flies into the air, taking out several robots with kicks and others using her stingers. Mas y Menos run at a rapid speed, knocking over as many of the machines as they can. Meanwhile, Aqualad is in another part of the room breaking pipes with his Atlantian powers in an attempt to short them out with water.
In contrast, as the rest of the Titans fight in far off parts of the room, Speedy is about twenty feet away from her. The whole time he shoots down robots with incredible perception and speed. Damiana would never admit it out loud, but with or without superpowers, Speedy is amazing in combat. He's remarkably fast with his bow, he always knows which arrows to grab, he can use his bow to block if he needs to, he knows martial arts, and the redhead can jump at incredible heights. Even if Speedy is an arrogant playboy, there's no denying the fact that he is an amazing superhero.
Blowing a false brown strand out of her face in irritation at the thought, Damiana grabs four robots at once with her fire whips. With two being held by one whip and with two in the other, the girl throws them high into the air with ease. Once they're airborne, the girl extinguishes her whips and replaces them with a long, thin, blade of fire. A person would never be able to tell just by looking at it, but this flaming blade is sharper than any Earthly blade of metal. The fire blade is the first technique Damiana mastered when she was small, and it's still the technique that she's the proudest of.
Extending her fire blade, Damiana thrusts it into the air and cuts through the machines multiple times. By the time they make contact with the ground, they are nothing but dismembered pieces of tin. Electricity can be seen pulsing through them as the metal twitches slightly, but it is very apparent that they won't be coming after her again anytime soon.
Several more of Black Shadow's machines charge her after this, the young fire user taking them out in the exact same fashion. The girl fights them off ferociously. Sometimes she throws them into the air with her flaming whips and tears them apart with fire blades. Other times she slams them to the ground from extreme heights using her whips and watches as they break apart like glass. Then, if she is surrounded by as many as seven at once or more, Damiana will pull out another move that she hasn't used in ages known as her fire breath.
By focusing the energy from her second heart to her lungs instead of to her hands, she enables herself to breath fire. Not only that, but when it comes out of her mouth as opposed to her fingers, it burns five times as hot. When she uses her fire breath not only do the machines break apart, but they end up half melted.
So focused is the girl on fending off the robots that she barely notices as she's being backed up toward the stairs. Neither does she notice as the scrap pieces of metal from the previous robots mysteriously vanish. With the number of robots coming against her raising from five at once to ten at once, Damiana honestly doesn't have enough time to focus on anything besides combat. If she removes her eyes from one of them for as little as three seconds, it could mean letting them get the better of her. Not yet ready to be defeated by walking chunks of metal, Damiana keeps backing toward the stairs.
By this point she is directly in front of the first step, eleven of the machines completely blocking her from going in any direction other than backwards. Taking in a deep breath and holding it momentarily, Damiana exhales a second later with a relentless torrent of orange flames. The girl's fire burns so hot that the flames can be heard as they roar viciously. As they burn, the echoing sound of screeching metal is heard as the robots fall apart and collapse to the ground.
Knowing that she won't be able to use her fire breath to such a large extent once she's in the stairwell due to the closed-in space, Damiana does her best to rush to another part of the room. Unfortunately for the Dabnodian, she doesn't get more than two feet away from the stairs. Before Damiana can blink her false green eyes, there are ten more robots trapping her in the exact same location as before. Growing frustrated, Damiana releases a low growl prior to melting them down with her fiery breath once again.
"This is ridiculous!" exclaims the girl as seven more robots appear in the place of the previous ten. "It's like these things are coming out of nowhere!"
Summoning a pair of lengthy fire whips, the girl picks up four of the robots, raises them high into the air, and slams them to the ground with brutality. Extinguishing her whips and bringing forth a fire blade, she prepares to take out the final three. There is nothing she wants more then to destroy Black Shadow's endless machines, so this is all she is focused on. Thus, why Damiana is surprised when an arrow hits each of the robots in the chests simultaneously and takes them out rather than her fire blade. Eyes widening, Damiana turns to see the redheaded archer standing directly beside her.
"I know what you mean. It's been like this for me, too. I don't know where they keep coming from, but it's like Black Shadow's stupid robots are endless!"
Upon seeing him, Damiana can't help but groan internally. Of all the Titans in this room, why is he the one standing beside her? Why not Aqualad, or Bumblebee, or Mas y Menos? Not at all happy to see the archer, Damiana is completely prepared to snap at him. However, due to the twelve additional robots that show up in place of the seven defeated ones, the remark never leaves her mouth. Instead, in light of their rather intense situation, she decides to respond civilly.
"Whatever your villain 'Black Shadow' did to these robots, he definitely did a good job. Even with three hundred of them, it seems like the number of them should be going down by now."
Breaking out her fire whips, Damiana takes four of them and slams them down against the hard floor. That single hit is all it takes for them to fall apart. Then, breaking out her fire blade, she tears apart two more. Meanwhile, Speedy takes out the other six robots by shooting arrows into their chests. With regular arrows this doesn't seem like it would work, but when Damiana sees how they send electrical pulses through their mechanical bodies she understands completely. It only proves how he always knows which arrows to put to use.
It takes a moment, but still he replies. "I know. I've noticed that, too. We need to figure out how Black Shadow is controlling them fast. Otherwise we could end up fighting these things all night."
"Easier said than done," replies Damiana bluntly. "It's not just electricity that powers these things, but shadows. I've never even heard of this criminal before, so don't take what I'm saying too seriously, but I have a feeling that the only person who knows how these robots work is Black Shadow."
To both Damiana's and Speedy's disappointment, more robots show up yet again. The only difference is that this time instead of twelve there are fifteen. If she could, Damiana would take the whole lot of them out with her fire breath. Of course, considering how Speedy is standing so close to her, there is no possible way for her to do this without charring him to death. Even so, the girl is certain that she can take at least a few of them out without harming the arrogant archer. As long as he complies, that is…
Sighing internally at what she's about to ask him to do, Damiana turns to face him. "Get behind me, Speedy. Now."
It's only too bad that they're surrounded by robots at the moment, and that the other Titans are too busy battling to see the expression on Speedy's face. The mixture of bafflement, shock, and offense is completely priceless. Were the situation different, Damiana might actually chuckle.
As he replies, he shoots down three of the robots in a swift manner. "Get behind you? Why would you ask me to do that?! What, do you think my arrows are weak?!"
Rolling her eyes, Damiana takes out four of the robots out with her fire whips. "No, I absolutely do not think that your arrows are weak! I want you to get behind me because you're in my range! Unless you want to be incinerated, you need to get behind me so I don't kill or disfigure you!"
It is only after her explanation that Speedy complies. Even so, it is still with slight reluctance.
"Fine. If you insist, then I'll get behind you. I really don't feel like dying by fire today, anyway."
With that behind said, Speedy gets behind her in a single leap. Once he's behind her, after double-checking to make sure that he isn't at all within her range, Damiana exhales a torrent of burning fire. As soon as it makes contact with the machines, they instantly melt apart and collapse to the ground. The whole time the echoing screeching of metal can be heard, as well as the intense roaring of the inferno. Damiana doesn't notice, but Speedy gapes in awe as she takes out the eight final robots.
A second or two later, once all of the machines are incapacitated and her fire is extinguished, Damiana turns to face Speedy. When she looks at him, the Titan doesn't return her gaze right away. He looks from the half melted pieces of metal, to the fire user, and back again. The whole time the expressions of both shock and amazement are very apparent across his features.
Crossing her arms, Damiana looks at him sternly. "If I tell you to get behind me, it would be best if you do it. When my fire burns, it burns. The last thing Steel City needs is a cremated Titan."
Returning Damiana's gaze, he gives a nod at last. "When you ask me to, I'll get behind you. Just don't ask me to do it too much. Me and my arrows are just as good in a fight as your fire."
Turning away from him to see approximately twenty more robots heading in their direction, the girl replies easily. "I never said that your arrows weren't good in a fight. You are a Titan, after all."
She doesn't catch it due to the machines that are rapidly closing in on them, but Speedy completely regains his arrogant trademark smirk at her words. Somehow, as he begins shooting down robots with glowing arrows, it stays perfectly in place.
"It's good to know how you really feel. I guess you don't hate me as much as I thought."
Scowling, Damiana destroys her share of the robots with a fire blade and the occasional flaming punch while responding. "Don't jump to conclusions just because I admit that you're skilled with a bow. You're far from my favorite person on Earth, but if we have to fight together, so be it."
Once that is said, the two fall to silence and begin rapidly taking down robots. Working together using arrows and fire, they manage to make the metal machines drop like flies. At some point, they have taken out so many that there is a perfect semi-circle of broken metal surrounding them. Because of this, it would normally be assumed that they're making progress in causing the amount of robots to diminish. Oddly enough, however, this isn't the case even a little bit.
No matter how many robots fall, more robots always seem to appear. For every robot that gets destroyed, it's like two more pop up in their places like some kind of hydra. After several minutes of relentlessly fighting them, and three more attempts at using her fire breath at a level that won't harm Speedy, the duo discovers that they can no longer avoid being backed into the stairwell. This happens much to Damiana's dismay, as she won't be able to use her fire breath at all with Speedy in the stairwell with her. With such a limited amount of space, he will never be able to stay out of her range!
Growing desperate as an uncountable number of robots purses them up the stairs, Damiana sends a bout of flaming punches in their direction. Five of them tear into pieces and are sent tumbling down the stairs as she does this. Following her punches are a lengthy fire blade, six more of them becoming scrap metal before crashing down the stairs and out of sight. Meanwhile Speedy rapidly fires his arrows, taking out at least ten of the machines. Even so, this still isn't enough. Once this group of robots is defeated, more appear than ever before.
Shoving a strand of hair out of her face using her upper arm, Damiana shoots a series of flaming streams at them while verbally expressing her agony. "Nothing we do is working! The things I would sacrifice to use some of my high-level techniques right now! I could incinerate all of them in less than a second!"
Not once hesitating in shooting his arrows, Speedy responds sounding equally tense at their situation. "Then why don't you do it?! Can't you use your dragon breath or something?!"
Tossing several robots down the stairs using her fire whips, the girl explains in slight irritation. "First of all, it isn't 'dragon' breath. The correct terminology is 'fire' breath. I'm a humanoid life-form, not a lizard. And secondly, my fire breath is impossible to use right now, along with all of my other highest level techniques. With the limited space, the whole three-hundred-and-sixty degrees surrounding me is my range; you can't escape it." Pausing, she adds with sarcasm, "I guess I could try it, but I think that the Teen Titans and the Justice League would be upset if I incinerated you."
Growing even more desperate, Speedy begins shooting arrows double-time. The fact that he can shoot arrows faster than he was shooting them previously is amazing to Damiana. Of course, this isn't her primary focus. Rather, her main focus is on destroying a half-dozen robots at a time using her fire blade. Meanwhile, the archer speaks once more.
"I'm not trying to put pressure on you, but is there any way for you to use your fire without burning me to death? Maybe if I go to the top of the stairs, I can get out of your range."
Pausing slightly, Damiana observes their surroundings. The walls on either side of the stairwell are only four feet apart. Not only that, but even if the top of stairs is a good thirty feet away, it still isn't far enough for Speedy to get out of her range; not if she plans on using her fire breath at its full strength. With the amount of robots pursuing them, anything less than her full strength would be completely pointless.
Sighing in a mixture of disappointment and strain, she replies to him. "Nope, it's no good. The walls are too close together for me to use my full strength. Even if we get out of this stairwell, the hallways in this place don't give me much more room. Without enough space, my powers are limited."
More robots coming at them, the duo backs up the stairs by several more feet. Arrows fly and so do flames, but this doesn't do much to deter them. As they fight, Speedy speaks while sounding a bit more anxious than he did prior to her explanation.
"Okay, so your powers are limited and so are my arrows, and we're separated from the rest of my team and can't really depend on them at the moment. Things could be looking better for us." After a slight pause, he continues. "I know that this question is probably pointless, but are there any moves you can think of to take these things out? Anything at all? I only have so many arrows!"
Apprehension filling her voice, she exclaims fearfully, "Are you serious?! You're not out of them, are you?!"
"Not yet, but I'm getting close," replies Speedy bluntly. "If they keep coming at us like this, I'm only good for another twenty minutes; probably less."
For once, Damiana's sigh is external rather than internal. Also for once, her sigh sounds strained rather than annoyed. They're having trouble keeping these endless machines at bay, now! How are they going to do it once Speedy runs out of arrows?! It's true that she doesn't like Speedy, but the alien girl has to admit that she doesn't mind being around him right now. Admittedly, he is very helpful in a fight. At least when he has arrows, anyway. Once they're gone, what is he going to do? Whack at the robots with his bow?!
Groaning in irritation as she takes out a dozen more the machines with dual flaming streams, Damiana begins wracking her brain for a solution.
"Come on, Damiana, think!" the girl says to herself. "You were learning Master Level techniques at seven years old while the other children were just learning to harness the energy from their second hearts! You could decipher ancient languages that Queen Guayusa's scribes couldn't figure out, and you could learn new languages three times as fast! If anyone can figure this out, it's you!"
By this point, the two adolescents have been pushed from the stairwell completely and have emerged against their will into the hallway from which they came. Even so, the two never hesitate to continue fighting full-force. The whole time Damiana continues to think as hard as she can manage while holding the metallic enemy at bay.
So far she has considered every fire technique she has in her arsenal; even her Master's Level techniques for some reason or another. Yet, she isn't able to use any of them. Sure with an extremely powerful move she has mastered such as the fire flood or the flaming coffin she could have these robots destroyed in less than an instant, but that would destroy Speedy too. She might not care much for Speedy, but she doesn't want to kill him! Then there are some fairly powerful moves where Speedy might be able to get out of her range, but those aren't any good either. They might keep the archer alive and uncharred, but they won't get the job done with the robots…
"Gah! Why won't any of my fire techniques work?! There has to be something I can do here!"
Then, directly after Damiana's frustrated self-talk, that is when something finally occurs to her. She has only been considering her fire techniques! The more she thinks about it, the more the girl realizes that she could have had all of these things destroyed ages ago if she'd only been thinking beyond her fire! Then again, it isn't too surprising that she didn't think of it sooner. Only one in every ten fire users on Dabnod had access to the specific ability she wields, so not too many Dabnodians had this technique mastered. With a lack of others to teach her, Damiana isn't overly skilled in using it either. It is a very difficult move. Thus, why most fire users preferred to stick with fire…
As the girl puts a bit more consideration into the idea, she can't help but grow nervous. Not only did she not have this technique mastered before her planet got destroyed, but she hasn't used it in years! If it was shaky then, then it is definitely shaky now!
Forcing herself to calm down, the girl speaks to herself once more. "Come on, Damiana, right now is no time to think about the details! This is the only move you have that will take out the robots before Speedy runs out of arrows! It's this or nothing!"
The girl's emotions must be outwardly plain, because all it takes is a single glance for the archer to be able to guess that she thought of something. Rapidly shooting down robots as they turn the corner from this hallway and down another, he speaks to her.
"The look on your face is an interesting one. Did you think of something?"
Pursing her lips together anxiously, Damiana nods. "Yes, I did. It's been a while since I've done this technique, but with you running low on arrows, it's all we've got." The girl sprints ahead of him down the hallway while continuing. "Come on! I need your help luring the robots to this one part of the building! It's completely made out of stone and metal, so it's the best place to do it at."
A/N: Well, that's it for now. I can't wait to finish part two of the fight! Again, I like this version so much better than my previous one! Anyway, I hope that this part of the battle was to your liking. Also, I intend on making the next part of the battle something that is very interesting. To give you a hint, I plan on having them run across something of Black Shadow's that will have a lot of bearing on the future plot. Or at least that's the plan, anyway. Plan's change, and if any of my plans regarding this story change, I will let you know. This is my favorite story that I'm writing right now, so unless life gets in the way, I probably won't keep you waiting for too long.
Until the next chapter! :)
Forever and always,
OCQ