Chapter 40

Robin hit a breakthrough in the Man-Bat case. He had reason to believe the mastermind of this whole operation was some recently retired military vet. Apparently, he was in charge of a project for the government in order to investigate Langstrom’s formula for military use.

Which lead to pretty much all of the Titans mobilizing and showing up to this guy’s house, sans one. Kid Flash got the shortest straw, which meant he needed to be the one to stay behind and protect the Tower.

Despite having the means and the cash to pull this whole thing off, he didn’t live uptown. He lived in the dingier part of the city. Well, dingy compared to the rest of this city. If we compared it to Gotham, it would be one of the best looking parts.

The house itself wasn’t much to look at. A normal four bedroom looking place. Probably two bathrooms. Robin had the other Titans surround the place in case he tried to flee. Galatea covering the sky with Cyborg, Aqualad, and Starfire covering the sides.

Robin knocked a few times, but got no answer. Leading him to open the door. Forcefully.

Almost immediately we were greeted with the smell of rot and death. The odor only got worse the further we went in. I helped plug my nose up by secreting a bit of perfume and rubbing it directly under my nose.

The inside of the place was dark, so we had to turn the light on. Which illuminated the mountains of trash on the floor. It reminded me of a tv show I once watched. They were covering what a hoarder’s house looked like, and it looked like this.

Beast Boy made a sound of disgust, before turning into a fly and proceeding to not wade ankle deep in filth with the rest of us. Didn’t take us long to get to the living room. It was connected to the kitchen, and didn’t nearly have as much trash as the rest of the place.

It probably had something to do with it being the area he eats at. Or perhaps he just didn’t have the time to do it before he bit it. You know, considering his body was currently on the table and all.

Robin rushed to check the body, but it was pretty obvious the guy was gone. And had been for a good while at least. Surveying my surroundings, I noticed what seemed to be a few screens around the place. TV screens that were very out of place…

As well as a motion tracking device near the foot of the table. I almost didn’t see it due to some of the garbage on the floor. Just as I was about to warn Robin, the TVs turned on. Showcasing a man in a mask. It was like a sort of metal hocky mask, with half of it being completely black, and the other half being orange.

“We meet at last, Titans.”

Robin’s eyes narrowed as he peered at the monitor. Seeing as he was doing all of that, it meant I could focus my efforts on the rest of the room. Surveying it for anymore surprises.

“Who are you? Did you do this?”

Robin asked the monitor, only to be met with a disappointed tsk.

“Robin…how disappointing. I expected you to find this place weeks ago. If you want to catch me, then you’ll have to do a lot better.”

His words seemed to rub Robin the wrong way as he started to get annoyed. His gaze switching to the cords behind the monitor. It didn’t take him long to pull out a cord from his phone to connect it to the TV.

“Trying to track down my signal are you? Not a bad idea, but ultimately useless.”

“Is that a fact?”

Robin stated, not looking up this time from his phone. Doing some sort of…hacking thing to it. I wasn’t good with technology, so I had no clue what he was doing. But it seemed like a step in the right direction?

“It is. If you really want to meet me, I’d advise going into the basement through the kitchen. The entrance is hidden underneath the fridge. You’ll have to be quick about it though, I’ve already started to leave.”

I immediately started to move the fridge the moment he talked about it. Just as he said, there was indeed a well-hidden ladder down into the basement. One that lead into total darkness.

Yeah, this had trap written all over it. There was absolutely no way we were going to go down in there. Even Beast Boy was reluctant to fly down there and scout it out.

Just then all of our communicators started to go off. Opening mine up lead up to a synchronized call from Cyborg. With screeching sounds in the background.

“I don’t know what you guys did, but a ton of Man-Bats have just shown up and are attempting to break inside the building. I’m not sure how long we can hold them off.”

“Are you guys in danger? Is everyone stocked up?”

Robin asked, to which Cyborg answered. What sounded like Cyborg’s sonic canon going off echoed.

“We’re fine, but you guys won’t be if you don’t leave quickly.”

Robin bit his lip as he weighed his options. Looking towards the entrance to the basement and back to the entrance of the house. It really wasn’t that hard of a choice.

“Tick tock Robin.”

The guy on the monitor stated before finally it turned off. Robin nodded before pointing down into the basement.

“We’re pursing him. Titans, let’s go.”

This was a terrible idea. If this backfired, I fully intended to remind Robin of it constantly in the future. Beast Boy was the first to check out the area. Illuminating the way as some sort of massive looking firefly. Thankfully the basement didn’t seem very dirty, just dusty and full of cobwebs.

After tearing through them, we got to a long tunnel. One that lead down at an angle. It got steeper the more we walked down it, making us a bit more cautious. At least until a figure started to run away ahead of us.

That immediately got Robin to take off after it, with me, Beast Boy, and Raven shortly behind. Robin and Raven threw some attacks ahead, but only seemed to hit the walls. Likely due to the poor lighting given only by beast boy and Robin’s flashlight on his belt. It also didn’t help that the path was zig zagging. Making it harder to traverse.

Until finally we came upon a branching path. Robin observed both entrances but didn’t seem to find any tracks. As we were currently pressed for time, or at least Robin felt that way, he decided to split us up. Another really bad decision in my opinion, but now wasn’t the time to second guess him.

He and Raven would take the right path, and me and Beast Boy would take the left. We split off and went down the path. The path not only got steeper, but also a good bit wetter. Instead of walking on stone or cement, it felt like I was walking on mud. After several minutes of walking, it got so steep that we started to slide down it instead of walking.

Which finally put us into a brightly lit room. Causing me to curse internally as I waited for the trap to be sprung. Beast Boy looked about the area, before retreating back towards me as a figure stepped out of the shadows.

At first it seemed like the guy on the monitor. Half of their face was obscured by orange, and the other half black. But there were notable differences. Unless the monitor had been mirrored, the guy with the mask had his left side orange, and right side black.

This person was the opposite. Not only that, but the guy’s mask looked more metallic. This person had more of a cloth like mask. Not to mention tits and flowing long white hair that trailed behind them. Their mask also didn’t cover up their mouth.

So…this was like some sort of subordinate. A uniform worn by the people who worked for the masked man. She twirled a sword in her hand as she looked between me and Beast Boy. Whatever expression she was wearing was obscured.

“…Neither of you are Robin.”

That hadn’t been a question. It was a statement. So, they were gunning for Robin for some reason. It made sense. The guy on the monitor didn’t really address anyone else, but I had chalked that up to Robin being the one to approach him first.

Looks like that wasn’t the case.

“And you don’t really look like the guy on the monitor. I guess we both got catfished.”

I joked while observing her actions. She hummed at my words, but provided no further comment. After a few seconds of thinking, she turned around and started to head back where she had come from.

“Take the path on the left. If you hug the wall on the right you’ll get out of here in twenty minutes.”

She said as she started to walk away. I definitely didn’t trust her response, but I would at least be checking it out. While I didn’t care enough to stop her, Beast Boy definitely did. Immediately sprinting into action as he ran towards her while her back was turned, and grabbed onto her arm.

“Hey, wait! You need to explain-“

My eyes widened as she turned around at a speed that I would expect from Kid Flash, and slashed at Beast Boy. He immediately attempted to backpedal, but he was still cut for his efforts. Causing him to cry out and fall to the ground.

Beast Boy panted and groaned as he writhed in pain on the floor. The girl simply observed him as he did so, before putting up her weapon and shaking her head.

“You should-“

She immediately threw up her arms to block as my leg crashed into her. Slamming into them and throwing her a few feet back. As she regained her balance, I immediately began to close in on her again.

“Big mistake.”

I commented before jabbing at her head. She weaved out of it, and delivered her own hook into my side. It had decent enough power behind it and would definitely be enough to knock the wind out of most people.

Unfortunately, most people didn’t experiment on their own bodies with body and genetic changing chemicals.

She had only a second to process that I didn’t so much as flinch at her punch before taking my left knee to the chest. The blow lifted her off the ground momentarily. I tried to take advantage of that and punch her again as she couldn’t move, but it did little more than push her away in the air.

I was pretty impressed how she stuck the landing. Balancing perfectly after a blow that knocked the air out of her. Well, not completely perfect. She did stumble just a bit as she regained her composure.

She tried to pull her sword out from her back, but I was already on her again. Kicking the hilt out of her hand and onto the floor. She quickly recovered and instead decided to punch me in the face to-

My head reeled back this time. I had actually felt that one. So she had been pulling her punches earlier, had she?

Her victory only lasted for a moment before my right leg lashed out at her own. She braced for it at the last second, and a cracking sound was heard. Considering that my leg felt fine it didn’t take long to figure out where the noise had come from.

To her credit she didn’t even show any signs of her leg being injured. Putting as much weight on it as her other leg. Perhaps her leg was fine and only popped…or perhaps she was just faking it.

This time when I approached, she flipped in the air. Kicking my jaw before flipping back to her feet. It was a bit painful, but it wasn’t anything that would really stop me. My leg went out as she took a step back-

*~o~*

-And my leg hit nothing but air. I looked around only to see my environment had completely changed. No longer was I in some underground tunnel, but an empty school room. Complete with chairs, desks, and a whiteboard.

In front of the whiteboard was a small girl with long black hair that had been curled at the ends. She was currently writing on it, and seemed to be showing two poorly drawn stick figures.

What?

What the hell?

“You’re not very smart, are you?”

The kid commented. Not stopping her terrible scribbling. I looked down at the kid before crossing my arms.

“I’m not above hitting a child, you know.”

She huffed at that, before turning around. Giving me a expectant look.

“You went into battle with a skilled combatant who brought a sword to this fight. Where as you brought nothing.”

I didn’t really need to bring anything. My power was more than enough. A gun would be handy but I’m pretty sure the team and the Justice League wouldn’t like that.

“Uh huh…”

I commented. Despite the weirdness and…abruptness of this place, I was…relaxed. Like…I could trust it. Not that I actually would, but the option was open there, or something.

‘She engaged you in hand-to-hand combat. Despite being the more skilled one, you were much stronger than she was expecting. Leading her to disengage.”

…Why was she narrating the fight? I had just been there. I lived through it. Obviously, this was known to me.

I said nothing as she continued.

“But when she retreated, she didn’t go towards the exit. Instead, she continued to be in the room. Now why is that?”

…That was a good question. I had read her movements as her attempting to get the fuck out of there. But she wasn’t trying to leave the room. So, what was she doing?

She wanted to win the fight. If it had just been about leaving, she wouldn’t have attacked Beast Boy, or would have immediately started to leave even after I attacked her initially.

Was it a trap? But how? The environment? No, the only thing I could see was the lighting in the room. Besides that, it had been rather barren. So, if it wasn’t something in the room…

Ah…she had a sword on her…who’s to say that-

“She has another weapon on her.”

The little girl nodded. Smiling up at me and patting my hand in a very awkward manner. It also felt more than a little demeaning.

“Good work!”

She stated, before suddenly my surroundings seemed to fall apart…

*~o~*

- I had been about to lash out with my leg, before thinking better of it and closing the distance with my arms instead. This proved to be the correct call, as her hand snaked behind her, and this time pulled out a gun.

There wasn’t much I could really do besides attempt to stop her at all costs. I was strong, but a bullet to the dome was still a bullet to the dome. My hand lashed out and caught her gun.

It wasn’t the best move, but it was the only one I could really think to do in that moment. She pulled it down before firing. Attempting to use the power of it going off to her advantage and pull it out of my hand.

But I kept my hold on it, and instead slammed my fist into her gut. She let go of her gun, much to my surprise. At first I had thought she had the air knocked out of her and was momentarily stunned. Until she pulled out a knife and stabbed it into my arm.

I hissed in pain as she made an arc with it down. Attempting to grab her arm to stop her had proven to be the wrong move, as she easily broke the hold and slammed the knife down onto my hand. Punching a hole through my palm.

This time my fist slammed into her jaw. Causing her to stumble back and loose her hold on the knife. Allowing me to angrily pull it out and hiss as the pain started to set in.

It wasn’t anything I hadn’t felt before, but damn if it didn’t sting.

Fuck…it was really…

The pain faded into the back of our mind, as a white substance suddenly came out of the hole in our palm. Quickly covering the entirety of our hand as we moved forward.

Due to having been backed to a wall, she had only two choices in order to evade us. Fortunately for her, she chose an unseen third choice.

Our previously wounded hand came down in an arc. Smashing straight through the wall and kicking up a cloud of dust. Instead of dodging left or right, she had instead chosen to narrowly avoid it by leaning her body back.

She landed a kick on our side, but was quickly blown away as our other hand smashed into her own ribs. Throwing her across the room.

…We paused for a moment. Studying our new enlarged white hand. It was like a rather large glove, but it didn’t feel like one. It felt like our skin. Like it was apart of us. It also seemed to…pulsate and writhe the longer we stared at it…

My gaze suddenly snapped back towards the girl who…was gone now. Huh. Well, I dropped the ball on that one. My eyes went back towards my weird hand that…was also gone. Instead it was a completely normal human hand.

It didn’t even have a giant hole in it.

My eyes went back towards Beast Boy who was groaning on the floor. I quickly went towards his side and examined his wound. The wound itself didn’t look so bad, despite all the blood. The problem was the amount of pain he was currently feeling. As well as the fact that he was sweating profusely.

Some sort of poison then? I knew a few antidotes but they wouldn’t really help if I didn’t know what exactly was the issue.

Which meant…

I sighed.

“You’re going to owe me for this, alright?”

Beast Boy didn’t respond. His eyes were cloudy, and I wasn’t even sure if he knew I was by his side. My hand dipped down towards his wound and I had a few finger dip into it a bit.

Then, I stuck those fingers in my mouth.

Blood. The taste of blood was never a good one. It always made me want to gag. There were a variety of things wrong with Beast Boy’s blood. More than just whatever poison was effecting him. Likely a byproduct of his abilities.

Ah…there it is. I was unfamiliar with this chemical but…I could see how it was used. And if I could see it, I could understand it.

Got it.

My hand dipped again towards Beast Boy’s wound, but this time I was the one to secrete liquid. After making sure it got into his blood stream and sterilizing the wound, I took off the jacket of my costume and tore parts of it off in order to dress it.

Which was VERY hard to do. Holy hell, it was like ripping a phone book in half down the middle horizontally.

I considered putting him to sleep, but I didn’t want to risk his blood pressure getting too low. Thankfully it wasn’t necessary, as he barely squirmed as I picked him up in my arms and left the room.

Was it smart of me to follow the directions of a girl who tried to kill me and cut Beast Boy open? A girl who might be lying in wait to ambush us?

No, not at all. But then, I didn’t really have a better choice, did I? The communicator didn’t seem to get a signal so far down underground, so I was left to find my own way out.

I was of course as careful as I could be about it. Surveying my surroundings before walking forward. But there was only so much I could do with my hands occupied.

If she did jump me…I would…have to drop Beast Boy to defend myself. There wasn’t much else I could really do in that moment. Even if it was pretty much a death sentence to leave Beast Boy to fend for himself.

Damn it…this was very annoying.

Much to my surprise, the directions given were…accurate. I have no fucking clue where I was, but it looked like I had come out of some fucking tunnel underground. My surroundings weren’t even the city. Was this the outskirts? Just how far did we fuck walk down there?

There was just a bunch of rocks and dirt from where I stood. At the very least, I could see the sun. So that counted for something at least.

Hmm…I guess this means I kind of owe her, doesn’t it?

…Then again, she did stab a hole in my hand…but then I did punch the shit out of her. Hmm. I’d need to think about that a bit more.

But for now, it seemed like I was in the clear.