Tenevex V Dexacen

Dexter Vex had a rather fun relationship during the war, but one that he was afraid to talk about. In those times, it would definitely be frowned upon, no question, after all. Oddly, the Necromancers accepted it. It had no interference in their little religion. Dexter, however, was scared. Those weren't his friends, after all, and how his friends or those fighting in the war would react...

Hands behind his back as he walked through a busy street in Central France with Auron Tenebrae, he looked over their relationship with a wide smile. Sweet nothings whispered in ears, warmest of hugs, the way the robes tickled his skin. He could never see a kiss coming, and neither could anyone else. Auron was almost like a ninja. Their hands fit perfectly. He was taller, but definitely, and embarrassingly, the submissive, effeminate member of the couple. Auron always had something fun and maybe a little dirty to suggest, eyes sparkling with mischief and adoration. Only today, when he pulled him somewhere a little more private, the look on his face was different. Sombre.

"Are you breaking up with me?"
Auron shuffled his foot nervously, not even aware he was doing it. "Look, Dexter...it's not you, or me, it's just...this is a war...there are less risks if we're not together, you know? You're part of the special squadron and if they get wind of...well, us, that'll be trouble."
"Oh come on! No-one ever sees us together! We never tell! We're so careful about it!"
"There's the other problem. I feel like you're ashamed of me."
"Oh, WHAT?!"
"I know you haven't exactly come out to your friends yet, but it's just a bit too much for me to be pushed away whenever anyone you know or I know comes near. You even made me promise to keep this whole thing a secret from my friends. Personally I'm quite open about my feelings."
Vex sighed. "So you're leaving me because I'm too protective?"
"Because you're a pedantic coward with no thought for my feelings!" For a moment he thought Auron was going to punch him. He didn't though. He just turned and left.

He walked back in, feeling remarkably low.There were two people in the room. Ghastly was scribbling on paper, some sort of design. Saracen was stretched out across a sofa like a cat. He appeared to be asleep. Vex leaned against the doorway and stared at the floor, wishing his glare could make a hole the size of...a big tunnel-like thing anyway.

Rue cracked an eye open. "Deeeeex?"
"What?" The blonde man replied moodily
He sat up, frowning. "I was going to ask the time, but now I'm going to ask why you're in a mood."
"No reason. Just...just a moody sort of day."
Ghastly turned in his seat. "You don't get those." He stated suspiciously. "I get those, Skul gets them, Erskine gets them, Hopeless never doesn't have them, but you are one of the ones who never just gets moody for no reason."
"He's right, Dex."
"Shut your traps, both of you."
Saracen sighed, getting up and half-guided, half-forced Dexter back outside. "Dexter, we're friends, right?"
"I guess."
"You guess? You mean you don't consider me a friend?"
"No, of course I do."
"So we ARE friends."
"Yes."
"There we go. So I trust you with my secrets. Can you trust me with yours?"
Vex looked Rue in the eyes for a few seconds, then turned away. "You wouldn't understand."
"Try me." Getting annoyed, Saracen gripped Dexter's chin between thumb and forefinger. "Look at me, Dexter."
"It's pathetic. We're in a war and I'm worrying about someone who I'm beginning to think I was only a plaything to."
"Ah, I get you now. Look, whoever she is, forget her. You clearly deserve better."
Dexter was tempted to correct him, but left it. "I didn't even know anything was wrong, and suddenly I'm neglectful. He said he's had enough and now he's gone, but I still love him! I mean her!"
Saracen's face remained impassive. "Dexter, hate to go against all this modern day view stuff, but I don't care whether you're dating a guy or a girl as long as you do the same for me, mmkay?"
"Are you kidding? You're a womaniser."
"Is that all you see me as?"
"I'm sorry, I could list millions of women you've seduced."
"Because it's safer to flaunt the women than the men!" His eyes widened and he covered his mouth, glancing back towards where the others were. Dexter arched an eyebrow. "I like both, okay?" Saracen whispered furiously through gritted teeth.
What happened next surprised him. Dexter actually giggled. It was a proper, girly giggle, with his hand up in an attempt to muffle it, make it sound more manly. "Do you fancy anyone in the team?"
"Come on, if they hear, I am so dead..."
"We can move a little more out of earshot..."
With a sigh, he conceded, walking a little further on with Dexter. "I admit, some of them do have an attractive quality to them." He mumbled.
"Who?" The blond adept asked with a grin.
Saracen shook his head. "I don't know..."
Dexter gave a slight shove. "Come on. Is it Anton? You spend a lot of time around Anton."
"No! He's my best friend! That would be weird!"
Dexter grinned. "I dare you to kiss whoever it is."
"In front of everyone?" He asked, sounding a little uncomfortable.
"In front of me at the very least."
Saracen heaved a sigh and stood on his toes, considerably shorter than his friend, and planted a kiss on his lips.

Even so, as time went on, Dexter found he missed the fun, the raw emotion, the romance and adventure of being with Auron. What to do? This little affair he was starting with Saracen was going nowhere fast, and the best it could do was cause trouble.

A Good Deed Goes A Long Way

Fledgeling Comics pieces are, unfortunately, written mainly with my friends who have been following from the very beginning of my Teen Titans fangirl stage in mind. Sorry :3

Yang was in love. He was sure of it. He felt all tight and anxious and turned on when the girl was nearby. She was good to him, treated him in a way no-one had ever treated him before. He liked it. He was sat on the sofa, bad leg outstretched, ankle resting on a foot rest. He was, for the moment, in all honesty, bored. Mystica came into the room with a basket of various objects. Another English lesson. He wasn't bilingual, and he never would be, he was sure of it. Yin was the one who was good with this stuff.
"Okay, this is an apple..."
He rolled his eyes. He hadn't known the word, but he still rolled his eyes and nodded. "Yes, app...le..." He made a grab for it and she jerked away. Stupid. "...Hungry..."
Now it was her turn to roll eyes as she lazily tossed him the apple.
"You're a strange one, you are."
He shrugged. "Built."
"Uh...yeah...well, this is a glove." She told him, picking out the next object, then brushing her fingers delicately over his hand. "Goes on your hand...look, I'm sorry if I seem patronising..." She muttered, reading his face fairly well, "I don't know how much you do and don't know, I'm not good at this teaching stuff..."
He nodded. "Okay. Hands."
She smiled and pointed elsewhere. "Body parts is certainly something to work on. Foot. Feet. Foot is one, feet is both. Got it?"
"Uh..."
She giggled. "Okay, Yang, I'll try again." She put her hand on one of his feet. "Foot."
He nodded. "Foot...yes."
She put her other hand on his other foot. "Feet."
"Oh, Èr?" he held up two fingers and she nodded uncertainly.
"Two."
"Tooh"
"Yeah!"
He opened his mouth to speak, but that was when the screaming started. A woman, it was. So loud it made his whole head hurt. Gritting his teeth and shutting his eyes, Yang clamped his hands over his ears. It only seemed to make the screams louder. It was getting so painful he himself joined in.

"Make it stop!" She screamed in Chinese from her little prison cell. "For the love of God, please! Stop it!" The other prisoners looked at her in confusion. They couldn't see or hear anything harmful. The girl had just suddenly started screaming. The guards came running. They tried to sedate her. It didn't work. Suddenly it stopped, the screaming in her head, and she calmed down, relatively. She lay on the floor, sobbing. The woman she had seen...the woman who frequented nightmares of hers and her brother. "Mother..." She muttered, grasping out, grabbing the guard's jacket. "Please...I beg of you...help me..."

After managing to convince a psychic super to come down and see what was going on, the guards were thinking of not helping, but Gypsy thought otherwise.
"I've done a deep mind probe." She told Squad with a stony tone. "What I've found out is there's an innocent woman in grave danger. An innocent man has already died. My own team is on a mission, and I ought to join them, hence calling you. Something's been implanted into the girl's mind. I can't access it. Someone wants to lead the girl to wherever this innocent woman is being kept..."
Bloodshot sighed. "So we take Yin Feng out of prison and let her lead a rescue mission for her own mother..."
"Pretty much...good luck."

Yang's babbling made no sense to the Cult. He was hysterical once the pain had stopped, moving on his broken leg, trying to drag Mystica out the door, she guessed wanting her help with something.
"Yang!" She yelled. At least it shut him up, but his breathing was frantic, bordering hyperventilation. His grip on her wrist was like a vice. "Look, if you need our help with something..." He nodded. She was on the right track. "Okay, we'll help. I'll get the other Cult members assembled and we'll get going, yeah?"
He nodded again, tears welling in his eyes.

They approached the building. It was well hidden, they had to admit, but Yin seemed to know what she was doing...Alexei found somewhere to break in, him and Bloodshot working on disabling security mechanisms as they went. Red Wasp kept close to the prisoner, vice-like grip on her arm. She was actually quite pretty. Not as pretty as the demon girl he used to date, but...he shook his head, clearing his thoughts, as they went inside and forced open a locked door. That was when things started going down hill. The lights went off, and before anyone could light anything up, something hit Red Wasp and he blacked out.

When he woke up, he was on his side in snow and ice. He wasn't cold, thanks to his jacket. He sat up, brushing snow off his face, and saw Yin Feng leaning over him, looking worried and very, very cold. She was so used to her brother keeping her warm. She offered her hand and Vlad let her help him up, then grabbed her arm and forced her to walk down the path, letting her choose the direction. She just kept shivering. It was so pitiful. Vlad was going on a guilt trip, and with a sigh he offered her his coat. She gratefully accepted.

Metal armour on a metal grate...it wasn't the best sound. Just another thing to add to the list of things that had Yang grinding his teeth. The others didn't want to be there. A favour purely for Mystica, as convinced as she was that she could reform the little dragon man. He was too far gone, too far along the road of corruption. They all looked around cautiously, but the place they had been drawn to seemed...empty.
"There's nothing here." Ashburn muttered furiously. "Come on, dragon boy, where to?"
Yang just looked round helplessly and shrugged. "No clue. Gone."
Scrounger was sniffing round a door. With a roll of his eyes, being the only one to have noticed, Cailyin walked over to the door and kicked the blonde mutant gently away from it, but he came back, scratching at the door. With another roll of his eyes, he tore the door off it's hinges. "Guys...green room...suspicious..." He squeaked, glancing over his shoulder. The others came forward, looking through into the room illuminated by a green light. There was a long metal walkway with various luminous tubes of bubbling green liquid at regular intervals.
"No way..." Nefarious breathed, shocked.
"Right..." Ashburn muttered, thinking. "We have to shut this down, and shut it down good. This does not look good, and...is that a foetus in that one?"
Shame promptly vomited. Yang jerked away from the group and hobbled down the walkway.

He was hugging himself now. God, he realised why she was so cold, and she had been better dressed than he was without that coat. He looked longingly at the way it draped over her shoulders, and suddenly she turned her head, caught his eye. With a slight smile, she moved closer to him and draped half the coat over his shoulders, so half still stayed on hers. They reached a door. Frozen over. He rolled his eyes, not really caring, and blasted the door. It freaked Yin a little. Of course it did. A sudden blast of radiation. Loud crash. Opened her pretty blue eyes to see a hole melted in that door. They didn't go through, just stood, shellshocked. This was one hell of an operation, by the looks of it. Thousands upon thousands of pods.
"One of these...one of these might be my mother or father..."
"And the rest...they need to be helped as well..."
She nodded. "Agreed."

The Chinese woman in one of the green pods only looked familiar due to the old nightmares. If it hadn't been for those, he'd never had recognized his own mother. He went up to the tub, not sure how to get her out, when the thing collided with him from above. They both went right through the top walkway and crashed into the solid concrete floor. He landed on his back, on those oh so delicate wings, and let out a shriek of pain. The cult of blood appeared on the walkway, but Yang couldn't see them. Vision blurred by tears. The huge thing was crushing his chest. Breathe. He had to breathe. Chest couldn't expand. Armour, the armour that had grown with him, never ever been too tight or too loose, moulded itself to his shape...it was buckling inwards. Fire. He sent a blast of fire spiralling up. No effect. Suddenly water fell on him, and the creature flew off, letting out its own shriek. Yang breathed, greedy for oxygen. Finally, he pulled himself into a sitting position and the first thing he saw was Nefarious trying to fight a large black and red dragon. He stared up at it with wide eyes. The other Cult members were trying to force open the liquid baths without hurting those inside. He took off into the sky, still staring at this dragon, but it opened its mouth and shot a bolt of darkness at the young Mage, slamming him down into the concrete where Yang had been just a few seconds before. The dragon-boy bit his lip, cutting it on his fangs. The dragon was immune to his powers and had the same ones as he-he had taken his eyes off the large creature, and it body-slammed him. He was aware of glass breaking against his wings, cutting them up, getting soaked by something, a crack, like stepping on a rather thin but brittle twig...his wing was broken. He was aware he was screaming again. The last thing he thought before he passed out was 'For the love of all that is holy, do not pass out'.

Some dust crumbled down from the ceiling. Vlad yelped when a sliver of ice fell down the back of his shirt. They were both busy trying to find a way to open all the ice pods. Yin was getting unnerved by the sounds. Crashing, booming, shuddering...Vlad insisted it was ventilation. She wasn't convinced, especially when a piece of white wall moved, unfolded wings with blue undersides, opened blue eyes...it was like her, without the human side. The tail wrapped around her waist before she knew what was happening and she began blasting it. Red Wasp looked round, mouth agape. He shook his head quickly and sent a blast of his own, careful not to hit the girl. That was difficult. White hair, white armour, incredibly pale skin, all blending in so well with those pale scales. Suddenly, the dragon flew up, crashing through the floor above. Yin had his coat, but the room the dragon had brought her into looked warm, so he flew on in, and found himself reunited with a very shocked Squad. "I can't explain," He began, grinning, "but there are innocents frozen below and that dragon thing just sort of attacked."
"...Frozen..." Bloodshot echoed bluntly as Molten Lava hurled a fireball at the dragon.

The redhead prince couldn't get close enough to help Yang, especially since fire didn't hurt the dragon attempting to pick up the poor lad in its jaws. He was able to run forward and help the shocked woman to her feet. She babbled to him in Chinese and he paid no heed, just took her fast to safety. Yang was still out cold, but when the cracks appeared beneath Ashburn's feet, he panicked ever so slightly. This woman seemed fine, so the others were breaking the jars of liquid to free those inside. A little boy called down to the woman, and she replied. Mother and son? The boy wasn't much younger than the Feng twins, but there was something about him that made him seem very small. Something burst up beneath Ashburn. He closed his eyes against the sudden rush of air and suddenly found himself airborne, no longer anywhere near the woman, and then falling...and someone caught him. He opened his eyes and found himself landing, being carried by Avenger of Squad.

Yin was staring up in horror at her little brother, clamped between the teeth of the namesake dragon. Namesake? That had come to her brother right before they'd been transformed by those...those...those spirits! "Yang!" She yelled, voice thin and wailing.
The black dragon turned to look her in the eye. The white dragon looked at the black dragon.
"I know what you are..." Yin muttered quietly. "Yang said it before...when we were little...like an idea implanted into his head...like a prophecy...he was meant to do something, or something, but you two, you're our namesakes..." She realised that, while Yang had been attacked, she had not. She had struck her dragon first. "Let him go...He's my brother, I swore I'd protect him, let him go!"

And then she woke up outside. The building they had just been in was aflame. The people from the pods milled about in confusion, and a Chinese woman and her son fussed over the now-conscious Yang Feng. Yin shakily made her way over and sat beside her brother. The woman was talking to him in their native language.
"-A miracle, pure and simple. Min Chun, this is not the end, they are still out there, and they are not the bad guys...there's someone else...the secret behind everything you and Jiang Yi are...we will meet again, my son, when your blood is passed on to new life." She kissed his forehead while he looked at her quizzically, then turned to stare at his sister as she kissed her on the forehead as well. "Ming!" She called to the oddly small man, who came at her beck and call. The twins stared at one another a little longer, explaining the situation, using their telepathy to speak in private until Red Wasp came over to reclaim his jacket.

Wedding Disaster

Laughter rippled through the room, the groom glancing over his shoulder with a smirk at the gathered guests. Most had been invited by the bride. Artemis was only responsible for the presence of the Cult of Blood, Daisy and his youngest brother. A smile drifted across his face. The plus one system had brought each member's significant other, if they had one. Scrounger was just chained to a wall, chewing an old bit of an old fancy tunic Artemis used to wear when he was about twelve. Cailyin wasn't present. Probably for the best.
"I can think of no just impediment why I, Artemis Greogair Everild Ashburn may not be joined in marriage to Mary Elizabeth Foster..." He half-mumbled, embarrassed, repeating after the woman marrying them together.
Mary did the same, gently taking Artee's hands. He pulled away slightly from the cold touch, an involuntary reaction. "I can think of no just ime-impi-" Another ripple of laughter. Getting tongue-tied. Adorable. "Impediment why I, Mary Elizabeth Foster, may not be joined in marriage to Artemis Greogair Everild Ashburn."

Artee had to admit the cold touch was unpleasant, but he had been becoming more accustomed to it as time went on. The exchange of rings thing was awkward. The consummating kiss reluctant. Mostly he put on a brave face and claimed staying with the Cult of Blood so long had made him accustomed to the cold. The truth was he would probably never be properly used to it, being a prince of a kingdom of fire. People like him needed very warm climates to remain healthy. At least he was never too hot.

Kathy nudged Dennis, pointing. "How many has Adam had?" She asked in French. Dennis snickered and shrugged.
"Too many."
Adam had hold of a very annoyed Ryan's wrist with one hand, a glass in the other that was desperately trying to hold on to the champagne within as the magician waved it so wildly. Whatever he was saying, it was definitely worth a slap, possibly a kick where it hurts.

As of late, Pim Van Dael had been looking increasingly ill. He had been seen talking to himself lately as well. That was what drew Scrounger to him. Scents of mental illness. Scrounger loved that stuff. It was clear he unnerved Pim, who kept trying to shoo him away half-desperately. Well, at least they weren't drunk. Morticia was drunk, and her boyfriend was trying to avoid her. Actually, the only old Cult members who weren't drunk were Scrounger and Mystica, and Mystica wasn't exactly enjoying herself, sat in a corner with only Persephone, Lunetta and Yang to talk to...

Outside, across the road, in a park, sat some very bored villains. Ruby cuddled up close to Beau, her boyfriend, hand resting gently on her swollen stomach. Kold yawned, leaning back on the grass. It was dark, the way people like them liked it, especially when they saw the drunk girl stagger out to throw up outside the bar. Amethyst Got to her feet, fists clenching. The drunk girl was a member of the Cult of Blood. The cult only went somewhere as a group, the girl would not be alone. Amethyst had a bit of a thing against Ashburn. Officially, you could have thought of her as a crazy ex. Pink electricity danced around her fists. She had never been a villain beforehand, but she had made friends with a girl she hadn't known was a villain. She sent her charge at the horned blonde before the bar, who saw and twirled out of the way, shrieking. Kold and Ice grinned, getting up to join the bombardment. Beau and Ruby just watched, admiring the wild vectors slashing out, cutting through ice and crystal, occasionally reaching far enough to slash skin and steel. By now she was bleeding herself, caught countless times by projectiles, her screams masked by the booming music and sounds of fun, but the more it happened, the more people inside became aware, and finally five people came to investigate, long before Shame was too badly damaged. When they came out, Kold and Amethyst faltered, stopped shooting, but Ice kept on with her onslaught, cackling. Beau stepped forward this time, bowing his head and splaying his hands before him, ripping up the ground in front of the building, along with electrical wires and piping, blocking off the door and causing general chaos.

The music shut off, the lights went out and the laughter died down. A couple of beams of light flickered on in the palms of people present and Katherine Devlin tried the door. It wouldn't budge. Lunetta, Shame, Tazor, Karma, Kitzu and Mystica were all out there and by the looks of it, couldn't get back in. With a scream of frustration, she kicked the door. It didn't even rattle in its frame. Instead, she just hurt her foot. That was when the claws pierced through the opposite wall, dragging and rotating, forming a hole large enough for the Dagger to step through. "Having a party?" She asked politely, hands behind her back. "Mind if we crash?"
Artemis swore. This was what happened when over half the heroes in Circle and companions didn't wear masks. His eye met Adam's, but the next thing they knew, Scrounger had charged the Dagger, and suddenly the pipes forming the heating system were broken, jutting out, sharp, hazardous, spraying hot steam all over. There were a few screams. Ashburn had lost sight of all his friends, and his wife. Something collided with him.  He was on the floor, unable to breathe, someone making some kind of pink light stood above him and whoever had fallen on him. Scrounger. Amethyst. Damn it. He sent twin jets of fire at her, but she was gone in an instant and he focussed on getting the thing that was Scrounger off him. He was unconscious. Bleeding badly. "Sedge!" He yelled over the noise in the background, trying to ignore the flashes of light, explosions, ice shots, fireblasts..."Sedge, wake up, please!" He had to admit, he was close to all of the members of the Cult. Was Sedge even breathing? He was quickly distracted from checking by something else. Adam. Adam was fighting the Dagger. He still sucked big time at magic. He had summoned a cricket bat into his hand, but that was already in pieces. He had clearly tried a wide variety of things on her, but it appeared he knew no spell that could be of help, and now he was just backing off, trying to think. The Dagger retracted her claws, managing to confuse him, and gave him a little shove back, swiping his feet out from under him with one of her boots.

She must have seen the pipe behind him. At first, Adam didn't register it had stabbed him, but he certainly registered the pain. His breath was coming in irregular gasps and half-sobs, eyes wide. It had gone right through his belly. He looked down and could see the blood-coated lead right there. Lead piping. Of all the things to be stabbed by, it would have to be something toxic. His hands gripped the protruding edge of the pipe, tears forming in his eyes. Being his first time, if he survived this he would most likely be put off drinking for a lifetime. Next he knew, Ashburn was on his feet, hurling his twin jets, setting the Dagger alight.
"I can't have one day!" He screamed, kicking her to the floor and looking for the next one, which wasn't hard. He turned and he was face-to-face with Ice. "It's my wedding day. I just wanted to have a good day, and just like every single other day of my life, it's been ruined by who I am and how others see me!"
Ice grinned. The next thing he knew, he felt the cold from behind him, frozen solid before he had time to react.

His eyes fluttered open. Someone was crouched above him. Archibald. His little brother. God, he was so cold...
"Artee, you're alive!" He sounded so relieved. The block of ice...god, his mind was jumbled. He sat up, joints stiff, and looked around. Living room. Cult of Blood. Lying on the floor. Scrounger was curled up on the sofa, Cailyin sat cross-legged beside him. Healed. Cailyin knew magic. Lunetta could heal. One of those two. He was fine, anyway. Mystica and Kitzu were in the corner, looking pretty damn miserable. "Adam and Morticia...?"
Cailyin shook his head. "Adam's in hospital. Tish...sorry."
"Ryan and Adam's family are waiting at the hospital to see if he'll be okay..." Mystica told him quietly.
Cailyin nodded and stopped the next question before Artee so much as opened his mouth. "Mary's fine. She beat the hell out of Amethyst from what I've heard. Most she's got is a little scratch on her face. Nattalie was grabbed and brought far away from the fight as soon as it broke out. Persephone."