The Story Transcript [ 3 ]
If there's anything wrong, feel free to throw rocks.
Jinx
Jinx wandered down the street; obviously tired of waiting for Raven to show up by the tower, she decided to go off on her own. "She'll either find me or she won't," the pink-haired girl said to herself apathetically, and shrugged her shoulders. As she headed down the sidewalk of the street, she stopped, noticing two boys walking down under a bridge.
"Hey, check it out!" one of them said, "this car is totally awesome!"
Curious, and hoping the car had keys so she wouldn't have to keep walking, she stealthily followed after the two boys. But what she saw shocked her.
The T-car. Abandoned, with a few dings in the hood and the doors, the driver's door wide open. She saw one of the boys get in the car, and she walked after them, flinging one of her pink hexes at the other boy, purposely missing him, but just by a little bit.
"Nice ride," she said all too sweetly, "but I don't think that's yours." The boy outside of the car panicked, and ran off, and the boy who had gotten into the car stumbled as he got out and followed after his friend. She walked over to the car, letting her hand glide over the hood before peering inside. There was a soda that had been knocked over in the passenger's seat; an obvious sign of a struggle, since she had heard (maybe from Gizmo) that Cyborg was very picky with 'his baby.' She frowned slightly at this, and decided stay by the car. Raven will probably be able to find it. I'm sure she'll head here to start looking for the others. Her mind made up, she sat on the hood of the car to wait.
Robin
He had allowed the two to settle their own tension, stayed back and run over plans and the like over in his head. He hated to see the had-been 'Edgar' in pain, just knowing that Slade was behind it all; it just gave him all the more motivation to fight him. Once they left, however, and appeared back by the T-Car, with an unexpected guest (as far as he knew, anyway), Robin glared.
Snatching a couple birdarangs from his utility belt between his fingers, he rose them up, sliding into something of a fighter's stance as soon as he saw Jinx. He certainly didn't know what she was doing here, but they didn't exactly have the time to deal with her anyway, "Get away from Cyborg's car! Now!"
Obviously, it was apparent that he had no idea she was waiting for Raven...all he saw was one of their villain(esses) sitting on the hood of the car, and he was ready to fight her off.
Jinx
Having been caught off gaurd by the voice, she quickly looked up at him, and snorted slightly. "Took you long enough to get here." Doing as he asked however, she got off the hood of the car, but walked toward him. "I'm not here to fight you, for once. Didn't Raven tell you about our little bargain?"
Robin
Robin had been ready to chuck the birdarangs at their would-be foe, but when she spoke, an invisible eyebrow cocked upwards, and his birdarang-occupied hand lowered slowly. "Apparently not," he replied, giving a rather serious 'you better have a good explanation for this' look to Raven.
Cautiously slipping the birdarangs into his utility belt, he crossed his arms over his chest, straightening up his posture, "Mind explaining?" he inquired to his dark teammate.
Raven
She looked at him coolly.
"I caught her and Gizmo breaking into the tower. I thought that it was going to be just us fighting Slade, so I asked her to help." Her expression remained neutral, giving no sign that she had left some peices out of her story.
Jinx
"Right," Jinx agreed, crossing her arms. "And if it's just you two, you probably will need some help." She walked back over to the T car, pointing inside. "I didn't get in or anything. Figured you guys would notice anything funny easier than I would."
Raven
Raven handed Silvestri to the other girl, then walked over and examined the car. She saw the soda can and came to the same conclusion Jinx had; there had been a struggle.
"Robin, look." She said as she moved out of the way. He would be able to put a scenario together quicker then she could.
Jinx
She quirked an eyebrow as she was handed the cat, but shrugged her shoulders, petting the animal behind the ears a bit, oblivious to what it really was. "Maybe we should look around some.. see if there's any footsteps to follow, some kind of trail." Then thinking to herself for a moment, she added, "I don't know if Slade would be that sloppy, though."
Raven
"We already know where he's hiding. Or atleast he does." She said, gesturing towards the cat, but not offering any explinations.
Jinx
She blinked, looking down at the cat, and glanced at Raven, smirking a bit in jest. "Either there's something you're not telling me, or you're crazier than I thought."
Raven
She continued examining the car, moving around it and checking for clues.
"Silvestri, why don't you explain it." She said, not in the mood to tell the villianess the long and complicated story.
Robin
Robin had been analyzing the scenario in the T-Car, allowing Jinx and Raven to talk amongst themselves, glancing over it carefully. Scowling, he suddenly jerked out of the car and turned to the super-powered females, "There's no time for this, we need to get to Slade's hideout before something happens to our friends, you'll have to explain Silvestri to Jinx later," he insisted.
Jinx
Jinx felt a bit left in the dark with this strange cat, but nonetheless she nodded, agreeing with Robin, and placed the cat on her shoulder. "Alright then," she said. "Lead the way."
Raven
She nodded. The time for thinking and considering was over.
"Silvestri, where is he?" She said, as she walked closer to the other three. She could teleport them even if they weren't close together, but it took extra work and she wanted to save her power for the battle.
Silvestri
Silvestri balanced precariously on Jinx's shoulder, his tail twitching spastically. He narrowed his eyes and growled...
"If you enter my mind I can show you... but I--" He closed his eyes, swaying slightly, digging his nails into her shoulder. "He might be able to sense you... but he's preoccupied right now..."
Raven
She didn't hesitate. Moving into her meditation position, she entered the 'cat's' mind.
'Where is he.' she said, more of a command then a question, her voice cold and determined.
Jinx
When that cat on her shoulder began to talk, her eyes widened a bit, obviously surpised. She watched as Raven got into her meditative position, and then glanced at Robin. "And I thought my friends were strange."
Silvestri
Silvestri tensed, instinctively fighting the invasion of his mind... but this was different than the times when Slade hijacked his senses. Even though she was commanding and angry, Raven was careful, letting him guide where their thoughts went.
He focused on the lair, on the entrance and lay-out, on the best ways to move through it without being seen on the cameras... with any luck, Slade wouldn't even see them coming.
A scream echoed through his mind suddenly and he fell from his perch, landing heavily on his side [or at least, as heavily as a kitten can...]. His shoulders spasmed and he transformed, curling up into the fetal position.
"Raven! The shackles... you have to... on me! Now! Or he'll know, he'll know... and he'll--" He cried out suddenly, lashing out and pulling Jinx to the ground. "You. Have. To. Stop. Me." He took himself under control, shuddering. "The others... their powers will cancel out mine... but if he takes over my mind, I'll--"
Jinx
Yelling out from surprise at the once cat, now a man yanking her to the ground, she aimed one of her spells at his face, trying to get him to let go of her. She kicked at him this time, and glanced up at Raven and Robin as she sat up the best she could. "Do something about this, or I'll do it for you!"
Robin
Robin stood, arms crossed over his chest, unmoving; patience was a virtue, but it seemed to be one that wasn't staying with his mind right now. He made something of an effort to quirk a smile at Jinx's comment, but his worry for his friends was overcoming all other feelings-- except for one.
Jolting into reality, he could only watch what happened; Robin snatched the shackles hastily, and cautiously glanced upon Silvestri, and clasped them upon his wrists. He hated to, but it needed to be done, and even the had-been kitten said so...and atleast they hopefully had enough to get to Slade's lair.
Silvestri
He took a deep breath and looked up at Robin, gratitude in his eyes.
"Thank you... we have to hurry. I don't have long..."
Jinx
She got up, dusting herself off and crossed her arms afterwards, obviously not happy with those turn of events. She glanced at Robin, muttering a thanks before asking, "can we go yet?"
Raven
She gasped as she was thrown from his mind. It was always a jolt going back to her body, but being forced back into it was painful. She settled back to her feet, ignoring the pain.
"Is it safe now?" she said coldly as her power wrapped around them, teleporting them to the place Silvestri had showed her.
Robin
Robin smiled slightly to Silvestri, nodding to him, before the Raven's powers engulfed them and teleported them elsewhere. Breaking his gaze from where it had been, he looked around carefully, a green-clad hand hovering near his utility belt. The atmosphere awkwardly familiar, something that he quickly grew distasteful of.
Raven
She glanced around, frowned, then took a step foward, examining the land.
"So, this is where Slade's been hiding." She said, once again making it sound more like a comment then a question.
((Scene Switch))
Cyborg
-Wake up...-
Cyborg's finger twitched. His eyebrow flinched slightly and then relaxed.
-Hey, you big junk heap! I'm talkin' to YOU!-
Cyborg breathed in deep, his chest pushing against his restraints. In his mind, a face came into view. His own, fully human face.
-What are you doing? You're stronger than this.- Victor Stone said, shaking his head disdainfully. Cyborg looked away.
"I can't do anything. I'm only half alive right now... I have no control over my machine body."
-You just don't want to do anything. You don't have any super powers. You have you, and your bionic enhancements. If you just lie there like a broken refrigerator, no one can fault you. But if you push yourself... really push that part of you that doesn't need electricity or battery power... You can change the situation.-
Cyborg gritted his teeth, eyes narrowed at his human counterpart. "Easy for you to say. You're whole! You have all of you, you-"
-You heard him scream.-
Cyborg stopped, the color draining from his face. "What?"
-Beast Boy, you heard him, even if you don't want to think about it. Your friends are in trouble, Cyborg. Slade may be using your power, but that's it. We both know that if you pull yourself together, if you get out of this, you can overcome his hold.-
Cyborg smiled slightly. "You mean, I can reverse this energy drain."
Victor Stone grinned. -There he is.- He reached forward and tapped the side of Cyborg's head not concealed by metal and circuits. -That's what I'm talking about. Nothin' but gray matter and neurons.-
Cyborg closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, his old self was gone. He was staring into the empty room again, alone.
"I can do this."
Expelling great effort, Cyborg raised his arms, forming his hands into claws. With vice-like strength and force he crashed them down onto the stone wall behind him, and propelled himself forward, snapping his restraints. He fell to his knees, breaking his fall clumsily.
"Come on, Cyborg. Get it together." He growled, concentrating. The tubes and wires running from his back began to glow with blue light, and instead of sapping him of his energy, the flow reversed. Cyborg pulsed with strength, his clear circuits beaming with healthy blue. "All RIGHT!"
He leapt to his feet, doing an impromptu dance. "I totally kicked this place's a-"
He stopped. In the now open doorway stood a familiar silouette. Cyborg raised his arm, converting it to his sonic cannon.
"Where are my friends?"
Slade
"Well, well, well... this is certainly more than I expected from you. Good to know you still have a few surprises in store. I'd hate to think this was going to get boring." Slade made the walls of the cell go transparent, revealing both Beast Boy and Starfire, writhing in pain, their screams only just audible.
-... can only... long...-
Slade shook his head, the faint thought barely registering in his awareness.
"Your friends. They hardly have the same advantage as you... Perhaps you'd like to help them?" He laughed shortly, half turning from the small window as another thought pulled at him. "Then again, I doubt even you could more than dent these walls..."
Cyborg
His cannon whirred with energy.
"Shall we make a friendly wager, Slade? I say I kick your ass and break my friends out in under ten minutes." Cyborg stepped forward, yanking the wires and tubes from his back as he walked. "I don't know what your game is- but 'Checkmate' pretty much applies to this situation regardless. Without your fancy Trigon powers, this cannon at close range will probably punch a hole in that stupid mask. And in your skull."
(( Scene Switch ))
Jinx
When Raven teleported the 4 of them there, she took a step forward, looking around a bit. "Wow. I thought Slade would have more taste than this. Kind of a dump." She glanced at Raven and Robin. "So, are we looking together, or are we splitting up?"
Raven
She shrugged, still looking around.
"Maybe he's slipping." She said coolly, looking at Silvestri.
"What do you think? Will we have better luck together or splitting up?"
Robin
A thoughtful expression crossed Robin's face, glancing between Jinx and Raven; there was a good chance of getting through this both ways, but he wasn't sure he needed another guilt trip, "If we absolutely need to split up, we will, but for now, I think we should stick together," he replied slowly.
Jinx
Jinx nodded, heading forward a bit more with the others. "So does Slade have any traps set up or anything we should look out for?" she asked. "Guns, lasers, anything of the like?"
Robin
Taking in something of a deep breath, a single glance around their surroundings for another second gave Robin a moment to reply, before turning back to Jinx just as quickly, exchanging his gazes between her and Raven, "This is Slade we're talking about, I'm positive he'll have several traps scattered through his lair; we'll need to be extra careful, as I'm not sure Silvestri knows where they all are."
Jinx
"Maybe we should find out," she said, putting her hands on her hips as she looked around. "He's gota have a control room or something. Maybe if we find out where that is we can disable the traps and the security. Might also be able to break your friends out, too."
She blinked when they looked at her funny. "What? I'm used to things like that," she said, shrugging her shoulders. "But if you have any better ideas.."
Robin
Robin, had indeed, looked at her funny, but it was to be expected from someone who robbed banks and the like. However, he nodded in agreement, he was going to have to put the fact that they were enemies behind him for now and accept that she was one of the better members of her teammates; she was turning out to be pretty helpful so far. He was just wondering what Raven had did to bribe her... 'Not now,' he thought.
"Good idea. There's just one problem. Getting to the control room," he replied; they had no idea where it was, or how to get there. Maybe. His gaze turned Silvestri, they needed his help.
Raven
She nodded but didn't say anything, deciding it would be better not too. At some point she would have to deal with everything she had done, but now was not the time. She glanced at Silvestri, her eyebrows drawn together, waiting for his comment. Jinx could take care of the alarms, she was sure, but first they had to find them.
Silvestri
Silvestri shuddered and looked up into Raven's eyes, desperately fighting off Slade's mind... and then it was gone. There was a far off muffled explosion and then he had nothing to fight.
"Quick, while he's distracted! The Control Room is at the center of the complex... it spirals inward from this point." He legs only just barely supporting him, he lead the way into the nearest corridor, gesturing for the others to follow...
Raven
Raven ignored his look, determined not to show anything. She swept off after, not bothering to walk, just floating over the ground. She glanced over her shoulder and Robin and Jinx, but didn't wait for them to catch up.
Silvestri
With one hand pressed to the wall for support, Silvestri staggered onward, hoping that they all trusted him enough to follow...
-If only there was some way for me to tell them, to show them that I would never lead them wrong...-
He couldn't hear any footsteps behind him, and he didn't trust himself to turn around... for all he knew, even that split second delay might give Slade time to regain control over him.
And that he knew he had to avoid at all costs.
Raven
She followed, disliking the fact that they were blindly following some one who had proven not to be trustworthy. She knew that he was still going to try to convince her to trust him, but she doubted it would work. Ever.
"How much farther?" She asked, her voice dry and emotionless.
Silvestri
Silvestri jumped slightly at her voice, missing a step and nearly tumbling to the floor.
-What's wrong with me? I've never had a problem with my balan-- but no, now I do... because my powers are being drained...-
"I'm not sure... the chamber is at the very center of the complex. We have to hurry." Another muffled explosion punctuated his statement. "Your friends need us."
Raven
She followed him closely, her powers wrapping around him to keep him from falling.
"It's sounds like they're taking care of things without our help." She said, moving faster despite her confidence in her friends.
Silvestri
Drawing strength fro her simple gesture, Silvestri steadied and glanced back at her, smiling.
"I'm sure you're right, Raven... but it'll be even easier with all of us there."
Remembering Terra, his smile faltered.
"We have to hurry..." He repeated...
Raven
She scowled slightly, glancing back at Jinx and Robin a second time.
"Hm." She muttered, catching up with him easily.
"I'm trying to." she said coldly, picking him up with tendrils of black magic "Tell me where it is.'
Robin
Once Silvestri started leading the way to the control room, Robin took the rear of the group, alert and cautious as he ascended through the lair. He didn't trust anyone else being behind him, so he had every intention of staying at the rear; masked eyes darted from side to side continually...as if he were just expecting them to be assaulted at any given second. Fingers twitched gently, almost reflexively itching to grasp a birdarang, or an electric disk-- 'Don't jump at anything too soon...but it's too quiet, there should be more to the lair than this. Where are his henchmen, the traps...?'
That thought only made Robin even more on edge and less aware that Raven continually kept glancing back at himself and Jinx.
Silvestri
He stiffened in Raven's hold and shook his head.
"Stop... something's wrong--" Before he had more than uttered the words, a wall crashed down behind Robin while the floor slanted sharply downward. Suspended in mid-air as they were, Silvestri and Raven were in no danger... Jinx and Robin however...
Raven
Raven threw out her other hand and caught Robin and Jinx quickly.
"Where does that lead?" she snapped at the shapeshifter, her glare hot and irritated.
"Is it just a trap?" She settled the other three down onto the level ground, then moved closer to examine the ground.
Robin
Robin's jaw dropped slightly, only releasing something of a faint 'umph'ed noise, he could feel his weight shifting down, and it took him if only a second to realize the floor was slanting; it was quite a bit of a gap. He felt his sliding stop almost as quickly as it had started, when he saw an aura of black around himself and Jinx.
Glancing towards Raven as she set them down on even ground, he nodded slightly, "Thanks," he said quickly, looking over from the edge at where he would have been headed; uncomfortably dark, was all he could see.
Jinx
Jinx, who had been running with her temporary allies to the control room, cried out when the floor fell from underneath them. As Raven caught her, she opened one of her eyes, which she had shut from instinct, and then looked down to the trap she would have fallen in. "Well.. that was plesant," she said sarcastically. She glanced from Raven to Silvestri before saying "Who cares where it goes? Shouldn't we keep going?" Her gaze locked on the shapeshifter after that statement, coldly adding, "and shouldn't you be warning us about traps? You obviously know the location better than we do."
Silvestri
He narrowed his eyes at Jinx, knowing that she was right but unwilling to trust her...
-Raven doesn't... she's only here because they couldn't leave her behind...-
"They aren't always in the same place... and I'd like to see you try and do *anything* constructive with that man--" He shuddered, shaking his head. "Nevermind... you wouldn't understand. None of you would..."
Jinx
"Not always in the same place.. great.. what kind of cracked-out hideout is this, anyways?" She rolled her eyes a bit at the shapeshifter, obviously not trusting him much either. When Raven placed her and Robin back down on the ground, she took a few steps forward, putting her hands on her hips. "So should we keep trying sneak around to find the control room?" She stopped, seeing a camera not too far ahead; had Slade seen them? Maybe the camera had; perhaps that was what was triggering the traps. Slade was certainly the kind of guy who would have good security. She held her hand up, shooting a pink spell at the camera, causing it to shatter, and glanced back at the two Titans and the shapeshifter. "Maybe we should try a more direct approach."
(( Scene Switch ))
Slade
Slade flew backwards as the blast hit him, carrying him into the wall. He managed to deflect the majority away from it's intended target: his skull. As it was, he still fetched up hard enough to knock the air out of his lungs and bring the taste of blood up from his throat. He could smell the odor of smouldering flesh where his mask now pressed inward against his face, burning like a brand.
Before he could pull himself into order, Cyborg loomed over him, cannon at the ready...
"Terra... child..." Slade rasped, knowing that she was close to hand... and that she wouldn't underestimate Cyborg.
Slade opened his eye, scanning the hall and finding it empty. Cyborg stood still and silent within his cell, most likely waiting to see if Slade was capable of putting up more of a fight.
"Terra?"
There was no answer.
Holding in his pain, Slade pushed himself to his feet, shaking his head slowly.
"How disappointing..." He sighed. "Oh well... I suppose I'll just have to deal with you myself. What a joke."
"Looks like the joke's on you, Slade." Cyborg said, powering up his cannon again.
Slade smiled.
"Now, that is funny..." Slade spread his arms wide, feeling his ribs creak as the muscles and bones knit back together. "However, the punchline could use some work." Leaping to the side, he hit a switch below the door console. The floor dropped out from beneath Cyborg's feet even as he discharged his cannon again. Slade watched him fall with mingled curiosity and apathy before closing the door and striding down the hall.
"Very disappointing..."
(( Scene Switch ))
Raven
Raven frowned, her eyes narrowing.
"Does he know that you haven't captured us?" She snapped at Silvestri, thinking fast. "If he doesn't, you can lead me in, and Robin and Jinx can use a suprise attack." She floated down and landed next to Robin, her eyes still narrowed to scary looking slits.
She glanced at Jinx, only half seeing her "Of course. It is Slade; what did you expect?"
Jinx
"You mean you're gonna have him lead you to Slade like he captured you?" she asked, giving a sideways glance at Silverstri. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"
She wondered herself if she should try something like that.. she wasn't sure; If Slade had already seen them all come in together, he may not buy it if she tried to pull a fast one on him. But what if Silvestri did hand Raven over to Slade? She was positive her and Robin alone would not be able to take him down, and she had left her communicator at the hideout.. not that she really expected the rest of the HIVE Five to be of much help, anyways.
I need to learn not to get myself into these messes, She thought.
Raven
"No. But it's the only one I have." She said dryly, glancing between Silvestri and Robin. She doubted her leader would approve, and she doubted that Slade was unaware of their arrive, but she had to try. It was a small chance, but it was a chance nonetheless.
Robin
Standing there for a long moment, an awkward silence had dropped over the boy wonder, as if trying to bite back on something that had suddenly entered his head as well as take hold of Raven's suggestion. Pursing his lips together for a second, "No. I'm not risking that," he said firmly, almost bitterly.
He could just see it played out in his head: Raven gets fake-captured and they all get pummelled to the ground while Slade gets away with his evil plan. What happened to all that confidence you had when you came in here, huh? ...Or was it never there in the first place?
That thought alone was enough to make him shudder, but when he realized he left his sentence hanging out in the open, he snapped back into reality. First glancing between Raven, then Jinx and finally Silvestri, his masked gaze seemed to narrow, "It's too risky, and Slade is too smart for that. We're going to have to take this on straight-foreward, but be subtle about it. We might still have the drop on him if we're careful," Robin said.
Jinx
"Well," Jinx said, crossing her arms and leaning against the wall, "maybe you could attack Slade head on, and while he's distracted, I can find where your friends are being held and let them out so they can help you," she said. She then frowned at her own plan, realizing it would never fly; they had no reason to trust her word; they probably thought she would just run away. "Or one of you two could go. But we need to do something pretty soon, because standing around trying to plan something out to help them isn't really helping them."
Raven
"Straight-foward, and subtle." she mumbled under her breath, her eyebrows drawn together in irritation. She had the strangest feeling that Slade was distracted at the minute, but that wouldn't last long. If they didn't move, they would have no chance. When Jinx started to talk her head turnned slowly till she was looking at the other girl.
"I'll do it." she said shortly, looking over at Robin to see if he would object.
Robin
Jinx was right about one thing, standing here talking about it was getting them nowhere at all. Robin seemed to be doubtful and jumpy to every suggestion that reached his ears, enough to make wonder what his problem was. The last time he tried to take care of Slade by himself it was...a disaster. Taking in a deep breath through his nose before sighing it out, he lowered his head slightly, "Fine, but just be careful."
Raven
She nodded, then turned to Silvestri, her eyes sharp "Can you lead them?" she said coldly, her tone and body language stating pretty clearly that she had no intrest in his opinions or well being.
"If you can, I'll go ahead and start looking for them, so I can free them when you attack."
Jinx
"Be careful," the pink-haired girl wanred, although her voice didn't convey much concern, "if you get caught or something and can't help them out, then me and bird-boy here are screwed." If things went bad, Jinx had a feeling Slade would be more concerned with Robin than with her... so escaping shouldn't be a problem, if she needed to do so. Of course, she wasn't going to tell them that she planned on leaving Robin if things went downhill. Besides, she thought to herself, They're probably surprised I've stayed as long as I have.
Silvestri
Silvestri sighed as another rumbling explosion shook the complex...
"We need to hurry... He's not. Distracted. Anymore."
With a strangled cry, Silvestri went limp in Raven's hold, his body glowng faintly green in the darkness...
And in the deeper gloom of the corridor a shadow moved...
"Hi guys... miss me?"
Raven
Raven scowled, her eyes narrowing more as she watch the shapeshifter. She settled his body on the ground gently, then turned to the other two, "Any ideas?" she said dryly. When she heard the voice she froze, then turned slowly to face the shadow.
"You." She snarled, that one word conveying more hatred then anything else she had ever said, "You betrayed us again."
Robin
Robin resented that nickname, but now wasn't exactly the time to be worrying about it. He was silent for the longest moment, because the faintest sound of a familiar voice rose, and his fingers curled around a pair of birdarangs. He'd started to raise them up, until he realized the voice belonged to Terra. "Not now Raven, we don't have the time for you two to be at eachother's throats again," he said.
To be quite frank, he wasn't sure what to think of Terra's abrupt return, and the surprise was certainly in his expression; he had erased it quickly though, his mind had other things to worry about. "Okay, Raven, I need you to--" and then he stopped, dead in mid-sentence.
"Wait, why are you here? And how are you here?" Robin's voice had suddenly gone sharp and on edge, and he was looking straight at Terra. Was he really being that ignorant?
Terra
Terra stepped out of the shadows, smiling openly. She spread her hands in a gesture of welcome.
"Man, am I glad to see you guys!" She moved closer, looking down at Silvestri. Her eyes narrowed and she dropped her hands to her sides. "What is he doing here?"
Raven
"We caught him." she said calmly, making a story up quickly, her face blank, and her tone not giving anything away. "He tried to attack us, but we caught him." She watched the blond girl closely, gauging her reaction.
Under other circumstances she would have been happy to see the other girl; she had redemed herself after all. But this was a little suspicious. She had just happened to show up in Slade's lair, in time to help them? Not likely.
Terra
Terra smiled once more, giving Raven a quick thumbs up.
"Good job... he's the one that helped Slade revive me." She held up her shackled wrists for them to see. "I've had these on ever since I woke up. Couldn't float a pebble if my life depended on it." She glanced around and shivered as another explosion echoed in the distance. "Which it might, come to think of it..." She looked at Robin suddenly, eyes wide. "Where's BB?"
Raven
She nodded, hoping that her disbelief wasn't as obvious as she thought it was.
"Is there anyway to break them off?" she asked coldly, her eyes darting to the direction of the explosion, curious and worried.
"Slade has him. And Starfire. And Cyborg." She said, not bothering to look at her, her eyes still fixed on the explosion. She now knew all she needed to, and without a glance at Terra, black aura wrapped around her and the others, and she teleported them to Slade's main chamber.
Slade
Slade's back was to them when they appeared, only his chair visible against the glare of the screens.
"Good work, Raven... more than I expected from you, certainly. Strange though, that you would choose to come here instead of going to the aid of your friends..."
The large screen split into three smaller views, each displaying one of the captive Titans. Both Beast Boy and Starfire were laying still, glowing with the same green light that hung around Silvestri... Cyborg was firing blasts at the unyielding walls of his deeper cell.
"A pity, really... I had expected more of a fight. But no... you've brought my wayward student back to me... and Terra as well, I see. I had been wondering where you wandered off to, child. You know it's not safe..."
There was no pause between his little speech and Terra's response... it was almost too well done...
"No one's safe as long as you're allowed to do whatever you want, Slade."
"And who is going to stop me? You and your little friends? I think not."
"Why not? We did it once before."
Slade laughed shortly.
"And this time you seem to be short, let's see... three Titans and one pit of lava. Not the best of odds for you."
Terra moved forward angrily, that same green glow engulfing her as she neared his chair. Silvestri twitched weakly, regaining consciousness and gasping raggedly at the sight of Terra approaching her Master.
"NO! Raven!" Her pushed himself to his feet and leapt to grab Terra, as on the screen Beast Boy convulsed and Terra transformed into large bird in is hold.
"Truly disappointing, Silvestri... I had such high hopes for you..." Slade sighed, still out of sight.
Raven
She paled at the sight of her friends, going almost gray. Her eyes started to glow black, and she slammed Terra with a bolt of energy, not enough to kill her, but enough to knock her out for a while. She didn't trust Silvestri or Terra, butat this point, in a choice between them, Silvestri won.
"You're not going to win, Slade!" Robin yelled, sprinting toward the masked man.
Raven watvhed him, torn, then pushed Silvestri out of harms way before following Slade.
Slade
"Always so confident, Robin..." Slade drawled as Robin reached him, spinning his chair around...
It was empty.
"... almost to a fault."
Jinx
Jinx, who had been a bit lost around the time the blonde girl came, was going to ask 'who the hell is this?' but Raven had teleported them before she had the chance.
Now in the control room, even with Slade not really being in the chair, she was pretty sure Slade knew now whose side she had been on, even if it was temporary. So much for having a back up plan she thought to herself. After Raven slammed Terra against the wall, she carefully made her way over near the control panel, observing the controls for a few seconds, before attempting to shut down the security first. She growled a bit, frustrated when she saw that she needed to put a code in. She glanced at the number keys, and saw 4 of the numbers on the pad a bit rubbed out from being pressed so often.
Wait a minute, she thought, this is the same system that we disarmed a few months ago when we robbed that military weapon factory. She smirked a bit, pressing in a long stream of numbers. "Lights out," she said, and by hitting the enter code button on the control pad, the lights flickered for a moment, and suddenly all the screens turned off.
"Alright," said Jinx, glancing at the others "We have 10 minutes. The cameras, traps, everything that had been hooked to that security system is down. But it'll automatically come back up in 10 minutes. I suggest we say screw the reunion with blondie over there, find Slade, and help the others."
Slade
Slade smiled behind his mask as the lights went out, listening to the false hope the girl was spewing. With any luck, they'd become even more overconfident, thinking him blind and defenseless.
Typing his command code into the computer, he cut the lights to the whole complex and brought the traps and cameras fully back online.
"As though I'd be foolish enough not to modify my systems... really, you'd think they'd know better by now..." He tracked the Titan's as they searched the Control Room, shaking his head at the sight of Terra, unconscious.
-No great loss... she served her purpose. So far.-
Silvestri
Silvestri held himself upright by a sheer force of will, staring down at Terra's prone form. He had read her file, and he kne that this Terra was not evil, only twisted. Used as he had been used... as they had all been used over time. Stooping slightly, he lifted her, bent under the weight and the unaccustomed pain that his blocked powers inflicted.
"There's a secondary Control Chamber, down by the cells... It's shielded, so we won't be able to just teleport in..."
He glanced from Raven to Robin and back again.
"We need to get your friends... so that Terra won't be able to use them to harm you when she wakes up..."
Robin
Frusterated greatly when he found him not to be in his chair, he didn't have a whole lot of more time to react before darkness fell over them. Robin's heart throbbed in his chest, almost curling up in his throat; it almost felt like reliving that awful day, when Cinderblock broke out and-- 'Stop! All you're doing is giving yourself justification to forget everything but Slade. You're friends are at risk.'
The boy wonder shook his head, and squinted through the darkness, "How are we supposed to find them in the dark?"
The True Master only taught him to see his opponent without actually seeing them, not the surroundings. Either they were going to have to cope, or find a way to get the lights back on or something.
Silvestri
He licked his lips, settling Terra's arm across his shoulders more evenly.
"Raven.. if you take off my cuffs... I can lead you to them." He took a deep breath. "You just have to trust me..."
Jinx
She crossed her arms, looking around, obviously not happy with how things had turned out. Tricky bastard, she thought to herself. "Well... don't suppose you have any flashlights in that belt of yours?" she asked, glancing at Robin. "I could try getting the lights back on on this control panel, but Slade's probably just going to tun them back off, so..." she merely shrugged her shoulders.
Raven
Raven froze, letting herself adjust to the darkness. She couldn't see perfectly, but this was her domain, and it did not bother her as much as it did the others. She walked carefully over to Silvestri, muttering something to acknowledge Jinx, but not actually going over to her.
"How do I know you won't betray us?" she snapped at the shapeshifter, her voice cold. She took a few steps closer then stopped, waiting for his answer.
Silvestri
Knowing that his actions would be invisible to the others, Silvestri lowered Terra gently to the ground and leaned toward Raven, whispering for her ears alone...
"Look into my mind..."
-... And see the truth.- He touched her shoulder lightly, standing as still as he could. -I will *never* betray you.- Barely daring to breath, he ghosted a kiss onto her cheek and then wait for the blast that would send him into the wall...
Raven
She went a bright red, and pulled away slightly. No one had ever done anything like that before...the closest had been when Malkior had offered her the rose. She winced and pulled away again, but not enough that it was really noticable.
Connecting Silvestri and Malkior had been a bad idea...but Malkior had never done anything like this, had he? She hesitated, then swallowed, trying to get rid of the lump in her throat and nodded.
"All right." she said calmly, making sure her feeling didn't come through in her tone. She released the shackles and stepped back another step, waiting to see what would happen.
Silvestri
Chafing his wrists, Silvestri reigned in his disappointment. Not that he had expect any better... in fact, he'd braced for the worst...
-But still...-
"Jinx?" He said into the now clear darkness, watching the girl jump slightly at her name. "Will you take Terra?"
Without waiting for a response, he nodded to Raven and transformed, running over to Robin.
"I'll direct you as best I can..." He said before leaping up onto Robin's shoulder. "There isn't much time."
Jinx
"I guess," she muttered, not too keen on the idea, but she picked up the other girl, slinging her arm underneath her to support her. "So what now?" she asked, not really bothering to look for any of them in the dark, just waiting for one of them to answer.
Robin
As closely as he had been listening through the darkness, when he felt Silvestri jump to his shoulder, he damn near jumped out of his skin. Robin nodded though, and squinted, "Alright Titans...and Jinx, we need to stick close together and do not separate," he spoke, approaching the other voices until he was sure he was right next to them atleast.
"Stay close to me," Robin instructed, before allowing for Silvestri to take over the reigns.
(( Scene Switch ))
Slade
Slades smile faltered as Raven removed Silvestri's cuffs... but only for an instant.
"Useless. With the shapeshifter's powers, his were pointless anyway... No bother."
He tracked them as they continued ever onward toward the cells.
"Now, now... when is it ever that easy?"
(( Scene Switch ))
Cyborg
Cyborg leaned against the wall of his new cell, panting for breath. He had tried blasting his way out, scanning for hidden exits, hacking his way into the locking mechanism... nothing had worked. With a sigh he tilted his head back and then smacked himself in the forehead.
"Well, duh... if you can't dig it deeper... climb out!"
Aiming carefully at the distant square of light far above his head, he fired his grappler arm...
(( Scene Switch ))
Raven
She followed Robin silently, floating instead of walking. She tried to ignore what had just happen; if she thought about it, she would be very easy to distract. Still, she knew that she would have to face it at some point.
"How far?" she said softly to Silvestri, as she flated right bhind Robin. She had no idea where Jinx was, but she hoped she would be able to keep up. They needed all the help they could get.
Silvestri
"There should be a stairwell up on the right here..." Silvestri said, nudging Robin onward. "It leads down to the cells."
Jinx
She kept up as best as she could; carrying the blonde girl was no picnic, and she was having trouble keeping up with them. "You know, I can't exactly see you guys that well-" she bumped into Raven as she started holding out her free arm, and then grabbed onto her cape, smirking a bit. "Never mind. I'm fine." She continued to follow them as they made their way down the stairwell, and then glanced up, seeing a camera. She could only tell it was there from the small red light. "What's he got the cameras on for?" she muttered. "He cut the lights, it's not like he can see us."
(( Scene Switch ))
Slade
Slade scanned the halls with his infrared sensors, making sure that no one had wandered away from the group. He picked up an anomally down by the cells and switched views just as Cyborg climbed up from his cell. Slade frowned and switched back to the other view... it was only a matter of minutes before they would be reunited...
"No matter..."
Jinx
Jinx wandered down the street; obviously tired of waiting for Raven to show up by the tower, she decided to go off on her own. "She'll either find me or she won't," the pink-haired girl said to herself apathetically, and shrugged her shoulders. As she headed down the sidewalk of the street, she stopped, noticing two boys walking down under a bridge.
"Hey, check it out!" one of them said, "this car is totally awesome!"
Curious, and hoping the car had keys so she wouldn't have to keep walking, she stealthily followed after the two boys. But what she saw shocked her.
The T-car. Abandoned, with a few dings in the hood and the doors, the driver's door wide open. She saw one of the boys get in the car, and she walked after them, flinging one of her pink hexes at the other boy, purposely missing him, but just by a little bit.
"Nice ride," she said all too sweetly, "but I don't think that's yours." The boy outside of the car panicked, and ran off, and the boy who had gotten into the car stumbled as he got out and followed after his friend. She walked over to the car, letting her hand glide over the hood before peering inside. There was a soda that had been knocked over in the passenger's seat; an obvious sign of a struggle, since she had heard (maybe from Gizmo) that Cyborg was very picky with 'his baby.' She frowned slightly at this, and decided stay by the car. Raven will probably be able to find it. I'm sure she'll head here to start looking for the others. Her mind made up, she sat on the hood of the car to wait.
Robin
He had allowed the two to settle their own tension, stayed back and run over plans and the like over in his head. He hated to see the had-been 'Edgar' in pain, just knowing that Slade was behind it all; it just gave him all the more motivation to fight him. Once they left, however, and appeared back by the T-Car, with an unexpected guest (as far as he knew, anyway), Robin glared.
Snatching a couple birdarangs from his utility belt between his fingers, he rose them up, sliding into something of a fighter's stance as soon as he saw Jinx. He certainly didn't know what she was doing here, but they didn't exactly have the time to deal with her anyway, "Get away from Cyborg's car! Now!"
Obviously, it was apparent that he had no idea she was waiting for Raven...all he saw was one of their villain(esses) sitting on the hood of the car, and he was ready to fight her off.
Jinx
Having been caught off gaurd by the voice, she quickly looked up at him, and snorted slightly. "Took you long enough to get here." Doing as he asked however, she got off the hood of the car, but walked toward him. "I'm not here to fight you, for once. Didn't Raven tell you about our little bargain?"
Robin
Robin had been ready to chuck the birdarangs at their would-be foe, but when she spoke, an invisible eyebrow cocked upwards, and his birdarang-occupied hand lowered slowly. "Apparently not," he replied, giving a rather serious 'you better have a good explanation for this' look to Raven.
Cautiously slipping the birdarangs into his utility belt, he crossed his arms over his chest, straightening up his posture, "Mind explaining?" he inquired to his dark teammate.
Raven
She looked at him coolly.
"I caught her and Gizmo breaking into the tower. I thought that it was going to be just us fighting Slade, so I asked her to help." Her expression remained neutral, giving no sign that she had left some peices out of her story.
Jinx
"Right," Jinx agreed, crossing her arms. "And if it's just you two, you probably will need some help." She walked back over to the T car, pointing inside. "I didn't get in or anything. Figured you guys would notice anything funny easier than I would."
Raven
Raven handed Silvestri to the other girl, then walked over and examined the car. She saw the soda can and came to the same conclusion Jinx had; there had been a struggle.
"Robin, look." She said as she moved out of the way. He would be able to put a scenario together quicker then she could.
Jinx
She quirked an eyebrow as she was handed the cat, but shrugged her shoulders, petting the animal behind the ears a bit, oblivious to what it really was. "Maybe we should look around some.. see if there's any footsteps to follow, some kind of trail." Then thinking to herself for a moment, she added, "I don't know if Slade would be that sloppy, though."
Raven
"We already know where he's hiding. Or atleast he does." She said, gesturing towards the cat, but not offering any explinations.
Jinx
She blinked, looking down at the cat, and glanced at Raven, smirking a bit in jest. "Either there's something you're not telling me, or you're crazier than I thought."
Raven
She continued examining the car, moving around it and checking for clues.
"Silvestri, why don't you explain it." She said, not in the mood to tell the villianess the long and complicated story.
Robin
Robin had been analyzing the scenario in the T-Car, allowing Jinx and Raven to talk amongst themselves, glancing over it carefully. Scowling, he suddenly jerked out of the car and turned to the super-powered females, "There's no time for this, we need to get to Slade's hideout before something happens to our friends, you'll have to explain Silvestri to Jinx later," he insisted.
Jinx
Jinx felt a bit left in the dark with this strange cat, but nonetheless she nodded, agreeing with Robin, and placed the cat on her shoulder. "Alright then," she said. "Lead the way."
Raven
She nodded. The time for thinking and considering was over.
"Silvestri, where is he?" She said, as she walked closer to the other three. She could teleport them even if they weren't close together, but it took extra work and she wanted to save her power for the battle.
Silvestri
Silvestri balanced precariously on Jinx's shoulder, his tail twitching spastically. He narrowed his eyes and growled...
"If you enter my mind I can show you... but I--" He closed his eyes, swaying slightly, digging his nails into her shoulder. "He might be able to sense you... but he's preoccupied right now..."
Raven
She didn't hesitate. Moving into her meditation position, she entered the 'cat's' mind.
'Where is he.' she said, more of a command then a question, her voice cold and determined.
Jinx
When that cat on her shoulder began to talk, her eyes widened a bit, obviously surpised. She watched as Raven got into her meditative position, and then glanced at Robin. "And I thought my friends were strange."
Silvestri
Silvestri tensed, instinctively fighting the invasion of his mind... but this was different than the times when Slade hijacked his senses. Even though she was commanding and angry, Raven was careful, letting him guide where their thoughts went.
He focused on the lair, on the entrance and lay-out, on the best ways to move through it without being seen on the cameras... with any luck, Slade wouldn't even see them coming.
A scream echoed through his mind suddenly and he fell from his perch, landing heavily on his side [or at least, as heavily as a kitten can...]. His shoulders spasmed and he transformed, curling up into the fetal position.
"Raven! The shackles... you have to... on me! Now! Or he'll know, he'll know... and he'll--" He cried out suddenly, lashing out and pulling Jinx to the ground. "You. Have. To. Stop. Me." He took himself under control, shuddering. "The others... their powers will cancel out mine... but if he takes over my mind, I'll--"
Jinx
Yelling out from surprise at the once cat, now a man yanking her to the ground, she aimed one of her spells at his face, trying to get him to let go of her. She kicked at him this time, and glanced up at Raven and Robin as she sat up the best she could. "Do something about this, or I'll do it for you!"
Robin
Robin stood, arms crossed over his chest, unmoving; patience was a virtue, but it seemed to be one that wasn't staying with his mind right now. He made something of an effort to quirk a smile at Jinx's comment, but his worry for his friends was overcoming all other feelings-- except for one.
Jolting into reality, he could only watch what happened; Robin snatched the shackles hastily, and cautiously glanced upon Silvestri, and clasped them upon his wrists. He hated to, but it needed to be done, and even the had-been kitten said so...and atleast they hopefully had enough to get to Slade's lair.
Silvestri
He took a deep breath and looked up at Robin, gratitude in his eyes.
"Thank you... we have to hurry. I don't have long..."
Jinx
She got up, dusting herself off and crossed her arms afterwards, obviously not happy with those turn of events. She glanced at Robin, muttering a thanks before asking, "can we go yet?"
Raven
She gasped as she was thrown from his mind. It was always a jolt going back to her body, but being forced back into it was painful. She settled back to her feet, ignoring the pain.
"Is it safe now?" she said coldly as her power wrapped around them, teleporting them to the place Silvestri had showed her.
Robin
Robin smiled slightly to Silvestri, nodding to him, before the Raven's powers engulfed them and teleported them elsewhere. Breaking his gaze from where it had been, he looked around carefully, a green-clad hand hovering near his utility belt. The atmosphere awkwardly familiar, something that he quickly grew distasteful of.
Raven
She glanced around, frowned, then took a step foward, examining the land.
"So, this is where Slade's been hiding." She said, once again making it sound more like a comment then a question.
((Scene Switch))
Cyborg
-Wake up...-
Cyborg's finger twitched. His eyebrow flinched slightly and then relaxed.
-Hey, you big junk heap! I'm talkin' to YOU!-
Cyborg breathed in deep, his chest pushing against his restraints. In his mind, a face came into view. His own, fully human face.
-What are you doing? You're stronger than this.- Victor Stone said, shaking his head disdainfully. Cyborg looked away.
"I can't do anything. I'm only half alive right now... I have no control over my machine body."
-You just don't want to do anything. You don't have any super powers. You have you, and your bionic enhancements. If you just lie there like a broken refrigerator, no one can fault you. But if you push yourself... really push that part of you that doesn't need electricity or battery power... You can change the situation.-
Cyborg gritted his teeth, eyes narrowed at his human counterpart. "Easy for you to say. You're whole! You have all of you, you-"
-You heard him scream.-
Cyborg stopped, the color draining from his face. "What?"
-Beast Boy, you heard him, even if you don't want to think about it. Your friends are in trouble, Cyborg. Slade may be using your power, but that's it. We both know that if you pull yourself together, if you get out of this, you can overcome his hold.-
Cyborg smiled slightly. "You mean, I can reverse this energy drain."
Victor Stone grinned. -There he is.- He reached forward and tapped the side of Cyborg's head not concealed by metal and circuits. -That's what I'm talking about. Nothin' but gray matter and neurons.-
Cyborg closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, his old self was gone. He was staring into the empty room again, alone.
"I can do this."
Expelling great effort, Cyborg raised his arms, forming his hands into claws. With vice-like strength and force he crashed them down onto the stone wall behind him, and propelled himself forward, snapping his restraints. He fell to his knees, breaking his fall clumsily.
"Come on, Cyborg. Get it together." He growled, concentrating. The tubes and wires running from his back began to glow with blue light, and instead of sapping him of his energy, the flow reversed. Cyborg pulsed with strength, his clear circuits beaming with healthy blue. "All RIGHT!"
He leapt to his feet, doing an impromptu dance. "I totally kicked this place's a-"
He stopped. In the now open doorway stood a familiar silouette. Cyborg raised his arm, converting it to his sonic cannon.
"Where are my friends?"
Slade
"Well, well, well... this is certainly more than I expected from you. Good to know you still have a few surprises in store. I'd hate to think this was going to get boring." Slade made the walls of the cell go transparent, revealing both Beast Boy and Starfire, writhing in pain, their screams only just audible.
-... can only... long...-
Slade shook his head, the faint thought barely registering in his awareness.
"Your friends. They hardly have the same advantage as you... Perhaps you'd like to help them?" He laughed shortly, half turning from the small window as another thought pulled at him. "Then again, I doubt even you could more than dent these walls..."
Cyborg
His cannon whirred with energy.
"Shall we make a friendly wager, Slade? I say I kick your ass and break my friends out in under ten minutes." Cyborg stepped forward, yanking the wires and tubes from his back as he walked. "I don't know what your game is- but 'Checkmate' pretty much applies to this situation regardless. Without your fancy Trigon powers, this cannon at close range will probably punch a hole in that stupid mask. And in your skull."
(( Scene Switch ))
Jinx
When Raven teleported the 4 of them there, she took a step forward, looking around a bit. "Wow. I thought Slade would have more taste than this. Kind of a dump." She glanced at Raven and Robin. "So, are we looking together, or are we splitting up?"
Raven
She shrugged, still looking around.
"Maybe he's slipping." She said coolly, looking at Silvestri.
"What do you think? Will we have better luck together or splitting up?"
Robin
A thoughtful expression crossed Robin's face, glancing between Jinx and Raven; there was a good chance of getting through this both ways, but he wasn't sure he needed another guilt trip, "If we absolutely need to split up, we will, but for now, I think we should stick together," he replied slowly.
Jinx
Jinx nodded, heading forward a bit more with the others. "So does Slade have any traps set up or anything we should look out for?" she asked. "Guns, lasers, anything of the like?"
Robin
Taking in something of a deep breath, a single glance around their surroundings for another second gave Robin a moment to reply, before turning back to Jinx just as quickly, exchanging his gazes between her and Raven, "This is Slade we're talking about, I'm positive he'll have several traps scattered through his lair; we'll need to be extra careful, as I'm not sure Silvestri knows where they all are."
Jinx
"Maybe we should find out," she said, putting her hands on her hips as she looked around. "He's gota have a control room or something. Maybe if we find out where that is we can disable the traps and the security. Might also be able to break your friends out, too."
She blinked when they looked at her funny. "What? I'm used to things like that," she said, shrugging her shoulders. "But if you have any better ideas.."
Robin
Robin, had indeed, looked at her funny, but it was to be expected from someone who robbed banks and the like. However, he nodded in agreement, he was going to have to put the fact that they were enemies behind him for now and accept that she was one of the better members of her teammates; she was turning out to be pretty helpful so far. He was just wondering what Raven had did to bribe her... 'Not now,' he thought.
"Good idea. There's just one problem. Getting to the control room," he replied; they had no idea where it was, or how to get there. Maybe. His gaze turned Silvestri, they needed his help.
Raven
She nodded but didn't say anything, deciding it would be better not too. At some point she would have to deal with everything she had done, but now was not the time. She glanced at Silvestri, her eyebrows drawn together, waiting for his comment. Jinx could take care of the alarms, she was sure, but first they had to find them.
Silvestri
Silvestri shuddered and looked up into Raven's eyes, desperately fighting off Slade's mind... and then it was gone. There was a far off muffled explosion and then he had nothing to fight.
"Quick, while he's distracted! The Control Room is at the center of the complex... it spirals inward from this point." He legs only just barely supporting him, he lead the way into the nearest corridor, gesturing for the others to follow...
Raven
Raven ignored his look, determined not to show anything. She swept off after, not bothering to walk, just floating over the ground. She glanced over her shoulder and Robin and Jinx, but didn't wait for them to catch up.
Silvestri
With one hand pressed to the wall for support, Silvestri staggered onward, hoping that they all trusted him enough to follow...
-If only there was some way for me to tell them, to show them that I would never lead them wrong...-
He couldn't hear any footsteps behind him, and he didn't trust himself to turn around... for all he knew, even that split second delay might give Slade time to regain control over him.
And that he knew he had to avoid at all costs.
Raven
She followed, disliking the fact that they were blindly following some one who had proven not to be trustworthy. She knew that he was still going to try to convince her to trust him, but she doubted it would work. Ever.
"How much farther?" She asked, her voice dry and emotionless.
Silvestri
Silvestri jumped slightly at her voice, missing a step and nearly tumbling to the floor.
-What's wrong with me? I've never had a problem with my balan-- but no, now I do... because my powers are being drained...-
"I'm not sure... the chamber is at the very center of the complex. We have to hurry." Another muffled explosion punctuated his statement. "Your friends need us."
Raven
She followed him closely, her powers wrapping around him to keep him from falling.
"It's sounds like they're taking care of things without our help." She said, moving faster despite her confidence in her friends.
Silvestri
Drawing strength fro her simple gesture, Silvestri steadied and glanced back at her, smiling.
"I'm sure you're right, Raven... but it'll be even easier with all of us there."
Remembering Terra, his smile faltered.
"We have to hurry..." He repeated...
Raven
She scowled slightly, glancing back at Jinx and Robin a second time.
"Hm." She muttered, catching up with him easily.
"I'm trying to." she said coldly, picking him up with tendrils of black magic "Tell me where it is.'
Robin
Once Silvestri started leading the way to the control room, Robin took the rear of the group, alert and cautious as he ascended through the lair. He didn't trust anyone else being behind him, so he had every intention of staying at the rear; masked eyes darted from side to side continually...as if he were just expecting them to be assaulted at any given second. Fingers twitched gently, almost reflexively itching to grasp a birdarang, or an electric disk-- 'Don't jump at anything too soon...but it's too quiet, there should be more to the lair than this. Where are his henchmen, the traps...?'
That thought only made Robin even more on edge and less aware that Raven continually kept glancing back at himself and Jinx.
Silvestri
He stiffened in Raven's hold and shook his head.
"Stop... something's wrong--" Before he had more than uttered the words, a wall crashed down behind Robin while the floor slanted sharply downward. Suspended in mid-air as they were, Silvestri and Raven were in no danger... Jinx and Robin however...
Raven
Raven threw out her other hand and caught Robin and Jinx quickly.
"Where does that lead?" she snapped at the shapeshifter, her glare hot and irritated.
"Is it just a trap?" She settled the other three down onto the level ground, then moved closer to examine the ground.
Robin
Robin's jaw dropped slightly, only releasing something of a faint 'umph'ed noise, he could feel his weight shifting down, and it took him if only a second to realize the floor was slanting; it was quite a bit of a gap. He felt his sliding stop almost as quickly as it had started, when he saw an aura of black around himself and Jinx.
Glancing towards Raven as she set them down on even ground, he nodded slightly, "Thanks," he said quickly, looking over from the edge at where he would have been headed; uncomfortably dark, was all he could see.
Jinx
Jinx, who had been running with her temporary allies to the control room, cried out when the floor fell from underneath them. As Raven caught her, she opened one of her eyes, which she had shut from instinct, and then looked down to the trap she would have fallen in. "Well.. that was plesant," she said sarcastically. She glanced from Raven to Silvestri before saying "Who cares where it goes? Shouldn't we keep going?" Her gaze locked on the shapeshifter after that statement, coldly adding, "and shouldn't you be warning us about traps? You obviously know the location better than we do."
Silvestri
He narrowed his eyes at Jinx, knowing that she was right but unwilling to trust her...
-Raven doesn't... she's only here because they couldn't leave her behind...-
"They aren't always in the same place... and I'd like to see you try and do *anything* constructive with that man--" He shuddered, shaking his head. "Nevermind... you wouldn't understand. None of you would..."
Jinx
"Not always in the same place.. great.. what kind of cracked-out hideout is this, anyways?" She rolled her eyes a bit at the shapeshifter, obviously not trusting him much either. When Raven placed her and Robin back down on the ground, she took a few steps forward, putting her hands on her hips. "So should we keep trying sneak around to find the control room?" She stopped, seeing a camera not too far ahead; had Slade seen them? Maybe the camera had; perhaps that was what was triggering the traps. Slade was certainly the kind of guy who would have good security. She held her hand up, shooting a pink spell at the camera, causing it to shatter, and glanced back at the two Titans and the shapeshifter. "Maybe we should try a more direct approach."
(( Scene Switch ))
Slade
Slade flew backwards as the blast hit him, carrying him into the wall. He managed to deflect the majority away from it's intended target: his skull. As it was, he still fetched up hard enough to knock the air out of his lungs and bring the taste of blood up from his throat. He could smell the odor of smouldering flesh where his mask now pressed inward against his face, burning like a brand.
Before he could pull himself into order, Cyborg loomed over him, cannon at the ready...
"Terra... child..." Slade rasped, knowing that she was close to hand... and that she wouldn't underestimate Cyborg.
Slade opened his eye, scanning the hall and finding it empty. Cyborg stood still and silent within his cell, most likely waiting to see if Slade was capable of putting up more of a fight.
"Terra?"
There was no answer.
Holding in his pain, Slade pushed himself to his feet, shaking his head slowly.
"How disappointing..." He sighed. "Oh well... I suppose I'll just have to deal with you myself. What a joke."
"Looks like the joke's on you, Slade." Cyborg said, powering up his cannon again.
Slade smiled.
"Now, that is funny..." Slade spread his arms wide, feeling his ribs creak as the muscles and bones knit back together. "However, the punchline could use some work." Leaping to the side, he hit a switch below the door console. The floor dropped out from beneath Cyborg's feet even as he discharged his cannon again. Slade watched him fall with mingled curiosity and apathy before closing the door and striding down the hall.
"Very disappointing..."
(( Scene Switch ))
Raven
Raven frowned, her eyes narrowing.
"Does he know that you haven't captured us?" She snapped at Silvestri, thinking fast. "If he doesn't, you can lead me in, and Robin and Jinx can use a suprise attack." She floated down and landed next to Robin, her eyes still narrowed to scary looking slits.
She glanced at Jinx, only half seeing her "Of course. It is Slade; what did you expect?"
Jinx
"You mean you're gonna have him lead you to Slade like he captured you?" she asked, giving a sideways glance at Silverstri. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"
She wondered herself if she should try something like that.. she wasn't sure; If Slade had already seen them all come in together, he may not buy it if she tried to pull a fast one on him. But what if Silvestri did hand Raven over to Slade? She was positive her and Robin alone would not be able to take him down, and she had left her communicator at the hideout.. not that she really expected the rest of the HIVE Five to be of much help, anyways.
I need to learn not to get myself into these messes, She thought.
Raven
"No. But it's the only one I have." She said dryly, glancing between Silvestri and Robin. She doubted her leader would approve, and she doubted that Slade was unaware of their arrive, but she had to try. It was a small chance, but it was a chance nonetheless.
Robin
Standing there for a long moment, an awkward silence had dropped over the boy wonder, as if trying to bite back on something that had suddenly entered his head as well as take hold of Raven's suggestion. Pursing his lips together for a second, "No. I'm not risking that," he said firmly, almost bitterly.
He could just see it played out in his head: Raven gets fake-captured and they all get pummelled to the ground while Slade gets away with his evil plan. What happened to all that confidence you had when you came in here, huh? ...Or was it never there in the first place?
That thought alone was enough to make him shudder, but when he realized he left his sentence hanging out in the open, he snapped back into reality. First glancing between Raven, then Jinx and finally Silvestri, his masked gaze seemed to narrow, "It's too risky, and Slade is too smart for that. We're going to have to take this on straight-foreward, but be subtle about it. We might still have the drop on him if we're careful," Robin said.
Jinx
"Well," Jinx said, crossing her arms and leaning against the wall, "maybe you could attack Slade head on, and while he's distracted, I can find where your friends are being held and let them out so they can help you," she said. She then frowned at her own plan, realizing it would never fly; they had no reason to trust her word; they probably thought she would just run away. "Or one of you two could go. But we need to do something pretty soon, because standing around trying to plan something out to help them isn't really helping them."
Raven
"Straight-foward, and subtle." she mumbled under her breath, her eyebrows drawn together in irritation. She had the strangest feeling that Slade was distracted at the minute, but that wouldn't last long. If they didn't move, they would have no chance. When Jinx started to talk her head turnned slowly till she was looking at the other girl.
"I'll do it." she said shortly, looking over at Robin to see if he would object.
Robin
Jinx was right about one thing, standing here talking about it was getting them nowhere at all. Robin seemed to be doubtful and jumpy to every suggestion that reached his ears, enough to make wonder what his problem was. The last time he tried to take care of Slade by himself it was...a disaster. Taking in a deep breath through his nose before sighing it out, he lowered his head slightly, "Fine, but just be careful."
Raven
She nodded, then turned to Silvestri, her eyes sharp "Can you lead them?" she said coldly, her tone and body language stating pretty clearly that she had no intrest in his opinions or well being.
"If you can, I'll go ahead and start looking for them, so I can free them when you attack."
Jinx
"Be careful," the pink-haired girl wanred, although her voice didn't convey much concern, "if you get caught or something and can't help them out, then me and bird-boy here are screwed." If things went bad, Jinx had a feeling Slade would be more concerned with Robin than with her... so escaping shouldn't be a problem, if she needed to do so. Of course, she wasn't going to tell them that she planned on leaving Robin if things went downhill. Besides, she thought to herself, They're probably surprised I've stayed as long as I have.
Silvestri
Silvestri sighed as another rumbling explosion shook the complex...
"We need to hurry... He's not. Distracted. Anymore."
With a strangled cry, Silvestri went limp in Raven's hold, his body glowng faintly green in the darkness...
And in the deeper gloom of the corridor a shadow moved...
"Hi guys... miss me?"
Raven
Raven scowled, her eyes narrowing more as she watch the shapeshifter. She settled his body on the ground gently, then turned to the other two, "Any ideas?" she said dryly. When she heard the voice she froze, then turned slowly to face the shadow.
"You." She snarled, that one word conveying more hatred then anything else she had ever said, "You betrayed us again."
Robin
Robin resented that nickname, but now wasn't exactly the time to be worrying about it. He was silent for the longest moment, because the faintest sound of a familiar voice rose, and his fingers curled around a pair of birdarangs. He'd started to raise them up, until he realized the voice belonged to Terra. "Not now Raven, we don't have the time for you two to be at eachother's throats again," he said.
To be quite frank, he wasn't sure what to think of Terra's abrupt return, and the surprise was certainly in his expression; he had erased it quickly though, his mind had other things to worry about. "Okay, Raven, I need you to--" and then he stopped, dead in mid-sentence.
"Wait, why are you here? And how are you here?" Robin's voice had suddenly gone sharp and on edge, and he was looking straight at Terra. Was he really being that ignorant?
Terra
Terra stepped out of the shadows, smiling openly. She spread her hands in a gesture of welcome.
"Man, am I glad to see you guys!" She moved closer, looking down at Silvestri. Her eyes narrowed and she dropped her hands to her sides. "What is he doing here?"
Raven
"We caught him." she said calmly, making a story up quickly, her face blank, and her tone not giving anything away. "He tried to attack us, but we caught him." She watched the blond girl closely, gauging her reaction.
Under other circumstances she would have been happy to see the other girl; she had redemed herself after all. But this was a little suspicious. She had just happened to show up in Slade's lair, in time to help them? Not likely.
Terra
Terra smiled once more, giving Raven a quick thumbs up.
"Good job... he's the one that helped Slade revive me." She held up her shackled wrists for them to see. "I've had these on ever since I woke up. Couldn't float a pebble if my life depended on it." She glanced around and shivered as another explosion echoed in the distance. "Which it might, come to think of it..." She looked at Robin suddenly, eyes wide. "Where's BB?"
Raven
She nodded, hoping that her disbelief wasn't as obvious as she thought it was.
"Is there anyway to break them off?" she asked coldly, her eyes darting to the direction of the explosion, curious and worried.
"Slade has him. And Starfire. And Cyborg." She said, not bothering to look at her, her eyes still fixed on the explosion. She now knew all she needed to, and without a glance at Terra, black aura wrapped around her and the others, and she teleported them to Slade's main chamber.
Slade
Slade's back was to them when they appeared, only his chair visible against the glare of the screens.
"Good work, Raven... more than I expected from you, certainly. Strange though, that you would choose to come here instead of going to the aid of your friends..."
The large screen split into three smaller views, each displaying one of the captive Titans. Both Beast Boy and Starfire were laying still, glowing with the same green light that hung around Silvestri... Cyborg was firing blasts at the unyielding walls of his deeper cell.
"A pity, really... I had expected more of a fight. But no... you've brought my wayward student back to me... and Terra as well, I see. I had been wondering where you wandered off to, child. You know it's not safe..."
There was no pause between his little speech and Terra's response... it was almost too well done...
"No one's safe as long as you're allowed to do whatever you want, Slade."
"And who is going to stop me? You and your little friends? I think not."
"Why not? We did it once before."
Slade laughed shortly.
"And this time you seem to be short, let's see... three Titans and one pit of lava. Not the best of odds for you."
Terra moved forward angrily, that same green glow engulfing her as she neared his chair. Silvestri twitched weakly, regaining consciousness and gasping raggedly at the sight of Terra approaching her Master.
"NO! Raven!" Her pushed himself to his feet and leapt to grab Terra, as on the screen Beast Boy convulsed and Terra transformed into large bird in is hold.
"Truly disappointing, Silvestri... I had such high hopes for you..." Slade sighed, still out of sight.
Raven
She paled at the sight of her friends, going almost gray. Her eyes started to glow black, and she slammed Terra with a bolt of energy, not enough to kill her, but enough to knock her out for a while. She didn't trust Silvestri or Terra, butat this point, in a choice between them, Silvestri won.
"You're not going to win, Slade!" Robin yelled, sprinting toward the masked man.
Raven watvhed him, torn, then pushed Silvestri out of harms way before following Slade.
Slade
"Always so confident, Robin..." Slade drawled as Robin reached him, spinning his chair around...
It was empty.
"... almost to a fault."
Jinx
Jinx, who had been a bit lost around the time the blonde girl came, was going to ask 'who the hell is this?' but Raven had teleported them before she had the chance.
Now in the control room, even with Slade not really being in the chair, she was pretty sure Slade knew now whose side she had been on, even if it was temporary. So much for having a back up plan she thought to herself. After Raven slammed Terra against the wall, she carefully made her way over near the control panel, observing the controls for a few seconds, before attempting to shut down the security first. She growled a bit, frustrated when she saw that she needed to put a code in. She glanced at the number keys, and saw 4 of the numbers on the pad a bit rubbed out from being pressed so often.
Wait a minute, she thought, this is the same system that we disarmed a few months ago when we robbed that military weapon factory. She smirked a bit, pressing in a long stream of numbers. "Lights out," she said, and by hitting the enter code button on the control pad, the lights flickered for a moment, and suddenly all the screens turned off.
"Alright," said Jinx, glancing at the others "We have 10 minutes. The cameras, traps, everything that had been hooked to that security system is down. But it'll automatically come back up in 10 minutes. I suggest we say screw the reunion with blondie over there, find Slade, and help the others."
Slade
Slade smiled behind his mask as the lights went out, listening to the false hope the girl was spewing. With any luck, they'd become even more overconfident, thinking him blind and defenseless.
Typing his command code into the computer, he cut the lights to the whole complex and brought the traps and cameras fully back online.
"As though I'd be foolish enough not to modify my systems... really, you'd think they'd know better by now..." He tracked the Titan's as they searched the Control Room, shaking his head at the sight of Terra, unconscious.
-No great loss... she served her purpose. So far.-
Silvestri
Silvestri held himself upright by a sheer force of will, staring down at Terra's prone form. He had read her file, and he kne that this Terra was not evil, only twisted. Used as he had been used... as they had all been used over time. Stooping slightly, he lifted her, bent under the weight and the unaccustomed pain that his blocked powers inflicted.
"There's a secondary Control Chamber, down by the cells... It's shielded, so we won't be able to just teleport in..."
He glanced from Raven to Robin and back again.
"We need to get your friends... so that Terra won't be able to use them to harm you when she wakes up..."
Robin
Frusterated greatly when he found him not to be in his chair, he didn't have a whole lot of more time to react before darkness fell over them. Robin's heart throbbed in his chest, almost curling up in his throat; it almost felt like reliving that awful day, when Cinderblock broke out and-- 'Stop! All you're doing is giving yourself justification to forget everything but Slade. You're friends are at risk.'
The boy wonder shook his head, and squinted through the darkness, "How are we supposed to find them in the dark?"
The True Master only taught him to see his opponent without actually seeing them, not the surroundings. Either they were going to have to cope, or find a way to get the lights back on or something.
Silvestri
He licked his lips, settling Terra's arm across his shoulders more evenly.
"Raven.. if you take off my cuffs... I can lead you to them." He took a deep breath. "You just have to trust me..."
Jinx
She crossed her arms, looking around, obviously not happy with how things had turned out. Tricky bastard, she thought to herself. "Well... don't suppose you have any flashlights in that belt of yours?" she asked, glancing at Robin. "I could try getting the lights back on on this control panel, but Slade's probably just going to tun them back off, so..." she merely shrugged her shoulders.
Raven
Raven froze, letting herself adjust to the darkness. She couldn't see perfectly, but this was her domain, and it did not bother her as much as it did the others. She walked carefully over to Silvestri, muttering something to acknowledge Jinx, but not actually going over to her.
"How do I know you won't betray us?" she snapped at the shapeshifter, her voice cold. She took a few steps closer then stopped, waiting for his answer.
Silvestri
Knowing that his actions would be invisible to the others, Silvestri lowered Terra gently to the ground and leaned toward Raven, whispering for her ears alone...
"Look into my mind..."
-... And see the truth.- He touched her shoulder lightly, standing as still as he could. -I will *never* betray you.- Barely daring to breath, he ghosted a kiss onto her cheek and then wait for the blast that would send him into the wall...
Raven
She went a bright red, and pulled away slightly. No one had ever done anything like that before...the closest had been when Malkior had offered her the rose. She winced and pulled away again, but not enough that it was really noticable.
Connecting Silvestri and Malkior had been a bad idea...but Malkior had never done anything like this, had he? She hesitated, then swallowed, trying to get rid of the lump in her throat and nodded.
"All right." she said calmly, making sure her feeling didn't come through in her tone. She released the shackles and stepped back another step, waiting to see what would happen.
Silvestri
Chafing his wrists, Silvestri reigned in his disappointment. Not that he had expect any better... in fact, he'd braced for the worst...
-But still...-
"Jinx?" He said into the now clear darkness, watching the girl jump slightly at her name. "Will you take Terra?"
Without waiting for a response, he nodded to Raven and transformed, running over to Robin.
"I'll direct you as best I can..." He said before leaping up onto Robin's shoulder. "There isn't much time."
Jinx
"I guess," she muttered, not too keen on the idea, but she picked up the other girl, slinging her arm underneath her to support her. "So what now?" she asked, not really bothering to look for any of them in the dark, just waiting for one of them to answer.
Robin
As closely as he had been listening through the darkness, when he felt Silvestri jump to his shoulder, he damn near jumped out of his skin. Robin nodded though, and squinted, "Alright Titans...and Jinx, we need to stick close together and do not separate," he spoke, approaching the other voices until he was sure he was right next to them atleast.
"Stay close to me," Robin instructed, before allowing for Silvestri to take over the reigns.
(( Scene Switch ))
Slade
Slades smile faltered as Raven removed Silvestri's cuffs... but only for an instant.
"Useless. With the shapeshifter's powers, his were pointless anyway... No bother."
He tracked them as they continued ever onward toward the cells.
"Now, now... when is it ever that easy?"
(( Scene Switch ))
Cyborg
Cyborg leaned against the wall of his new cell, panting for breath. He had tried blasting his way out, scanning for hidden exits, hacking his way into the locking mechanism... nothing had worked. With a sigh he tilted his head back and then smacked himself in the forehead.
"Well, duh... if you can't dig it deeper... climb out!"
Aiming carefully at the distant square of light far above his head, he fired his grappler arm...
(( Scene Switch ))
Raven
She followed Robin silently, floating instead of walking. She tried to ignore what had just happen; if she thought about it, she would be very easy to distract. Still, she knew that she would have to face it at some point.
"How far?" she said softly to Silvestri, as she flated right bhind Robin. She had no idea where Jinx was, but she hoped she would be able to keep up. They needed all the help they could get.
Silvestri
"There should be a stairwell up on the right here..." Silvestri said, nudging Robin onward. "It leads down to the cells."
Jinx
She kept up as best as she could; carrying the blonde girl was no picnic, and she was having trouble keeping up with them. "You know, I can't exactly see you guys that well-" she bumped into Raven as she started holding out her free arm, and then grabbed onto her cape, smirking a bit. "Never mind. I'm fine." She continued to follow them as they made their way down the stairwell, and then glanced up, seeing a camera. She could only tell it was there from the small red light. "What's he got the cameras on for?" she muttered. "He cut the lights, it's not like he can see us."
(( Scene Switch ))
Slade
Slade scanned the halls with his infrared sensors, making sure that no one had wandered away from the group. He picked up an anomally down by the cells and switched views just as Cyborg climbed up from his cell. Slade frowned and switched back to the other view... it was only a matter of minutes before they would be reunited...
"No matter..."