So, it begins... | Open to Titans

[Violet Schultz]

With the number of crises which arose on a weekly basis for the Titans, it always seemed almost too easy to stop the petty crime that took place on the back alleys of Jump City. Still, it wasn’t something that they were going to ignore, either. As Violet heard the telltale sounds of a drug-deal gone south, she appeared on a ledge high above the ground, the pale lavender flash not alerting any below to her presence. Less subtle was the dive off of the building, which turned into a roll as she landed and took out the attacker’s weapon with a practiced fist. A pair of nerve strikes took out the would-be seller completely, and he collapsed to the ground as she straightened to look at the buyer. He was a portly man, and though there was fear in his eyes, alarm bells went off in Violet’s mind. He was showing absolutely none of the signs of drug use, not the glassy eyes, or the sallow skin, or the sunken eyes. Even the fear struck her as false.

She looked at him for a couple of seconds before speaking.

“This is a sting, isn’t it?” Violet said quietly, her knowing gaze locked with his.

The man nodded slowly, and while the fear vanished from his face, the expression that entered his face at that point alarmed her even further. Guilt, mixed with pity. He could barely meet her eyes. Her chin raised as understanding dawned on her, but her expression didn’t change. The idea that he was suggesting with his eyes was one that changed everything for the supers in the city. It fell on her like a ton of bricks, like the sky had just crashed to earth.

“It’s not for him, is it,” she stated evenly.

He blinked and looked down at his feet for a second before shaking his head.

A mob of men rushed into the alley, all decked out in full tactical gear as they swarmed Violet, pinning her against the wall. She gritted her teeth as she felt a needle penetrate the side of her neck, a sting in the midst of the crushing weight of the team. Her eyes began to blur, and it raised a vague question in the back of her mind before the alley faded entirely and she blacked out.

Her limp body was lowered to the dirty ground as the detective took a pair of cuffs from his belt and put them on the young vigilante, his eyes sad. He had known that the Titans were young, but… It felt wrong to be arresting them, especially like this. She hadn’t seemed to be a flight risk, considering that according to her file, she could’ve easily escaped, but that damned protocol that had been given to them had ordered that they should be incapacitated to ensure the safety of the officers apprehending them. According to the file on her, unconsciousness was the only sure way to do that.

Why their private liaison had insisted that they use this particular tranquilizer, he had no idea…

A few hours later, at the police station…

“She’s in the holding cell, but she hasn’t woken up yet,” he reported to his supervisor.

“Good,” the tall, muscular man said with a nod. “Let me know if anything changes.”

“Captain, I know it’s not my place, but why do we need to go to these measures?” he asked tentatively. “They’re the Titans. Shouldn’t we at least give them the opportunity to give themselves up?”

“Jefferson, If they refuse, there is no possible way that we could take them all in,” the Captain replied. “This is the only way we could possibly get them in without mass chaos.”

“And Titans disappearing off the streets won’t cause mass chaos?”

“We have our orders, Officer,” he said firmly. “This one comes from way up top. Mayor-level policy.”

“I know, but it just feels… wrong, somehow. The Titans aren’t a threat. They’ve saved this city a hundred times over.”

“The new leader has been inviting wanted criminals to join, Jefferson. You see that ‘innocent’ girl in that cell? She’s wanted back east for a rap-sheet as long as my arm. Never been arrested.”

In the heavy silence that followed the statement, the door of the police department opened to allow two men in black suits to enter the building. Their eyes were flat and serious as they walked past the desk, despite the attendant’s protest. Going straight to the Captain, they got right down to business. A practiced officer like Captain Graypool could hardly miss the weapons they carried at their belts.

“We’re here to transfer the girl,” the leading agent said, his voice a flat monotone.

“You have your papers?” the Captain inquired, raising his chin in an obvious show of posturing.

He pulled out the documents and went to the window of the holding cell, peeking in to look at their target. There was no emotion in his gaze, but he nodded in confirmation to his partner who pulled out a phone and pressed the speed dial. The Captain was cut off from listening by rapidfire questioning by the first agent, regarding tactics, procedure, politics, and what the Captain could only guess was a distraction from the real conversation.

“Well, your papers are in order,” the Captain said at last. “Will you be taking her with you right now, or are you…”

He was cut off by a team of three men coming through the door and heading back to the cell. Officer Jefferson watched the proceedings from the corner, slowly shaking his head in disapproval. Within five minutes, the Feds and the girl were both gone. He couldn’t shake a sense of foreboding. What had just begun? A Jump City with no Titans was not a pleasant thing to imagine…

At the lab...

A bald man watched their guest through the glass, satisfaction in his dark eyes. The new sedative was working like a charm, even with her natural body temperature and chemical resistance which stemmed from a healing factor. It kept her brain function to a minimum, keeping her in a dreamless sleep which prevented her from any accidental fireworks. Her powers were suppressed enough that her body heat was no higher than the average human, and while it was possible that such a thing could make her ill, the solitary quarantined room would prevent her from being damaged. After all, she was a precious commodity.

Thank God for legal loopholes and corrupt politicians...

"Welcome back, 025-20-B."

[William Talbot]

The van turned end over end, and after two total end rolls, it stopped, back on its wheels, the tires shredded beyond all salvaging due to the massive internal explosions that had sent the vehicle skidding to start with.


What had sent it end over end, was crouched down low, holding it's shoulder gingerly, glass and bits of other materials falling from his wide fur covered shoulders as she stood up and turned to look at the battered blue panel van, the front caved in a good two feet from its previous length.


"Get out... Murry, move your ass... GO!" A slightly short yet stock man in combat gear called as he struggled with his seat belt before freeing himself and staggering from the passenger side, the door having been flung from its hinges in the tumble.

Crawling out behind him was Murry, the tall and thin man in matching attire was holding his head as it bled profusely.


Between them and the Target, laid the driver, thrown into the street from the impact, most of the windscreen still in large sheets of shattered glass next to him on the road.


"Where is she?" The Lycan hell hound rumbled out to them as they helped the driver to his feet and started to back away.

"We don't know, we where just sent to collect you!"

"We're not action figures or commodity to be gathered and shuffled you know... We're people too... We have feelings..."

"We're just doing our job!"


Blaze glowered, at them, his eyes hot and glowing with power, the ambush that had been set for him was across town, being taken apart by Robin and Songbird, this trap had been set for the latter, and Will had leveled the squad that had been expecting the more nimble and far less muscular Aria, but instead they had been hammered by Will.

They squad also where not local talent, but rather a Federal unit sent to what the Q.R.T. and S.W.A.T. now refused to do (the "selective strike" had started with one Officer Jefferson and rippled out from there quickly) so the "big boys" where now in Jump, hunting down a select number of "unsavory, unlawful, and hazardous persons" which, in the most basic understanding and context, Will understood, and even agreed with somewhat.

But when Violet had simply vanished on patrol two nights ago, the ultra low frequency distress code in her Com-unit sounding, and the tiny location beacon that had been implanted in her neck had activated, and then been jammed, the Titans knew something was amiss, and given the sudden activity's in her "public" records and case file on the net, it was clear that something was gravely amiss, and given what John had told them, it was plain that something should be done, as others in the Titans ranks and that they knew, would also fall into the same basic category as Violet, and thus where in danger.


It had also Pissed Will off...

[Violet Schultz]

Usually, Violet wouldn't have minded the fact that her healing factor was slowly accelerating, quite the opposite in fact. But when it brought her more slowly to consciousness by metabolizing the sedative in her system, she was feeling a little less grateful. Her back and neck felt like she'd been on the wrong end of a vice grip, and she could barely think through the drug's effects. Groggy as she was, she couldn't summon the sense not to try to open her eyes to see where she was. For a second, it was okay, and despite how freezing cold she felt, she felt vaguely optimistic. After all, there was a one way glass along one wall, and even without that, escape would be easy... Wherever she was, it couldn't be... legal, or anything...

Wow, what an ugly orange uniform they had given her. It stood out against the blinding white of the walls, and reminded her vaguely that she was supposed to be in jail right now, perhaps discussing the situation with Robin and her team. But no, someone had ignored her rights to take her here... wherever here was... The blinding fluorescent lighting did nothing to help the headache drilling in the back of her skull, and it was all she could do to try to sit up...

Then the machine, which she had only just noticed was attached to her arm, beeped loudly. It was a streamlined machine, with only a white square box as the main console, several buttons of various sizes on top. Attached to the base was a tube and a series of wires and a blood pressure cuff, all of which she was wearing... strangely enough... A golden liquid moved through the tube and into the IV in her arm, and immediately, her rising lucidity dropped off and the room went black again as she dropped back into the dreamless, drug-induced stupor which kept Will from locating her mind.

Help...me...

Lex Luthor raised his eyebrows at what he saw through the window, his thumb on the button which had given the dose of sedative. Well now... Those diagnostics would have to be reattempted, considering that from all appearances, her healing factor was faster than it had been, metabolizing the toxin beyond all expectations. It was fortunate that he was always one step ahead. Her dosage would have to be re-calibrated to prevent further awakenings. All it took was for her mind to become fully lucid for a few short seconds, and she could teleport away before Lex could do anything about it.

After all of the measures that they had gone through to ensure that no one in the chain knew all of the details, no one could give enough information to make a difference, and her location was being changed frequently, just in case. Drivers moved patients around constantly. They had no way of knowing who was in the back when they drove. No, this girl was his, and the Titans wouldn't be coming for her any time soon, if he could help it. Even if they did, there were measures for that...

In Jump City...

Whatever loophole they had exploited, whatever money had been exchanged to make this possible, the effects were far-reaching, and not good by any stretch of the imagination. With a Titan missing and the rest devoting their effort to getting her back, it was indeed chaos in the streets as the meta community panicked and were systematically hunted, some for justifiable reasons, others less so. John was disgusted by what he saw, and he helped the metas whenever he could, but there were simply too many for any one person to attempt. They had even come for Dr. Kavanagh, but he was far more wily than anyone could've given him credit for.

In the rising climate of fear and the fights between the Feds and the metas, a doctor was sorely needed, and while no one could find the doctor, several people had documented a stranger appearing after such battles, his glowing green hands healing Feds and metas alike, but oddly enough, no two accounts could agree on what he looked like. Some said he was a well-built but elderly Greek man, with a poorly shaved beard, and his strong accent agreed with his appearance. Others said that no, he was a short Central American man, cleanly-shaved, but with dark circles under his eyes which suggested exhaustion. Others described him as an unhealthily pale German, his brilliant golden hair and kindly green eyes almost as striking as his toned musculature. Each account was varied, unique as the next.

Thus, when the good Doctor approached Will, it was only his aura and emotions that Will could have a prayer of recognizing. He was of average height, a teenager by all appearances, perhaps a couple of years Will's junior. His hazel eyes and dull ginger hair agreed with his strong accent to place him as native Irish, but a single tattoo altered the effect, making his apparent youth seem somehow false. A Celtic stag on his right arm marked him as the doctor who had also had an identical mark.

"William, they're telling you the truth," he said, his accented voice soft. "But I've gathered some information which might help. One of my patients heard an agent mention a pay-off at prisoner transfer level, and a girl matching Violet's description was taken unconscious from the police station a few hours after she went missing. The police say that it was a Federal transfer, but the facility on the papers doesn't actually exist."

He watched the terrified Federal team scramble away, leaving their fallen comrade in their hurry.

"This started as a completely legitimate legal arrest, but I'm afraid that what followed is a different matter entirely."

[William Talbot]

Blaze huffed slightly as the men left, his gaze not falling to Kavanagh until the one agent that had been left behind, had worked himself into such a panic, that he had in fact hyperventilated and knocked himself out, and so he turned and faced the good Doctor as he slowly reformed into his more human form and glared at him; “I’m aware of what happened at the police station Doc, I was with Robin when he went to go and straighten this situation out, but the pay off is news to me… And please, I might not have anyone left from my past to be used as leverage, but… My given name is my personal name, and I’d personally rather not spread it about my enemy’s right now, just call me Blaze.”


Looking down the street Will thought about the new tid-bit of information until his communicator beeped at him and he extracted it, Cyborg on the screen; “Yo Blaze! Just spoke with Robin, me Speedy, Aqualad and Argent are en-route to Jump right now, Volt, Jinx and Kid Flash are going to fill in back in Steel City for the moment, but them and the rest of Titans East are on call… Man I hate what happened to Darkbrand, I wish I’d had to chance to meet her before all of this, but don’t worry, she’s a Titan, and we take care of each other… In the meantime, I have some info on a dude named Vorac who popped up back in Gotham about six months ago, then vanished, well he just showed himself in Steel City this last week, and we tangled, but he got away, weird dude really, but smart, scary smart, I’m sending the report to you’re com-unit right now, and it will be on the Titans mainframe in the tower shortly there after, Starfire and Beast Boy are on their way back there now, while Robin, Raven and Songbird search around Macklin. We’ll see you in about two hours, Cyborg out.”


Blaze had stood there slightly grim faced, and had only nodded until Cyborg had cut the link, and this other piece of info didn’t seem to mean much, until he read the second line of the first paragraph: “… Possessed stolen Wayne Industries Genetic case study files, and due to the methods used to ingress the building, is also likely responsible for thefts from Queen Industries and Luthor-Corp. facilities across the east coast over the last six months.”

Luthor-Corp was a heavy Computer technology and Medical science powerhouse that had been owned, and run by Lex Luthor’s now deceased father Lionel Luthor, and was currently under the direct control of his hand picked board of directors, and per legal and personal reasons, was exclusively off limits to Lex himself, who should have according to common inheritance laws, received his fathers share of the business four years ago when Lionel had died of natural causes.

That didn’t happen, and it was currently known in certain rings of knowledge and powers that Lex Corp. and Wayne Industries where in direct competition for a highly lucrative, and highly controversial Dark project for the Army and Marines rumored to be codenamed “300” which was either a very clever and subversive codename, or a very smart bit of misdirection.


Will knew all of this because, despite his partial lack of formal schooling, he was gifted with a high aptitude for language, reading, and retention, and he had covered all the current files in the Titans mainframe relating to the Brotherhood of Evil, Doctor Chang, Brother Blood, Slade and even Lex Luthor, as well as other related and cross-referenced items, all 3000 standard pages of of it, which constituted fully one third of the information in the databanks of the Titans Mainframe, which had records stretching back to the founding of the Titans, with the first Robin, who was now known as Nightwing (the fact that Will had also, by pure dumb luck guessed the pass-code to said file and now knew the REAL name of the person behind THAT mask, was not known to anyone else, thankfully)


“Assuming you heard all of that… Doc, we need more info, lots of it, what I and Robin know is all old news, stuff everyone either knows or suspects, what we need is new facts, and lots of them as much intel as we can get… and Fast, I have very a bad feeling about…” Will blinked for a moment as he felt rather than heard, the faintest echo caress his thoughts, the barest hints of lavender and cinnamon teasing his very being before it faded again, away with the wind like a notion rather than a solid feeling or tangible signal; “… All of this…”

Suddenly, Will couldn’t shake a feeling of impending disaster on the horizon, like a tempest gathering to wipe away all that might stand before it…

[Violet Schultz]

"I can get you whatever intel you need, but right now we need to focus on one detail," the Doctor said, his youthful voice contrasting with the calm seriousness of his tone. "She was unconscious when she was moved. Even with all that's going on, it's still illegal for police to bludgeon people on the back of the head, so it's a safe bet she's been tranquilized with something. From what I could tell of her body chemistry when I met her, that shouldn't be possible. Do the Titans give the police the means to take them down if necessary, as a safety precaution?"

He spoke evenly but quickly, knowing that despite Blaze's apparent calm, his system was showing signs of stress... yes, very much so, in fact... And he was likely far more worried than he let on. It was fortunate for the Doctor that he was used to working under stressful conditions, with hostile people, because the Lycan's hormones were suggesting that he was about two steps short of channeling that anger.

"If you find where the unique tranquilizer is coming from and going, you'll find her," he said. "If you haven't heard from her by now, odds are that she's being kept dosed, and if that's the case, not only does it mean that they will continue to need a good supply of it, but they are also disregarding her safety. Tranquilizers should be used sparingly, since they can cause negative side effects if used in excess."

Normally, the Doctor would've stayed out of what was looking more and more like a war between metahumans and the government, but the Titans were becoming friends of his, and he knew from what John had said that the government was doing things that were wrong by any standard of the word, and he didn't want for Violet to suffer the same mistreatment that John and others like him had already experienced. The odds were that they pay-off meant that there was some corporate involvement, and that never boded well for them...

Across town...

"I know, sweetie, I'll be fine," Jefferson said, an indulgent smile on his face as he spoke into his older but still functional phone. "The rest of the Force is with me on this, so it's not like I'll be singled out."

He sighed at her response and closed the phone before slipping it into his breast pocket. With how much the city was shaking up over the rounding up of the "undesirables", shouldn't his wife be more worried about other things than his political future because of his speaking out? Of course, at the back of his mind, he knew that her worry wasn't for his politics, but for his safety. She didn't even know that he'd been looking into what was going down behind the scenes, ever since he'd overheard the conversation between the second agent and their unknown benefactor, someone he referred to as "Mr. Green." Clearly a pseudonym, but he had very little to go on.

There was something dark going down, and it reeked of shadow play. He peeked out both ways down the unpopulated street and stepped onto the cracking asphalt, hurrying over to the other side.

His head turned as he heard a squeal of tires, and his eyes widened as the headlights got brighter and brighter... He didn't even feel the impact of the car, or realize that he was flying through the air. He didn't even feel himself hit the ground. In fact, dead men didn't feel pain... The car raced off into the distance, leaving the officer lying in the street, a pool of blood coming from his still body, his broken bones leaving him lying at an awkward and unnatural angle.

"It's done, Mr. Green."

[William Talbot]

Will arched an eyebrow as his mind kicked into overdrive at this bit of knowledge, facts, info, ideas and memories colliding into a massive storm of thought as he looked at the doctor hard and set his jaw; “Walk with me Doc, we have a meeting to be at.”

Will turned on his heel and started for the alleys where he could then navigate them to the 21’st street intersection with Harper, where the bridge was.


Looking over his shoulder he shook his head; “We give them basic information on how to deal with us, should the unthinkable happen yes, but nothing detailed, in case it falls into the wrong hands… And your right, Violet’s immune system is strong, and her powers enable her body to process toxins and such quickly, rendering them pretty much moot, its the way she metabolizes things, in a very real sense she burns up almost anything that’s not useful to her biological workings… But…” Will thought back to the safehouse, and the orange juice incident, and his eyes flashed with anger and thought; “We could never prove it, but we think a man named Slade Wilson, one of the worse people the Titans fight, laced a carton of orange juice with some form of nerve toxin, made just for someone with Violet’s biological and physical traits, something that would survive the high temperatures and her natural resistance to such things, the compound was a normally extremely volatile substance derived from, of all things, VX nerve agent, but not the gaseous form the more stable liquid form… There where was a slew of other things in it, much of it was hard to decipher, as they where some pretty wild and exotic blends of more common agents, the net result was a hallucinogenic sedative, knocked her out within seconds and had her under for almost an hour, before she started to burn it out of her system, and then Batman showed up and had something to help counter it.”

As they walked, Will thought hard and fast, hundreds of ideas, possible explanations, and theories raced about inside his head, but only a very few of them stood up to any real logical thought.

“Slade… And likely someone else or even a group of someone’s, is after us, all of us, and they’re starting with the more questionable targets, the ones they can get easy, but it will only be a matter of time before all supers are targets… We’re going to have to stop this and soon, otherwise…”

The possibilities where not exactly endless, but the consequences of a world without supers, was troubling to think of at the very least…

[Violet Schultz]

"VX?" Kavanagh repeated, surprised. "The VX nerve agent was outlawed a few decades ago, even in chemical warfare. It's very difficult to get your hands on even a little of it these days. There had to be a good deal of money behind it, but given the high temperature tolerance of VX and how quickly it works, I can see why they would've chosen it. Even so, with a chemical that rare as that base, it should be an easy matter to track."

The doctor followed him at an equal pace, but as he walked, his voice began to change, slightly at first, but it deepened as he spoke, from the youthful timbre of a teenager to the deeper and fuller voice of a man. At the same time, his body changed, aging rapidly to a man nearing but not quite reaching middle age, the illusion perfect, down to the crow's feet at the edges of his eyes. His loose clothing tightened to fit correctly, and soon it was a slightly older man walking at Will's side, matching his stride equally. He had a lot of practice changing his form, using his powers to artificially age himself. In his natural body, he didn't age at all...

"With your powers, shouldn't you be able to sense her presence?" he asked after a few seconds. "Or is that something that only works short distance? I don't mean to pry, but my field is organic. Natural genetics, and the like. I'm not as clear on supernatural abilities, like the kind you have."

He had abilities that allowed him to sense life from a relatively short distance away. He already knew that Violet wasn't in the city. What was less certain was where they might have taken her...

At the lab...

"Sir, we're ready to begin full diagnostics," a balding scientist reported, a clipboard in his hands.

The suited man nodded once, his eyes on the still form of the sedated girl. Her breaths were shallow and slow with the depth of her slumber, her eyes not even moving under the lids. While it was important that she remain unconscious due to her high chance of escape, he had been informed that she would need an altered drug if they were to avoid damaging her brain. He didn't especially want his golden goose to be harmed, but her mind wasn't the part of her that he really cared about. If it got damaged, it wouldn't matter. After all, if he had his way, she would be unconscious for the rest of her life, however short he decided it should be.

Still, with this particular drug, if her brain was damaged enough, she would stop breathing, and that would be counter to everything he had planned for her...

The scientist vanished into the next room with a pneumatic hiss from the door. Within moments, a team of five came into the bare cell in which the subject resided and relocated her, leading her down the long unadorned hallway, through the pair of whitewashed double doors, and out of sight of the CEO as he stood and watched. The equipment to keep her under would have to be carefully handled during the procedures, but the tests would answer several questions that Lex had.

The news and assorted publications who had done stories on the Titans had said that she had the power of teleportation, and he himself had already witnessed that her healing factor was speeding up. She was growing more powerful as time went on, and there was still so much that science didn't know about why that happened. She certainly hadn't had that ability when she'd been snagged back in Topeka. Was it something to do with her body chemistry, or was her brain behind it all? She'd developed the ability well past her puberty, which was the main time for meta power development. Why?

He followed behind the scientists at his own gait, turning the corner in due time and coming at last to the room. There was heavy duty machinery in there, including several brain imaging devices, sample extraction machines, and all sorts of monitors. It was the best diagnostic lab that money could buy, he was confident. They would solve the mystery of the meta, and this girl was the key.

[William Talbot]

Will nodded as he felt, as much as saw and heard, the doctor shift, but he didn't reply right away.

Once they had gotten into a particularly long and well hidden alleyway, Will looked over and then spread his hands in a show of his ignorance; "In all honesty, I'm no expert on such things, all I do know about that is that the Army was in the process of burning all the VX gas they'd acquired up to the time it was outlawed, however it's rumored that they had enough to make the ICBM's and other such nuke stockpiles look like a scattering of lost puzzle pieces... But that's just the rumor, the only facts I'm aware of concerning VX is that, as of last summer, the ONLY known stockpile on the west coast is buried someplace near the state lines, and that if you get one of the OLDER batches of VX, and it's diluted down by a factor of one-hundred parts dilution to one part liquid state agent, it's just about the most perfect pesticide for use on grape vines, because base VX does not like heat."


Anyone who knew anything about farming or growing crops, knew that various kinds of food plants like various kinds of weather and soil, and that Grapevines LOVED fairly dry and warm sunny settings. Thinned down liquid VX would evaporate with ease, and when it did, it became inert, as it needed to be exposed directly with the air to expand and return to it's gaseous state.

Will also knew that this was about the only good and practical (not to mention, somewhat legal) usage for VX.

However, that was almost useless information for them at this point, so Will didn't bother to mention it.


The alley wound at sharp angles between buildings, on and on, like a man made canyon before he stopped and faced the doctor again; "She's not in the city... I know that for sure, because as long as we've both been in the city, I could feel some semblance of her, to one extent or the other, and with as close as we've been the last few months we've established a kind of link between ourselves, with our minds and our powers being so much alike, we can almost get into each others heads, and with some mild work have gone in and out at will, but..." Will stopped and closed his eyes, his body becoming very still, as if he was trying to stop his own heartbeat.


"North... West... She's northwest of Jump... That's all I can tell right now, but... half the continent is also north and west of here... recently, we could tell where we where in relation to the other, all over the city, maybe just beyond, but she is currently either A, drugged into to a stupor, which is bad, or B, too far away for me to really feel or sense her, which is just as bad."


Will fought to not grind his teeth as he felt a fresh wave of frustration boil up inside of his chest, his gaze becoming hard, as he spun on his heel and then all but stomped down the alley for the street beyond the walls of the many buildings they where passing...

[Violet Schultz]

Or both, Dr. Kavanagh knew he didn't have to add. He knew that the Titans were doing all that they could in get her back, and reiterating the urgency of the situation would do nothing but get on people's nerves and add stress to the people who really didn't need any additional stress. He could tell that Will was hating every second of the time that they weren't actively hunting for her. From what the doctor had seen of the two of them together, they were closer than just friends. In all of his years, he had seen love like that more rarely than he really was willing to admit. They wouldn't easily let it go, even if Violet's only means of preserving it was in fighting to stay alive while they did the rest.

In the lab...

Through the glass window, Lex Luthor could see his team examining the subject, each of them specially selected for this position. They were all outfitted in lead-lined radiation suits, given the previous test results which had suggested that it might be necessary when dealing with this subject in particular. Lex was quite safe behind his shielding, feeling as invincible as he ever did, even with the fail rate of his plans being multiplied by people just like the girl in the room. The younger specialist stood back, his arms folded as he watched them situate the unconscious meta, stripping the orange jumpsuit to leave her in nothing but black boy shorts underwear and a simple sports bra of the same color.

For two hours, they ran every test in their repertoire, exhaustively recording data in the small monitor in the corner of the room, meticulously detailing everything both to each other and to the log.

"The scanner is showing very unusual readings," a scientist reported, tapping on the glass of the monitor. "It's like the subject's body won't allow the radiation to pass through. The only images we're getting are showing a solid mass where her body is. The PET scans aren't giving us any results either."

"Yes, the last time, it was the same way," an older man replied, obviously the leading expert on the team. "Her body filters radiation like a normal body would filter a toxin. It never damages the cells. It's like it encounters something in the center of her tissues that drives it out like an invading organism."

"Something like what?" the first scientist asked, his eyebrows narrowed intently.

"We can't be sure, but her pyrokinetic abilities suggest that she has some sort of energy inside of her that might have something to do with the process. Of course, since it's being rejected by her body, the radiation is expelled into the area, and that's why Mr. Luthor ordered these suits be worn. Weren't you paying attention at all during the briefing?"

"Well, yeah, but it's kinda hard to believe until you see it for yourself, you know?"

"Oh, I've seen metas a lot stranger than this one. Metas that wouldn't be able to walk down the street for fear that people would run screaming away from them. Still, I've never seen a normal-looking one that had a body so radically different from humans."

"What, she's not...?"

"Of course not, Bendess," the old man replied with a snort. "Haven't you seen enough to figure that out? These normal-looking ones are the worst, 'cause they fool you into thinking that they are, but they're just monsters in the end."

Typing a few notes into the computer, he finally shut down the last of the diagnostic equipment before standing again and going to the cabinet near the edge of the door. Pulling open a drawer, he pulled out a metal box and set it on the table beside the girl's unconscious body, gesturing for another pair of surgical aids to prep the subject for the next set of tests before he disinfected the gloves of his suit in preparation. Dr. Bendess tried not to look at the meta, taking Lorensen's word that she wasn't human. Despite the number of scars crisscrossing the surface of her porcelain skin, she wasn't ugly by any stretch of the imagination... Not that he was trying to stretch his imagination. No, her graceful curves could tease him without him having to imagine anything...

"Beginning Test 13A: testing the regenerative capabilities of subject 025-20-B," the older scientist noted to the computer, documenting the proceedings for later study. "Time is 1510 hours."

Opening the metal box, he pulled out a set of four surgical knives and a black marker. Bendess closed his eyes and turned away, busying himself with the minute tidying of his work area to distract him from what was going on behind him. She wasn't just some teenaged girl. She wasn't human. She wasn't... He couldn't help but cringe as he heard the familiar wet sounds that denoted that the incisions were being made... It had never bothered him before, so why...?

[Tim Drake]

~Titans Tower~

"Blaze, we're doing all we can, but with the current political situation in Jump we can't just go barging around pushing doors open and demanding answers, it must be done a certain way." Robin said as the flaming Lycan and the strange yet helpful Doctor stood in the control room at the top floor of Titans Tower, the various monitors showing everything from maps to stock prices of various items and stuffs ranging from wood lumber to tire rubber.


Turning to face them however, and Robins expression was grim; "But that hardly means we stop looking. Cyborg and Speedy are going to drop off Argent and Aqualad at the pier, then come here and start cleaning up the lab thread while crosschecking the shipments and purchases angle, while the others search the coast for any clues there, mean time Raven and I will head into the city, and talk to the Police Chief and Mayor, see what we can dig up on that front."

Robin then pointed to Blaze and the doctor as he walked to a locker like door in the wall; "You two get to go and double check the old lab site where I first found Darkbrand, its a long shot I know, but there might be something that was overlooked or left behind, something that could tell us what the connection is, because I know that the lab I busted her out of, wasn't run by the same people who funded the labs we've been shutting down lately... Songbird, you've had more experience with the labs, go with Blaze and the Doctor, see what you can do to help."


With that Robin turned and went to a computer console and started typing furiously, his masked gaze now set into a perpetual scowl.



Violet was his friend, likely one of his most trusted friends, and she had been his acting lieutenant for the last few months, but now... He didn't want to think about what might be happening to her right now, it made him angry, far too angry to think clearly, and he needed every ounce of his brain power and focus to crack this problem, not waist it on being angry and frustrated...

[Martin Christopher Taylor]

Walking into the observation room, Martin gave a light brush to his lapel and then straightened his glasses as he stood next to Lex Luthor, his slightly more boyish features clashing somewhat with Luthor's more hardened, older appearance, despite the fact that there where barely ten years between them, it did in actuality look like more.

After a few minuets of watching, Martin turned a quarter of the way, his shoes hardly sounding as he turned and looked at the hard studious facial expression on the other man's face before he spoke; "Don't let your whiz kids tear her up too badly Lex, she's far more valuable alive than dead, and if the numbers you gave me are correct, you can't keep her under too much longer... But then I do think I have the answer to that new little problem she poses..."

Martin reached into the black leather satchel he had and pulled out a squat, round device with a series of blue and red LED lights on it, that softly glowed.
"A Electronic Psyonic Radio Eletro-Magnetic Distortion-field projector. It will block and or scramble any set or all projected energy waves within a prescribed pre-set area or do a total shut down of all waves within either an enclosed space our up to three quarters of a mile, based on some testing my own teams have done, it will block over ninety-four percent of all psycho-kinetic wave activities, thus, rendering her projection and application of her powers, null and void."


Martin set the device down on the small counter top like desk in front of them before he looked back at the testing, then squared his shoulders as he linked his hands behind his back; "Also... What about the boy? We never planed for them to meet, and now that they have... He's going to look for her, as I have it on good authority that they are, shall we say, "romantically involved" the extent to which I'm not aware of, nor really care to be, but what could be more volatile than a young, stupid, and hormone crazed Lycan male?"

Martin was of course, one of the very few people who would EVER presume any level of equality with Lex Luthor, for two reasons; they where partners in this endeavor, since Luthor had needed both the extra resources, and to buffer himself from this, Martin, who had similar goals (with far separate applications) and needs, had carefully proposed a partnership, one that at this point, despite the sets backs in both test-subjects, and interference by, the Titans of all people, as well as the failed double-cross by Slade (which both Luthor and Taylor had foreseen to one extent or the other) they had found many a useful factoid and discovered more than a few trinkets of knowledge.


But the mystery of the Meta, as well as the secrets of others like them, still evaded their efforts. but Martin felt that was as much due to Luthor and his underlings views of the Metas, as less than human, where as Martin felt that they where simply the next evolutionary step in humanity's long journey across the universe...


"Also, having her drugged as she is... Won't that hamper her healing factor? Thus tainting the test results?"

[Violet Schultz]

"Perhaps," Luthor replied calmly. "But the last results we had were with her under the same anesthesia, so the best comparison would have to include it. Don't worry about the damage. This is just the initial testing phase. My scientists wouldn't be so sloppy as to kill her already."

He didn't move his eyes from the procedures going on in the room as he spoke, until Taylor pulled out the new invention he'd been waiting for. It would make it more challenging to keep her contained if she was awake, but the testing could be far more comprehensive if she was conscious for it. They would just need to use those military contracts to get guards who could contain her. She was certainly one to be watched diligently when she was awake, if the personality profile they had on her was correct. He finally glanced at his business partner and then turned back to watch her.

"If this lab becomes compromised by the Titans, there are measures that will be taken to solve the problem of their acquaintance. My scientists have altered some samples of midazolam for her system, which would be administered to remove her as a threat in the fight that would likely follow, but it will almost certainly result in almost complete retrograde declarative memory loss. I wonder if he would be so eager to stay nearby her when she looks on him as a stranger."

He spoke unemotionally, as if he was just discussing the emergency flood procedures of the building. His eyes were cold and remote as always, but there was a proud menace in the way that he held himself. His very manner was the anti-thesis of his excitable new enemies, and his confidence at holding all of the cards for the moment seemed foolhardy at best. Still, one didn't beat Superman again and again by being foolhardy. There was always an ace in his sleeve somewhere.

"When we finish these diagnostics, we'll take her off of the drug and see what happens. If she escapes because your device fails, it will fall on your people to retrieve her. We have kept her secure this long."

Twenty hours later...

Her next rise to consciousness was again accompanied by a terrible headache at the back of her neck, and the fog over her thoughts didn't lift for several minutes, before which she could do nothing but just lay there and wait for her pain and dizziness to subside. When she finally felt clear enough to attempt to sit up, she opened her eyes, blinking to clear them. She could vaguely recall seeing this room before... but... She sat up more fully and folded her arms across herself to ward off the sudden chill. Her eyebrows narrowed as she realized how scantily dressed she was, and how cold she felt...

Why should she feel cold? And why on earth was her head feeling so fuzzy? She bent forward over the side of the bunk as a wave of nausea hit her hard, and she let loose with a retch, coughing as her dry throat burned with the acid. Wow, her head was pounding. She looked up and around the unmarked white room, noticing that one of the walls was clearly one-way glass. She blinked in surprise as the realization hit her. Was she in a lab? The acidic smell of the room kept her from being able to tell that way, but a series of black marks over her arms, legs, and torso told her all she needed to know. That, and the fact that some of her black marks were still inflamed from their healing.

Her hand was shaking as she wiped her mouth, but her eyes were hard as she stood. Tile over concrete ground, it seemed. She stepped to the mirror and crossed her arms, the dare in her eyes as she silently told them to enter, or at the very least, talk to her. Her inner flame was barely detectable to herself, and she knew that there was no shot that she could create a flame with it being so out of reach. There had to be some other way to get out of here...

"Hey," she said, her tone sharp. "How about someone tells me what exactly is going on here?"

"Return to your bunk," a mechanical voice squawked from the ceiling.

"Yeah, right," she said, rolling her eyes. "Someone had better get their fat ass in here before I go out there and find them."

[Martin Christopher Taylor]

Martin nodded at Lex's assessment and reassurances but still felt that tiny moment of pause, where he would weigh the risks, and the rewards before stepping forward with something.
This wasn't exactly all to his liking, but he could live with it, so there wasn't really any reason to worry. But Luthor's logic about the emotional connections between Schultz and Talbot seemed... Flawed somehow, not in the normal logical sense, but more in the sense of human nature, and while Luthor and his underlings maintained that most if not all of the test and study subjects where NOT human, Martin was most certainly not convinced of this, as they displayed very human behavior, and reactions, emotionally and psychologically speaking at least, and as such, he knew that being so arrogant would be a cost for Luthor at one point.

"If there is one thing I've learned in life, its that emotions are never a stable commodity or a factor to be brushed aside flippantly, especially in youth..."

Letting his comment hang there

"Well I'm going to leave this here, I sadly have other matters to attend to, but I'll have my man come around in a few hours to observe and assist during the next few stages... In the mean time, you might call that crazy man, Wilson, and tell him that if he wants to ever work again, he'll leave the boy and girl alone, and focus on keeping the Titans occupied for now... Good day mister Luthor." and with that Martin was gone.

~Twenty hours later~

As Vorac, Martin returned as promised, and he watched everything that happened, and went about installing the blocking device in a special spot in the wall, adjacent to the room violet was being held in, and from there he made his preparations for when she woke, and when she did...

After she had awakened, and got to moving, she then demand answers, and he planed on giving her some.


Stepping into the room, his dark blue green suit and dully mirrored mask in place, Martin, or rather "Vorac" moved slowly with measured careful steps, his tiny vocal distortion implant on, the lenses of his visor like mask darkened so that nothing could pass through it, in one direction at least, and his thick rubber soled boots tapped lightly with each step until he stood exactly six feet away from the bed where she sat, his arms crossed over his chest.

At six foot one inch, in a nice clean suit, Martin hardly looked imposing, impressive yes, but not imposing.

However, his suits where tailored to fit in such a way as to hide just how fit and strong he really was, his "action" suit, something like for fitting fatigues, and the worn leather jacket he wore over that, where not, and the status of his healthy athletic form was much easier to see.

Raising a gloved hand to his chin, he pondered a moment then spoke, in that dual toned, distorted voice he liked so much; "Do you know why you're here Violet?"

[Violet Schultz]

She turned to the door as it opened, her sharp eyes trying to glean as much information about the world outside as she could, but her attention span wasn't at its peak, with the drug still trying to metabolize out of her system. Not only that, but the headache wasn't helping matters at all. Still, she looked beyond the man entering to the white wall behind him, to the outside of the door handle. Electronic locks, narrow hallways, full security detail... This was going to be a difficult one. Especially since she truly had no idea where she was, whether in relation to the building, or in relation to the rest of the world.

But she quickly turned her attention onto the immediate threat. He wore a mask, but she could tell from his gait and his mannerism that he was a man accustomed to power, and accustomed to respect. He was slightly larger than she was, and the way that he moved suggested to her that he knew how to handle himself. Any other day, she would've tried to get the drop on him so that she could use him for leverage, or do something of the sort, but her muscles were still quivering when she moved, and her reflexes weren't at their best. Plus, she couldn't remember the last time she'd felt so sick. There were dark circles under her eyes, but her discomfort showed no sign in her expression, intent as it was.

Even his voice was disguised. What kind of coward would wear a mask for this? Couldn't he at least look her in the eyes to tell her why she'd been imprisoned in this place? But given her condition, she simply sat back and rested a level stare on where his eyes would be. His question was one that reeked of hostage movie cliche, but she was certainly not in the mood to be amused by it. Instead, she could only take it seriously and perhaps learn more about her captors in the conversation. If they were expecting the obedient one, eager to please in the hopes of gaining favors, she wasn't going to give it to them. She knew perfectly well that playing those games would do nothing but give them something with which to amuse themselves.

She folded her arms as much to send a message in body language as to warm herself. She still felt unnaturally cold, and she hated the feeling.

"Personally, I don't particularly care," she replied, an edge in her quiet voice. "Unless knowing the answer will cause you sadistic enculés to let me leave, it doesn't matter to me."

Her dark eyes were rimmed with lavender, though she couldn't feel the rise in her powers. It was hatred that was fueling her reaction, but without full access to her powers, she had no way of knowing how close she was to losing control...

[Martin Christopher Taylor]

Vorac lowered his hand and crossed his arms as well, squaring his shoulders as she settled herself and then replied, her usage of a profane French insult interesting, and given how she had phrased the sentence, gave him the opening he had hoped to use.


Clicking his tounge a few times sharply, he gave a single shake of his head and replied in what he guessed was her native tongue; <“To use such perverse language in such a lovely tongue, most unbecoming a pretty young lady such as yourself, even given the current circumstances…”> tilting his head slightly, he allowed his lips, one of the few parts of his head that was not covered, to twitch in a slight smirk before he cleared his throat and looked away to the one way mirrored wall, as he unfolded his hands and slid them to his hips, his thumbs hooking into the heavy duty tri-slotted webbing as his index and middle fingers pressed into his hips and his elbows cocked out, his voice still that almost eerie, demi-god like muffled dual tone bass; “Let me make one thing perfectly clear to you Violet, we’re both here for the same reason; we where ordered here, the major distinction was that you had to be detained, where as I came because I was hired. And before you launch into some heroic moralistic drivel they teach you in hero school, understand that you’ve already made a small but important contribution to the world in the form of your genetic code… They’ve isolated an interesting string of code, that is in fact common to over eighty percent of life on earth, and from it, they had been able to grow a particularly hardy strain of Cotton that has an extremely high combustion point, and from that kind of cotton fiber, jackets, trousers, and even shirts can be made, that won’t simply ignite when exposed to direct flame, even if an outside fuel is introduced, it won’t catch unless the flame is hotter than twenty-three thousand degrees.”


Half turning away, while returning his masked gaze to her, he started to pace around slightly, slowly stepping with almost silent steps, his voice even if not eerie; “I won’t lie to you, cooperation will of course mean that they won’t have to take such drastic and ultimately harmful measures, and it will mean things will be more than simply tolerable for you, but at the moment, you’re freedom isn’t on the table. Later perhaps, but not now.”


Vorac paused his pacing and then turned to face her head on, his shoulders square, and his stance wide and he moved his hands behind his back and held them there, as he looked at her with his expressionless gaze. “You’re not exactly human you know… Faster, stronger, more agile, tougher, more intelligent even, given what history we can dig up on you, and even discounting you’re… Variations… You’re a very smart girl, in another life you could have been a doctor, and a good one I’d wager… Why not try and help others in a more lasting and far-flung manner, rather than beating up drug addicts and rampaging robots? There are still many secrets of the human body that have yet to be unlocked, and now we understand that there is a new… Species... of Human, the Meta, a version just different enough that many normal things we DO know, no longer apply, and it has given us a glimpse at what might be, and what might be possible for humanity… You could be one of a very few who hold the answers inside, so my climax is this, a proposition if you will. I job offer.”


Martin walked back towards the bed, and stood where he had first been when he had started talking to her, knowing his delivery would need to be perfect, and no matter her answer, he had a reprisal and a rebuttal planed for any choice she could make; “Rather than fight them, why not try and help them understand you better? What makes you tick, that’s what they want to know, they don’t want to kill you, and any harm that might come, they will undo or repair as best as they can, when they can, and if they can divine what they need, then your service to humanity would earn you any and every reward you might could hope for… A blank check awaits if you help them, as I have, and with that in mind, I would say, pick your words carefully, and your choice even more so… I personally would not enjoy seeing you suffer under the doctors tests, I myself found out the hard way that it’s not something to… Tempt them and their anger…”