Disclaimer: By this means, I rightfully claim ownership to this FanFiction story and my original character within it, by my trademark signature T.M.O at the conclusion of every update. Any other characters that may appear in this work and are new, these are the rightful properties by their creators as well and cannot be reproduced, or duplicated without their individual consent. I do not own anything within the DC Universe, from Warner Brothers, or on Cartoon Network. The only original character and the name that I created for him; that I accept half ownership on is Falcon from this telling. Scififanfreak222 owns the second half of him as well, for drawing him upon a collaboration of various new designs and sketches within the year of 2010; and cannot be knowingly placed into another literary document, writing community, comic book series, and or televised broadcast without either of our written or verbal consent in front of legal consultants. TheForceIsStrongWithThisOne, Scififanfreak222, xSaffire55x, Novus Ordo Seclorum, and RavenxIsxAxBlackxRose; each of these fellow writers have helped me to press onwards with this story, every-time I have come across writers block. Without their outstanding guidance, the updates would have taken me even longer to complete.
Chapter 24 is good to go! The pieces continue to move on the board, the strategy of colliding forces shifts, while Falcon meets a strange girl. "Our brightest blazes are commonly kindled by unexpected sparks." -unknown-
Chapter 24 - The Percolating Light
The intense shock from the multiple explosions echoed about the long underground tunnel. The dynamite had been concealed throughout the passage, where this chain of events caused an incredibly violent rumbling earthquake, to quickly erupt.
So much was happening so fast, that the senses of the heroic trio were too jumbled to find any balance. Dust from the ceiling that fell, it quickly combined with heavier debris and a number of support beams that held up the underground pathway.
Everything was crashing around them!
It was during this chaos, that the Master Deceiver used this confusion to his advantage, to trap the three superheroes in a tomb where he would escape while they struggled on.
As Robin and Raven finally got back to their feet, they raced over towards the platform and stopped dead in their tracks as they tried to figure out what to do.
The initial shock-wave was not a complete force of destruction, yet it was a cause of very deep concern for the pathway they had entered was suddenly sealed off. With the debris tumbling all around them, it would only be a matter of time before things would get much more drastic.
"He's getting away!" Cyborg shouted over the cacophony of noise, while the entire place continued crumbling.
Drastic was a severe understatement. There situation was deplorable, and it was getting worse by the second.
"What did I tell you about running off on your own!?" Robin scolded his teammate, trying to teach his Second-In-Command an important lesson. "Dang it Cyborg, I told you to just flank Cinderblock, to FLANK HIM! So we could take him down together and instead . . . instead you go off and do a lone wolf routine!"
"Can we talk about this issue later? Right now we have a much larger problem to contend with!" Raven interrupted the banter, causing everybody to take notice.
Raven and Robin worked feverishly against the outer contraption of the great magnetic ring that held their teammate in place against his will. It was a rather strange machine, something that none of them had come across before. It was just another weapon, in the arsenal of crafty tools at Slade's disposal.
What doesn't he have to use against us? Robin thought to himself.
The lightbulbs from the sides of the passageway were still glowing, and the superheroes could just make out each-other through the vast darkness beyond the platform. The metal deck that the Titan's Mechanic was trapped on was the most lit up part of the man-made cavern, and they made full use of it.
"You guys have to get out of here!" Cyborg pleaded desperately, as his allies breathed sporadically in their exhausting efforts. "Follow that path straight ahead. Slade ran down there, and it probably leads to a way back up to the surface!"
"We aren't going to leave you behind." said Robin. "We came down here to get you!"
Cyborg turned and revealed a scowl towards his stern commander. "Robin . . . Falcon is dead, Beast Boy and Starfire need you more than ever."
"Stop it, alright!" He uncoupled his bo-staff, and he held it at the ready against the inner spinning rotor. "I won't hear that sort of talk, got it!"
"It is pointless to waste your efforts on me. Focus on the mission!"
"Idiot. You ARE the mission!"
Cyborg expelled a deep sigh while his commander worked harder and faster at prodding the nuts and bolts with his bo-staff.
"We will get you out, and we will all get back to the others." The Boy Wonder rasped, as his voice felt dry.
"Robin!" Cyborg cut-in again. The urgency in his tone was very apparent. "We don't have time for this, you and Raven have to get out of here!"
"We aren't leaving without you!"
"The whole place is collapsing!"
"Don't you quit on me! That's an order Cyborg." Robin turned back to Raven, nodding his head as she used her powers, to encase a dark energy around the sides of the metal contraption.
"Azar give me strength. Azarath, Metrion . . . ZINTHOS!" Raven recited her slogan.
The black energy that was erected about the inner rotating device, it caused her to feel the complete weight of the gears.
Gradually, she pulled apart the bolts and nuts that reinforced the infernal machine, and her efforts caused the massive mechanism to rattle and the magnet began to loosen. The Boy Wonder forcefully shoved his weapon into a gap between the cogs, and the metal staff forced sparks to leap and spray the area.
It was like a welder preforming his fascinating trade.
Cyborg was able to move his upper body once again, then his hands became free followed quickly by his right and left legs. He collapsed onto the floor, and he hurried to safety with Robin and Raven leaping to his side, as the rotor became unhinged and it began to spin at an even more uncontrolled rate of speed.
The bo-staff snapped into pieces, yet the broken shards quickly caused a chain-reaction and the magnet began sparking and bellowing smoke. Faster and faster it spun, while the three Teen Titans huddled together, and they threw their arms over one another as a new and terrifying explosion forced them to crawl out of the way.
"Slade sure has some crafty toys." Cyborg said with a hint of admiration in his tone, while he glanced behind him to watch the large rings topple over.
"Are you alright?" Raven asked, causing the muscular gear-head to look at her.
"Yeah. I think so."
"Can you walk?" Robin questioned him next.
"I think running is more the appropriate word." Raven interjected with a bit of panic in her tone.
The Titan's Mechanic turned his head to his left shoulder, and after clutching the green gloved hand of his leader, the terror at being unable to move had finally been lifted. However a new fear began to grip him, as the vibrations and falling debris brought them back to the issue at hand.
Now I know how Falcon felt! "Yeah." The African American nodded his head. "I didn't mean to get you two wound up in my mess."
"We are a team Cyborg." Robin spoke with his typical stern tone. "While we have our disagreements and moments of distress, but we need to stick together."
The largest and oldest of the three, Cyborg nodded his head once more. "You're right, yeah I know."
"It still doesn't change the fact that you went off by yourself, and against my direct command though."
"Robin!" Raven's all-too familiar monotone rasp cut-into the confab with a new sense of urgency. "I don't mean to break up our little reunion here, but we really need to be moving!"
The collapse of the tunnel that they were in began to accelerate at a much quicker rate. While they helped each-other stand a few of the lights along the walls suddenly burst.
Cyborg unveiled his shoulder flashlight, and they could see much clearer through the now expanding darkness.
"Great!" Robin shouted just to be heard. "The way we came in here is blocked!"
"And we will be crushed from the rest of this place, if we don't find a new way out!" Raven gasped with the expression of dread expanding across her grey face.
"It's all my fault." Cyborg said while his eye closed for a moment. "This entire damn mess. All of it."
A large boulder tumbled down directly behind them!
Dirt with rocks continued to pour in through the new gaps, as the ceiling that had metal plating bowed inwards. A cloud of smoke enveloped them, and they coughed while the air continued to become harder to breathe.
"We're going to die in here if we don't get moving!" Robin pleaded for his teammates to listen.
"This way!" Raven waved them on, leading them in the only direction available being forwards.
Cyborg glanced to his wrist before speaking. "My scanner is still jammed. That path has to be our ticket out of here if Slade bolted through it!"
"Stay here and die from either suffocation, or being crushed, or move forwards to the unknown and possibly fall into another trap? I say we keep moving!" Raven chimed in again.
She was frustrated about finding herself in yet another terrible dilemma, trying to rescue another of her friends when she just wanted to have a moment of peace.
Her thoughts began to drift back to the hospital room. She was curious about Beast Boy, and how Starfire was also dealing with her sore leg. This would be a story she would have to tell him when they were reunited.
The three Titans each raised an arm in front of themselves while they began to trot. Their pace quickened into a mad sprint, while the violent collapse persisted. They each found the strength to increase their speed, where they pressed down the long tunnel as though they were famous marathon runners in the Olympics.
The heroes were unsure of where the path was going to take them, all the while the tunnel behind them continued to fold in on itself, as the walls were crushed inwards from rocks and rubble.
"Slade really put us in a tight bind here!" Robin scoffed. "Did you learn anything about his plan?"
"No." Cyborg responded. "He did say that we were very predictable however."
"I would really like to change that statement!"
"So would I."
"Yeah, but right now WE NEED TO KEEP MOVING!" Raven's tone of voice was very alarming, and they pressed forwards with all the speed that their legs could carry them.
If only they had the ability that Kid Flash had. The Boy Wonder and the Team Mechanic glanced away from one another, while Raven on the far left began to outpace their steps.
"Look!" The Empath's gravely voice that was heightened by fear, it had changed to elation all of a sudden as she pointed down the vast underground cavern. "The way ahead of us is blocked off!"
Cyborg grunted; "Dammit!"
"The explosives he detonated, they must have been synchronized to go off at various intervals." replied Robin. "That explains what those earlier rumblings were!"
Raven's face scrunched a bit as a cramp in her side hampered her movements. No, not now!
"Over there!" said Cyborg. "It's a place in this tunnel that we can hold out in."
Robin focused his attention from behind them, back towards his Second-In-Command. "It doesn't look like we have much of a choice in this."
"We don't." Raven said over their panting for oxygen. "But we have to try for it!"
Fear was gripping her even more than when she had arrived at the dam, and she honed into both of the males on her team that were also in a heightened emotional state of panic. Due to their terrible misfortune, things were a bit cloudy to detect for the grey sorceress, yet she knew the sensation of fear only too well.
Was this going to be their end?
Robin focused his eyes behind the famous domino-mask onto Raven. "There must be some other path?"
"We are out of time!" exclaimed Raven while they briefly halted, and they all were glancing behind them. "It's no time for debate, we take that risk and make a go for it, or we die here."
"I for one am not going to quit!" Cyborg's booming voice sliced into the banter. "Besides, we all have a score to settle with Slade."
Robin looked at his friends faces, then he observed the avalanche of wreckage that tumbled and fell, filling the path behind them even faster and almost pursuing them like a rolling tsunami. It was like the sight that a surfer would observe, when a Dorsal fin of a great white shark bobs through water, chasing after its un-expecting meal.
"Hurry!"
The trio of superheroes turned sharply to the left after listening to their commander, just as the last emergency light-bulb shattered into pieces. A pitch blackness that was felt on mainly the darkest of nights, enveloped their surroundings.
They huddled together while the explosive tremor gradually faded. The hidden room they had plunged into was tall enough for them to stand and walk around within. Everything was so very cold, dark and wet, where the illumination from Cyborg's left shoulder device, it bounced across the curved walls of the out-cove.
This beacon gave a blue hue to each of their faces.
A steady dripping noise reverberated about the sanctuary, and it gathered a tiny pool in the corner of the room. There was no other path, there was no continuation to any escape route from this point on, they were trapped!
"We . . . we made it." Cyborg said with heavy inhaling breaths of oxygen into his lungs.
His two caped teammates parted from the middle of the room, leaving the gear-head in the very center. They were each contemplating things, and the bleak outcome was very unpleasant.
"No." replied Robin, as he bowed his head while standing near what was once the channel they were running through. "Not yet."
"Did your scanner happen to pick up any frequency beyond the tunnel?" Raven questioned, as she observed their now desolate surroundings.
Cyborg scratched his chin. "No. like I said earlier, I wasn't able to detect anything beyond this exact point."
"Well, I guess that means our communication ability to reach the surface, to try and contact Starfire or Beast Boy is not going to work either." Raven deadpanned. "We lost our ability to talk with you back in the Gold Depository. It would only verify my theory, that we won't be able to use them even at this point."
A potent and lingering silence remained. The only noise was of the drip, drip, dripping, and their labored breathing.
"Our situation does not look good, I know that I screwed up guys." Cyborg began his apology, while he turned to confront his family. "I was trying to follow up on any lead available, and chasing down Cinderblock was the best one I had."
Robin clenched his fists prior to giving his answer. Where have I heard that line before? . . . And you were the first to berate me about going after Red X by myself!
"You had us really worried back there." Robin spoke out loud. "I'm not going to lie when I tell you here and now, that I am still upset."
"I had to do my duty."
"Duty?" Robin questioned with hostility in his tone. "Our objective was to stop Cinderblock, not for you to preform alone and in such a reckless and careless manner, as to drag us down to your level!"
"I deserve that, fine." Cyborg walked towards the captain. "But don't tell me, that if our places were switched, that you wouldn't have done the exact same thing as I had!"
Robin turned and pointed at the much larger teammate's chest. "I gave you an order Cyborg! One simple thing to do, and you wanted to . . . to prove something!"
"Something had to be done! While we can argue back and forth, don't you dare expect me to stand here and take this!"
"Guys!" Raven interrupted the quarrel. "We need to stop this infighting, it's not helping us at all. From the moment we got back from Tokyo, everything has been so misplaced and lost. We need to stay focused now more than ever. We must . . . or we will lose everything."
"I know that you want me to make some upbeat speech or pep-talk, but I-I can't." Robin said with his arms crossed over his chest. "I don't know what is worse, Slade getting away, or the fact that I don't seem to have any control over my team?"
"There you go with that again!" Cyborg barked at him. "I told you to leave me back there, to go after him instead of worrying about me."
Raven stepped in between them now, holding her arms out to try and bring peace. It was getting increasingly difficult these past days, and with how bleak things looked presently, they would have to work together or they would perish.
"Stop it!" Raven scolded them while her eyes turned a burning white color, and a demonic pitch echoed forcing the quarrel to cease. She closed her eyes to regain her composure and when she reopened them, the normal color had returned. "Just . . . stop it. We can't keep doing this."
"Raven-" said Robin.
The Grey Enchantress interlocked her arms across her bust. "Tread carefully Robin, for this is not what any of us wanted, yet here we find ourselves."
"If I may say something-" Cyborg spoke next.
"And you." Raven interrupted him. "Cyborg, we are beyond the thin red line. You went ahead after Cinderblock, and we went in after you, where there are so many things that can be spoken and debated between the three of us, but now is not. that. time."
Robin and Cyborg glanced in each-other's direction, not saying a word.
"It's difficult, impossible really." Raven continued her monologue. "We are trapped in a place with no way of contacting anybody, with the only way out having been blocked, and we are running out of air. We need to find a way back to the surface before this cavern becomes our tomb! Either we put our warring paths behind us, we try to focus on getting out of here and forge ahead in a new friendship, or we will die."
"You're right." Cyborg spoke up, and he cleared his throat. "We need to find a way out."
"Cyborg." Robin gradually focused his eyes onto the black teenager. "I didn't mean to . . . what I mean is, it's not-"
"Robin." The gear-head smiled his typical heartwarming gesture. "You are our leader, and I know that I have been rather . . . difficult about everything. That I'm making things harder on the team, and I-I just want you to know, that I still believe in you."
This apology sounded eerily similar to Falcon's, following the awkward first day when they had met. The small band of heroes reminisced about the Fire Wielder joining their ranks, only for the new addition to swiftly be taken away.
The two male teammates approached each-other, and they clasped their forearms in a firm handshake. Robin's green gloved right hand interlocked with Cyborg's mechanical and cold vice-grip-like gauntlet.
"Good." said Raven. "Now that that is sorted with, we need to put our heads together and come up with a solution."
The continuous dripping in the middle of the room now held their attention, and these three remained very quiet. They were not going to give up on their mission.
The empowering belief in themselves, it had rekindled a spark in their sunken spirits. They had rescued Cyborg, endured the collapse within the tunnel system, and they had reforged some sense of balance in their friendship.
(~)
Blackfire looked out of a window from deep within The Iceberg Lounge, to observe the gothic city skyline as the second day had now arrived.
She had approximately twenty-four hours to go, and not everybody was going to be making the return trip to Jump City with her. She kept her back to the variety of characters that were staggered about the very large conference room, and she was fixated with the thick fog that enveloped any clear view in-between the massive skyscrapers.
It was unlike anything she had witnessed before, and the decrepit state of most of the structures, from the gargoyles spotted here and there, or the filthy back alleys along the streets down below, even the stench of chemicals burning through the brick built smokestacks, all of these man-made structures collided and they became focal points for her memory.
The Tamaranean Exile had traveled to various corners and pockets across the vastness of the stars. From the resplendent cities of multiple planets, there were always an array of life and exotic things to experience and explore.
During her journeys the charm of many locations kept her intrigued with the extensive solar system, and the bounty of creatures that inhabited the multitude of worlds. With every system that she went to, certain elements stuck with her, yet she never stayed for very long.
Tamaran held a very special place in her heart, and while she could not return, the Exile was determined more than ever to make Starfire pay dearly following the upheaval at the wedding.
So much planning and deliberation had been enacted, but the Teen Titans did some sleuthing and once everything became known, Starfire confronted her and had bested her for the crown.
Blackfire felt discarded, unwanted, dejected and lost. The two most unpleasant times which her younger sister had beaten her, the past made her furious with rage. To have been outwitted by her younger sibling, the bitterness was heavily on her thoughts.
She could not return to Tamaran unless she wiped out Starfire, and to displace the red-headed princess from her home here on Earth, to force her sister to accept defeat while enacting a complete revenge against her friends, that was extremely filling to concentrate upon. For those that took her sister in, they would have to be destroyed as well.
Having teamed up with The Master Criminal known as Slade, it only brought a stronger pride in her actions.
"Starfire . . . you are a Zornian muck beetle." Blackfire whispered to herself. "You will pay for what you did, I promised you that I would return."
Killer Frost walked over to the black haired messenger, and she interlocked her arms while a few eyes from the table glanced in their direction. The meeting was in a momentary break period, as everybody awaited what the next phase in the plan would be.
"You really have them." Killer Frost's seductively sexy voice whispered near the messenger's left ear. "Well, most of them anyway. It's a very intriguing offer and what's more, while your boss that sent you here, he's sweetened the deal by giving us a taste of what is in store should we sign on."
Blackfire smirked before responding; "Everybody wants something. You earthlings have an all consuming appetite for so much. It's almost too easy, to manipulate you bunch for one's own advantage."
The Mad Hatter, along with Catwoman and Black Mask were obsessed with the discussion of gold, and the puppet dressed in a slick suit jabbered on and on about getting filthy rich.
Killer Croc snarled, as his eyes focused on Cheshire in her green kimono, and she in turn tilted her head while the mask with the large smile looked right back at the massive reptile in silence. Poison Ivy was observed drinking a glass of red wine, and she winked at the half concealed man in his chair, to which Two-Face started flipping his coin again.
His famous token sliced through the stillness like a clock ticking over and over. The repetitive behavior of the once proud district attorney, it was a defiant way of keeping all in the room on their toes.
"Yeah, everybody wants something." The attractive Cryomancer deadpanned. "What is it that you are after?"
"My reasons for being here are of no concern to you, ice-witch." Blackfire replied with a sneer, and she slowly turned to confront the other female.
"Ice-Witch? Wow, and I thought I was cold when it came to giving witty remarks?"
"Why are you bothering me?"
The kingpin and host of the fine establishment known as Penguin, he was noticed puffing on his long cigarette. The thick cloud of tobacco enveloped around him and his monocle over his right eye, yet the glass sparkled in the darkness for a moment.
The young woman with snow white skin stepped closer to the window, and she gazed out of it. This caused the Tamaranean Exile to study her unwelcome visitor with intriguing suspicion, as to what her backstory was? Everybody had a past, and not everything was always so pleasant when a few layers could be peeled back.
"I don't bite." Killer Frost finally answered, and her entrancing blue eyes drew in the other female. "I know that I may seem like just one of them, but I'm not. You and me, we are . . . the same in a sense."
"I highly doubt it." said Blackfire.
Killer Frost placed her hand onto the foreign girl's shoulder. "You could have anything that you want. Money, power, the thrill of knowing that the average simpleton is a weak and stupid imbecile, but there is something that drives all of us." she turned her head and locked eyes with Blackfire. "I spotted it in you, from the moment I noticed you coming out of that alley."
"Oh? And what would that be?"
Frost looked her up and down, she smirked and then turned to refocus her attention back to Gotham City. "You are trying to get revenge. No need to conceal your motives around me, I can pick up on these things."
Blackfire was taken-aback by this statement. It was bold for the young woman to approach the alien warrior, yet it was rather humbling to be a little more acquainted with at least one person she had come across in her journey.
"Eh, I'll bite." Blackfire shrugged her shoulders. "I do have a bit of a problem that I aim to solve."
"Trying to even the score?"
"No." Blackfire's dark purple eyes burned with a raw fire. "I'm not looking to even anything. My goal has been to settle my dilemma permanently."
Killer Frost nodded her head. "Ahhh. The old saying is true then."
"What saying?"
"One must not play on the nose of a sleeping bear. It's an old German phrase about prudence."
"Hmmm." Blackfire clasped her hands behind her back. "You earthlings have some artistic sayings about everything it would seem. What does it mean?"
"It implies that . . . " she smirked. "You are cautious about things, that you are very proud to see things through but you are not ready. Not yet." The Cryomancer beamed an affectionate smile at her. "You and I have that in common."
"You got that . . . just from looking at me?"
"I told you before, everybody has a tell."
"A what?"
Killer Frost rolled her eyes. "It's another saying. Dealing with a game of cards at poker."
"I'm not sure I-I don't get what you are going on about?"
"That's alright." Killer Frost stretched her arms behind her head, and she yawned. "You're not from around here, and the customs of us earthlings must be very unusual, huh?"
"There are many elements that I do not comprehend. But, one of the most amusing things I have observed is the play on words so many people here, try to pull over me."
"Oh, amusing am I?"
"Don't push your luck." Blackfire shook her head. "I didn't come here to make friends."
"Of course not." The Cryomancer rebutted with her hands raised. "You coming all the way to Gotham, in the hopes of acquiring mine, and as many other's support in some grand scheme. Yeah-yeah, it's a story that I've heard so many times before."
"What is it that you want exactly?" The Exile questioned with a strange and new enthusiasm having returned to her voice.
"I am intrigued, but I would like to know more about your motives."
"Killer Frost . . . is it?"
"Go on."
"Why should I tell you anything at all?"
The colder than ice young woman, she slowly circled the Tamaranean Warrior. Then she leaned in and whispered softly; "Trust is what you need more than ever, especially with the situation you have allowed yourself into."
Blackfire bit her lower lip. This strange white haired villainess was bringing a dark truth to the forefront of everything, and while doing the tasks that Slade had requested, there was still no arrangement that things would be granted to her, as he may have sold her on the idea at their first meeting.
Then the memory of Red X came rushing to her, and she was looking out into the depths of the room but with an exhausted stare.
I came to this city to gain an army for Slade. Blackfire said in her mind, as she shifted her gaze from one face to another. I needed to do this, so I could build upon Slade's trust, and in return for my services he would help me, in defeating my sister.
The deadly brawl she had with the Masked Master Thief who went by the alias as Red X, the bits and pieces surfaced. Blackfire had given him a severe thrashing, and as she reached out to grab his hand from the ledge of the Amusement Park, he allowed himself to plummet into a watery grave.
She did not want to suffer a similar fate, as the dear departed messenger that came before her had. For some reason, the concealed identity and faceless mask, these things did appear to be mocking her now.
His hypnotic synthesized voice echoed in her brain. "It's always a messy occupation, this path we have chosen for ourselves." He squinted his eye to add into the effect of his reply. "Revenge may seem like the sweet dessert you crave, but it really is quiet tragic. If there be a different road, I'm afraid I don't know it."
Blackfire felt a chill trickle up her spine. The masked Master Thief had left one lasting riddle that haunted her deeply. Now, Killer Frost was talking in a similar tone, and it was very upsetting to the alien warrior's stomachs. Slade may have promised her the ability to locate her brother, but it was murky terms that persisted in more questions obstructing over any confidence, in their partnership.
She looked up from the floor. Her dark eyes met with Killer Frost's blue pair, and she smirked to forget about the unknown.
"You want to know what I am after, right?" Blackfire repeated the question. "It is a long story, and it has to deal with . . . well, you said it yourself that I'm out for blood."
Killer Frost raised an eyebrow as she became intrigued. "I know about that game only too well."
"It has to deal with more than just my sister, and by teaming up with Slade I figured well . . . the one person who has proven to be more than a match of anybody that is bound to cripple their efforts, he can weaken them."
"And you're trying to-"
"I am going to break her!" Blackfire interrupted, where the uncertainty about her handler was gradually being replaced with a strong sense of hatred all over again, against Starfire and the rest of The Teen Titans.
"I see." Killer Frost replied, and then she leaned in a little closer. "But I think there is more than what you are telling me."
"Oh?"
"Yeah. And while you keep your cards close to your chest, revenge alone may be one motive for you, but it's not the only thing driving you. There is something else, something . . . deeper." Killer Frost resumed her focus onto the world outside the window. "You know what, you don't even have to tell me about it. I think I'm on board because, well like you . . . I kinda want to see just how this whole thing pans out."
(~)
Falcon's eyes were closed. He was resting, trying to allow his mind and body to heal from the trauma that he had just endured.
The friendly hospital orderly Jefferson Stims, he had given him more medicine and the pain was subdued considerably. His headache was gone, and the pulsating throb of his lower leg had vanished.
The Necromancer was a fierce warrior but he was still human and he felt pain like everybody else. He had been granted incredible powers, yet the cost was terribly high. The teenager was not indestructible, nobody was.
Superman was drained of his life and amazing abilities through the rare emerald glowing rock, known as Kryptonite. It was the same for any Metahuman, and non superpower mortal beings, where everybody of this caliber had their own flaws and weaknesses, that anybody constantly had to find a balance with.
Falcon's flaws were many, and one of the most obvious drawbacks was his cocky attitude. He would race into things without fully grasping the situation. Inevitably, he pushed himself beyond his normal limits, and he exerted too much energy in his attacks.
His stand-offish mood swings caused people to bicker with him, and while he did not intend to offend people, his drive and determination for his personal vendetta, to accomplish his mission was what he honed into and it would obscure everything else. Like an avid gamer in tunnel vision, and nothing else mattered.
The drain on him from over exerting his powers would cause severe pain, and he often left himself open to counter attacks while he had to cool down.
The Pyromancer had lost so much to get where he was, and for everything he had achieved he had countless more regrets. It still felt so far away for him to achieve his mission. He had to get back to Jump City where he could do nothing here, and in his current state he was uncertain when he could get back.
"Within reach of what I set out to accomplish all those years ago, and this . . . this is what I have to show for it. Pathetic!" Falcon shouted at himself, while a few tears streaked down his face.
He winced at his own reflection. It caused him to turn away from the mirror that was attached to the back of the bathroom door.
"Since when did self-pity, ever get anybody what they wanted?" A dark and chilling voice rattled within his head. "Despite your situation, Slade is in Jump City as you deduced, now you need to finish it."
"No." Falcon whispered as he reopened his left eye. "Not here . . . not-"
"You have no grasp of the truth, even when it is right in front of you." The dark voice cut him off. "Defiant, ruthless, imprudent. Just as you were when you summoned me, you were a child then . . . and you still are."
A pair of crimson eyes flashed across the mirror, and the image of the teenager's face was quickly focused upon again. Things twisted into something truly evil, as a black shadow with tendrils expanded about the glass, warping and bending it.
The distortion was similar to when a mirage is viewed in a desolate and barren wasteland, where the ripples can become mesmerizing to look at. The image of himself in the bed was expressing a wicked grin, and it now had a red glow over his brown left eye. Even the chakra stone in the middle of his forehead burned its crimson color, as though it was on fire.
"My life is overflowing with hatred, for what YOU did!"
"My dear child." The demonic entity replied with a hiss to his tone. "You decided to walk this path. I am here, to help you see it through."
"Shut-up! I don't want to discuss anything with you!"
Falcon felt the beads of sweat dripping down his forehead. He knew who this was, and the deeper sense of why he could never really sleep, was that he was bonded to a demonic entity from the underworld.
It toyed with him, where every part of Falcon that focused on his rage, this element within him also grew stronger and more potent as the years dragged on. The only way to have freed himself from the empty void he had fallen into that night long ago, he was left with no options but to embrace the anger within himself.
This path he accepted had caused him to unleash a great blast of fire, thus kicking him out of the gateway and burning down his home.
"This isn't happening. Just leave me!"
"Foolish child. Did you honestly believe that after what you did, it would ever be forgotten?"
"Leave me alone!" Falcon looked away.
"You want to get back to them. To help them."
"Whatever you are offering me, I don't want any part of it." Falcon squinted his eye at the mirror. "Do you hear me demon, there is nothing you can offer me, that won't have some hidden agenda. Some price I must pay!"
"The Teen Titans need you. I can assist your body to heal at a faster rate so you can go to them."
"You are the reason I lost everything back then." A tear traveled down his cheek, and the loss of his right eye was to unlock the abilities of the darkness. "Slade putting me in Arkham, that was only part of the story."
"But he did bring you there. Ultimately he found you after your house burned down, and instead of helping you . . . he abandoned you in your greatest hour of need. You being in this hospital room now, all of it was by his hand."
There was a lingering and depressing silence that had befallen these two. Falcon tried to articulate something, but he could not.
The frightening image within the glass smirked again before finishing his statement.
"Think of my intentions for what you desire, but I am offering you a way to return to them. Before something worse happens, before it is too late."
"I don't want your help."
The sinister version of Falcon quickly glanced to the door, and his hissing tone dropped to a whisper.
"When you realize the fallacy of your inaction, you will turn to me. It is inevitable, just as you know those you call friends, their lives are in grave peril."
"Be gone!" Falcon bellowed as loud as he could muster, and he gradually fell backwards into the soft cushion of his pillows.
Just then, the sound of the door creaking open and a young six year old girl with brown eyes was wheeled into the room. Falcon turned and was shocked to notice that she was a patient at the hospital going through a heroic medical procedure.
The head-scarf wrapped about her revealed many things, primarily that she was very sick and the treatment had an obvious side effect.
"I don't mean to . . . I mean I can go if you would like?" she stuttered with her words.
"Gretchen, I told you that going from room to room was not the best idea." A twenty-year-old man with blue eyes who pushed her in the wheelchair responded.
All Falcon could do was give a confounded expression, directed towards the child and the hospital orderly who had entered his quarters. While he was having a debate with the powerful element of his own dark side, the injured teenager was not entirely sure exactly of how much of this bickering they had overheard, up to the final moments before entering.
"Oh, please forgive me." Falcon replied with his normal rasping voice, as the two uninvited guests caught him unawares and unprepared. "You did nothing wrong. I was just . . . dealing with a serious headache. They come and go as I hit my head pretty hard."
The little girl's chocolate brown eyes lit up where she thought she was not welcomed, only to learn that it was just a misunderstanding.
Falcon continued; "I just had this massive migraine pounding within my skull a little whiles before you two entered. Ouch, dang it." The seventeen-year-old squinted his eye, and he clutched his temple to cover his tracks. "I was just um, shouting at my pain to go away."
"Interesting." answered the orderly. "Perhaps I can help to up the dosage of pain medication."
The Shadow Manipulator soon recalled how poorly he had handled his introduction with The Teen Titans, and he did not want a repeat incident. After a brief consideration of his options, he would allow the friendlier side to create new opportunities.
Besides, he did not know how long he was going to be stuck here for, and these unknown guests were not threatening at all.
"I'm sorry about it." Falcon replied as he rubbed his neck. "I didn't mean to startle you."
"Oh." said the little girl in her sweet and charming voice. "My name is Gretchen. What's your name?"
Falcon was stunned. He did not know what he could say, and without his crimson cloak to cover his face or an alias to conceal his identity, he was lost.
He did not want to disclose any personal information to these strangers where he paused for a long while, as he tried to sort out what he could tell this child and the medical assistant that was with her.
"Gretchen." came the voice of the male nurse. "Perhaps we should not be doing this."
"But its part of my project Mr. Kay." The child looked over her shoulder as he was partially bent forwards. "I want to see if he would be interested, and most of the people that work here, well they don't care too much."
Falcon lifted his head, where his eye focused on her with intent. She reminded him of his sister. "What project is that?"
"I am trying to make crane Origami for a . . . an assignment." Gretchen responded with her head bowed, as a hidden grief unexpectedly came to the surface. "And because I . . . I . . ."
The medical helper stepped over to Falcon and said; "This is not my place to say anything but since we are already at this point . . . it's because she was taken out of school a few months ago, due to her illness that she misses being in the classroom with her peers." Then he leaned in and whispered; "She doesn't need anybody to help her, but she misses people doing things with her."
"I see." The grey skinned teenager tapped his chin. "I don't know if I would be able to help out with this, but an invitation to keep my mind off the pain, it could do me some good."
"Really?" Gretchen asked with sincere affection. "You actually want to join me?"
"You don't mind?" Mr. Kennedy asked. "It is perfectly normal to keep on with other important matters, we didn't mean to disturb you. We can leave you be if you-"
Falcon smiled as he looked at him, and then he drew his attention back towards her. "It will be fine. Besides, I kind of miss the company of others." Did I just say that?
"Oh thank you. Thank you." Gretchen clapped her hands with glee.
"I don't know if I'll be much help with . . . whatever this crane project is." Falcon stroked the back of his neck. "But I'll see what I can do."
"Oh, it will be fine. Right Mr. Kay?"
"Sure." Mr. Kennedy responded with a friendly chuckle.
"Kay?" Falcon asked as he looked to the badge revealing his first name.
"It's Ryan Kennedy." The orderly tapped the badge with his name engraved in it. "But people tend to call me Kay for short."
"Hmm, makes sense."
"So stranger, what's your name?" Gretchen asked a second time.
Falcon remained perplexed for a moment, unsure of what he could reveal. Honesty would be the best approach, however revealing too much to these kind strangers that he was a newest addition to The Teen Titans, it could generate any number of issues. It could potentially put them in harms way for criminals seeking reprisals against him.
He had only been with The Teen Titans for barely a week, and while Cyborg had given him a communicator before they left to stop Slade, it still felt like he had not yet earned his place among them.
The Necromancer looked into the eyes of the six-year-old girl and he grinned. With everything that hurt and was uneasy, a calming sensation had flooded his senses. He dwelled back to his own childhood, and the family that was torn away from him.
"My name is Alex."
(~)
Slade turned and looked behind him as the final barrier between himself and the tunnel was blocked off. An emergency door had slid shut. He placed his hands behind his back, tilting his head becoming intrigued to observe what his ultimate trap had done.
In the past few days, Beast Boy had been bested within the Jump City Hydroelectric Dam, he was now in the hospital recovering. Falcon was out of the picture, while Robin, Raven and Cyborg were in all probability crushed beneath the weight of the rubble.
Slade waited by the door, he was a little out of breath and perplexed if his trap actually did wipe them out? If they had managed to find some cut-out to hide within, they would be running out of air.
He began walking along the path to a sewer. The stench of the bog was incredibly potent, luckily for him, the mask he wore sifted through the air to cleanse it for him. The unbearable smell however did linger a bit, yet he ignored it as best that he could and he pressed on.
Starfire was not accounted for, but from the intelligence that the Master Strategist had gathered, the Tamaranean Princess had been injured from Jinx. She would be out of commission for another day or two. The red-head was at the hospital as well, and a new nefarious plot began to churn within his mind.
Of the remaining Teen Titans left to offer any resistance, the red headed emerald eyed warrior would be the only potential threat, from a complete control over all of Jump City.
"So, it looks like I've finally bested you Robin. Pity, I thought you would have decided to continue the pursuit." Slade monologued to himself, as his muscular shadow reflected a nearby wall. "All that remains is Starfire, and your team will have been wiped out in one fell swoop."
Through the long and wide opening, his outline mirrored his every movement. His footsteps pitter-pattered along the metal plates while the steady sound of a current, of recycled city water gushed down to the lower channel nearby.
Slade looked up and observed a ladder that would take him back to the city streets, and he glanced to his right to notice the wide underground septic system, designed for the very extensive bowels of the metropolis. Directly in front of him a few Robot Commando units were unpacking a very large metallic container.
There appeared to be no openings of any kind, and the massive object was extremely durable and well built.
"Good thing I have you, to keep them going in circles." Slade said, and he removed his communicator from a compartment on his belt. He held the device in his hand, yet he hesitated before pressing it.
*. . .* There was a bit of static feedback on the other end, and then a face emerged. It was Wintergreen, his personal assistant and aid.
*You called sir?* The balding old man asked, wearing his familiar suit and tie.
"It's time." Slade's image on the device blurred for a moment before correcting itself. "Things are proceeding well ahead of schedule, too good almost, and the Titans are getting sloppy."
*Very good sir. Shall I launch the Nexus Eight Protocol as you have instructed?*
"Hmmmm . . . the preliminary trial was done to test out its full capabilities, before the Teen Titans left for their little trip to Tokyo." Slade rubbed his chin. "It was too bad that I couldn't get my second attempt in to acquire more data about them, but the testing run is over."
*Indeed. The results if I recall correctly had proven . . . most interesting.*
"The Titans were barely able to contain it, let alone keep up with it. It was only when Beast Boy got to them that they were able to fight it at full strength. They managed to lead it into a quarry, where from the last recordings I could watch, they somehow managed to lure it into the pit and trap it beneath an avalanche of boulders."
*Sounds like the very plan that you utilized, to lure them into the tunnel sir. With one or two differences.*
"It was a shame that I didn't have more time to break down Cyborg. However, while they may have forced my timetable to move ahead, one learns best from their opponents strengths; to strike hard, and he utilizes the surroundings for total victory."
*Ah yes. Sun Tzu, The Art Of War.*
"Operation Omega is now in effect." Slade's left eye appeared to burn with a bright red hue of a fiery pleasure. "The Nexus Eight Protocol is free to engage the targets."
*But sir if I may, aren't three of them trapped in the tunnel shaft? While the other two are hold up in the local hospital? I do not think they-*
"All of the pieces are in their respective places, phase three is currently underway. Security clearance . . . six-nine-three-three."
*Understood. I am activating the security codes now.*
There was a bit of clicking from a keyboard overheard, as Wintergreen the elderly majordomo went to work on the computer back in The Clocktower. A hissing sound came from the front portion of the large crate, and the Robot Commandos slowly backed away.
The door suddenly became unlocked, and the front panel dropped exposing a plume of smoke through the darkness.
"They have survived worse." Slade snapped with a hint of anger in his tone. "If they somehow survive this, the taxing drain on their next efforts will lead to their inevitable downfall. They will be destroyed, in time, but for now they must be pressed to their lowest state. It will allow for me to proceed with the rest of my plans, unfettered."
*Very good sir.*
The screen quickly turned to black and the illusive mastermind grabbed the metal rungs and he began to make his way up to the surface. Behind him, a pair of circular red eyes widened from within the shipping container.
{{End Of Scene}}
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Reviews From The Previous Chapter:
TheBigK1: "Just binged all 23 chapters in 2 days and I must say what an awesome story this has been! your BBRae moments are incredible and, being a devoted BBRae fan, cant wait for more BBRae! hope your laptop gets fixed fast and waiting on the next chapter!"
~~Whoa! You read through ALL of my current chapters in just two days? I am truly impressed! You must have been up all night to get to this point like the last person from the previous chapter. Yup, I got my laptop back. {:-D I am very humbled by the droves of people who have looked into my story such as yourself, and with the knowledge that my writing is bringing some level of enjoyment to so many fans, I am very honored to be doing this. Thank you. Beast Boy and Raven are one of my favorite pairings in the series as I stated earlier, and I had hoped the show would build more into their relationship. When I first started this writing journey, I had absolutely no idea if this thing could take off like it has, and as time advanced onwards I have been allowing the characters to tell their stories. I am merely a facilitator to craft out what is happening.~~
Author's Note:
While the story continues, I am intrigued to know how you feel about it. By submitting a review on your behalf, it helps me to gauge what you guys like, and what you want more of. While every chapter is a link in the chain of events, the feedback from the fans can do amazing things for a writer. Never underestimate the power that you guys have.
~~T.M.O~~