Mystics And Bolsheviks (Invited)

[Red Robin]

Players: Red Robin, Static Shock, "Terra"
Location(s): Petrograd, Russia; 1916
Plot Summary: Red Robin and the rest of the Titans are brought back in time to Russia in 1916 so that Grigori Rasputin can enlist their aid in preventing his demise.
--

Tim groaned quietly. He couldn't be sure of what had happened yet, but he did know that his head hurt like hell. His eyes opened behind his mask, and a moment later he scowled. His hands were bound behind his back and his gloves were gone. That wasn't a good start. He exhaled sharply through his nose as his gaze lifted, scanning the area around him. He appeared to be in some kind of cell; the dank, musty smell and the grimy floor made it clear that nobody had thought to clean the place out in the while. The ground was cold and uncomfortable, and he slowly used his elbows to push himself up into a seated position. First things first: get the stupid bindings off his wrists.

This led to his next unfortunate conclusion. His belt was gone. Of course. Not that that really made a huge difference in the long run; it was just going to make his job more difficult. The end result would be the same. Tim twisted his lips as he turned his head to observe his surroundings. It was too dark to see very well, but it didn't sound like anyone else was in there. The place didn't smell like any American prison he had ever seen, nor was the dirt floor up to code. South America, maybe? No, it was too cold, and the humidity was almost nonexistent. Even at this time of year, anywhere near the equator would have been still fairly warm. Although his suit helped keep him insulated, his face was freezing. Definitely somewhere northern. Canada, perhaps, or Eurasia; Russia even. He was leaning toward the latter two options.

How long had he been out? It felt like it had been a while, but the memories of what had happened previously were fuzzy. He had been out on patrol, and heard a cry, then followed it to the source... and then he woke up here, wherever 'here' happened to be. Tim inhaled deeply through his nose. Over the damp smell of the cell, there were hints of burning coal. He was near somewhere industrial. He rolled onto his feet and stood, then approached the wall of the cell and pressed his ears against it. He didn't hear much going on outside, or at least not a great deal of traffic noises. He was probably somewhere secluded, which made sense. Tim sat back down, leaned back, and brought his hands underneath his backside and legs so that his arms were now situated in front of him. He reached up and activated his earpiece, pleased to see that that much was still in place. "Oracle, it's me," he said, and then his scowl deepened further. There was nothing on the other line. "Oracle? Hello?" Nothing still. He switched to a different frequency. "Batman, please tell me you're there." Again, only silence.

Now he was worried.

Where was he that he couldn't even reach Babs? Tim's question was partially answered when the door to the room opened, casting a streak of light onto the floor. With the room now more illuminated, he could see a row of cells opposing him; inside were several of his teammates, still unconscious. Through the door stepped two men, dressed in what looked to be Imperial Russian Army uniforms. That really wasn't normal. Tim raised a brow when they approached his cell and one muttered something to the other. <"I can't even imagine what he would want with someone like this,"> he said in Russian. His companion shook his head. <"It's best not to ask. I'm not sure I want to know."> Tim sat silently as they unlocked his cell door, grabbed him by the arms, and dragged him to his feet before shoving him forward in order to make him walk. Best to not let them know that he spoke Russian fluently; he would learn more that way.

As the two soldiers escorted Tim from the room of cells, several more soldiers passed them, heading to the other imprisoned Titans. Briefly, Tim glanced over his shoulder before he was given another shove between his shoulder blades. So he was in Russia, clearly... but what was with the clothing and the weapons? Why wouldn't his communicator work? A sinking feeling overcame him as he contemplated one option, but that was a pretty far-out conclusion and there were much more plausible ones to explore first. Tim was led down several hallways before arriving at his apparent destination; just after stepping through the door he was kicked further inside. He stumbled slightly, then scowled as he looked up. Immediately, his brows shot up, and the realization of what was going on was almost enough to distract him from the sounds of several of his teammates being brought in behind him. Standing before them was a tall, lanky man dressed in robes. His gaunt face sported a long, dark beard and even darker eyes. With as much time as he had spent with his nose buried in history books, Tim would have recognized him anywhere.

"Rasputin."

[Gemini]

Footsteps pounded against the flooded stone floor. The brunette girl ran frantically. She never stopped to look back, she just ran down the dark hallway fear imprinted on her face. A low guttural voice laughed at her as she ran. The girl tripped on a raised flagstone and fell down onto the floor. Gemini rolled over clutching her leg. A dark shadow reared up on her, glaring at her with violent blue eyes that shattered her soul. She had been running for hours.. for days even. Time lost all sense of meaning when the only thing that was keeping you sane, was the very same thing that was draining your faith. She knew solace in the voice that chased her, she knew a love in it.. and yet that love was absent here and now. The only concept it portrayed to her was unabashed, and deep seated disgust. Mom... please...

Poor girl. You're useless without my help aren't you? Nineteen years I've been watching after you, watching you claim yourself as my child and yet fail to do anything of use to the world. You cling to the sides of greater beings like a parasite and yearn for their adoration and love, all while shirking what has driven you to this point. Even now in the base of your enemies, you fraternize with them. You enjoy their company.. The people who killed me... You embarrass me. The shadow stretched until it wrapped around Gemini's gasping throat. She felt a cold hand on her neck, like a sobering wave of water it spread through her as it superheated. An explosion erupted through herand around her as the room around her seemed to be blasted from recognition. Her body, disintegrated from the initial explosion became a small pile of ashes in the spot where she stood. Nothing left to love... nor a parting speech to instill final wishes or love... just a dark pile of nothing as a final piss off from the demon.

Aaaaaaaagh! Gemini rose from her bed in a cold sweat. She was in Titan's Tower... there was no shadow around her.. she was safe. She got up slowly and limped to her personal bathroom. Flipping the switch, the light came on and she saw what her dreams had done to her self-image. It was her Mother's face. Madame Rouge's face, Atlee's body and tears just falling freely onto the ground. Stop it.. stop it.. stop... A hand ran up to her eyes and wiped the tears away as she completed the change back to Atlee's form. That would've just been.. the end of her tenure here.. she needed to stop sleeping, it was the cousin of death. She would've mused on her philosophy a bit more if it wasn't for the derisive laughter coming from behind her.

Familiar... curt and painful laughter. Gemini spun around and threw her hands up to protect herself, until the darkness surrounded her again. She was alone and she was cold... It was some dark blessing that she wasn't plagued by nightmares this time around. Although waking up in the arms of two burly men with guns wasn't exactly... well she was sure it wasn't her birthday, though Atlee might've had similar tastes in Birthday plans. As soon as her eyes were fully open, the men released her and nudged her along the path with a rifle in her back. Alright.. alright.. whatever's gone wrong, I'm sure we can work this ou... Another heavy thump to her back and a gruffly accented, Past' zakroi!, to tide her over. Russian? Whatever she had gotten into was obviously going to be a major event.

As she was finally escorted to her final destination and placed alongside Robin, she knew that things were going to be.. VERY bad. Rasputin... as in the bad guy from Anastasia? She straightened up and glanced to Robin for a moment before coming back towards their host. If this is... a Practical Joke, I think I may be missing on the punchline. If this is not a joke.. then what is the plan? Gemini and the Case of the Time Travelling Titans... Featuring Christopher Lloyd.

[bangbaby]

“This is some bullshit!” were the first words out of Virgil’s mouth when he finally realized where he was. He was in a prison cell instead of taking a nap. He had been looking forward to waking up, eating a slice of pizza, going on patrol and then going to sleep. This was not what he wanted. The teenager groaned and then sniffed the air. It was freezing in here yet his prison cell smelled like ash at the same time. He wasn’t entirely sure what was going on but he aimed to find out. All he needed to do was get rid of these bonds. Virgil closed his eyes and attempted to release a blast of electricity that would successfully sever the ropes. Yet the power he could so easily access didn’t come. He closed his eyes, gritted his teeth and tried again.

Still nothing.

Without powers he was screwed but he had been in situations like this before. Those situations hadn’t ended well either but Virgil figured that he had learned enough from them to improve. He glanced behind his shoulder and noticed that there was a single glass pane that separated him from the outside. He wiggled his way towards the wall and stood to his feet. After making sure that he was positioned directly in front of it he titled his head forward and then slammed it backwards. Glass showered around him and Virgil managed to nab a larger shard from the ground. Just as he did so two guards burst in. Virgil took one look at them and the pieces began to assemble in his head. “What…is this 1915 or something?” That was both a joke and a serious question. That could be the only reason why the guards were wielding swords and ancient muskets. The two of them chattered in Russian, a language Virgil didn’t understand.

Then they grabbed him and began to force him to walk down the hall. In the haste Virgil dropped his shard of glass and missed his chance. Though in hindsight he wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do if he freed himself. He definitely wasn’t the type of person who would just coldly stab the guards surrounding him. Eventually Virgil found himself pushed inside a small room. He glanced at Tim and then at Terra. So he wasn’t alone. That was a good thing. He turned from his teammates to look at the man standing in front of them. What he saw triggered every alarm in his system. “…y-you’re…” He paused. “I didn’t get into the business to get zapped around the time stream.” He finally mumbled dumbly.

[Red Robin]

First things first: he analyzed what he did know rather than get overwhelmed by what he didn't. What Tim did know was that his earlier theory that they had somehow been forced back in time appeared to be correct. They were in Russia somewhere - an industrial area, he had already decided - and he, Static, and Terra had all been abducted and brought to face Grigori Rasputin. He didn't have his belt, nor his gloves, nor a way of contacting Babs or Dick, and it was a safe bet that Rasputin had found a safe way to restrain both of his teammates given that neither of him had hit the man in the face either with a big rock or a jolt of electricity.

That was what he knew of their situation. On to what he knew of their apparent captor. Rasputin had been a holy man and healer for the Romanov family, a confidant of the Tsarina and openly hated by the Russian people. He had died in December of 1916, which meant that they must have been brought back to shortly before then, given the frigid temperature of the cells they had been in and the especially haggard look on Rasputin's face. He knew his time was coming to an end. There had been rumors that the man was some sort of mystic, a wizard even, and if he had managed to bring them back in time then it seemed plausible that such claims were true. One at a time, Tim's teammates spoke up. "It happens every now and then," he muttered to Virgil, though he kept his eyes on Rasputin. Terra's comment remained unanswered. For the time being, there was no plan. Not yet. He just needed a little bit of time to come up with something. First, he had to find out exactly what was going on.

<"What do you want with us?"> Tim asked in effortless Russian. Rasputin eyed him, then looked to the soldiers who had brought him his prisoners. <"Leave us,"> he insisted with a wave of his hands. The guards glanced dubiously at the other before they all departed. Interesting, Tim thought. He didn't want anyone to know what was going on. Rasputin murmured something in a language Tim didn't understand, and a moment later, he cringed as an odd, stinging sensation overtook his mind. A second later, it was gone. "This should work better," Rasputin said, now in English as clear as day. Some kind of spell, Tim concluded. "I want you all to understand this." He lowered his arms to his sides and looked over the Titans with a gaunt, solemn expression. "I have brought you here for one purpose and one purpose only," he explained. "There is an uprising. Can you hear it?"

For a moment, the room was silent, and the faint sound of shouting could be heard in the distance. Tim's eyes narrowed. Industrial zone, lots of angry people... they had to be in the city, most likely in what was now St. Petersburg in their own time. "What do you want with us?" Tim repeated, looking back to Rasputin. The bearded man smiled a smile that echoed disturbingly of a serpent. "You all," he answered, "will quell this resistance. You will send those peasants back where they belong and destroy their would-be revolution. Most importantly, you will serve as my personal protectors. You will do this or you will never see your home again."

[Gemini]

As she stood beside Robin, she heard the approach of a set of footsteps. She glanced around the shoulder and if it wasn't for the intense acting training she had gone through before going undercover, her eyes would've mirrored her heart in the drop it made. It was Virgil... he wasn't in his static outfit, Robin had obviously been on patrol when they kidnapped him and Gemini made sure to change into the Terra outfit when she heard the laughter sneaking up on her. She wanted to smile at him, make a joke about the situation and maybe even bring her arm up and around to choke Rasputin out.. and yet she was forced to stay in character. Wherever we are... the ground feels wrong. Much different than the Earth I know... something is churning beneath it... it's almost reminiscent of Raven's magic. A bold faced lie? You're damned right.

While her skinweave made the ground beneath her a doll to be manipulated, she still didn't have Atlee's geo-sense... she did have a brain though and there were no time travel machines in ancient russia, so Magic was the next best guess. As Tim went off about talking to Rasputin in russian, she looked over at Static and glanced down towards his hands. No spark? She spoke in hushed whispers, hoping to understand why they hadn't mounted a full on 'Titans Go' moment yet. She flexed her pinky fingers from her binds and a few loose pebbles on the ground rattled around, coming closer and closer to her body. She dreaded to know why her powers were still active. If she was in disguise than she could only assume that Rasputin knew about her true allegiance.

He was certainly aware of how to get into her head. She twitched violently for a moment until Rasputin's gravelly yet unmistakably english voice became audible. She glanced up towards him as he spoke, measuring his words and taking in a deeper understanding to how he said them, how fast he said them and which words he chose specifically. It seemed that this rebellion was more than just a thorn in his side... if History was to be believed, he would be dying very soon... and in one of the most gruesome manners ever recorded. She had to say that she felt something of a sadness for his upcoming demise. As he spoke, she made her way towards the window and took in the sight of the fire growing larger over the horizon. Quell a revolution, kill and mentally cripple an entire race of people.. or be trapped in ancient russia while their only hope of escape gets shot, stabbed, clubbed, poisoned and drowned.

I have but two questions.. if I am permitted to ask them of you, Father Grigori? She turned back towards the group and blinked slowly, her eyes closed for a long moment and her mouth moving slightly as if she were counting the stampeding feet coming towards the palace. If you were to hazard a guess... what is today's date? And how did you manage to.. take away our powers? That was the most interesting question of the night. The Black Monk had more than just invulnerability at his disposal if his magical was powerful enough displace them in time and depower them all. Well... most of them. She twisted and turned her wrists around in her handcuffs until she heard the metal groan ever so slightly. She'd be ready to break out at a moment's notice, save the team... and with any luck, leave them behind in 1916. Now that would be an amazing christmas present for her.