All five pairs of eyes stared me down, demanding answers.
"What's going on?" Robin began.
I sighed internally, shaking my head. This isn't going to be easy.
"I know you all probably don't trust me much, and I understand that. I can see you all mean well for the safety of the city and each other. Please heed my warning," I begged.
Everyone's faces contorted into overwhelming confusion and concern.
"Who's after you?" Robin asked.
"Someone you don't want to meet."
I sprinted and flew off into the distance, heading towards the middle of Jump City.
(Robin's POV)
I could feel the fear she tried so hard to mask. She's truly afraid.
As the team and I descended into the living room, Raven spoke up.
"We can't trust her. This is suspicious behavior and it seems she's involved with something dangerous. Someone can get hurt."
"She's got a point, there Robin. Amber just got here yesterday. She's hiding something big from us, and if she's on the wrong side of the tracks we're going to have to turn her in," Cyborg agreed.
"She's not a bad guy! What's with you guys putting up judgment!?" Beast Boy stepped in.
Starfire whimpered slightly and spoke up. "Friends, she means no harm. Amber is protecting us from this threat she spoke of."
"Guys," I started, feeling my voice firm and strike, "neither of us should be saying anything. Remember how messy everything was when Slade showed up?"
Nobody dared to fire back, allowing me to continue, "She has intention to protect us. You all heard her, she told us to stay inside. She knows she has to explain what's going on. It's obvious she's running from someone. Didn't you guys see what she went through after she took down Cinderblock?"
I noticed she seemed a bit hesitant talking about Clark and Kara, but Clark in particular.
What happened before she arrived to Jump City?
(Amber's POV)
As I made it to the middle of the city, I spotted Lex about fifty feet away, on the roof top of a building. His back was to me, so I'm guessing he was expecting me here.
I tried to be as quiet as possible, but it still didn't work. Even for a human in an exoskeleton suit, Lex still heard my foot steps.
"Amber! What a joy to finally see you again," he said with a smirk. A very blood boiling smirk.
"You attacked Superman and I two days ago. Calm yourself," I retorted sarcastically.
He smiled a big smile, and it only made me angrier. "What do you want? There's nothing for you here. So why don't you just pack up and go home before I throw you there!?" I started to lose it a bit.
"Dear, what I want is for you to stop resisting and join me." That was all he said, and I completely lost my temper.
"What part of 'NO' do you not understand!? There's no good reason for me to join you. To the public you're a man of generosity, a man of knowledge, but I know the truth, and I will expose you. Now LEAVE!" I snarled.
By then, I was breathing heavily, and slowly, because I was wasting my energy on resistance. I didn't want that life. I didn't want anything more right now than to feel and be safe.
"Suit yourself." And then, he swung at me. I easily dodged it, only to be gripped tightly by my legs and swung hard on to the roof. My head hit the roof hard enough that a huge mass of the cement was crushed into pieces.
I looked up to see a large foot coming towards my chest, but luckily I gripped it in time and hurled Lex across the roof, with a massive force. That seemed to have triggered his temper, because next thing you know, he sent a mass amount of combos at me.
Suddenly, I ended up on the ground, feeling the pain of the Kryptonite everywhere. Just like two days ago, the pain of heavy bruising and body aches overwhelmed me. I fell down on my hands and knees, trying to get back up, only to satisfy Lex.
He had a good grip of my head and slammed it into the concrete. My vision began to fade as darkness swarmed in my eyes.
Lex pulled out a knife, and it only made the pain stronger. The blade altogether was covered in a coating of Kryptonite - I could feel the pain in my body progressively intensifying.
"All choices come with consequences, Amber. So be prepared for events to come," he warned. Because I had been exposed to Kryptonite, I was weakened, and couldn't use my powers. I was practically stripped down to a living, normal human. Not that I had a problem with that, but in my current predicament it's not the best time.
He gripped my neck very tightly, causing my vision to darken further. I tried to breathe through my mouth, but it only made it worse, so I attempted holding my breath.
The next thing he did made me clench my teeth and shut my eyes at the searing pain that began to radiate through me.
For the first time ever, I felt the pain of a knife tearing into my skin. From what I've heard, the blade against human flesh was unpleasant. I didn't think it'd be this unpleasant. Not this painful.
I had enough energy to hear him leave. From there I collapsed onto the roof on my back, making a big mistake.
My own scream filled the air as I realized that he tore at my back with the knife, where my own blood spilled onto concrete for the first time.
(Robin's POV)
Time passed since Amber left the tower. I grew more tense by the second, not knowing where to start.
"We need to find her. She's been out for a while," I started. Starfire was beginning to say something when the klaxon alarm system went off in the living room, quickly revealing the trouble on our screen.
"Cinderblock's at it again. Let's go take care of him," said Beast Boy. We rushed out of the tower and headed straight for the city, completely disregarding Amber's warning to stay inside.
Cyborg rode on Beast Boy's now animal transformed back, Starfire flew alone, and Raven made room for us to fly.
"Let's take care of this guy. TITANS GO!!!" I instructed.
(Amber's POV)
I lay on the roof top for what felt like hours. I couldn't find it in me to move right away. The sun dimmed down a bit, but it was still strong. I knew I had to get back to the tower fast. I have explaining to do.
I sat up, little by little and I was almost halfway when I heard the Titans. It seems they had a bit of crime fighting to do. Managing to stumble and fly off the roof, I went back to the tower, stumbling in flight more than once.
After what seemed like eternity, I found Titans Tower and went inside through the roof door. I made it into the living room and ran for the infirmary room, where I was yesterday.
I opened about three drawers and retrieved the necessary items to clean up my wounds: Antiseptic, cotton pads, and gauze.
If I did this the neat way, they'd be back too soon. I'm going to have to get messy.
I tore the top half of my uniform off, pouring antiseptic on every nook and cranny of my injuries.
If I were to picture acid melting and burning my body away, it would have been this.
I used the torn sleeves of my uniform to soak up the antiseptic on the floor. As I was about to head for the living room, I heard the footsteps, and Beast Boy's voice. "It smells like antiseptic man. The house reeks!" he whined.
"That's not good."
I gasped, grabbed my bag and sped to the bathroom. I threw my suit into my bag and put on a new one, composing and cleaning myself up as quickly as I could. They were in the living room, waiting for me. They knew I was here.
"Hey," I greeted shyly. Raven and Cyborg raised their eyebrows at me, demanding that I explain myself. I knew I had to.
I walked towards them, and I was able to see that they knew something wasn't right. I was wobbly, and stumbling a bit.
"Friend! Are you alright?" asked Starfire.
"I'm fine. Everything's fine. I know it's time for explanations so I'll just-"
Crash!
I ended up running into the kitchen island with my left arm, stopping any sign of reality as pain enveloped me tightly, constricting me from any common sense. I fell to the floor in an instant, gripping my arm and cringing lowly.
All I felt at that moment was the pain. I felt the wounds produce more blood, and my entire left arm throbbed insanely. My head began to pound at the amount of excruciating pain running in me. I could feel myself sweating as the pain was overwhelming my body.
I was on the floor like a fool, clenching my teeth roughly to keep me from screaming. My breath was held, to ease the pain of it.
But that didn't last too long, because my breath was coming out in pained, shortened gasps.
I felt two arms around me, towering me from what seemed like the world. A voice filled my ears.
"Amber, who did this to you?" Robin asked.
A couple of tears ran down my face as I answered Robin in a harsh whisper.
"Lex. Lex Luthor."