"NO! Offer my one more bowl of that god awful Jelly and I swear I shall wreak havoc on this entire institute!!!" was the words that accompanied the loud squelching sound as the wobbling mass of jelly in it's little plastic container was smeared across the wall.

"Not again..." came the groaned complaint of the Matron who was in the process of doing her rounds. Ever since a week ago when her hospital had been over run with a strange sequence of horrific attacks which had then lead to the situation being dominated by a bunch of children hovering fro word of their friend's conditions and super heroed teens strutting through the hospital corridors issues commands and expecting the nursing staff to comply without complaint!

Well she was tired of it, she was a nurse of status here and she was in charge of the patients, and she had had quite enough of the young patient currently threatening to decimate the hospital due to her disgust of the jelly! Not only that but her...unusual friend...had also spent the entire week sleeping not only in the same room, but on the bed with the patient!!!

The Matron stormed into the room and cringed at the green substance sliding down the wall to reach the skirting boards, she sighed deeply, her faded blue eyes looked tired, she'd already been on duty for 9 hours and her feet were tired as was her mind, she really didn't need this!

"Now see here young lady, that kind of behaviour is uncalled for!" She bellowed at the girl who looked back at her unwaveringly, only with a faint, almost ignorant smirk on her face as her black eyes, eyes that were impossibly dark and foreboding that no human should possess them...but then again, as the rumours circling the hospital seemed to testify to...these two didn't exactly fit the description of normal human teenagers!

Duo looked at the Matron with a smirk, she actually enjoyed pissing this bossy, self-involved woman off! "Then why don't you try and offer my something that can be described as edible!" Duo retorted!

She was bored, god she was so way beyond bored it wasn't even funny! Despite the fact that Super had been at her side for the last week, literally only leaving for toilet breaks! She had also taken a dislike to the Matron after she had confiscated the Chinese that Super had sneaked in for her after she had complained first time about the hospital food! "The food here is perfectly acceptable!"

"The food here is bloody atrocious!" Duo sniped back, "you know we could all be made happy if you people would just let me LEAVE!!!"

"You're condition is still...unstable..." she said, not really being able to sum up her condition...the girl had had grievous wounds to her back, the bruising to her back had hardly healed, the process seemed to be far slower than in most cases. The bruising was still a horrific black and blue, not fading to a sickening yellow tinge...

"You're back is still in a horrific state, the doctor has suggested that you remain for another week at least until we can see a definite reduction in the bruising and swelling..."

Her voice trailed off as a faint glint of violet developed in the girl’s already abnormal eyes causing her to pause. "Why don't you let me go home and I'll come back for checkups..." she said, her voice growing in excitement at the prospect.

"I don't think Doctor Compton would agree to..."

"Great! Super, please get me the hell out of here!"

Supersonic found himself stiffling a laugh as Duo and the nurse had yet another arguement. He'd be lying if he said he didn't find these highly amusing, he found himself trying to calculate what food she'd throw at the wall and in what order. The scary thing was that he almost always predicted right. He did perk up a little more when he heard Duo ask him to leave.

A smirk found it's way across his face as the nurse headed to block they're way. Blurring past her and running out the room, Super was back in a few seconds with a clipboard. "Please sign here, and here, and here..." The speedster said quickly pointing to each of the lines on the paper. "Sir...I'm not going to just..." Placing the pen into her hand, Super continued to hurry the nurse. "Come on this is really important, hurry! Hurry! Hurry!" With that Super started hopping around the nurse like a madman on crack saying 'Sign! Sign! Sign!'

Probaby out of pure annoyance the nurse quickly signed the paper. "Okay okay, just stop doing that! What am I signing anyway...?" With a smile Marx pointed to the top of the sheet which read 'Release Form' "Been a pleasure doing business with you!" Quickly, he picked up Duo being as careful as possible and flew out the window. The light was almost blinding at first, but Super's eyes gradually began to adjust. It was nice to get out of that place, he was completely grateful for all of they're help but there was really nothing more that could be done. Duo's body would heal eventually, probably faster if she wasn't annoyed at the terrible food she was forced to eat everyday. "So Duo, where to?"

"So Duo, where to?"

Duo smiled up at Super who was travelling at a fraction of the speed he normal would...it felt weird to be off the ground...and knowing she wasn't in control of it...

She felt a twinge of sadness as she looked down at the ground passing below her...she would never be able to see the world from this angle again, not without the assistance of a flyer like Marxy...

But that had been her choice...a choice she still didn't truly regret, although she would never tell Marxy that...so she continued to smile at him, happy to relax in his arms as he flew her away from the horrific hospital food!

"I don't think I want to go back to Elias just yet..." Duo answered, they had fed the school some bogus story of her being in a accident, but since her back was still in an atrocious state she didn't want to be back in the school environment just yet with all her class mates buzzing around her like a crew of mother hens!

"Lets go back to Titan's Tower!" Duo said.

"All aboard! One way trip to Titans Tower, please keep your hands around the Supersonic at all times...or I'll have to fly and catch you...which could be fun...or not if I can't catch you....which I seriously doubt because I can move at superspeed, I could techically miss you a couple of times and still catch you before you hit the ground. Of course if you go close enough it'd be tricky because I'd have to compensate for all that momentum and..." As usual it took awhile for Supersonic to realize he was babbling, he could usually tell by the amused look on Duo's face whenever he did. Of course that didn't necessarily mean that he'd stop.

Finally reaching the Tower, Super flew into Duo's room through the window which by now he'd gotten accostumed to doing. "Home sweet home...er headquarters anyway." Super said with a smile as he put Duo down. He couldn't remember the last time he had to fly Duo around so much, not that he minded but it was a reminder that Duo could no longer fly by herself. The last time was when her wings were dyed pink, though she still refused to tell him exactly how that happened! Taking a seat by the TV Super found himself looking around. He hadn't even been in the headquarters since he brought Cassie after she'd been attacked. The fact that Vicious was able to get into both headquarters so easily still unnerved him, but he tried to push those feelings aside as he looked at Duo.

"Nobody's really here yet, but it's a weekday so they're probably still in school" Super started to spin around in the chair. "So...um...what do you want to do now? I could get one of my extra hoodies and then we could be twins!"

Duo sat on her bed, gingerly stretching; she could now raise her arms above her head without screaming aloud in pain, although there was still a constant throbbing sensation that consumed the majority of her back.

Duo looked down at the hoodie she was wearing courtesy of Marxy, she had been wearing it almost constantly, save for the time when the nurse had practically pried it away from her to have it washed! Duo had NOT been impressed!

She giggled a bit at the thought of her and Marxy being twins, they already had the spiritual link going on and abnormal eyes, matching hoodies would suit them to a "T"!!!

"Go on then, lets be all matching!" She said smiling brilliantly...her smiles had returned of late...before...before Lister's return her happy notes had been far and few between...being unhappy wit Marxy, loosing Raido, killing Vittorio...and then for all the tears she shed...

She was enjoying being able to smile again...

But even though the smiles were wide and genuine, behind every single one was still a vicious pain; the nightmares had been frequent and so vivid reality had been distorted!

"I guess I could use a shower, been shacked up in a hospital bed so long I must be more than stinky!" She said with a laugh.

She rose carefully from the bed, getting use to supporting her own weight again, she had literally been confined to her bed at the hospital any time she did move to walk someone would "advise" her against it!

Supersonic found himself smiling as Duo actually agreed for them to have matching hoodies. To be honest he wasn't expecting her to accept the offer but now that she did it was a totally awesome idea. He noticed that Duo was smiling more and more as the week went on. And after everything that happened he was glad that he was having that effect on her. No one should be unhappy all the time regardless of what some villains who shall remain nameless says.

"I guess I could use a shower, been shacked up in a hospital bed so long I must be more than stinky!"

Super began to laugh a bit at the statement before it finally sunk in that he'd be leaving. There was no doubt that Duo wanted at least some time to herself after being with Super nonstop for a week. But even though it wouldn't be long he really didn't want to go, though it'd probably be best to give her some space. Thinking about it, it wasn't going to be especially fun since that's where he'd been kidnapped. But it was his headquarters and at the moment the closest thing he had to a home in this dimension, he'd have to face it at some point.

"Well...I'll see you in a couple of hours Duo." Super said trying to hide the slight depression in his voice. With a smile trying to hide his true feelings Super made his way to the door.

"Well...I'll see you in a couple of hours Duo."

Duo's eyes flared wide and she felt her breath catch in her chest. He was going to leave...for several hours...it sounded childish but he was her security blanket! She knew it was most likely unhealthy to be so dependent on him but...even so...after everything she had endure, super too...she felt they were allowed a little time to be weak and dependent on each other!

"NO!!!" Duo yelled, louder than was necessary and she felt herself blushing brightly with embarrassment. "I mean...go get your hoodie...if you want but...please come back straight away. I won't be long in the shower, promise!" She said earnestly!

Marx opened his eyes wide in surprise at the loud 'No', but quickly found himself smiling. She didn't want to be alone either, thank goodness. Even though it was really only going to be a few hours, it was a few hours too many, at least right now. "Don't worry, I'll go as fast as I can, which is pretty friggin fast!" Super said with a wink as he ran out the door. In less than a second he was back, but without the hoodie. "Oh and one more thing, I'm soooo holding you to not taking long in the shower." He stated with his tongue sticking out, showing his utter perfection in being able to stick his tongue out and still pronounce his words clearly.

Speeding away at top speed Super quickly found himself at the familiar volcano. Going through the security systems, luckily with them recognizing his body parameters along with other physical scans since he was moving too fast to talk anyway. Looking around he saw that no one was in that headquarters either. Which made sense, just about all the other members had other homes besides the headquarters except Gabe and Sano. And who knew where Sano was, he'd been gone since the whole ordeal. Duo had told him that he was leaving for awhile. He found himself hoping the telepath would come back, he'd do all he could to help if there was anything he could do.

Making his way to his room, Super passed by Greta's. Which as he knew would give him bad visions. Visions of his kidnapping, of seeing Lister again for the first time. Well the first time in that form. Hard to believe before that happened his biggest concern was revealing to Greta his true feelings about her. He still couldn't believe how stupid he was for killing Lister, it only made things worst despite his good intentions. Well you know the old saying about Hell and good intentions. Getting inside his room, Super went into his closet and found one of his hoodies. It was like one of those superhero closets you see which has all of the same outfit in them. Though it alternated between hoodies and shirts, some black and some red.

Sniffing himself as he picked a hoodie it hit him that he could probably use a shower himself.

Duo smiled as Marxy promised to be back as soon as possible, she hastily headed for the shower, un-weaving her hair from it's customary braid as she went so it flowed in endless cascades down her back.

She gingery entered the shower; she positioned her battered frame beneath the silver showerhead and turned on the spray.

The spray thundered down on her swollen and bruised back and she hissed in pain, one hand shot out to support herself against the slippery wall as her legs threatened to buckle whilst the other hand shot out to reduce the pressure of the spray, with a turn of the dial the heavy spray was reduced to a fine drizzle and Duo gulped in air to calm herself and to regain her concentration.

"Damn!" She hissed as she straightened herself up, the water was barely a drip from the showerhead and Duo's annoyance only increased! She carefully, bit but bit increased the pressure of the spray until she could wash without hurting herself!

Duo washed quickly, and exited the shower wrapped firmly in her favourite fluffy blue towel, she was just about to head to her dresser to grab some fresh clothes when she caught a faint movement out of the corner of her eye...her heart leapt into her throat and she felt panic ignite through her, she refrained from screaming aloud as she realised it was simply her reflection in the full length mirror on her far wall.

The blood continued to thunder in her ears as she felt her heart flutter and begin to settle once again, all the hairs on her body were on end and her eyes scanned her room just to be sure she was alone. Slowly she approached the mirror...she hadn't caught a look at herself since the attempted suicide.

She looked pale, gaunt in the face, as though she had lost a bit of weight and it made the rouge tendrils in her hair appear all the more vibrant. Her onyx eyes looked even more unfathomly dark if that was at all possible, implying at the added dark pains that were now locked behind them...

But that wasn't all, still holding the towel tightly about her she let the back loosen slightly and she craned her neck to examine her back in the mirror...

It was a canvas of darkened colours and risen welts, elaborate patterns spanning the course of her back in an erratic dance...

"S*it!" She muttered to herself in surprise, she had been experiencing the constant pain of her back but she had not seen it...it was...horrific...

Duo cringed at the site of her battered body and quickly ditched the towel and donned her clothes, wanting to cover herself up, putting on Marxy's hoodie over the top of her red t-shirt, being able to manage the task by herself this time.

The she sat on her bed, hands folded neatly in her lap...and waited...waited patiently yet anxiously for her best friend, her eyes constantly scanning her room and the silence sort to smother her...

Getting out of the shower, Super blurred through the room getting dressed. Using his super speed rather than a towel to dry himself he was almost instantly into his clothes. He was about to leave when he heard the clang of the air conditioning switching on. Marx instantly stopped in his tracks as his mind wandered elsewhere. The sound began to echo into his head as he thought back to what he now associated with loud noises. He could hear Vicious taunting him and laughing as he stomped on his head repeatedly. He might have gone unconscious after the first one but he knew what was happening, he could hear it all. Every demented laugh, every taunt to both him and Duo, he was forced to listen to them helplessly. He felt each and every time his head was literally blown apart and rejoined just to get blown apart again.

Supersonic fell on his knees as he tried to force the images and sounds out of his head. At least it was getting better little by little. People thought he was physically hurt when someone slammed the door closed in the hospital bathroom. Luckily he was able to convince them he was okay so Duo didn't know about it. With a sigh Super looked up and glared at the A/C. "...you know...I could disassemble you in less than a minute...luckily for you I have somewhere else to go.."

Shaking his head trying to get the last of those flashbacks out of his head. Duo wanted him to hurry back and that's exactly what he was going to do. "I'm so pathetic, I bet Duo isn't cowering in fear because we were separated for what? 10 minutes so far.." A little disgusted with himself, Super saw the huge T shaped building and a smile crossed his face again. Bursting in through the window once more Marx made himself known. "12 minutes and 50 seconds beat tha..." Super then looked to see Duo waiting for him. "t...okay so you beat me...but I had to fly all the way here..."

"You have super speed so that soooooooooooooo doesn't count!" Duo jibed back!

The back of the hoodie she wore was slightly damp from her drying hair, the cool sensation soothing her back.

"So, now that I have broken out of the so called hospital otherwise newly labelled as the drive Duo insane by feeding her stale jelly institute, what shall we do?" Duo asked Marxy, the two had been shacked up for a week, hardly moving from the dingy little room...she wanted to get out and about!

Supersonic sat down, taking off his hood as he tried to think of what they could do. Normally Duo was the only one he took his hood off for because she was the only one he really felt comfortable enough around to do it. While they were in the hospital it was the longest time he could remember allowing everyone to see eyes clearly. Of course one of the main reasons he did that was that it tended to put the nurses on edge to have someone around whose eyes always looked like they were on fire.

"Well. We have the whole day..." Super tried to think of the last thing they did when they had that much time on they're hands. And the first thing that came to his mind was the first day that they really hung out. A spar, movies, pranks, that day had everything...well the beginning of it anyway...maybe they could try to do that again. After all they'd been through they deserved a fun day.

But honestly, Super wasn't in the mood for pranks. He wouldn't be able to think up anything original, still too shook up from flashback he had mere moments ago. A spar wouldn't be a good idea...but...

"....how about a movie?"

Duo smiled broadly at the idea of a movie! It was one thing she absolutely love, for when she was growing up the movies were black and white and had nothing on the amazing computer generated special effects of the here and now! She loved watching streams of movies, basting it the coloured brilliance!

"That would be great!" Duo said eagerly, looking directly at Marxy. It was strange but she had never been put off by his ember eyes, in truth she got more unnerved when he was covering them up around her...almost like they were something to be ashamed of.

"Something light hearted though..." she injected, as much as she had enjoyed the slasher movie the two had watched last time...she didn't feel that it would be appropriate for either of them at the moment. "But that doesn't mean a sappy arse chick flick, Cissie forces me to watch enough of those!" Duo groaned.

Super couldn't help but to smile at Duo's reaction to the movie. As well as completely agreeing with her. The last thing they probably needed to see was a scary movie, especially with his reaction to loud noises of late. "Oooh trust me, the last movie you'd ever see with me would be a chick flick."

In the blink of an eye Marx was standing right next to Duo, and in another half blink she was in his arms as they flew out the window which might as well have been a door as much as the speedster used it as a way to get in and out of the Tower.

Landing by the movie theatre, Super found himself laughing slightly at the dent in the sidewalk from when one of his landings wasn't so graceful. He still had to get Duo back for covering his eyes like that, even if it didn't hurt. Looking around which movies they could see, a brightly colored poster caught his eye. Looking over to it he saw a superhero decked out in a mask, cape, and underwear on the outsideness. Looking back at Duo he gave her a smirk. What better movie could they see than a superhero one?

As they walked to the food stand, Super prepared to do his usual getting just about all the junk food he could hold, but actually he wasn't all that hungry. "Just a large popcorn and a slurpie for me." Marx said much to the surprise of the workers. "Blue rasberry?" One of Super's eyes began to twitch as if that was possibly the stupidest question he'd ever heard. "Blue rasberry. I'm getting it. I'm getting it." Laughing slightly Super turned back to Duo. "What about you?"

Duo looked at the wide assortment of snacks before her, in contrast to Marxy she wanted a vast amount, after having to endure the torment of hospital food she wanted some serious, good tasting junk to get that vile stuff out of her system!

"Blueberry slurpie, large sugared popcorn and give me one of those big packets of...make it two packets of M&Ms!" She said eagerly, wanting to get gobbling the food down as soon as she could!

Soon her arms were loaded with food and her and Marxy made there way to their seats, thankfully due to the already dark theatre as she carefully descended to her seat, the look of pain that marred her features was lost to the dark.

Discreetly she pulled off the hoodie Marxy had given her and put it behind her to cushion her back, she leaned back gently and soon grew accustomed to it.

Taking a big gulp of her slurpie she glanced around the cinema...it was dark...she could see little further than a few metres either side of her...she wasn't scared...just a little...nervous...

Fiddling with her packet of M&Ms the blasted packet was defying her and refusing to open. "Damn stupid packet of, why I oughtta..." she muttered before sighing and turning to Marxy, "Why is good food defying me at the moment, all I want is to eat something that is reasonable edible!!!" She fumed!

Supersonic did his best not to laugh as Duo's appetite but as usual it was in vain. Helping Duo carry some of her food along with his own they made they're way to the back of the theatre. Luckily the previews had just started rolling so they didn't miss much. Marx found himself smiling as he thought back to what happened the last time they were in a theatre. He felt a little bad for all the people who undoubtably had to clean up after that food fight. He then heard a lot of rustling coming from Duo's direction as she struggled with the M&M bag.

"Why is good food defying me at the moment, all I want is to eat something that is reasonable edible!!!"

"Well...lets see what I can do about that." With a smirk, Super looked around to see if anyone was looking before he morphed one of his fingers into a blade and quickly slashed the top of the bag open without a single piece of candy falling out. "You know what that's called don't you? Skill, pure skill." The speedster boasted as he took another sip of his slurpie. He'd given up on trying to open those candy bags the conventional way, way too time consuming when you can just morph your hands into an instant bag opener.

Marx's attention turned to the screen as the movie began. And what better way for a superhero movie to begin than with the super villain monologuing. He had to admit at least that part was pretty accurate, villains did have an annoying tendency of talking way too much. But coming from Supersonic the king of superspeed babbling, possibly rivalled by Bart, he couldn't really talk about the villains talking too much could he?

Duo happily sat and ate her M&Ms, the chocolate so sweet and appetising and she couldn't help but babble on about how good they were to Marxy. "Damn these are soooooooooo good!" She said eagerly offering Marxy some of the multi-coloured treats.

"Jeeze she acts as though she's never had chocolate before!" Came the sarcastic comment from the girl in front of her, donned completely in bright pink to the extent that the light from the screen currently displaying the bulging physique of a superhero, bounced of the hideous pink and almost made it luminous!

"Do you think she'd talk to us like that if she knew we were the heroes who save her sorry arse and the rest of the world!" She muttered to Marxy, noticing how the girl seemed completely enthralled by the costumed vigilante on the screen...but that could just be because the actor playing him was incredibly good looking...and the cute butt could have been a factor as well!

Marx couldn't help but to laugh at Duo's enthusiasm over the candy covered chocolates. But he did accept her offer, I mean come on, they're M&Ms! He had to admit between the movie and Duo's bubbliness this was definitely cheering him up. He'd pretty much forgotten about the earlier scene at YJ HQ.

Though just as he really began to enjoy himself, he heard the annoying voice from a girl whose clothes were so pink it was blinding him. He was tempted to morph his face and scare the hell out of her as he had done one of the previous times they had gone to the movies, but he so hated to repeat himself and couldn't think of anything original.

"Do you think she'd talk to us like that if she knew we were the heroes who save her sorry arse and the rest of the world!"

"Probably not. Especially since we'd have to turn her in to the police for wearing pink that bright. I'm sure there's a law about that somewhere..." He said sarcastically as he turned his attention back to the movie. Eating some more popcorn a smirk crossed Super's face as the costumed hero met for first time the female vigilante/love interest/future partner later in the story, who was of course donned in an outfit that looked like it was painted on...and the person ran out of paint. "You know Duo, you'd look great in-...OW!" Super yelled a little as he felt the elbow hitting him in the ribs. "Oh come on, like all the pants you wear are baggy..." Super said picking at Duo while he rubbed his ribs.

"Oh come on, like all the pants you wear are baggy..."

Duo rolled her eyes at Marxy, it was a common joke between them about what skin tight or revealing outfits she'd look good in...Mainly it was Marxy voiced his opinion and she would end up applying physical pain to him, and this time was no exception!

Duo leaned over the arm rest that separated them so she could whisper into Marxy's ear, "Personally Marxy, I think it would look waaaaaaaaaaaay better on you, it's not my colour!" She finished with a giggle.

Super smiled as he morphed one of his hands into a costume like the one on the screen. He took his other hand and ran it across Duo's braid while speaking like...well...think Edna from the Incredibles. "Oh dahling! I don't know what you're talking about the colors fit your features sooo much better." The girl up front with the insanely bright pink turned around to shush them again but was surprised to see the costume. A devious smirk came across his face as he placed the costume under her chin. "Nope...I don't think you'd fit it...you...sure you should be eating chocolate...?" Super said cocking his head to the side and keeping the voice.

"Hmph!" The girl's eyes went wide with surprise as she quickly turned around. Looking back at Duo, Super acted innocently. "Was it something I said?" His smirk making itself known again as he sat back and morphed his hand back to normal. "You'd think people would learn by now."

"You'd think people would learn by now."

"Definitely!" Duo agreed through a mouthful of popcorn!

The two settled back to watch the movie, it wasn't a badly directed movie, the dramatics were a little too over the top and every time the female super hero was shown Duo could swear that her breasts were even closer to pooping out of her painted on costume!

"You can stop drooling any time now Marxy!" Duo giggled, especially with his morph able head his jaw had literally been hitting the floor...especially when her costume so conveniently got ripped!

"I'm not drooling!" Super said in protest...though since his jaw was on the floor at the time it came out more like "II aah ooooey!" Realizing what happened, he quickly morphed his jaw back to normal. "Hey I'm a guy, I can't help myself." He said trying to hide his laughter as he took a long sip of his slurpie. "Gaaaah...Brain freeze!" Marx quickly went to grab his head which was literally pulsing with the freeze.

Luckily between the two of them, they'd been making so much noise that the rest of the theatre was ignoring them so no one really saw Super's inadvertent morphing powers...or the not so inadvertent ones. Shaking it off Super turned back to the screen to see the two vigilantes about to fight one of the head henchmen of the big bad. He had to admit the special effects for this movie were awesome, even if the skimpy costume shredding was getting most of his attention.

Duo laughed at Marxy and it wasn't as though she hadn't been paying particular attention to the lead guy's butt, but she had had the good taste to be discreet!

The main action sequence began and the lead villain, another attractive, supposedly intelligent individual and the perfect nemesis of the hero was cackling manically about having them walk "straight into my trap!"

At first Duo rolled her eyes, how many times had she and the Titans heard some stupid wanna be utter those words before they pummelled the snot out of them!!!???

This guy was smart though, sadistically smart, his cackling words were taunting, manipulative, designed to penetrate and weaken...they were very familiar...

Duo gasped aloud as the heroine was grabbed by the throat and hurled against a wall where a set of machine operated manacles grabbed her limbs, pinning and immobilising her whilst she thrashed helplessly to be free, the main purpose of which was to make her chest move...

Duo tentatively touched her wrist, broken from her thrashing to be free of similar manacles...the actresses screams split through the cinema but to Duo the voice morphed and was a demented mixture of the actresses' and the memory of her own screams...it was all in her mind but her body was growing tense and her breath caught in her throat, her back was rigid against the padded seat...

Marx continued to eat his popcorn as he watched intently on the movie. He had to admit that as the...er...moving parts as she thrashed were appealing but as he paid closer attention to the situation, it wasn't nearly as amusing. It was eerily familiar, as he looked he saw Duo as the one manacled on the wall...the background became that alley...

Shaking his head, Super was able to clear the images out of his head. He then heard her scream, her blood curtling, very loud scream. Instantly his body tensed. So much that he didn't realize that with his strength his hands were breaking the armrests. But his mind wasn't on the property damage, he'd given the movie mental praise on it's effects but this was becoming a little to real.

Marx found himself glancing a little over to see how Duo was doing. Maybe he was the only one who was affected by it's similarities. Looking over he saw Duo discreetly rubbing her wrists as her eyes stayed fixed upon the screen.

'So much for that...' Super thought as he turned back to the movie. 'Please get free...Please get free...' Marx found himself mentally pleading as the lead villain turned his attention to the remaining lone hero. But nothing was answering him as the beating ensued, while the hero was good, the lead villain was much faster and stronger, much like....

Super shut his eyes for awhile. 'It's just a movie...It's just a movie....It's not real...It can't hurt me...' Super found himself chanting in his head trying to convince himself not to see the similarities. But closing his eyes was the worst thing he could have done at that moment as his imagination filled the sounds of the beating with the only thing he could relate it to. The loud sound of the blows echoed throughout the speedster's head as his eyes shot open trying to drive out the mental images, but nothing was forthcoming...

For the first time Duo sincerely detested the wonders of coloured cinema, the blood, though fake, was the same malicious red that she had seen stain the frame of the boy sitting next to her...

The screams of pain morphing in her mind to mirror his own.

<It's just a movie, it's just a movie...> was the mantra in Duo's mind even though the cinema setting was dissolving about her and the dark, rank vicinity of the alley manifesting about her, she could almost feel the chains about her wrist and her breathing began to quicken as fear clutched at her...

<It's just a movie, it's just a movie...> her lips mouthed the words silently as she could feel the tension in her rising as the fight climaxed.

"It's just a movie, it's just a movie..." she whispered, instinctively and unconsciously she reached out and grasped a hold of Marxy's hand, her fingers interlacing his and holding really tightly, trying to break through memories suffocating her...making sure that Marxy was still within reach, that he was alive...

Super found himself breathing faster and faster as even with his eyes open the visions still plagued him. If he had pupils they probably would have been quickly going left and right trying to find something else to focus on, but at the same time being drawn to the actions on the screen. He knew it wasn't real, it was merely actors and ketchup, maybe food coloring. But this knowledge did nothing but play in the background as he watched himself get beaten by Vicious.

Marx found himself almost jumping out of his seat as he felt a hand on his. But as it wrapped it's fingers around his he recognized it as Duo's. Quickly turning his head to his friend, Super did his best to hide his panic. He tightend his fingers to try to reassure Duo he was there for her, but to be honest he need to be comforted as much as she did. "...Duo..." He started, but it barely came out a whisper.

That was when he could make out her chanting. This was too much. He knew they'd have to face they're fears at some point but...it had only been a week. It was too soon. Super gave another glance at the movie. It was just too soon. Forcing himself to stop shaking, the speedster slowly leaned towards Duo. "Duo...I think we should go..."

"Duo...I think we should go..."

Duo finally turned to look at her friend, feeling his clutch her hand back tightly she could see that she wasn't the only one who was getting a little freaked by the movie!

"Yeah...yeah I think that would be...a good idea" Duo whispered back, rising quickly, not even pausing to grab her discarded M&Ms!

The two rustling to make a move caught the attention of the pink soaked girl in front who had already displayed her vindictive bitchy streak, she turned to look at them and noticed the slightly haunted looks on their faces and she developed a malicious smirk!

"Awwwwwwww, look at that, they're scared of the movie, the fake blood and screams are oh, so fwightning!" She said with a cackle, her friends feeding off her laughter!

Supersonic nodded as Duo agreed to leave the theatre. It didn't even trigger that Duo was willingly leaving behind her food, or that he'd left a third of his slurpie in what was left of the cup holder. He was only thinking about distancing him and Duo away from the theater. Away from the events that happened not so long ago.

"Awwwwwwww, look at that, they're scared of the movie, the fake blood and screams are oh, so fwightning!"

'I'm not a violent person...I'm not mean...but she is reeeeeally asking for it.' Super thought trying to justify himself. Even under normal circumstances, he wouldn't let a comment like that just slide. Especially when it was at one of his friends' expense. But thinking of Duo part of him wanted to just ignore the ignorant girl and leave, after all if she'd gone through half of what they were forced to she probably wouldn't even leave her house.

But Super chose to follow his first instinct as he pulled down his glasses and showed the girl his flaming eyes. "You want to see frightening...?" Marx's lip began to sneer upwards showing his teeth which quickly morphed into long fangs, which his tongue slowly ran over. "Want to test to see how fake these are?" Normally when he would scare regular people who crossed him at the wrong time it would be short and sweet, like when he ran the girls out of the horror movie he and Duo previously saw, but at the moment he was in a really bad mood...

Duo's eyes flared wide as Super threatened the girl who had a look of horror on her face, Duo would normally have laughed and congratulated him...but the sounds echoing off the screen were still drilling into her head, causing shivers to over take her.

A horrific crash of flesh being pummelled tore through her, it was a dead ringer for the sound of Marxy's head fissuring on the alley floor and Duo couldn't hold in the faint whimper...

She clutched Marxy's hand tighter, <He's here, he's not hurt, he's alive...> he mind tried to console her but even so...

"Please Marxy let’s get out of here!" She said, the fear evident in her tone as she yanked him back, trying the steer him towards the door, away from the echoes of their past...

Supersonic didn't realize it but he had inadvertently used this stupid girl as a way to keep his attention off of the movie. Maybe that's why he was taking his time with it, as almost a way of defense. But as he heard the desperation of Duo's voice it snapped him out of it. He couldn't beleive he was being so selfish, even if he was thinking about Duo when he was doing it. She needed him right now, and if there was one thing they were starting to perfect it was being there for each other.

The sounds of the beating began to echo in his head once more as he took Duo's hand again and went with her outside of the theatre without giving the pink girl so much as a backwards glance. She wasn't worth it anymore.

Finally getting away from the movie, Super mentally kicked himself. 'Wow, I sure know how to pick a movie don't I? Out of all the movies in this theatre...probably would have been better watching a horror...' Marx found himself looking down as he further scolded himself before he looked at Duo again. He didn't know if you soul reading ability was on or not but she didn't need to feel that. He didn't even need one and he could tell how scared she was.

Letting go of her hand, Super wrapped his arms around her, not caring how it might have looked to anyone who walked by. "I'm sorry Duo..."

"I'm sorry Duo..."

Duo wrapped her arms tightly round him and held on for dear life, not caring how it pulled on her back...she just wanted to hold on and not let go. She buried her face into his shoulder, feeling that he was solid...that he really was there and not a bleeding mass on the floor...the memories returning to being just that…memories...

"I'm sorry too..." she said, muffled against his shoulder, she was, she was sorry for the whole goddamn situation!

A passing group of three teenage boys wolf whistled at the hugging friends and laughed rudely...each and every one of them oblivious to the pain and suffering that this world is so eager to dish out...the pain that people like herself and Marxy endured and what they did to allow people like them to live their lives free of a lot of it...

"Next time...lets watch the care bears or something...ok?" she said weakly.

As Super held Duo he paid no attention to everything else. Whether it was a delayed reaction, an overload of emotion or just trying to make up for momentarilly forgetting about what was best for Duo, he didn't know. But what he did know was that he'd be there for her, and probably would never find out exactly how that movie ended.

"Next time...lets watch the care bears or something...ok?"

Despite how solemn the situation was, Marx couldn't help but to find himself laughing at the comment, even if it was a weak laugh. "As long as it's not Barney or the Hugga Tugga Thugees, you're on." Though the really sad thing was that he wasn't kidding, after today he'd have no issues watching a kiddie show...though he didn't really to begin with if you think about it.

"So...wanna get some donuts?" Super smirked a little after asking the random question. But he knew if there was one thing that they needed at the moment , it was a good laugh. And donuts wouldn't hurt either. They still had the whole day for the most part and Marx sure didn't want to spend it all with them with them cowering in fear of a memory. One huge hell of a memory and granted it would drive most people insane but it's still not one of the better ways to spend a day.

"So...wanna get some donuts?"

Duo pulled back gently and developed a small smile, who could resist the chance of donuts?

"Ok...as long as we get some chocolate ones!" She said, pulling altogether out of the hug but she one again grabbed a hold of his hand...she almost felt as though if she let go of him the world would dissolve and once again he would be lost to her...

The two began to walk down the street, conversation a little strained as they tried to fully get rid of their remaining fear and dread that the stupid, but surprisingly realistic movie had left them with.

Marx smirked slightly has he held his hand forward to show the black and white mass of fabric in his hands. Luckily he had seen the hoodie when they were on they're way out, because he seriously doubted that either of them would have gone back in there to get it. Or that they'd even let each other go back in there, they were just starting to get over the memories.

As they continue to walk to the store Super noticed that they were going slower than normal. Truth be told, he probably could have just zoomed her there and they'd be scarfing down the pastries before you knew it, but there was no need to rush. Not to mention Super was still a little shaken up, probably wouldn't be the best idea to move at accelerated speeds until he calmed down.

Eventually getting to the donut shop, the speedster's eyes began to brighten and not just because they were all glowy to begin with. Since it was mid day there wasn't even a long line. As Super's eyes trailed over the wall of donuts, his mood picked up even more, before the cashier finally got to them. "Okay we'd like 2...okay 4...Hell, we'll just get a dozen donuts! Think that'll be enough?" Marx said looking at the equal eagerness in Duo's face before turning back to the cashier.

"Give us...3 Chocolate, 2 Glazed, 2 Boston Cream, 2 Powdered, 1 Jelly...do you even like Jelly, Duo? Don't really care for it myself..oh the hell with it, 1 Jelly, 2 Strawberry, that one with the blue frosting, and a Bevarian Cream fill one." Marx excitedly rattled off the flavors so fast it was surprising that the guy was able to keep up with him. "Um sir...that's 14, and we're out of Bevarian Cream filled donuts." "Well just add an extra one! And no Bevarian Cream filled donuts? How about a box of starving crazed weasels?" "Starving crazed....what?" "Heh heh, nevermind. Inside joke. Come on man! Donut me!" The cashier merely rolled his eyes at the hyperactive speedster as he gave them the donuts. "Love the hoodies by the way."

Duo was just as hyper as Marxy as they were going through the mass of donuts they could buy, she nodded enthusiastically as Marxy ranted on and she eagerly accepted the box of donuts that the cashier handed them.

"Love the hoodies by the way."

Duo blushed faintly but looked down at the hoddie and then smiled proudly. "Yeah, they're the latest fashion! Spread the word!" Duo said with a wink to Marxy!

"MMPH! MMPH!" Super yelled out in agreement which was supposed to come out more as 'HELLS YEAH!' since his mouth was already stuffed with donuts. He was actually able to keep his laugh back as Duo begin to dig in surprisingly as fast as he did, probably with both of them looking like chipmunks with as much donuts they had in they're cheeks. There were some slight stares at the two of them, but Super knew he didn't care, there were donuts!

"This...was an awesome idea if I do say so myself." Super said with a huge smile on his face, complimented by the various powders and frostings surrounding his mouth. At least this plan of his was going pretty well so far. Though to be honest he had no idea what they were going to do after this.

Although Duo was thoroughly enjoying the wide variety of donuts, her mouth salivating unattractively as she munched a huge bite out of a chocolate filled donut, she was still feeling a little shaken up...

She hated the feeling, not too long ago she had been a widely feared angel of Death, she had killed 2 members of the Titans, and she had been an equal match for any teen hero! Now...now she had been weakened through and through, mentally by Lister...physically she had hindered herself...

She had been contemplating, whilst confined to her hospital bed, as to what she was to do, how she was to adapt without her wings...

She glanced sideways at Marxy, watching his face happy with the bliss of donuts, it made her smile internally...There was no one in the world that she trusted more...if anyone could help her along this new road of discovery...it was him!

"Marxy..." Duo stopped as she realised speaking through a mouthful of donut was not the best means to talk to her best friend! Quickly swallowing the doughy concoction she started again "Marxy...we never had that tie break of ours..."

Super suddenly stopped eating his donuts as Duo made the suggestion, and not just because there weren't a lot left after the way they were scarfing them down. "You mean..." He started as he thought back to they're two spars. The first one initiated so that they'd get used to they're new bodies when they unexpectedly switched into different ones during the superhero bbq awhile back. And the second one they was the first thing they did on they're day out a little while after the whole Vittorio situation.

So far, they were tied 1 to 1, oddly enough both wins slightly tainted by vulgar comments on behalf of both of them. "Um...are you sure you want to?" Under normal circumstances, Marx probably wouldn't have even hesitated to just drag them both out of the shop at super speed and initiate the tie breaker. But he wasn't so sure that was the best thing to do now. Duo had a healing wrist and a seriously injured back. Super had seen it himself when he helped her to get her hoodie on. Sure she was apparently able to get dressed and all without help, but sparring was a completely different situation.

Picking up the second to last donut left, Super ate it at an average speed. "Well...if you really want to...I guess we can." His tone made it obvious he wasn't all too hot on the idea, especially after they're previous scare.

Duo actually had to refrain from rolling her eyes at Marxy, she was more than aware that she wasn't in a full state of health, but she had been sat on her arse for the past week being waited on hand and foot...she was bored and restless!!! And since Death didn't seem to want her at this point in life she was going to take up active duty as a Titan again...she had a lot of redeeming to do!

Therefore she needed to get back in a fighting mode, examine her options now that she was wingless, her greatest asset thrown away...

"Marxy...I'll be fine, we'll have a baby practice, nothing heavy and I promise to let you know the minute I don't feel as though I can handle things, alright?" She said, keeping the annoyance from her tone...he didn't deserve her annoyance, after everything he had endured because of her!

"Please Marxy?"

Supersonic gave Duo a defeated smile, it looked like her mind was made up on the matter. Looking into her pleading eyes, Marx nodded slightly as he finished his donut. "Sure thing Duo." He still didn't think it was a good idea, but she really wanted to do it and it did make sense if she was still going to be a Titan. And it's probably best if she's sparring with him of all people, who else would make extra sure she didn't get hurt further?

Getting up, Super let himself stretch, consciously forcing himself not to morph which he normally did whenever he stretched. "Let's go." Marx suggested holding his hand out as Duo finished the last donut. With that they were off into the air once more, Super tried to make himself seem happy, but he couldn't help but think something bad was going to happen. Just a bad vibe.

Reaching the huge T-shaped building, Super's mind began to shift thinking back to the previous two spars. When it came to long range attacks he usually had her beat but when it came to hand to hand combat she totally had his number unless he distracted her and took advantage. Though to be honest, she'd been able to use the exact same technique. Taking off his hoodie and putting it to the side of the room he faced Duo, his expression now serious which seemed a little off from how he'd been the majority of that day.