Categories > Cartoons > Teen Titans > Something In Common
Chapter Five: Trust And Loyalty-First Among Equals
0 reviewsRaven finds herself teaming up with the most unlikely of allies when an unholy covenant imprisons her friends. First in a series of seven. Constructive criticism welcomed (hell, needed).
0Unrated
Chapter Five: Trust And Loyalty-First Among Equals
The walk from the launch pad to the rec room took only a few minutes, but for Raven and Blackfire, it might as well have taken years.
As the Lord Caretaker had not yet explained to her his unorthodox method of control, Raven did not feel very secure about having to rely on Blackfire's assistance, and probably would not even if he had. Unlike her, he did not have personal experience in dealing with Blackfire.
It wasn't easy for Raven to feel fear, and indeed, she didn't, except...that one time, yet another thing on her personal list of 'things not to talk about'.
The really sickening thing, to her, was that had Blackfire come after that incident, she would have talked about it with her, that she would have taken Blackfire into her confidence, opened up to her.
The fact was that Blackfire wouldn't have even cared.
The fact was that Raven had trusted her, trusted Blackfire like she had never trusted anyone else in her life, and that she had allowed Blackfire access to a part of her life that she had kept hidden from everyone else, even her friends.
The fact was that it made Raven feel, not used, she could live with used, she felt used her whole life before the Titans, but as for what Blackfire did, it made her feel.../dirty/.
If it was her only hope of bringing her friends back alive, she would work with Blackfire, but once that was done, she would not shed any tears when the Centauri took her away to rot in their prisons.
At least, that was what she told herself.
Blackfire, for her part, didn't know what to expect, only that it would probably not be very pleasant, what with the Centauri police on one side, and Raven on the other.
She looked at Raven, looking oh-so betrayed, so hurt. Oh yeah, like you knew what betrayal was. Of all the Titans, she ought to have known how harshly the universe treated you, how it didn't kick you when you were down but put its boot on your neck. The kicking it saved for when you were up, and then always at your head, from behind.
She pulled up to a mental halt. Why did she care about this so much? It wasn't as if Raven would have done the same for her.
Would she?
No, she wouldn't, she thought, mentally shaking herself. /She couldn't/.
She just wanted to get the interrogation over with; she just didn't want to think about Raven any more.
(scene change)
Embedded in one console was a chip sparked with electrical energy. Suddenly, its glow grew even more intense, before it spat itself out to reveal the glowing form of Overload.
"411?" Jinx asked.
"Nothing. No mention of Blackfire or Raven in any electronic media."
"So, oither we've go' ourselves a stroke'a luck, th' Leaguers' usin' le'ers an' carrier pidgies, or..."
"-someone else's involved. Someone the League trusts enough to leave on their own to get us. Blackfire's certainly down." Jinx finished.
"I don't like this," Mammoth said.
"Ooh, izzums pore widdle Mammoth afwaid? Does he want his mama?" Gizmo mocked.
"You foolish biologicals," Overload snarled. "Can't you see that we may have more enemies than our glorious leader informed us of?"
"He's got a point," Killer Moth said. "We're rich, all of us. Why risk ending up like Blackfire? I say we take what we have, and let the Puppet King-"
"No." Mad Mod said.
"What?"
"Oi sed, no. Look, the Titans's 'ready'n our 'ands, an' all we go'a do's wait t' get us th' 'ole set! 'oo cares 'ose comin'! We'll've buggr'd'ff long a'fore then!"
"Well, aren't you nauseatingly optimistic," Trident said. "I agree with Moth. After all, what has the Puppet King actually done? Whenever we do anything, he does not seem to do anything 'cept order us about!"
"I have done nothing?" the Puppet King said from the doorway behind them. "Nothing, except maybe recruit you and plan all our little jobs, including the one that has left the Titans in our grasp!" he shouted.
Most of the villains were cowed, but not Mammoth. "I ain't gonna be pushed around by you, Pinocchio," he said, cracking his knuckles.
"No, I don't need to push."
A moment later, Mammoth was screaming in pain as he was struck by red lightning coming from the Puppet King's fingers, while the other villains, too shocked to react, only managed to watch.
After what seemed to Mammoth to be an eternity of pain, it suddenly stopped, and the Puppet King dropped to the ground kneeling. "Anyone...else...object? Good," he said to the silence, getting up. "Remember, and I know this is a new concept for most of you, but please remember that we are in this together. Blackfire not counted, if I or anyone else should fall, then we all do. The Titans have used this against us, we shall use it against them, or anyone else stupid enough to side with them."
"Now, go. I have plans to make." he finished, before moving back into the shadows.
On the way back to their quarters, Mad Mod found himself pulled into a dark alcove by Jinx. "Oi, wot's this about, then?" he asked her.
"Come on, Mod, don't be stupid," she said in a loud whisper, "You know the others had a point! Yeah, sure, toyboy there's making all the plans, but last I saw, we're the ones taking all the risks! And I don't know about you, but I do not appreciate being kept in the dark about what he's really got planned, nor do I see us playing Happy Families anytime soon!"
"An' yer point'z?"
"The point is that all of us want out! This guy's bad luck, and trust me, I know bad luck!" she added through gritted teeth. "Come on, Mod, you know I'm right, we're right. You saw what he did to Mammoth just now, we need all the help we can get!"
"Oi know wot 'ee did ter Mammoth, an' 'at's why Oi'm na' goin' along wi' yer berkie plans, yeah?"
"He's going to get us all killed!"
At that outburst, Mod paused. "Oi know," he said suddenly. "Bu' y' see, few weeks ago Oi wuz an ol' bugger rottin' awai inna jail cell. Na', lookit me, Oi'm a chipper lad wi' orl th' muscles'n brains'n stuff that Oi nev'r knew Oi forgot, 'mong oth'r things. Th' Puppet King gave'm back t' me. 'S far's Oi'm c'ncern'd, Oi've seen Death, 'tain't nuffin spec."
Jinx took one of her hairbands off and as if some force had been removed, part of her hair fell down upon her shoulders. "Are you sure that there's nothing I can do to change your mind?" she asked seductively, her other hand caressing Mod's arm.
Mod stood shocked there a moment, before he burst into laughter. "Are y' doin' wot Oi think yer doin'? 'Sit even legal?"
"Who cares about 'legal'? We're /criminals/, Mod, and besides, as far as I'm concerned, I'm consenting." She grew serious. "Look Mod, you know what I said. I do think the Puppet King's going to get us all killed, and if the only way to get your help escaping is this, well, I've done worse. At least, this time I get to do the propositioning," she ended huskily, the other hairband removed, and her arms around Mod's neck.
Mad Mod put his hands on her shoulders and pushed her away gently. "Oi won't soi Oi'm na' r'ceptive t' yer offer, but Oi'm still gonna say no, onnacount Oi owe 'im. Honour 'mong thieves, roit?"
Jinx put her arms down and set about tying her hair again. "So, you're not with us then?" she asked, in a tone that held the subtle promise of knives in the dark.
And maybe a little disappointment? "Look, let's 'ave us a comp'r'moise, eh? Y' lot do wo'ever y' want, an' Oi won't do anything t' stop yeh, roit? Oi'm th' Pee Kay's 'enchman, na' 'is bleedin' bodyguard."
"I guess." Then Jinx smiled. "Honor among thieves?"
"Honour 'mong thieves," Mod smiled. "Y' jess gotta read th' fine print, is all."
"All right. And my other proposition?"
"Other proposition?"
"Yeah, my other proposition," Jinx said, pressing herself against Mod. "It's still open, you know."
"Later, dear, later." Mod said, smiling.
"Sure?"
"Yeh."
Jinx pulled herself away from Mod, and blowing him a kiss, walked off to the HAEYP quarters.
"So, how'd it go?" Mammoth asked her when she entered.
"Not as badly as I thought it would. Bad news first though: He's not going to help us."
"What? And you let him get away?" Gizmo asked incredulously.
"Stop worrying. He won't rat on us."
"Oh, and you're so sure how?" Gizmo asked.
"Trust me, he won't betray us."
Mammoth chuckled. "Yeah, made some real bad threats, dintcha?"
"What?"
"You were panting a bit when you came in, Jinx. Get pissed much?"
"...Yeah. Jackass wouldn't listen, had to make a point."
Mammoth and Gizmo weren't dumb, Jinx mused as she went to bed. Just a very specialized kind of stupid.
(scene change)
Mod entered his quarters and locked the door behind him.
"An interesting conversation."
Mod turned about to face the Puppet King, suddenly feeling his body freeze with icy terror. "Ah...er..."
The Puppet King waved a hand dismissively. "Don't bother explaining. I understand."
"Y'...y'do?" Mad Mod asked, not believing his luck even more than he disbelieved the Puppet King's words.
"Of course." The Puppet King strode toward Mod, who seemed to shrink as the Puppet King approached. "I hired you," the Puppet King mused, "all of you because for all your failures, your inadequacies, you were by far the most devious, psychotic, incurably criminal members of our great city's society," the Puppet King said, pacing back and forth now. "If I have to expect the occasional attempt at mutiny, no matter. Come with me Mod, I will speak to the Titans."
"Wot?" Mod asked, bewildered at the Puppet King's abruptness.
"I will speak to the Titans, and you shall follow." the Puppet King finished.
(scene change)
"Stop it."
"What?"
"I said stop it."
"Why?"
"It's starting to get annoying."
"Hey, if I want to hum 'It's A Small World', I'll hum it!"
"Yeah, but just the first line over and over again?"
"I like it!"
"Well I don't!"
"Must you fight all the time?" Starfire asked, tired of Beast Boy and Cyborg's constant wrangling.
"YES!" the two of them shouted back at her in unison.
Before Starfire could reply, she felt Robin's hand on her shoulder, gently pulling her away from them.
"But Robin, they're fighting!" she said.
"I know, let them. In some strange way, it's how they cope."
"Cope? How is making each other angry a way to cope?" Starfire asked, genuinely curious.
"I can't say I know, but that's the way they are. Don't worry Star, they'll shout at each other, cool down, and they'll start shouting at each other again," he said wearily.
Starfire looked at him. She noticed for the umpteenth time how tired he seemed. "You should rest, Robin," she said.
"I can't, Star, I just can't!" He kicked the cage. "If I had my belt, I could probably do something, but..."
Robin grasped the bars, as if trying to pull them apart with his bare hands, and then gave up, sagging to the ground.
"What was that Robin?" Starfire asked, when Robin mumbled something.
"I feel so useless." Robin whispered.
At that, Starfire knelt down beside him. "No Robin, you're not useless," she said, alarmed at Robin's sudden break in spirit. "You're our leader!"
"And a fat lot of good I've been so far. Charging into battle and getting us captured, being unable to get us out, for my encore I'll probably get us all killed by whoever's behind this. Heh, you're right Starfire, I'm not useless, I'm worse."
"Robin-"
"Don't you 'Robin' me!" Robin snapped.
"Robin," Starfire whispered, "you're usually not like this." There seemed to be nothing else she could say. Please don't like this, she said in her mind.
"No I'm not! And do you know why? It's because I spend every single day just trying to hold together what must be the world's greatest collection of dysfunctional misfit superheroes, all while trying to fight crime and keep together a normal life! Batman could do it, but I couldn't! I try, but I can't."
Starfire was the first to break the silence that ensued. "You called us superheroes."
Robin looked at her incredulously, and smiled. "Yeah, superheroes. Must you always look on the bright side, Star?"
"Hey, someone's gotta," Cyborg said.
"Yeah, Rob, isn't that what a leader's supposed to do? Get other people to worry about things for him? Guess that's how Bats does it, right? Other people worry about it for him? Besides, if it makes you feel any better, we're useless too," Beast Boy chimed in.
"You're not alone, Robin, we're here for you," Starfire said. Grasping Robin's hand gently, she added softly, "I'm here for you."
"Thanks Star," Robin said. He added, rather sheepishly, "Guess I seemed a bit like a whiny teenager there."
"See? You're already leading a normal life," Cyborg said, when a voice caused them all to turn around.
"Wasn't that nice, Mod?" the Puppet King asked Mad Mod, standing beside him.
"Yeah, was real luvverly, wunnit? Now'f only Oi 'ad meself some salt'n'butter," he said.
"What do you want, Puppet King?" Robin said, angry and not a little flustered.
The Puppet King brought himself closer to the imprisoned Titans. "Why, I merely seek what you seek: enlightenment," he said, his smile seeming slightly more manic, "For example, one of your questions must be why you're all sharing a steel cage instead of having individual pine boxes."
"Know what? Never crossed my mind." Cyborg said jovially.
" 'Ssumin' y'got a mind t'cross," Mod replied.
"And I have my own questions for you," the Puppet King continued, as if there wasn't any interruption.
"We will not answer any of your questions, you, you, /jhorblock/!" Starfire said.
Mod's raised eyebrow was all the answer Starfire needed. The Puppet King just grinned. "Oh yes you will," he said, "Haven't you wondered why your 'apparently normal' cell seems to be able to resist whatever you throw at it?"
The Puppet King waved his hand, and in an instant, red symbols appeared on the bars, floor and ceiling of the Titans' prison, strange, unknowable things that filled the Titans and Mad Mod with what could only be described with the dull dread one feels when one knows death is certain. For some reason, the words 'smim', 'fouder' and 'sankofite' jumped into Robin's head.
"The magic in those...signs will negate anything you could throw at them. Of course, having not being attuned to your powers, you could wear them down in time. But then again, I'm not really concerned about that. That is because the signs have been specially created to be instantly fatal to anyone who uses magic on them. And who can we count on to try use magic to get you out of there?"
"You can't do that!" Beast Boy said, before he turned into a gorilla and grabbed the bars roaring.
"You've defeated me once, Beast Boy," the Puppet King laughed, "But unlike you, I learned from our previous encounter. Trust me, it won't happen again."
And with that, he strode out again, Mad Mod in tow, leaving the Titans in impotent dread.
In the passageway leading from the cage room, the Puppet King turned to Mod. "Do you want to know why we went on that little trip, Mod?"
"O'yeah, y'wanned t'lord it over those li'l beggars, boss, 'taint' nuffin wrong w'it."
"No, Mod, although that was somewhat refreshing. No, Mod, I wanted you to see what I know you're realizing: that I have a lot more power than I have showed our little friends, enough power to not only imprison, but destroy the Titans when the time does come."
He suddenly jumped up to Mod's collar, grabbing it and pulling Mod's face closer to his. "So let's not have any more thoughts of betrayal now, all right?"
"Uh, s-sure, boss. Er...?"
"Yes?"
"Woi are yew only showin' me this? Why na' show it t' th' others, le'em see too? An', an' whoi dintcha do this wif th' Toitans?"
The Puppet King put his head down and was silenced a moment, but when he brought his head up again, his smile somehow seemed a great deal more manic. "Because, Mod, of all the people working for me, you are the only one I can reliably control, not them. That means that unlike you, I don't have to bother showing off my power. I can give them, and the Titans, a first hand practical demonstration."
"In fact, Mod, when this is all over, I plan to." he finished, his eyes taking on a possessed air Mod did not care for at all.
No, not at all.
The walk from the launch pad to the rec room took only a few minutes, but for Raven and Blackfire, it might as well have taken years.
As the Lord Caretaker had not yet explained to her his unorthodox method of control, Raven did not feel very secure about having to rely on Blackfire's assistance, and probably would not even if he had. Unlike her, he did not have personal experience in dealing with Blackfire.
It wasn't easy for Raven to feel fear, and indeed, she didn't, except...that one time, yet another thing on her personal list of 'things not to talk about'.
The really sickening thing, to her, was that had Blackfire come after that incident, she would have talked about it with her, that she would have taken Blackfire into her confidence, opened up to her.
The fact was that Blackfire wouldn't have even cared.
The fact was that Raven had trusted her, trusted Blackfire like she had never trusted anyone else in her life, and that she had allowed Blackfire access to a part of her life that she had kept hidden from everyone else, even her friends.
The fact was that it made Raven feel, not used, she could live with used, she felt used her whole life before the Titans, but as for what Blackfire did, it made her feel.../dirty/.
If it was her only hope of bringing her friends back alive, she would work with Blackfire, but once that was done, she would not shed any tears when the Centauri took her away to rot in their prisons.
At least, that was what she told herself.
Blackfire, for her part, didn't know what to expect, only that it would probably not be very pleasant, what with the Centauri police on one side, and Raven on the other.
She looked at Raven, looking oh-so betrayed, so hurt. Oh yeah, like you knew what betrayal was. Of all the Titans, she ought to have known how harshly the universe treated you, how it didn't kick you when you were down but put its boot on your neck. The kicking it saved for when you were up, and then always at your head, from behind.
She pulled up to a mental halt. Why did she care about this so much? It wasn't as if Raven would have done the same for her.
Would she?
No, she wouldn't, she thought, mentally shaking herself. /She couldn't/.
She just wanted to get the interrogation over with; she just didn't want to think about Raven any more.
(scene change)
Embedded in one console was a chip sparked with electrical energy. Suddenly, its glow grew even more intense, before it spat itself out to reveal the glowing form of Overload.
"411?" Jinx asked.
"Nothing. No mention of Blackfire or Raven in any electronic media."
"So, oither we've go' ourselves a stroke'a luck, th' Leaguers' usin' le'ers an' carrier pidgies, or..."
"-someone else's involved. Someone the League trusts enough to leave on their own to get us. Blackfire's certainly down." Jinx finished.
"I don't like this," Mammoth said.
"Ooh, izzums pore widdle Mammoth afwaid? Does he want his mama?" Gizmo mocked.
"You foolish biologicals," Overload snarled. "Can't you see that we may have more enemies than our glorious leader informed us of?"
"He's got a point," Killer Moth said. "We're rich, all of us. Why risk ending up like Blackfire? I say we take what we have, and let the Puppet King-"
"No." Mad Mod said.
"What?"
"Oi sed, no. Look, the Titans's 'ready'n our 'ands, an' all we go'a do's wait t' get us th' 'ole set! 'oo cares 'ose comin'! We'll've buggr'd'ff long a'fore then!"
"Well, aren't you nauseatingly optimistic," Trident said. "I agree with Moth. After all, what has the Puppet King actually done? Whenever we do anything, he does not seem to do anything 'cept order us about!"
"I have done nothing?" the Puppet King said from the doorway behind them. "Nothing, except maybe recruit you and plan all our little jobs, including the one that has left the Titans in our grasp!" he shouted.
Most of the villains were cowed, but not Mammoth. "I ain't gonna be pushed around by you, Pinocchio," he said, cracking his knuckles.
"No, I don't need to push."
A moment later, Mammoth was screaming in pain as he was struck by red lightning coming from the Puppet King's fingers, while the other villains, too shocked to react, only managed to watch.
After what seemed to Mammoth to be an eternity of pain, it suddenly stopped, and the Puppet King dropped to the ground kneeling. "Anyone...else...object? Good," he said to the silence, getting up. "Remember, and I know this is a new concept for most of you, but please remember that we are in this together. Blackfire not counted, if I or anyone else should fall, then we all do. The Titans have used this against us, we shall use it against them, or anyone else stupid enough to side with them."
"Now, go. I have plans to make." he finished, before moving back into the shadows.
On the way back to their quarters, Mad Mod found himself pulled into a dark alcove by Jinx. "Oi, wot's this about, then?" he asked her.
"Come on, Mod, don't be stupid," she said in a loud whisper, "You know the others had a point! Yeah, sure, toyboy there's making all the plans, but last I saw, we're the ones taking all the risks! And I don't know about you, but I do not appreciate being kept in the dark about what he's really got planned, nor do I see us playing Happy Families anytime soon!"
"An' yer point'z?"
"The point is that all of us want out! This guy's bad luck, and trust me, I know bad luck!" she added through gritted teeth. "Come on, Mod, you know I'm right, we're right. You saw what he did to Mammoth just now, we need all the help we can get!"
"Oi know wot 'ee did ter Mammoth, an' 'at's why Oi'm na' goin' along wi' yer berkie plans, yeah?"
"He's going to get us all killed!"
At that outburst, Mod paused. "Oi know," he said suddenly. "Bu' y' see, few weeks ago Oi wuz an ol' bugger rottin' awai inna jail cell. Na', lookit me, Oi'm a chipper lad wi' orl th' muscles'n brains'n stuff that Oi nev'r knew Oi forgot, 'mong oth'r things. Th' Puppet King gave'm back t' me. 'S far's Oi'm c'ncern'd, Oi've seen Death, 'tain't nuffin spec."
Jinx took one of her hairbands off and as if some force had been removed, part of her hair fell down upon her shoulders. "Are you sure that there's nothing I can do to change your mind?" she asked seductively, her other hand caressing Mod's arm.
Mod stood shocked there a moment, before he burst into laughter. "Are y' doin' wot Oi think yer doin'? 'Sit even legal?"
"Who cares about 'legal'? We're /criminals/, Mod, and besides, as far as I'm concerned, I'm consenting." She grew serious. "Look Mod, you know what I said. I do think the Puppet King's going to get us all killed, and if the only way to get your help escaping is this, well, I've done worse. At least, this time I get to do the propositioning," she ended huskily, the other hairband removed, and her arms around Mod's neck.
Mad Mod put his hands on her shoulders and pushed her away gently. "Oi won't soi Oi'm na' r'ceptive t' yer offer, but Oi'm still gonna say no, onnacount Oi owe 'im. Honour 'mong thieves, roit?"
Jinx put her arms down and set about tying her hair again. "So, you're not with us then?" she asked, in a tone that held the subtle promise of knives in the dark.
And maybe a little disappointment? "Look, let's 'ave us a comp'r'moise, eh? Y' lot do wo'ever y' want, an' Oi won't do anything t' stop yeh, roit? Oi'm th' Pee Kay's 'enchman, na' 'is bleedin' bodyguard."
"I guess." Then Jinx smiled. "Honor among thieves?"
"Honour 'mong thieves," Mod smiled. "Y' jess gotta read th' fine print, is all."
"All right. And my other proposition?"
"Other proposition?"
"Yeah, my other proposition," Jinx said, pressing herself against Mod. "It's still open, you know."
"Later, dear, later." Mod said, smiling.
"Sure?"
"Yeh."
Jinx pulled herself away from Mod, and blowing him a kiss, walked off to the HAEYP quarters.
"So, how'd it go?" Mammoth asked her when she entered.
"Not as badly as I thought it would. Bad news first though: He's not going to help us."
"What? And you let him get away?" Gizmo asked incredulously.
"Stop worrying. He won't rat on us."
"Oh, and you're so sure how?" Gizmo asked.
"Trust me, he won't betray us."
Mammoth chuckled. "Yeah, made some real bad threats, dintcha?"
"What?"
"You were panting a bit when you came in, Jinx. Get pissed much?"
"...Yeah. Jackass wouldn't listen, had to make a point."
Mammoth and Gizmo weren't dumb, Jinx mused as she went to bed. Just a very specialized kind of stupid.
(scene change)
Mod entered his quarters and locked the door behind him.
"An interesting conversation."
Mod turned about to face the Puppet King, suddenly feeling his body freeze with icy terror. "Ah...er..."
The Puppet King waved a hand dismissively. "Don't bother explaining. I understand."
"Y'...y'do?" Mad Mod asked, not believing his luck even more than he disbelieved the Puppet King's words.
"Of course." The Puppet King strode toward Mod, who seemed to shrink as the Puppet King approached. "I hired you," the Puppet King mused, "all of you because for all your failures, your inadequacies, you were by far the most devious, psychotic, incurably criminal members of our great city's society," the Puppet King said, pacing back and forth now. "If I have to expect the occasional attempt at mutiny, no matter. Come with me Mod, I will speak to the Titans."
"Wot?" Mod asked, bewildered at the Puppet King's abruptness.
"I will speak to the Titans, and you shall follow." the Puppet King finished.
(scene change)
"Stop it."
"What?"
"I said stop it."
"Why?"
"It's starting to get annoying."
"Hey, if I want to hum 'It's A Small World', I'll hum it!"
"Yeah, but just the first line over and over again?"
"I like it!"
"Well I don't!"
"Must you fight all the time?" Starfire asked, tired of Beast Boy and Cyborg's constant wrangling.
"YES!" the two of them shouted back at her in unison.
Before Starfire could reply, she felt Robin's hand on her shoulder, gently pulling her away from them.
"But Robin, they're fighting!" she said.
"I know, let them. In some strange way, it's how they cope."
"Cope? How is making each other angry a way to cope?" Starfire asked, genuinely curious.
"I can't say I know, but that's the way they are. Don't worry Star, they'll shout at each other, cool down, and they'll start shouting at each other again," he said wearily.
Starfire looked at him. She noticed for the umpteenth time how tired he seemed. "You should rest, Robin," she said.
"I can't, Star, I just can't!" He kicked the cage. "If I had my belt, I could probably do something, but..."
Robin grasped the bars, as if trying to pull them apart with his bare hands, and then gave up, sagging to the ground.
"What was that Robin?" Starfire asked, when Robin mumbled something.
"I feel so useless." Robin whispered.
At that, Starfire knelt down beside him. "No Robin, you're not useless," she said, alarmed at Robin's sudden break in spirit. "You're our leader!"
"And a fat lot of good I've been so far. Charging into battle and getting us captured, being unable to get us out, for my encore I'll probably get us all killed by whoever's behind this. Heh, you're right Starfire, I'm not useless, I'm worse."
"Robin-"
"Don't you 'Robin' me!" Robin snapped.
"Robin," Starfire whispered, "you're usually not like this." There seemed to be nothing else she could say. Please don't like this, she said in her mind.
"No I'm not! And do you know why? It's because I spend every single day just trying to hold together what must be the world's greatest collection of dysfunctional misfit superheroes, all while trying to fight crime and keep together a normal life! Batman could do it, but I couldn't! I try, but I can't."
Starfire was the first to break the silence that ensued. "You called us superheroes."
Robin looked at her incredulously, and smiled. "Yeah, superheroes. Must you always look on the bright side, Star?"
"Hey, someone's gotta," Cyborg said.
"Yeah, Rob, isn't that what a leader's supposed to do? Get other people to worry about things for him? Guess that's how Bats does it, right? Other people worry about it for him? Besides, if it makes you feel any better, we're useless too," Beast Boy chimed in.
"You're not alone, Robin, we're here for you," Starfire said. Grasping Robin's hand gently, she added softly, "I'm here for you."
"Thanks Star," Robin said. He added, rather sheepishly, "Guess I seemed a bit like a whiny teenager there."
"See? You're already leading a normal life," Cyborg said, when a voice caused them all to turn around.
"Wasn't that nice, Mod?" the Puppet King asked Mad Mod, standing beside him.
"Yeah, was real luvverly, wunnit? Now'f only Oi 'ad meself some salt'n'butter," he said.
"What do you want, Puppet King?" Robin said, angry and not a little flustered.
The Puppet King brought himself closer to the imprisoned Titans. "Why, I merely seek what you seek: enlightenment," he said, his smile seeming slightly more manic, "For example, one of your questions must be why you're all sharing a steel cage instead of having individual pine boxes."
"Know what? Never crossed my mind." Cyborg said jovially.
" 'Ssumin' y'got a mind t'cross," Mod replied.
"And I have my own questions for you," the Puppet King continued, as if there wasn't any interruption.
"We will not answer any of your questions, you, you, /jhorblock/!" Starfire said.
Mod's raised eyebrow was all the answer Starfire needed. The Puppet King just grinned. "Oh yes you will," he said, "Haven't you wondered why your 'apparently normal' cell seems to be able to resist whatever you throw at it?"
The Puppet King waved his hand, and in an instant, red symbols appeared on the bars, floor and ceiling of the Titans' prison, strange, unknowable things that filled the Titans and Mad Mod with what could only be described with the dull dread one feels when one knows death is certain. For some reason, the words 'smim', 'fouder' and 'sankofite' jumped into Robin's head.
"The magic in those...signs will negate anything you could throw at them. Of course, having not being attuned to your powers, you could wear them down in time. But then again, I'm not really concerned about that. That is because the signs have been specially created to be instantly fatal to anyone who uses magic on them. And who can we count on to try use magic to get you out of there?"
"You can't do that!" Beast Boy said, before he turned into a gorilla and grabbed the bars roaring.
"You've defeated me once, Beast Boy," the Puppet King laughed, "But unlike you, I learned from our previous encounter. Trust me, it won't happen again."
And with that, he strode out again, Mad Mod in tow, leaving the Titans in impotent dread.
In the passageway leading from the cage room, the Puppet King turned to Mod. "Do you want to know why we went on that little trip, Mod?"
"O'yeah, y'wanned t'lord it over those li'l beggars, boss, 'taint' nuffin wrong w'it."
"No, Mod, although that was somewhat refreshing. No, Mod, I wanted you to see what I know you're realizing: that I have a lot more power than I have showed our little friends, enough power to not only imprison, but destroy the Titans when the time does come."
He suddenly jumped up to Mod's collar, grabbing it and pulling Mod's face closer to his. "So let's not have any more thoughts of betrayal now, all right?"
"Uh, s-sure, boss. Er...?"
"Yes?"
"Woi are yew only showin' me this? Why na' show it t' th' others, le'em see too? An', an' whoi dintcha do this wif th' Toitans?"
The Puppet King put his head down and was silenced a moment, but when he brought his head up again, his smile somehow seemed a great deal more manic. "Because, Mod, of all the people working for me, you are the only one I can reliably control, not them. That means that unlike you, I don't have to bother showing off my power. I can give them, and the Titans, a first hand practical demonstration."
"In fact, Mod, when this is all over, I plan to." he finished, his eyes taking on a possessed air Mod did not care for at all.
No, not at all.
Sign up to rate and review this story