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Chapter Four: Chains And Cages

"Uhh...not again." Blackfire said as she awoke from unconsciousness again-"What the?"

She found herself restrained within the gleaming metal walls of what seemed to be a Centauri holding cell.

"Ah, it looks like the fugitive has awoken," a deep voice intoned from behind her, before the Lord Caretaker stepped in front of her, arms behind his back. If there was anyone else in the room, they weren't making their presence known.

"Ooh look, it's the Lord Caretaker!" Blackfire sneered. "Come to admit the almighty Centauri made a mistake?"

"Yes, and to correct that mistake as well," he replied calmly.

"So I guess I'm on my way to whatever passes for Centauri justice again," Blackfire said angrily. "So what? I'll just escape again."

"Again? I'm sorry, Blackfire, but I must have forgotten to inform you. We are still in Earth orbit."

If the last five words shocked Blackfire, as the Lord Caretaker knew they must have, she did a tolerable job of hiding it. "Still on Earth? Why?"

"It appears that during our attempt to apprehend you, circumstances led to the capture of all the Teen Titans save the one named Raven. I am sure you are intelligent enough to guess the reason you are still on Earth."

"You want me to help you find them." It wasn't hard. What was hard was why the Lord Caretaker was apparently allowing her the opportunity to escape.

One that he had apparently considered, as he held up a small collar with an air of indifferent condescension.

"Forty standard years ago, fifty by Earth's reckoning, the Centauri fought a war of independence against Tamaran," he began, before Blackfire interrupted.

"I know, I'm not stupid. Get to the point."

Unfazed by her intrusion, he continued, "During the war, we conceived of many weapons, some highly effective, some ineffective to the point of idiocy."

He focused on Blackfire. "And some never used, for fear that we would erode the public support that we needed to win, that the other races fighting for independence would see us as no better than our Tameranian masters. This neural collar is one of them."

Fastening it around her neck, he continued, "While this neural collar is on, you may not use any of your energy-based powers. Trying to do so will not only be useless as the collar inhibits your neural transducers from absorbing energy, it will also deliver a massive dose of pain to your central nervous system. Flight will also be difficult, as the collar will slowly deliver a steadily increasing dose of pain the longer you fly. As for removal, only I know the sequence, of which there are several million possible sequences."

"And I thought I was the bad guy here," she said, a great deal more flippant than she felt, as she felt the collar extend small tendrils into the back of her neck.

"Desperate times and desperate measures go together, something I learned while fighting for my people's freedom." His voice became colder, as he continued, "We will have your help, whether you like it or not."

(scene change)

"I can't believe you actually did that to her! You're supposed to be the law, for God's sake!" Green Lantern told the Lord Caretaker as the Centauri ship descended to Earth, Blackfire still in her holding cell.

The Lord Caretaker turned to the Green Lantern. "I did what I had to. Would you prefer that we simply take Komand'r back to Centauri Prime and leave the Titans to their kidnappers' mercy?"

"It's preferable to that damned slave collar! I could get the help of the League, and with them on the case the Titans are good as free!"

As the ship shuddered while it passed through the atmosphere, the Lord Caretaker replied, "And how long would that take? As I hear it, the League is constantly needed for international crises. Time is also our enemy here, Lantern Stewart. Like it or not, we need Komand'r's help now, and the collar is the only way to obtain that help."

He looked outside the ship's cockpit. "Besides, Blackfire's part in this goes far beyond simple labour, I will ensure that..."

(scene change)

Raven tried to meditate, but thoughts of her friends kept on intruding in her thoughts. She wondered what had happened to them, whether they were still alive to be rescued, the Green Lantern's reassurances to the contrary.

She tried to meditate again, but it was useless.

"Emptying minds of thought was Beast Boy's specialty, anyway," she said to herself, and smiled, wiping a tear from her eye. That kind of joke was Beast Boy's specialty, too.

Deciding she needed a walk to clear her mind, she exited her room, only to see Officer Cron, standing in front of her door.

"My apologies Raven, but the Lord Caretaker is arriving in a few minutes, and I thought it would be proper if we went to meet him."

"Any news?" Raven asked, falling into step next to Cron.

"Perhaps. The Lord Caretaker has said that he's got the help of the fugitive Blackfire-I'm sorry, did I say anything wrong?" he asked, when Raven suddenly stopped.

"He-he's got Blackfire's help?" Raven asked, aghast.

"I know, I don't pretend to understand it myself."

"No you don't. To you Blackfire was always a criminal; you knew what she was, but we didn't, not at first."

"Ah, she hurt you, didn't she?" Officer Cron asked.

"Maybe not as much as she did Starfire, but...yes."

Her voice trailed into a silence that Officer Cron broke. "That, I can understand, but like it or not, Blackfire is the only source of help we have right now, a fact I'm sure the Lord Caretaker is aware of."

"I know, I know. It's just that, I'm not sure that we can trust her."

"Neither am I, and I'm sure Kai would agree. But whether we like it, she may be the only hope your friends have got."

(scene change)

"What are they keeping us waiting for?" Robin asked, as he paced the cell the Titans found themselves in after they woke up from whatever their captors used to knock them out. As Robin's belt had been removed, the Titans tried other means to release themselves, namely lasers, Tameranian energy bolts and whatever Beast Boy could turn himself into. It was then a problem became evident.

The cage itself seemed to be perfectly normal. However, in a perfectly normal cage, they would have been able to use their powers without being wracked by pain, powering down dangerously, or simply fizzling out, as in Beast Boy's, Cyborg's and Starfire's cases respectively.

"You know, Rob, if you keep pacing your cell like that, you might be able to make us an escape passage!" Beast Boy joked.

"It would help if you're a bit more serious about the situation, Beast Boy."

"Hey, Robin give him a break, he was just trying to lighten the situation up." Cyborg said.

"Please friends, let us not quarrel! It is a trying time for us all, and we will need to stick together more than ever now!" Starfire interjected.

Robin put his hand to his forehead. "Star's right. It's just that I wished I knew what they were planning for us."

From a console connected to a hidden camera pointed to the cell in the middle of the chamber, the unholy alliance with the exception of the Puppet King watched. "So, what are we planning for them?" Trident asked.

"Dunno." Gizmo replied.

"What I want to know is why we are not in the process of killing them painfully and slowly!" Killer Moth said.

"Oi suppose tha' th' big bossman wants to 'ave 'imself th' full set afore 'e let's us play wivvem, ay wot?" Mad Mod asked, more to himself than to the others.

"How is that little cell able to keep all the Titans in there?" Mammoth asked. The others felt that Mammoth had never really got into the spirit of things.

Pressing a few buttons on his armpad, Gizmo shifted the vision, from infrared, to ultraviolet, to-

"Pretty, isn't it?" Jinx said as she saw what was revealed.

Emblazoned on the bars of an apparently normal cage were various magical symbols, the very sight of which filled the watchers with a vague sense of dread. The fact that they glowed red in a visual mode that was otherwise normal only served to frighten the viewers even more.

"Enough, I can't take it any more," Killer Moth said, echoing what the other members thought. After Gizmo shifted the vision back to normal, he turned to Jinx. "Went a little overboard there, didn't you?"

"What? You think I did that? No, that was the Puppet King, he knows a whole lot more about that sort of thing than I thought."

She looked around. "Where is he, anyway?"

"In his quarters, said he had a headache." Gizmo said.

"Puppets get headaches?"

Gizmo only shrugged.

(scene change)

The Puppet King placed the seventh, and last candle. Looking around, he made sure that the seven-pointed star, the septagram he drew was correct, with all the relevant symbols in the correct places. He didn't know what would happen if he got it wrong, and he didn't want to find out.

The pounding in his head got a whole lot worse. He didn't want to be kept waiting any longer. Lying down in the pentagram, his head in one point, his arms and legs in the other four, like some kind of sacrificial victim, the Puppet King began concentrated...

"You took your sweet time."

The Puppet King suddenly found himself kneeling near the edge of a cliff, behind of which an endless chasm yawned.

Or rather, screamed with the endless screams of those thrown down there, as endless as the pit was bottomless. In front of him, a great being sat enthroned, its entire self enshrouded in shadow.

"Master, I'm sorry, it's just that-"

"Spare me your excuses, Toy Lord," the deep voice said from what seemed to be the skies above, in what could only be described as a sibilant roar. "I simply wish to ask you how our little project fares."

Reflecting that with his present Master, nothing is rarely ever simple, the Puppet King replied, "it is going exactly as planned, Master. I tried to capture Raven as well, but-"

"You could not do so," the voice finished. "Yes, I know. Her strength is known to me, perhaps more than she knows herself."

The great being seemed to relax in its throne. "But now that she is alone, unaided, she should prove no problem for you and your motley little band, should she?"

"No, Master."

"Good. After you capture her, you may do what you wish with the other Titans. But for Raven, I have some special instructions, which I will reveal to you then."

The being suddenly leaned forward, its body still cloaked in shadow. "Remember, Puppet King, I will brook no failure. I gave you life, and I can as easily take it away. Now go."

With one wave of its hand, the Puppet King disappeared into a rapidly dissipating shadow, his 'soul' passing back to the mortal plane.

(scene change)

Raven held her hand to her eyes protectively as the Centauri prison ship landed atop the Titan Tower. A small hatch opened in its side, revealing the forms of the Lord Caretaker and the Green Lantern.

Along with that of Blackfire, held between them.

As soon as Raven saw the Tameranian exile step off the ship in her restraints, she swiftly repressed the savage exultation that she suddenly felt.

Not that she would not have allowed herself the luxury in different circumstances.

"Hey Raven, long time no see," Blackfire said.

"Not long enough."

Raven could not comprehend how she could still smile like that, how her eyes could still have that mischievous glint in them, when all present knew what she had at the very least been partially responsible for.

"No disrespect intended, Lord Caretaker, but can she be trusted?" Officer Kai asked.

"Don't worry, I've taken the necessary precautions," the Lord Caretaker said, indicating the collar around Blackfire's neck.

"But my Lord, is that, legal?"

"Join the club," the Green Lantern said.

"I'm right here, you know," Blackfire said.

"Trust us, we know." Raven replied.

The Green Lantern turned to the Lord Caretaker. "You sure you can handle things from here?" he asked.

"You need not concern yourself, Lantern Stewart, I am sure that between the four of us, the situation may be controlled."

"'The four of us?'" Raven asked.

"Why yes, I am staying with you for the duration of the search. I cannot return to Centauri Prime without Komand'r, and I cannot do that in good conscience unless I help the Titans."

"All right, but if you need anything..."

"We will inform you, of course. Farewell, and thank you for your assistance, Lantern Stewart," the Lord Caretaker said, shaking the Green Lantern's hand.

With that, the Green Lantern flew off, leaving the five of them standing on the launch pad of the Titan Tower.