Masquerades
"What are you afraid of?" he whispered in her ear, his warm breath trickling down her neck. She wanted to scream the answer at the top of her lungs, but she could not even make the word come out as an audible whisper. "You…."
XX
Starfire walked down toward the rec. room, searching for some sign of a significant threat. The other titans were there already, discussing the options they had to take down their opponent. She had no interest in any of it. She stood by the door silently, waiting for orders from the masked man.
"….so we can't go to the east," Cyborg said, "because we'll get blown up."
"No," Beastboy corrected, "because we'll get completely obliterated." Everyone paused for a second, gawking at the green changeling. "New word."
"Head northwest," Robin continued. "We'll each take different angles, eventually meeting up at the same point." He pointed to the screen, where the big red dot was beeping. "That's were Slade should be."
Slade, she thought. Slade is back? He had been gone for months now. He must have been planning something big. But this…it didn't look like a large threat. The rest of the titans were taking to it like they would any other villain. They must know that it is only a visit from him, rather than a fight. She hoped they were right.
"Titans, go!"
That was her cue. She headed northwest, as Robin had ordered, and followed an 80 degree line towards the attack. The city flew by below her in a smooth, grey pattern, and her eyes locked on every person down below. The alleys, the roads, the intersections, all crime-free thanks to the titans. She sighed deeply, wondering if anyone was capable of seeing the truth.
Her destination grew closer, and she realized she was much further ahead of the other titans. She took extra caution in approaching the scene, checking the surroundings for safety. It was on an abandoned rooftop, no doubt, and she knew that before she got there. On that roof top was a man in a bronze and black suit, staring up at Starfire with his one eye. He was Slade, and at first glance, he appeared no threat.
But she knew better of him. She kept her distance, waiting for the others to arrive. He only stared at her, as if he had the exact same intention. She didn't doubt that he did. At that moment, she felt no fear. She felt perfectly at ease in the air, comfortable with the tranquil silence between them. But, she did not count on it to stay that way.
Robin arrived first, and her body instantly tensed into ready-mode. She showed no tranquility or calmness, now, for she knew better than to look unprepared in front of her leader. She pretended to be on edge, and half the time it was no lie. The masked man was there, and she could never be perfectly at rest with him by her side.
"What are you up to, Slade?" Robin accused. The other three titans appeared, taking a guarded stance next to their leader. Starfire flew to join them, neon bolts ready in her hands.
"Nothing, Robin," Slade replied in long, drawn out words, a smirk on his face. He was completely at ease. "Why do you ask?"
"Because your up to something, and don't try to deny it," Cyborg said.
"Now, Titans, I don't see why you have to make such an accusation. I'm simply minding my own business. There is no need for a fight."
"Bullshit."
Slade paused, taking in everyones' expression. They were all tensed, ready to fight. He smiled, wider this time. "But, I suppose if you are so keen on fighting, I should not deny you your request."
He smiled, as big as ever, and lunged forward. Everyone immediately went into action, all providing offensive moves the first try they got. In less than a second, Beastboy had been thrown to the ground, his skull damaged and bleeding. Raven went to help him, in shock at what Slade had done to him. She had forgotten to put up a shield, and she was easily knocked to the ground with no effort on Slade's part. Cyborg was next to go, his circuits going haywire after Slade twisted something in his back.
It could have been just a bad day for them. They were all given hard-to-heal injuries, and each had only lasted a few seconds on the battle field. Anyone could have guessed that Slade had gotten better at fighting. But what they didn't know, what they questioned over and over again, is if they had gotten worse. Months had gone by without a real challenge to fight, and it could have easily put them out of shape. Robin, of course, was determined to prove that a lie.
The masked leader fought hand-on-hand combat against Slade, trying in vain to defeat him, or at least damage him. Even with Starfire throwing starbolts at him, it was no use. He was to strong.
In a matter of minutes, Robin was on the ground, struggling to cope with the pain of him injuries. With a final blow to the head, he was knocked out on the ground. Slade turned around to face Starfire, his face angry as ever. In an instant, Starfire's feet were on the ground, and she was unable to move, unable to breathe.
He grabbed her by her neck, squeezing until it sucked the breath out of her. "Your pathetic leader is nothing. Your entire team is worthless. The city their trying to protect, the things they're trying to succeed at, are all failing miserably. The criminal side of this world is raging in force, and you cannot escape it. You can fear it, you can join it, you can feed it, but you cannot escape it."
His words…they meant absolutely nothing to her. But the fear was sucking her under, holding her paralyzed under a raging black sea. She could not move, she could not think. The shock hit with unimaginable force, and she tried so hard to stay above water. But it was so hard to breathe…so impossible to move….
"Starfire!!" It was said in anger, in absolute abhorrence, rather than the concern that she yearned for. Trapped in a murderers hands, and all he could do was be angry. "Attack him!!"
But she could not. Slade had released his hold on her neck, and he had begun to slowly back away, off towards the edge of the building. Robin was 50 yards away, and he was incapable of getting to him in time. But she was. She was capable and she knew it, but she couldn't move her feet.
"Another day, Robin," Slade said. "You will get your chance again. Although, maybe not one quite as effortless as this."
He disappeared over the edge of the building, and she had no time to prepare herself for the furious impact.
Robin snarled in anger and turned an ominous gaze towards Starfire, who still had not come out of her shock. Robin grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her hard to wake her up. "What the hell is wrong with you?! Are you completely incapable of nothing?! How could you just stand there and watch Slade walk away!! We will never, ever have a chance like that again! Either tell me what happened, or you take this whole thing on your shoulders." He waited, gripping her shoulders as if to emphasize his point. She opened her mouth, gaping, willing the words of a muttered apology to escape her lips. He did not wait. "Nothing to say?" He slid his hands down her arms, gripping her biceps as hard as he could manage. Through clenched teeth, he began again. "Well, then, I hope you know that you're the one responsible for everything that's happened today. Until you can come up with a good enough excuse, then I don't want to see your face again." He violently released her arms, walking away towards the other just waking titans.
A vicious pang of throbbing hit her, and it was all she could do to keep her head in one piece. Her body crumpled under the weight of it all, and she found herself on the floor of the hard cement roof, waiting for someone to kill her on the spot.
XX
She awoke the next morning, and she could not remember anything that had taken place after the fight. She looked to her side, and saw the masked man lying next to her. She bit her lip quickly, trying not to gasp.
"Morning, Star," he said, pulling her closer to his body. "I'm sorry about yesterday."
Being next to him, his heat radiating of his body, his warm breath on her neck, his voice in her ear… it was everything she wanted. It turned her into putty, and it was his job to reshape it into his every desire. She was his puppet, and she could not deny the inevitable truth that she was his.
Every inch of her body screamed with joy, and her ignorance made it only scream louder. It was completely and utterly impossible not to forgive him, if that was what he wanted. She smiled brightly, kissing his lips hard. She was so entirely his.
He smirked. "Does that mean you forgive me?"
She nodded fiercely, afraid that the words would get stuck in her throat if she tried to speak.
He kissed her again. They did not speak until he had to go.
XX
I can assure each and every one of you that I am leading you in the completely wrong direction. The first person who gets it right is getting a chapter dedicated to them, and possibly gets to decide what will happen. I hope you all enjoy this!
-Alien
P.S Stir is going to be postponed until further notice. If you have any complaints, please talk to my manager. points to the hippo He doesn't take kindly to complaints.