Fan Fiction ❯ Phoenix's Rise ❯ Take Overs and Half Escapes ( Chapter 31 )

Chapter 31

 

Takeovers and Half Escapes

 

Robin stood alone on the shore of the island. He was worried since Phoenix didn't come back with the others. Snap out of it. She's coming back . . . why wouldn't she? In a sudden upwelling of panic, he pulled out his communicator and tried to contact Phoenix.

 

“Robin, you've tried twenty-seven times. She must still be on Olympus.” Cyborg rested a hand on Robin's shoulder. “She was the only one who wasn't sick, so maybe she stayed to train some more . . . you know how determined she can be.”

 

Oooh, my head . . . Phoenix thought to herself as she gradually started coming to. Where am I? Oh man . . . my ears are ringing . . . wait, I hear voices!

 

“What do you think this mortal kid did to get Demeter ticked enough to throw her down here?” Asked a man's voice that sounded almost like the hooves of stampeding horses.

 

“She's got the Element Sword! This kid is the Fire-Guardian!” Came a victorious woman's voice. “Athena says that the Fire-Guardian is known to be one of the most powerful and well-trained warriors ever!”

 

“We might actually have a chance of getting out of here with her help!” Mr. Horses returned.

 

Phoenix raised her head from the sandy ground, and sat up slowly while looking around. The last thing she could remember was being attacked by the very person whom she had thought of as a trust-worthy mentor. “Where am I? And what happened to me?”

 

“Aww . . . poor kid . . . you don't remember a thing . . . do you? Demeter turned on you, and now you've been banished to the Underworld . . . same as we've been for the last couple centuries.” A woman with long, blonde hair and a white toga knelt down, and ruffed Phoenix's hair. “I'm Venus, the goddess of love, and that's my bother . . . Neptune, the god of water.”

 

“Hey, kid . . . why don't you bust us out of here?” Neptune asked as he gestured upwards.

 

“I don't know how.” Phoenix admitted in a meek voice.

 

“Some `well-trained' warrior.” Neptune grumbled as he stalked off. “I'll go tell the others that our only hope is helpless.”

 

Venus watched on silently as Phoenix jumped up to her feet with her hair on fire. “I'm anything but helpless! Demeter turned on me when I started asking why the other Guardians, who happen to be my friends, were sick. I didn't even have enough time to try to keep her from taking my Guardian powers! How about you? Why can't a big, tough, water god like you break free? Even when I was the Fire-Guardian, I was only a Demi-God.”

 

From behind her, Phoenix began to feel the presence of another being. “Aye, you've got fire in your blood, the fire of a true warrior . . . that's for sure.” Chuckled a woman dressed entirely in gold, plated armor. “I'm Athena, and I was voted to be the temporary leader of the Olympians. Tell me, did the other Guardians fall ill just recently?”

 

Phoenix rubbed her throbbing forehead with a sandy hand. “Well, they weren't feeling the best right before Demeter sent me here . . . but I'm not really sure how long ago that was. Why do you need to know?”

 

Athena's face began to show small traces of fear. “It took us a long time to find you, because you fell here . . . into a labyrinth . . . you have been here for nearly six days now. It should be a matter of twenty-four hours before your friends' transformations to begin.” After hearing this, Venus and Neptune gasped and ran off, saying that they were going to assemble the `others'.

 

Phoenix groaned inwardly. She was becoming all too familiar with this sort of situation . . . the sooner she got the bad news, the better. “What transformation? Is it connected to why everyone felt sick?” Athena made as if to speak, but Phoenix cut her off. “I'm not some little kid who has nightmares every time she hears some bad news . . . these are my friends, my team-mates, and it's my planet . . . tell me the cold, hard, truth.”

 

Athena sighed, not wishing to fill Phoenix's young heart and mind with pure, dark, hatered and anger. “Demeter has tainted your friends' powers . . . from the beginning she planned to turn all seven of you into evil demon warriors. We tried to stop her, and in turn, we were imprisoned here by Demeter's two allies . . . Hades and her daughter, Phosperine. By reclaiming your Guardian powers, Demeter has obtained the pure evil form that you would have become . . . but your friends will soon be consumed by the concealed evil.”

 

“No. That can't happen . . . I won't let it! How do I stop her?” Phoenix demanded. The same feeling of rage that she'd felt when Whiteout betrayed her began to cloud her vision and thoughts with the fiery determination that she'd become known for.

 

“It's impossible. You'd need to get on Mount Olympus, and defeat Demeter, before the others transform completely into minions of pure evil.”

 

“People have done some `impossible' things, and I plan to add stopping Demeter to the list.” Phoenix informed Athena, and then sat down on a nearby boulder to concoct a plan.

 

“Phoenix! You're back! Where were you?” Robin asked as he noticed a flash of light that solidified into Phoenix not very far away from him. “What took you so long? Everyone else came home six days ago! We were all really worried about you!” He continued his questioning, but Phoenix didn't even acknowledge his presence.

 

She was still dressed in her toga, but as she made her way to the Tower, her normal uniform began to form, and then replaced her toga completely. Inside of the Tower, Phoenix only paused long enough to gesture to each of the Guardians to follow her into the most isolated part of the Tower, the lowest basement level.

 

“What's going on?” Terra demanded. “Where have you been?”

 

Phoenix just smirked.

 

Raven suddenly became more pale than usual. “You aren't Phoenix. You're evil . . . I can sense it.”

 

“Where is the real Phoenix!?” Airhead surprised everyone by being so assertive.

 

Phoenix smirked again. “I am Phoenix. Don't you believe me?” The guardians shook their heads. “Humph . . . guess you aren't as dumb as Demeter said you were.”

 

“Why would she've said something like that about us, and why would she've sent you after us? Tell us . . . now!” Electra's hands began to crackle with summoned electricity.

 

“Simple, Demeter sent me after you, so that you'll be on Olympus when you become pure demon warriors.” The evil Phoenix laughed. “As for the `real' Phoenix . . . she's in the Underworld . . . you won't be hearing from her any time soon.”

 

“Just what makes you think that we'll go with you? You make look like Phoenix, but there's no way that you're as strong as her.” Aqualad stated. He and the others began to summon their elements.

 

“Humph . . . wishful thinking never won a fight alone. And as to agreeing to come with me . . . you've no choice.” The evil Phoenix held up a black sword and phoenix shaped gem.

 

As her echoing words died out, the six Guardians collapsed. They transformed into their Demi-god forms, their skin took on ashen tinges, and their irises faded into life-less tones of blueish gray.

 

“We're ready to destroy all of humanity.” Chrome-Dome announced as he rose from the floor. The others followed suit.

“Good, now let's go.” With those words, all seven disappeared in a black flash.

 

“I'm gonna take a wild guess and say that this isn't good.” Cyborg stated bluntly. He and the other non-guardian Titans had just viewed the video recording that Robin had made when he followed whom he had thought was his girlfriend. Immediately afterward, he called an emergency meeting . . . one that included the Titans East, Port, Starfire, and Lightfire.

 

“Seems to me that finding Phoenix is going to need to be our first objective.” Speedy spoke up. “If this Demeter sent her `down there' . . . she must be the only one capable of stopping this.”

“Too bad we don't know where the Underworld is . . . otherwise . . . I could just go free her and any other prisoners Demeter has taken.” Port groaned. “I hate the thought of Electra and the others being turned evil.”

 

“I don't approve of invading privacy . . . but our best bet to save everyone may be hidden in Raven's books . . .” Robin trailed off, but regained his composure. “I'm sure that Raven will understand . . . even so, be careful with her things . . . understood?”

 

“What are you doing?” Athena asked Phoenix, who was, at the time, making some scratches in the loose soil.

 

“Some calculations. As far as I can tell . . . this is normal rock, but with a spell that prevents your powers from working.” Phoenix tapped the near-by structure. “Rock can be broken if hit with enough force . . . so if we get rid of the spell . . . it should be clear sailing after that.”

 

“Don't you think we've tried that? Even when we all work together . . . no counter-spell is enough to break through.” Athena shook her head. “Face it . . . nothing you try will work.”

 

Phoenix grinned as she surrounded her fists with fire. “This spell is meant to keep in a). Gods and b). demons . . . I'm c). none of the above.” She punched the wall with every ounce of power she could muster. Nothing happened.

 

Athena was about to say `I told you so' when a rumbling sound started, and what appeared to be a purple, semi-transparent curtain dropped to the ground. She stared, mouth wide open, as Phoenix began to melt the rock with ease.

 

“Hey, Athena . . . maybe you should get the others to help . . . we'd be able to get out a lot faster.” Phoenix suggested.

 

“How did you break the barrier again?” Venus asked as she hacked away at the wall.

 

“I shorted out the spell that was used to block your powers from destroying the rock. The spell was made to block the powers of gods and demons. I was able to undo the spell, because it got confused when I was able to impact it, so it self-destructed.” Phoenix explained with a bit of an edge to her voice. Explaining the same thing over and over again was getting on her nerves.

 

“I never would've thought of that.” Neptune admitted.

 

“No surprise . . . he never was the bright one.” Venus whispered slyly to Phoenix.

 

Biting her lip, Phoenix tried hard not to laugh. “Okay, we should be almost through . . . do you think the other groups are done yet?” The Olympians had split up into groups to make a hole through each of the fourteen outer walls of the maze.

 

“There's your answer.” Neptune replied. From behind them, cheers rose up as the walls began to crumble.

 

“Great timing too.” Phoenix smiled as the hole the three of them had been working on crumbled away, opening up everything.

 

“We're out of here!” Athena cheered as she began to lead the entire group through. Phoenix fell into step next to her teammates at the end of the lengthy line, which halted abruptly. “Where's Phoenix? She should be up here.”

 

Slowly, the line parted down the middle, allowing Phoenix to make her way up to the front. “You have to do this . . . you're the leader . . . I'm just some little mortal girl who got thrown down here because I knew too much.” She protested.

 

“Yes, but you are also the one who saved us . . . for that . . . you should lead us out.” Athena explained with great reverence in her voice.

 

“Nu-uh . . . we all worked together to get out . . . we each worked to save ourselves and each other!” Phoenix smiled widely as Athena gave her a gigantic hug.

 

“Touching speech . . . but you aren't saved yet.” A dark cloud appeared, solidified into a man who appeared to be a walking corpse, and began to laugh darkly.