Teen Titans Fan Fiction ❯ Dreams And Destinies ❯ Tie Game? ( Chapter 10 )

Chapter 10

Tie Game?

 

A few minutes earlier:

Lyllandra tried to make her mouth move to tell Robin what was wrong but nothing worked. As she looked at his concerned face her eyesight faded into some kind of tunnel vision. She could feel that he was holding her but it looked like he was at the end of some small channel far away from her. She could see his mouth moving but she could not hear anything. The tingling sensation was getting stronger, it was a very unnerving feeling, like her whole body had fallen asleep and was trying to wake up. Her heart was beating fast and she was having a hard time breathing. But the most frightening thing of all was the feeling that she was no longer in control.

“What's going on?” She yelled internally. “Why can't I move? What was in that damn thing?” She got her answer when suddenly she felt her left hand move up and before she could even process what was going on, her hand proceeded of its own volition to punch Robin right in the face!

Robin reeled back and loosened the grip he had on Lyllandra but she did not fall. On the contrary she could feel herself standing up! But she had not commanded her limbs to stand! She felt her muscles tense and stretch to accommodate the extra weight of her body upright. She could feel the throb of the puncture wound from the needle. She could feel the strands of her hair as they fell in her face. But focus and strain as she might, she could not make any part of her body obey her commands. She watched in horror and disbelief as Robin hit the ground hard and crashed into the fallen table. She had knocked him back almost four full feet with that punch! But that was impossible! She didn't have that kind of strength!

“Slade.” She thought panicking. “What has he done to me?” An arctic chill ran up her spine as she realized that this had been Slade's plan all along. She hadn't thought he could make her hurt her friends but the proof that he could was lying four feet away from her now, getting up slowly and wiping a thin trail of blood from his mouth.

Lyllandra could feel her muscles tensing up again. She tried desperately to scream out to Robin to get away from her, she knew she was going to strike again but Robin stood up and took a step towards her! Again she could see his mouth moving as he spoke but she could hear no sound from him. He held up his hands in front of him as if he were trying to calm her but her body would not calm. It only tensed up tighter and Lyllandra could only scream silently as she felt herself leap at Robin and swinging her left hand again, she landed a powerful punch to his shoulder. Before he could reel back from that, she grabbed his shoulder and whipped him around towards the door. He landed on his feet and, apparently realizing that talking was going to do him no good, he lurched out the door.

Lyllandra screamed at her body to stop but it had other ideas. She followed the Titan out into the larger room and jump kicked him straight in the back. Robin fell forward into the floor and did not move. Lyllandra's heart rate tripled and she could feel a pounding starting in the back of her head. Starfire's sudden movement as she yelled caused Lyllandra's eyes to look up and focus on the distressed girl.

“I didn't mean to do it Star!” Lyllandra yelled silently. “It's not me! Damnit!” Lyllandra had never felt anything like this before. All her emotions were running wild but she could not express it. She was trapped. A prisoner in her own body. All she could do was watch helplessly as her suddenly strong body attacked and destroyed her friends. Slade had been right. He had brought her here to destroy the Teen Titans. And now it seemed like a horrifying reality.

Starfire had gotten Lyllandra's attention when she had yelled and while Lyllandra was focused on her, Beast Boy had rushed in and grabbed Robin out of harm's way. Starfire walked towards Lyllandra slowly.

“Lyllandra? It is I, Starfire! Your friend! Please answer me!” Lyllandra could do no such thing however and Starfire just barely missed being hit by a roundhouse kick. She floated back and out of the way but Lyllandra just stood there, her face expressionless.

“What the heck is going on?” Beast Boy asked as he was helping a recovering Robin to his feet. “She's totally freaking out!”

“Slade injected her with something.” Robin grunted as he forced himself to his feet. His shoulder and back were hurting badly and he needed Beast Boy's assistance to stand up straight.

“Injected her?” Beast Boy said shocked. “With what? `Teen Titans suck so let's kill them' serum?”

“Essentially yes.” Slade suddenly said from where Raven still had him trapped. He speaking startled Starfire and she turned her back on Lyllandra. A mistake. Lyllandra leapt at her and with a well placed kick sent her flying into the wall.

“Starfire!” Robin and Beast Boy cried out.

Thanks to her alien strength, Starfire seemed unharmed. She turned back towards Lyllandra who was still running towards her, her fists upraised. “I am unharmed. Make Slade reveal how to save Lyllandra. I will keep her at bay.” Starfire ran towards Lyllandra, her fists burning.

Lyllandra could have cried with relief when she saw Robin stand up. But the relief didn't last long. She saw Starfire turn her back and immediately felt her body moving towards the inattentive Titan. Lyllandra's heart rate shot up again as she sent Starfire sailing into a wall. “NO! Please no!” Lyllandra's cries of anguish went unheard but her head began to pound harder and she thought she could see spots in her already tarnished vision. Starfire rebounded and flew at Lyllandra. They clashed in a fury of fists. Lyllandra expertly blocked as many of Starfire's blows as Starfire did hers.

Starfire was very much stronger than Lyllandra but she knew she had to hold back. She could seriously injure Lyllandra if she wasn't careful and she knew Robin would never forgive her if she did. She would never forgive herself. For now, she had to keep Lyllandra focused on her and buy time for the others to get some answers from Slade.

Which was exactly what they were doing. Raven had been shocked and horrified to see Lyllandra in the state she was in and to see her harming Robin and Starfire but she had to maintain control lest she lose the prison of black power she had entrapped Slade in. And she had to keep all of her power focused on it because Slade was very strong and although she'd never let him know it, she was having trouble keeping him still. Her emotions were still in a very fragile state and seeing Lyllandra suffering (Raven knew she was suffering, she could sense that Lyllandra's consciousness was alive and aware of what was happening and knew she was suffering greatly) stirred Anger, the most feared of her own emotions. If she couldn't keep control, if she let Anger out, the consequences could be dire. For Slade and for her. So she focused as much as she could on Slade and getting the answers they needed.

“What did you do to her Slade?” Raven growled low.

Slade continued to laugh. “Exactly what I said I was going to do of course. You didn't think I had it in me. But Lyllandra definitely has it in her. She's a much fiercer fighter than I ever would have imagined.” He gloated to the Titans.

Raven's growl became louder and she instinctively tightened the cocoon around Slade until his laugh was cut off in his attempt to keep breathing.

“No Raven!” Robin said coming closer to the two. “We need him alive…for now.” Raven relaxed her grip…a little bit. Robin put himself in Slade's face. “Now talk. What have you done to her and how do we get her back?”

“Get her back?” Slade managed to laugh uproariously at that one. “There is no way to get her back. That serum was specially designed. You see I learned a few things after my experience infecting you Titans with my nanoprobes. There's no way to remove this effect. She'll keep coming after you until she kills you, or you kill her.”

“What?” Robin felt his heart drop into his stomach. The finality in Slade's voice made what he was saying a likely truth. And Robin didn't doubt for a minute that if Slade could, he would destroy everyone just to have his way. For the first time since all this started, for the first time in his life, Robin felt the situation was hopeless. The damage had been done. He had promised to protect her but he had failed. Now Lyllandra would come after them until someone died. Either he would have to watch his friends die, or he would have to kill the only woman he'd ever loved.

“There has to be a way to break his hold on her.” Beast Boy said from behind Robin but Robin could tell there wasn't much hope in his voice. Robin looked at Raven but she was looking between Slade and Lyllandra. Robin wanted to ask her if she could sense Lyllandra at all but at the look in her eyes, he knew he was better off not knowing for now. He could feel his heart breaking into a thousand pieces.

“Fine.” He said suddenly. “If I can't have Lyllandra back the way she was, I know she'd rather die than live her life as your slave. And I'd rather die than see her suffer anymore.” Robin grimaced at the pain in his shoulder and back but shook it off, stood up and looked to where Starfire and Lyllandra were still fighting. Raven sensed his determination.

“No Robin!” She was so distraught by what she read in Robin's mind that she almost let Slade go.

Robin said nothing. Forcing himself to walk normally, he stepped by a confused Beast Boy and over to where Starfire had just knocked Lyllandra backwards into a wall. Their fight had taken a toll on them both. Starfire was tired, not just from having to hold back her immense power but because Lyllandra wasn't holding back at all and the girl was strong! Lyllandra looked physically exhausted and she had sustained several cuts and bruises from her melee with Starfire but her face remained a blank, even as she gingerly stood up. Her lip was bleeding but she took no notice.

“Starfire.” Robin said simply. Starfire looked back at her leader and saw the pain in his eyes.

“There is a way Robin! We will find a way to get her back. I was hoping to incapacitate her but she is a much more formidable fighter than I imagined. You must not give up hope!” She pleaded.

“There's nothing we can do Star. There's no way to get her back without one of us dying. I have to stop this now.” He pushed past Starfire who was simply too tired to try and stop him. He walked right up to Lyllandra who had managed to pull herself to her feet. Standing just a few feet away from her, he saw her beautiful face looking at him blankly but he had an idea that she was still in there somewhere.

“Please forgive me Lyllandra.” He said in an all too calm voice. He raised his staff in front of him and Lyllandra's body tensed itself into a fighting stance.

“Slade you better start talking.” Beast Boy was throwing himself as threateningly in Slade's face as he could. “Tell us how to make Lyllandra normal again!”

“Even if there was a way,” Slade said quietly. “I wouldn't dream of telling you.”

Beast Boy yelled in frustration and did something then he'd never done before. He hauled back his fist and punched Slade so hard that a crack appeared in his mask! He grabbed his wrist and jumped up and down, muttering painful obscenities under his breath.

“Beast Boy!” Raven called, surprised that her normally gentle friend could be so harsh. Slade too looked surprised at Beast Boy's show of anger. He began to struggle more fiercely in his prison. Raven started to groan with the effort of keeping him still.

Beast Boy hadn't felt anger like this in a long time. He'd never been one to cause pain for no reason but as he saw Starfire limping towards him and Robin ready to face off against and possibly kill the woman he loved, it seemed he had himself a really good reason for causing Slade a lot of pain. His eyes practically burned as he shook off the pain in his hand and once again put himself in Slade's face. “Tell me how to stop this NOW! Or I've got myself a new punching bag.” He grabbed Slade by the throat, ignoring Raven's pleas for him to stop.

“I told you.” Slade gasped out. “The only way to stop her is to kill her.”

“I won't accept that!” Beast Boy's hand closed even tighter on the super villain's windpipe. “It won't end your way!”

“No it won't” A voice came from the entrance! Beast Boy abruptly let go of Slade and turned to see Cyborg standing in the entrance to the room.

“Cyborg! Dude what took you so long?”

“Looks like I arrived just in time.” Cyborg said with no trace of humour in his voice. He looked to where Starfire was on the ground exhausted and Robin was facing Lyllandra. As of yet, neither of them had moved. He didn't need an explanation. There could only be one reason why the Titans would be fighting against Lyllandra.

“Did you find it Cyborg?” Raven asked hopefully.

“Oh yeah. I found it alright. Plus a couple other very interesting things I wasn't looking for. I see Slade has made good on his threat to turn Lyllandra against us.” Cyborg stepped farther into the room and the others saw he was carrying a large and very old looking book.

“It's not her fault man! Slade injected her with some drug that's made her body go all wonky.” Beast Boy yelled to Cyborg. Glancing at the heavy weight Cyborg carried, Beast Boy added, “What's the book for Cy?”

“Kinda figured as much.” Cyborg said simply. He pointed to the book still in his hands. “Slade knows what book this is.” Cyborg said looking to the trapped villain. “I don't know how, but you got a copy of this book. Or at least the spells in it.”

Slade's eyes narrowed to slits. “So what if I did?” He said darkly. “I studied those spells thoroughly. There's no way to break them.

“You're wrong.” Cyborg said simply. Raven and Beast Boy looked at him in surprise and Slade's eyes, if possible narrowed even more.

“What do you mean Cyborg?” Raven asked. “You've found a way to undo what Slade has done?”

“Only to an extent.” Cyborg admitted. He'd spent the last couple of hours poring through the book that Raven had asked him too look at. Truthfully he'd already been in Raven's room looking through her books when she'd contacted him. He'd gotten the idea that the answer might be there when he saw her reaction to the fact the ring was made of light. Raven hardly ever reacted at anything like that, so when she did, it meant you were supposed to pay attention. And Cyborg had. But he'd been glad for Raven's communication. He'd still be looking for the book if she hadn't pointed him in the right direction. And when he'd found the book, he'd found all the information about the ring he'd needed, including the spell that created it. He'd also found another spell he was positive Slade had used. But judging by the situation he saw before him, he was actually wondering if he might be too late to make things right.

Slade's rage was bubbling very closely under his skin. He'd studied the spells. He knew there was no way to break them. How could this mechanical man have the means to thwart him? His mind returned unbidden to the mark on the girl's finger. Perhaps it hadn't been so unimportant after all. He had to do something or all his plans would go up in so much smoke. He began to struggle even harder against his bonds.

“Sit still you bastard!” Raven's power was draining the more she had to fight to keep Slade incapacitated. “If you've got the answer Cyborg now's the time! Slade is trying to make Robin kill Lyllandra!”

“He won't need to.” Cyborg said solemnly looking at some readings on his arm. “Raven, can you sense Lyllandra's conciousness?”

“Yes.” Raven said. “Her mind is awake and fully aware of what her body is doing. It's causing her unbelievable pain.”

“In more ways than one.” Cyborg frowned.

“What are you talking about?” Starfire said limping her way over to her friends. She had wanted to help Robin incapacitate Lyllandra so she would no longer be a threat but that had not been Robin's idea. Starfire knew why he was hesitating attacking Lyllandra. She did not want to believe that this was the only way but something inside her had told her to back away. So she had left Robin to decide for himself. All she had now was her belief that everything would work out for the best, and her faith in her friends. Or so she thought. Unbeknownst to Starfire, the feeling that had made her back away when she normally would have fought was the same influence that had been playing in the back of her mind all this time. She would find out soon that some spells, when cast, came with a price.

Cyborg continued to study the bio readings he'd taken of Lyllandra when he'd come into the room. “Whatever Slade injected Lyllandra with is having a much worse effect than just taking her control away. It's making her body fight past its limits. Lyllandra's in shape but she's not a fighter. Her muscles aren't used to this. And the fact that her mind is still in there and undoubtedly terrified at what she's seeing and can't stop, it's making her heart rate go wildly out of control.”

“What are you saying Cy?” Beast Boy prodded.

“I'm saying that whether Robin has the stomach to fight her or not, if we don't stop this soon, Lyllandra will die. Her own body is going to wear out from the stress. From what these readings tell me, she could have a heart attack any minute!”

The others gasped in shock at Cyborg's news. How could things possibly get worse?

Slade could feel his prison giving way. He could tell Raven's power was draining. He began to struggle that much harder.

“Then what do we do?” Beast Boy yelled. “If Robin fights Lyllandra she'll die. If he does nothing she'll die! I don't know about you guys but that's the worst Catch 22 I've ever heard of.”

“There is a way to send Lyllandra home.” Cyborg said. His left hand had been closed underneath where he held the book but he opened it now and revealed the ring looking quite innocent despite all the trouble it had caused.

“That's impossible!” Slade spat out. “The ring became useless once the girl was in this world! I made sure of it!”

“Shut up!” Beast Boy turned himself into a python and wrapped himself around Slade's mouth.

“You must have been reading the abridged version of this particular spell book Slade.” Cyborg said slyly. “There is a section on the page after the spell which quite clearly states that the ring is the vessel that bridges the connection between this world and the next. When you brought Lyllandra here, you didn't give her the ring and it caused the irritation on her hand because she and the ring are still connected. Just like she is still connected to her own world.” Cyborg paused and even though Beast Boy was now a snake and could not speak, his eyes were turning around like a roulette wheel. He clearly understood nothing Cyborg had just said. Raven and Starfire did though.

“Slade must have missed the part about the ring and it's connection to the one who was supposed to wear it.” Raven mused. “And if Lyllandra and the ring are connected that deeply,”

“If we were to destroy the ring…” Starfire added.

“Lyllandra would be sent back home!” Beast Boy finished, having gotten the idea he turned himself back into a human to add his two cents.

“Got it in one.” Cyborg agreed.

“But the toxin. It was not caused by a magic spell. Will she still be under its influence?” Starfire worried.

“I can't say for sure Star.” Cyborg admitted. “But I am sure that if Lyllandra stays here she will die. She may have a chance back in her own world. If we're not there, she won't have the urge to destroy us and she may recover. It's a long shot but it's all I can think of.”

“Then do it.” Came from Robin where he was still standing a few feet away from Lyllandra. Neither of them had moved. Despite Robin's determination to end Lyllandra's suffering, once faced with her, he couldn't do it. Whether they were real or not, he could not ignore his feelings for the girl in front of him. Even out of mercy, he could not bring himself to harm her.

Lyllandra was fighting a battle herself. But not just with her body.

“Robin wants to take me down but he can't.” She thought amazed. “Even though he believes his feelings for me are false, he can't hurt me.” She was amazed too at the fact that she had not yet struck him. If whatever it was that was in her veins compelled her to destroy the Teen Titans why was she standing still in front of Robin? She watched him lower his staff and saw his mouth move as he yelled something back to the others. Lyllandra wanted to look where he was looking to see what was going on but she could not move her head. That was no surprise of course but what did surprise her was that she could not tear her eyes away from Robin's. And he too could not look away from her. She saw such pain in his expression. And even though her eyes remained blank and emotionless, inside she was sobbing over the pain she had caused and over the decision that faced Robin now.

“Just kill me.” She thought despairingly. “Get it over with. I was going to die anyway before I came here. I don't want to hurt you anymore!” Her heart was pounding hard and her muscles were screaming at her from overuse and the cacophony of bruises she had from fighting Starfire.

“So how do we destroy it then?” Beast Boy yelled at Cyborg.

“I'm not exactly sure about that one.” Cyborg admitted sheepishly.

“Put the ring on the floor Cyborg.” Starfire said standing up straight.

“I don't know man.” Cyborg started but he put the ring on the floor as asked.

Starfire's eyes began to glow as did her fists. Slade began to struggle harder than ever against his bonds. If they were right about breaking the ring then all of his plans would definitely go cock up! Raven's groaning became louder as she fought to keep Slade imprisoned. But she'd expended too much of her energy. With a final yell Slade broke free! Raven collapsed backwards and was caught by Beast Boy. Starfire and Cyborg looked on shocked for only a second but it was enough. Before either of them could react, Slade was off and running towards Robin and Lyllandra!

Lyllandra could not see anything that was going on and she did not know that Slade was on a bee line course for her with no one to stop him. Robin had his back to the other group so he did not notice Slade until it was almost too late. Fortunately Cyborg regained his senses fast enough to shout out a warning. Robin turned just in time to leap in front of Slade. They erupted into a fierce battle. Both of them had their own reasons for wanting Lyllandra dead and only one of them was capable of doing it. And intent on it.

Cyborg rushed after Robin and Slade but Starfire called to him. “Cyborg no! We must dispose of the ring. If we send Lyllandra home she will no longer be in danger!” She focused again on the ring and summoning all the strength she had left, she sent one blazing Starbolt out towards the trinket. There was a bright green explosion where the blast impacted but when the smoke cleared, the ring was still lying there completely undamaged!

“Oh no!” Starfire cried. “My Starbolts were unsuccessful! What will we do now?”

“I don't know Star.” Cyborg shrugged. Of all the information the book had given him, that was the one piece of information it didn't have.

While all this was going on, Raven had fallen unconscious in Beast Boys arms after Slade had broken through her prison but she opened her eyes with a start and sat straight up.

“Shhhhh.” Beast Boy hushed her. “You're alright. You just spent too much energy. You need to rest.”

“No.” Raven insisted on sitting up. “The ring. I have to destroy the ring.”

“Starfire and Cyborg are working on that now. I'm sure they'll be able to…”

“No I have to do it…I think.” Propping herself up on Beast Boy's shoulder, she stood up and walked to where Cyborg and Starfire were contemplating the problem. She could hear Robin and Slade fighting across the room. “Go help Robin, Beast Boy.” At Beast Boy's look. “Go I'll be fine.” He looked at her for one more moment and then, turning himself into a Rhinoceros he ran to help Robin battle Slade.

Cyborg and Starfire fell silent as Raven approached the ring. She had heard about the spell to create this ring. The ring was made of light because light was a very hard thing to destroy. But light, like any other entity in this universe, had an opposite. Something to keep the balance. And light's natural opposite was of course darkness. The one thing that could cancel it out. And on the whole planet, there existed not one person who embraced true darkness more than Raven. She focused on the ring, her eyes began to glow black and she began to chant.

The next several things happened almost at once. Beast Boy had just reached within helping distance of Robin and Slade when Lyllandra suddenly leapt in front of him. He had to pull back hard and fast to keep from running into her and goring her. The sudden change in direction sent him hurtling on a collision course for Robin! He hit the Boy Wonder and they both went flying into the far wall, Beast Boy's rhinoceros bulk pinning Robin against the wall, unable to move.

This left Slade free to reach Lyllandra, which he did a second later. She could do nothing to stop him, she could only watch helplessly as he ran towards her. She couldn't hear Starfire's screams as Slade reached out with his right hand. Hidden in his sleeve was a blade. It took only seconds but it seemed an eternity to Lyllandra. She saw that the blade was short but deadly sharp. She saw the way the lights gleamed off the polished base the closer it got to her. She could not hear Robin's cries as he saw the knife. She could see him out of corner of her eye trying frantically to get up from under a still brained Beast Boy. He faced away from her yelling, she supposed to Starfire and Cyborg to help her but she knew help was too late. She knew she was done for but her face remained blank, even as she felt the knife rip her flesh and slice its way into her chest.

She saw Robin free himself but stop dead when he saw he was too late. She saw the anguished look on his face and even though she couldn't say it out loud, she could swear he heard it anyway.

“I love you.”

“Azarath Metrion ZINTHOS!”

“Auuuugghh!” Lyllandra's yell dissipated as she sat up, her heart thundering in her chest. She could not see where she was. She only knew she was on something soft and it was really dark. She imagined that she had fallen unconscious and the others had brought her back to the tower after defeating…Slade! Her hand immediately flew up to the wound in her chest but…there was no wound there! Trying to slow her ragged breathing, she slowly looked down to where Slade had stabbed her. As she lowered her head, her hair fell in her face and she had to brush it behind her ears to keep it out of the way. She poked the area where the wound should have been but there was no pain and, when she lifted her shirt, no wound either.

“What the hell?” She turned and leapt out of bed, forgetting for a moment that her muscles were very unhappy with her. They yelled at her very loudly and she winced, slowing her gait to the door. She stood in front of it, waiting for it to open but nothing happened. She reached out to touch the door and found, a doorknob?

“What the HELL?” Her heart began beating hard again as she grasped the doorknob and slowly turned it to the left. She pulled back the door and it came open with a quiet squeak. Just like the door to her own room in her own world used to do.

“Oh my God.” She walked out into the hallway and down it until she came out to her mother's spacious art deco style living room. She stood at its entrance unbelieving. The covered sofa, the coffee table with the cleverly disguised coasters underneath the short leg, the memory chest. Everything was exactly how she'd left it more than a week ago.

She was home.