ERRORS OF THE BUDDY SYSTEM

[Feathers]

"Urgh...What happen?"

Silverwing woke up in daze. Loss in the fog of confusion. It took the silver hair Titans a few seconds to come, for the wheels in her head started working and provide a revelation. Panic. She quickly got up to her feet and asked."WHERE THE HECK AM I?" Finding herself in an scary and unfamiliar surrounding. Behind a rusty stell bar with a four by four stone wall. A room without a window and the only source of light was a candle on the wall. One thing the silver beauty could conclude was, she wasn't in Star City anymore. "How...how did I get it?" She asked herself again. "Think...Think...." She concentrated and try to recall what happen. 

She last remember being back home, in Star City, for the school holiday. Slowly, as her memories returns to her. She remembers hanging out in her grandfather office, the Solar Dragon. Waiting for him to return from his board meeting. For the grandfather and granddaugther to spend some family quality time over dinner. Next, the security alarm went off and she heard someone, a theif, no a masked intruder had broken into the her grandfather company lab. Suiting up. She tracks down and corners the intruder on the rooftop of Solar Dragon Enterprise. They fought and then...what happen next?

Closing her eyes. Thinking harded to remember. 

She fought with the intruders. He was quite skill. Blocking almost all her attack and never fliching from the pain. Seeing an opening. She punched the intruders right in the face, which felt like a brick wall. Questioning the intruders what his face was make off. The intruders mask falls to her feet and when she look up. Her face turn as pale as a ghost. The man, the intruder, he didn't have a face. He didn't have eyes, a nose and a mouth. Nothing! Not even a freaky eye brow.  Next it say the most stranges thing...."You are was selected!" and before she knew it. In a speed of light, he ran up to her and punch her right in the gut, the stomach. Then, things turn black.

"Selected?! Selected for what?!" The words of the strange intruder began to rewind over and over her head. Wondering what it mean? "Forget about that. I need to get out of her..." Again, the silver Titan talks to herself before trying to find for her Titans Communicator.
"Don't bother..." Silverwing almost jumped out from her skin "They took it when they drop you here..."
"WHO THERE?" She yells out in reply out of fright. Turning to voice. Hidding within the shadow. "Wait, that voice. It can't be...." She tries to get a better look at her prison cellmate and was stun "YOU!"

OCC: Please be noted. The stranger who reply to SW could be anyone. I leave to those who likes to answer it. Or it could be you @feudalism

[Deleted]

Mnemosyne sat in the dark of the cell with her eyes closed waiting for new buddy to wake up. She had long since given up on trying to remove the bracelet on her arm, it was 78% Titanium 20% Vanadium and 2% other stuff that was not Iron, and she was most certainty not going to lob her arm off trying to cut it. Titanium alone was much higher on the toughness scale than Iron or steel. It was a magnificent metal that super strong and lightweight, fortunately it was limited to important things like planes, even then it could be mixed with steel (not ideal) or iron so she could have some control over it.

The Iron Maiden didn't bother opening her eyes as listened to Silver Wing, aka Kimber Fowl, try and recall how she had ended up here. Ichor winced at the thought of that one. She forced her hand not to rub her head, she still had a small bump from where they had knocked her over the head. Mnem had to give them credit they were smart, they had attacked her with a robot made of the same titanium alloy that her new accessory was made of. 'Selected indeed'

"Don't bother, they took it when they dropped you here." Mnem could hear Kimber's costume ruffle as she stood and and started searching her pockets. When Silver Wing yelled at her, Mnemosyne, opened one of her eyes and laughed at the indigent look on her face.

"What's the matter Kimber, not happy to see me? You seemed to enjoy our kiss if I remember correctly." Mnem grinned and gave a mock wave as she refused to get up. She liked her spot it was quite comfortable.

[Elenaphant]

The moment he woke up, he jerked into awareness, jumping to his feet and taking a defensive stance against whatever potential threat he may have been up against. His sole eye darted around, taking in his entire surroundings within seconds. It was a small room. There was a boy in a mask--Robin--slouched against the wall. The boy was no threat unconscious or otherwise, but it would be a shame if he was dead. Slade took in the rise and fall of his chest and knew he was still alive. Likely, he was recovering from the same treatment he had received; whatever that had been. He was not a man who was easily overpowered, and that was a cause for some concern.

He composed himself from the initial reaction and crossed the small distance to stand and stare down at the unconscious Titan. He took in the state of him. The belt was gone; of course, he had noticed it quickly on himself that weapons weren't in their usual places. Whoever their captor was had made sure they were de-armed and likely left with no way of communicating to anyone else. The masks were still intact, at least. He considered for a moment if it would be worth removing the young lad's domino mask if only for the pleasure of it, but Slade wasn't as interested. That was for another time, when their relationship was such that they could indulge in a little 'show me yours, and I'll show you mine'. This would be too easy.

"Get up." Slade nudged him with his boot. "Get up, Robin." The second hit was harder.

[Silv]

The boy on the ground made a noise as his consciousness bubbled back up to the surface. He moved slightly with the first nudge, wondering if he had fallen asleep on a desk again, but not entirely awake enough to realize he wasn't passed out in a chair. The second nudge toppled Robin over onto his side. He woke up enough to catch himself, his green clad fist hitting the ground to slow his fall. The Boy Wonder opened his eyes, realizing he actually hadn't been imagining Slade's voice.

At first words wouldn't come. Genuine panic flitted across the boy's face, his masked eyes widening comically, and his mouth hanging open in shock. He stared at the black and orange mask leaning over him, not sure he was totally awake, until the eye moved. Slade. He was lying on the floor and Slade was standing over him.

The boy scuttled backwards like a frightened crab, his back hitting the wall behind him, and a drop of wax from the single candle lighting the room dripping down on him from the vibration of the impact. He hissed as the hot droplet cooled into a crust against his skin. If he had chanced to let his gaze drop from Slade, he might have noticed the heavy cuffs circling his thin, green clad, wrists. Instead he kept his masked eyes on the duel colored mask that haunted his nightmares. Robin kept his back to the wall, pressed against it to keep as far back from Slade as possible without looking like he was afraid and running away, as he slid up to his feet.

“Slade,” there was enough venom in the name it sounded almost like a curse. He didn't know what the masked man had planned but he was going to stop him! There was obvious hatred in the boy's narrowed masked eyes. A hand went for his belt, but found nothing, as panic pulsed in the boy's skull. His weapons were gone. Then Robin realized they were in a tiny, sealed off room, the tiny candle just above his head was the only source of light. What was going on?

“What did you do?” Robin demanded, replacing the panic with anger, because obviously everything negative was of Slade's design. “Whatever you're planning, we'll stop it.” even if the other Titans weren't here with him. Even if he was alone now. Because his team would find him.  "We've stopped you before." he said, though, whether it was to remind Slade, or himself was a valid question. 

[Gaunt]

This was weird. He'd been unconscious. That shouldn't even be possible. Blunt trauma wouldn't work, no metabolism so sedatives wouldn't work, what had happened? Gaunt reached under his vest, checking his chest for holes. No sign of any, so no staking. That left magic or freaky mind powers. On the plus side, his vest was still intact. Gaunt started feeling around in pockets and holsters, taking stock of what he had with him. All three burner phones were gone, as was Vera. No sign of the hip flask, either, though his reserves were pretty good. As long as he didn't take too much of a beating and got out within a couple weeks, he'd be fine.

Gaunt took a look around where he was. It was poorly-lit, but he was used to low light anyway. A concrete cell, no furniture, rusted bars across the front. Only one thing was in there with him; the robot doctor girl he'd met not too long ago. She looked deactivated, or at least in sleep mode. He could leave her alone for now, he needed a moment to think. There was a bracelet of some kind on his wrist, and it looked techy. Gaunt inspected it carefully, but he couldn't make head nor tail of it. If this was human technology, it was cutting edge. He considered trying to snap it off for a moment, but decided against it. Could be a bomb in there, rigged to go if it's tampered with. That sounded like the sort of Jigsaw [REDACTED] that was going on here.

He grabbed the bars, giving them a quick shake. He could probably tear them out if he needed to. He couldn't see any sort of traps or tech around them, but that didn't mean they weren't there. They could just be very well hidden. Maybe the robot had some sort of scanners. Gaunt walked over to her, nudging her lightly with his foot. "Oi, get up." How did you wake up alien medical robots anyway? Was there a power button somewhere?

[Empathy]

Princess Drössel was sleeping. Her electronic mind was busy cataloging the week's information, encrypting and re-encrypting it when necessary. Her two encounters with somewhat shady characters required some extra effort from her core: both the orange mask and Mr Gaunt had posed interesting conundrums. At some point however, external systems registered a stimulus. The core finished re-encrypting the content of its RAM. A moment later and the robot's eyes illuminated, like two beacons in the dark room.

The first emotion she registered was surprise. Her puzzlement was big enough as that she first just stayed on the ground, looking at the ceiling. Her eyes blinked, which given the lack of lids meant the light turned on and off. After assessing that she indeed woke up very far from her charger, in a location that was definitely not the Teen Tower, Drössel stood up. Her head turned around as she projected cones of light from her eyes in a bid to take in her strange surrounding. At some point, the light passed the pale white face of a certain undead. Drössel took a second to register the information, then turned around again to recognize Mr Gaunt.

@{The returning undead}
"Mr. Gaunt! What are we doing here? Is this some game?"

Her eyes gave a slight chromatic shift as she shifted through her scanners. It was something that you couldn't usually discern in broad day light. But in this case, the sole source of light came from her eyes.

@{Mr. Gaunt}
"There seems to be an exit. And a maze. I can't see much further than a couple of meters. No humans in sight."

She stared at him.

@{Mr. Gaunt}
"Unless you have changed your mind."

[Feathers]

Silverwing jaws dropped when she saw the figure stepped out from the shadow. It was Ichor and that was her name. The b-bleep who kidnapped her (as Kimber L. Fowl) and in her weakest moment, she (Silverwing) expose her alter-ego identity as Silverwing. She was the first villain who knew her secret identity and ironically has a similar power with her. She never forgave herself for that and wished things could had gone differently. If only Ichor didnt cut her and exposing her deepest and darkness secret. But that wasn't the worst part...

"YOU!" She grab her by the collar of her (Ichor) shirt. "I knew you were behind this. What is it this time? Which dumb idiot hire you to kidnap a heroine this time?" She frozen when Ichor reminded about the kiss she stolen from her. Quickly the silver hair Titans face turned red. Remebering the flashback in her head, their kiss. Still fresh in her mind like it was yesterday. Fearing the wrost might happen, the silver hair titan took a few steps backwards before..."LIES! I NEVER DID! DON'T YOU DARE REMIND ME ABOUT IT!" She snapped at her. Yup, you guess it. That was the worst by...getting your kiss been stolen by a villain, who is a same a girl, who knew your alter-ego. Plus, being witness by her crush, the top teen, Slobo was a living nightmare. Regrettably. Yes, the poor grey alien boy, next door witness it....every moment of it. 

But the silver hair Titans froze, her heart skipped a beat (kinda). A eerie feeling creeped up inside of her. A familiar feeling. No! A familiar fear she knows all to well. Heigtening her senses seconds before the the room started to shook. An earthquake?! No! It was something else. The walls! The walls closing in between them which was about to crush them. Now, this was confusing. Why would Ichor put herself in the room that was about to kill her? Wait, did she say 'they' a moment ago? Who was 'they'? Urgh...this was giving her a migraine. 

Without wasting anymore previous moment, she grabs Ichor hands and say "We need to get out of here" Noticing their cell gate was 'now' mysteriously gone. She pulls Ichor with her. Leading them to the hall outside their cell. Seconds before the now empty cell room was destroy. 

OCC: Sorry it took so long....RL. 

[Deleted]

Mnemosyne snorted as she pulled her arm away from Silver Wing's grasp. "I'm beginning to think I gave you too much credit the last time we were together." The darkness was impenetrable, there was no detectable light for their eyes to see. "Let me perfectly clear, I had nothing to do with this." She walked around, the floor was metal, and she could feel it continue on, it was a maze. Mnemosyne was also still aware of Silver Wing's silver blood, and the other girl's bracelet. "As for lying, I don't know you seemed pretty into it for a minute till your boyfriend busted in. Didn't want him knowing you were into girls too?"

Joking aside this was concerning, why were they taken and then allowed, no made to escape the room. The iron manipulator wanted to face palm when she remembered picking up the goggles around her neck. She took off her mask and slipped them on. The world suddenly became green and she could see the hallway in front of them and the turns. She could see feel the maze, but it was too big to try and solve in her head.

There was nothing else to do but go down the path and hope for the best, but there was only one set of goggle in the cell. She had checked and there were none around here. Mnemosyne sighed and took off the goggles and replaced her mask before handing them to Silver Wing. "These are night vision goggles of some sort and ahead of us is a maze. There is only one pair. I checked. I want to use them and make sure we don't run into any walls. The way I see it the only way we can go for now is forward. So put them on and start walking." Mnemosyne sighed, if Silver Wing took off it would be a pain but it would be better than the heroine wandering around in the dark. She could always follow her silver blood if she needed to find her.

[Elenaphant]

Such a dramatic reaction. He watched impassively as Robin scrambled to his feet and ended up fumbling against the wall enough to shake the candle. His eye darted to where the wax landed and he could tell from the boy's reaction it had hurt. He should try being tossed in lava; now that was agony. Their stances were reflective of their standings with one another; Robin was on the defensive, while Slade's hands casually folded behind his back. The boy posed no threat to him and that must be so infuriating. "The last time we stood together, we agreed that if we ever crossed paths again it would be to fight," he said, remaining consistent in his denial of any kind of real answer at least right of the bat. Even if he wanted to answer, he couldn't--the answer needed to be sought out.

"It seems fate has divined otherwise. We have a common enemy once more," Slade explained and lifted matching cuffs. "You can waste time pinning this on me..." Slade said as he wandered over to the night-vision goggles, turning his gaze away from Robin to look into the glass of green lens. His own menacing reflection looked back. "I intend to find who did this and make them pay." There was a dark promise in his words. No one blind-sided Slade Wilson and didn't suffer for it. His grip on the lenses tightened.

As if Slade's wrath had physically manifested, the room started to rumble and shake. His head snapped up to the wall and it was coming closer. It so happened to be the wall that Robin was leaning against. Slade was there to grab his wrist, though not to confuse it with any kind gesture, Slade's handling was rough and tight as he yanked the boy to his feet and dragged him out. The door, as he had suspected from the beginning, was not barred at all. The candle had gone out with all the shaking and moving, so the had been quickly thrown into darkness. Slade's training and heightened senses allowed him to make it out, and their new location was just more of the same darkness. When the rumbling stilled, he realized what the purpose of those goggles were. 

"Here," he said, letting go of him only to shove the goggles toward his chest. "They will fit over your mask better. I don't believe I have to spell out for you what having only one set implies," Slade said, expecting the self-proclaimed leader of the Titans to be able to solve puzzles on his own--unless he had to hold his hand for that too.  

[Silv]

Robin wasn't sure what was going on. Slade's words hit his ear, but they didn't ring true in his brain. He couldn't imagine a common enemy beyond Trigon. What sort of a force could capture both of them? This had to be some sort of trick. Robin's masked eyes narrowed at the man in front of him. And then the wall started moving. The boy was caught off balance, his masked eyes widening as he was skidded forwards towards the evil villain in the room. Obviously, the walls were in cahoots with Slade.

A large hand closed around his wrist, and Robin dug in his heels as he was moved bodily through the unlocked door, and out the room they had woken up in. Pulling back on the larger man's grip didn't accomplish anything. It probably looked rather silly, like a toddler being dragged from a party in a tantrum, but it felt better than simply letting the masked mastermind do whatever it was he felt like doing.

Their new location was enclosed in darkness. Because of course it was. Robin's masked eyes sought the light that they had woken to, but the candle had blown out when the walls had decided to play a game of paddy-cake. His eyes weren't adjusting. Which meant that they were probably underground, in one of Slade's creeptastic hideouts, and this was all some crazy sort of ruse to get him out of the way...or worse.

Slade didn't release him when he stopped moving. Robin tugged pathetically for a moment before swinging out a kick in the general direction he thought Slade was. He could fight blinded, but the rumbling of the walls behind them made it hard for the Titan's leader to trust his ears. When the walls stopped moving with a final crunch Robin was released. Something was shoved at him, and the boy fumbled with it in the dark, as he quickly bounced backwards to put some space between them.

The object was goggles. Slade's condescending explanation set the boy on edge, but he wasn't going to complain about being given his vision back. Robin pulled the goggles over his domino mask, squinting as the night vision came into focus. He had no idea where they were. A quick scan showed him the area around them seemed to be littered with holes, and steps, forming some sort of maze. It looked like an obstacle course a geriatrics center would come up with. Maybe. If this wasn't elder abuse. Speaking of abusive elders he could also see Slade clearly now.

“And I don't have to spell out this,” came the not-so-brilliant reply from our favorite Titan leader The boy moved forward aiming his fist towards Slade's masked face in an uppercut before acrobatically shifting his weight to the side for a kick to hopefully knock the man off balance. It would be easier to get away if he could take Slade down first. Then he needed to find the Titans. 

TAG:Gaunt

[Gaunt]

Well, not too much had changed. The robot girl was still a bit loopy. "Bugger if I know. Think I lock myself in dark cells for fun? I don't even like 50 Shades." He immediately regretted that decision. Last time they'd met it seemed like for every second he spent on a reference, he spent at least ten trying and failing to explain it. He wasn't sure of Drossel was uncultured, but she certainly wasn't pop cultured.

Her eyes let off a dim light, but even with Gaunt's inhuman low-light vision it wasn't enough to see by. It was almost like something was blocking his sight. Whatever had brought them here must have had a way to blind him. He didn't seem hurt, though. No injuries that he was aware of. Some sort of field he couldn't see through. Apparently the scrap princess could, though. He wondered if it was intentional. From the maze she was describing, it seemed like this was indeed some sort of game. Maybe this was supposed to be some sort of trust exercise, or maybe they were supposed to blindly fumble through the tunnels. Still, he wasn't going to give up an advantage. "Guess we should stick together then. You spot, I'll tag along."

Again with the human stuff. Gaunt sighed, rolling his eyes. He wasn't sure if she could see that, or understand it, but it was satisfying to do. "Still ain't human, unless you sense a heartbeat now." he wasn't sure why she was so hung up on that. Was it some robot thing? Probably a robot thing. Darn robots, never understand them. "Well, lead on, captain." He planted a hand on her shoulder, ready to follow.

[Empathy]

The robot princess tilted her head. She remained immobile for a moment, before jerking back upright again, sending the message:

@{Mr Gaunt}
"I unfortunately cannot access the web. What are these fifty shadows? Something even the undead are horrified of?"

She tried tweaking her reception. This looked a lot like a schoolboy playing around with his phone to catch a wifi signal, except without the phone. Her hair fell down as she announced,

@{Mr Gaunt}
"Nope. No signal at all."

Her eyes were intent on her undead partner again. They cycled through a couple of colors, just making sure of the corpse's 'health'.

@{Mr Gaunt}
"You do not seem injured. But yes, let us group up for safety."

Despite her usual derpy nature, the princess' movements betrayed a certain alertness. Her head moved periodically and quickly, trying to detect and anticipate any incoming threats.

@{Mr Gaunt}
"You may not have a pulse, but I'll treat you like a patient anyway."

The robot kept her communications short: her eyes quickly moved away from Mr Gaunt to check the way.

@{Mr Gaunt}
"So far, no traps. Left."

But as she said that, the duo ran into a wall. That made Drössel's hair fall again. Her hands went forward to touch the wall. It was cold, hard metal. The robot banged against it. She thought she could see something on the other side.

[Feathers]

"ARGH!!!!"

The moment the candle went out. Silverwing let out a loud a little shriek. Her whole body started to shake. She couldn’t breathe, and her heart was pounding out of her chest.Completely freaking out. That she can't ever process a word Ichor has said moments earlier. Honestly, Silverwing wasn't expecting any of 'this'. No! Not about Ichor kidnapping her...again. It was facing her deepest and darkest fear. Funny how her situation seem to lead her. Out of the frying pan and into the fire. Shrouded in darkness. The past began to replay in her head. Calling back. A frightening childhood memory of a stupid game of hide and seek. It started when she found a hiding place, in an old cupboard and got herself lock inside. She was left to endure and experiences the terror of darkness first hand for several hours.  Leaving a permanent scar and fear. Imprinted into her. Lasting for years till now. 

She mentally tries to calm herself down. Trying to pull herself together and stay strong. But, overwhelm by fear and anxiety. It was useless. With her concentration disarray. It was impossible for her to cast the 'Fearless' spell onto her.  A spell wrote by one of her ancestors to make a person brave and fearless. Removing their fears and suppressing it. If only, she could remember the text. 

If only, she could remember the lines. 

[Deleted]

Mnem's eyebrow twitched as the girl started having a panic attack and screaming. Well this was just grand. She suddenly found herself feeling very stupid holding the goggles out to Kimber. Ichor took back the goggles and replaced them on her face, adjusting her mask so she could see through them. With that in order she walked over to the cowering heroin. The dark really? She was afraid of the dark...That was rich.

"Okay princess, take a deep breath..." Ichor stared at the girl a moment and sighed, she wasn't calming down. Ichor mumbled a quick apology before slapping Kimber across the face. Ichor picked the girl up and stood her on her feet.She fixed with SW with a glare, not that the other girl would be able to see it in the first place.

"Get yourself together or so help me I will slap you again!" Ichor was beginning to wonder if she would have to carry Kimber through this maze or would she be able to walk. "Now listen to me. I don't like repeating myself. There is a maze in the dark ahead of us. There is one set of night vision goggles. I can feel the whole maze spread out ahead of us, but it is complex I need someone to do the walking while I figure out the way out. I am going to give you goggles, but you need to not freak out."

Ichor sighed and took the goggles off her own face, reforming her mask, and placed them on Kimber's face. "There, now start walking, or will I have to carry you like a child?" She shoved the girl toward the entrance to the maze and started walking past her a bit, she had a pretty good sense of where everything was at the moment.

[Elenaphant]

He caught the foot in with one hand. The glower of his narrowed eye probably didn't show well with night-vision goggles, but Slade was disappointed. He supposed he should have expected resistance, and maybe under different circumstances he would have been more patient with the boy's disobedience... He knew Robin was taught to react to such a thing, so even with his vision taken away he proved he could still fight blind. Every shuffle in the dark gave him information he plugged into what he knew about Robin's combat style and gave his response. What he was doing was unproductive... useless.

Robin had failed to calculate that Slade was furious. He failed to realize an important fact; he could not win. The former assassin had been more than generous with this brat, but when Slade was the one in the dark then he became a monster to be feared. He did not take kindly to this situation at all, and he had run out of patience. It was time to teach the boy a lesson in obedience.

He hit him harder than he ever hit him before. It was aimed to the bicep, and would sport a horrible bruise--a reminder when he'd remove the uniform that made him his moniker and look at himself in the mirror as the boy he tried to hide, he would remember this moment. Even when it was pulled back on, it would peak out beyond the sleeve for all to see his defeat.

Slade wasn't merely going through the motions, every attempt Robin made to strike was answered. Then, he pushed him against the wall once more. One hand held his wrists together; his enhanced strength keeping them pinned above his head. His foot crushing the tops of his shoes as he leaned in his body-weight. The free hand was left to hold Robin's chin and force the boy to look at him when he was speaking.

"You have it in your head that I can be beaten; that your skill and training are enough to stop me. I have toyed with you so long you must really believe you are a match--that you are worthy to fight me," Slade spoke lowly and harshly. "You are not. Struggle. Try, but you can't break free from me--forcing you to submit is too easy..." He brought his masked face in closer, tilting Robin's head up.

"I've faced the Batman."

He only gave Robin a second to process that. He knew mentioning his mentor would set him on edge; he could feel it in the grip. "I can see why he's so revered in Gotham's circles--he's quite the adversary. Our fight was one of the best I've had in a long time... You are not his equal, not even close. He gave me a harder time in that one meeting than you have since learning my name."

He brought his face to the side of his head, out of view, to whisper in his ear, "And I still won." 

Slade applied enough pressure to knock him out.