Milk_Is_My_Drug
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Chapter 18: Puppet King
🕑 Added 2025-05-14 20:41:40 +0000 UTCIn the shadows of the abandoned theater, dust hung thick on the surfaces. Old curtains sagged, and the scent of soot clung to the crumbling walls.
From a broken window above, Starfire — clad in Raven’s body — landed gracefully beside Raven — still wearing Starfire’s form. Both were silent, their expressions sharper than ever.
They had spent the past hours sharing stories, memories, fears, and dreams — things neither had spoken of in all their time as teammates. But now, with their bond deepened, they had begun unlocking one another’s powers, clumsily at first, but with increasing success. It was far from perfect, but it was progress.
A progress sparked by a single, casual comment.
As Starfire adjusted her cloak, she murmured, “We should thank Ashborn when we see him again.”
Raven nodded, sighing. “His advice was… surprisingly helpful.”
They moved in tandem now, like twin shadows, creeping deeper into the broken heart of the theater.
Below, blue flames danced violently inside a runic circle.
The Puppet King waved a glowing control wand with increasing frustration. Beside the fire, a puppet sat lifeless — a pale replica of Ashborn, without the ever-present smile he has.
But it didn’t move.
A voice — casual, calm — drifted through the stale air.
“Are you sure you are following steps?” Ashborn said, arms loosely bound by Cyborg’s metallic restraints, sitting cross-legged like he was on a picnic. He stared at the Puppet King with a curious gleam in his eye. “Maybe refer to the source book of your magic for guidance”
The Puppet King snarled. “You’re a prisoner!”
Ashborn nodded, smile undimmed. “And I’m being polite about it and trying to help you. No need to be rude.”
From their perch above, the girls exchanged a look. Raven raised an eyebrow. Starfire’s lips twitched, almost amused.
Ashborn continued, tilting his head. “Maybe it’s broken, Try another one”
The Puppet King replied in a frustrated tone “No, it is completely fine. I am sure of that”
“So if it’s not broken… could it be magic limits? Maybe the power’s depleted?” Ashborn helpfully asked.
“No,” the Puppet King snapped. “This spell should control hundreds, thousands of minds!”
Ashborn hummed, intrigued. “Fascinating. Was that the same spell that caused the Titan girls to switch bodies, by any chance? If so, maybe the magic is not working because of that”
“That’s not how it works!” The Puppet King replied angrily.
“Has it happened before?” Ashborn asked with a grin. “Any recorded cases?”
The Puppet King paused.
Ashborn’s smile widened knowingly. “So… no. Sounds like a gap in your knowledge.”
Rage burned brighter in the King’s eyes than the fire itself. “Once I have your body, I’ll shatter your puppet piece by piece.”
“Enthusiasm is good,” Ashborn replied lightly. “You ever tried anything other than puppeteering? Pottery? Ballroom dancing?”
The Puppet King’s growl was almost inhuman. “If you don’t shut up, I’ll let my puppets tear you limb from limb. I don’t care about your money or your status.”
Ashborn shrugged, calm as ever.
The Puppet King turned back to the blue flames, yanking out a vial of glowing liquid and pouring it into the fire. The flames flared higher, hotter, casting an eerie hue across the room. He reached toward the bound Teen Titan puppets near the stage and declared:
“I will take your bodies, permanently! And once I do, this city, and that insufferable idiot” he jabbed a finger at Ashborn “will belong to me!”
Ashborn shook his head clearly amused by the whole situation.
The flames roared, casting shadows that danced like specters against the cracked and weathered walls of the abandoned theater. Blue light bathed the stage in a haunting glow as the Puppet King, face twisted with manic glee, gave his next command.
“I don’t want any interruption! Search and Destroy!” he barked.
The puppets bearing the forms of Robin, Cyborg, and Beast Boy didn’t reply, instead with empty, glowing eyes, they began to move, metal footsteps and quiet padding echoing as they scouted the dark corners of the theater.
Near the heart of the flame, the Puppet King brought forth a small bundle of stitched wooden puppets— the puppet replicas of the Teen Titans.
The puppets twitched weakly, their tiny voices whispering, “No… stop… help…”
But their cries were drowned out by crackling flame and their creator’s cruelty.
The Puppet King released them. They fell toward the fire.
But they never touched it.
A black orb, swirling with pulsing shadow, expanded from the darkness and caught the puppets mid-air, wrapping them in protective energy. The orb pulsed once, then rose like a sentient sphere toward the catwalk, where Raven and Starfire were crouched, half-hidden by rusted beams and torn curtains.
“Get them!” the Puppet King screamed, fury seizing him. “Rip them apart!”
Ashborn, still bound, turned his gaze upward. He watched with mild amusement as Raven and Starfire fumbled to defend themselves, ducking and dodging under the assault of their teammates’ controlled bodies. They were improving with their powers, yes, but it was still clumsy, uncoordinated, like two dancers learning a new rhythm on stage.
Ashborn’s smile curled, faint and entertained.
This magic, this entire scenario, was nothing to him.
The truth was simple: the spell controlling the puppets had no power over Ashborn. The poor Puppet King, obsessed with control, didn’t know. Couldn’t know. The threads of this show were tangled, but Ashborn already knew the script from start to end.
He stood up slowly.
Unhurried, silent, his gaze never leaving the Puppet King, who was too busy howling at his puppets to notice.
Ashborn approached.
No resistance, no fear, just quiet steps over old floorboards.
The Puppet King turned, sensing something behind him.
Too late.
Ashborn’s tied hands reached forward, and he calmly plucked the control device from the villain’s grip like it was a toy dropped by a child.
The Puppet King’s eyes widened in disbelief.
Ashborn smiled down at him. “You’re boring.”
With a flick of his wrist, he tossed the device into the blue fire.
The Puppet King screamed, “NO!” and lunged — but Ashborn’s foot came down with brutal finality, pinning him to the floor. The fire flared, then pulsed, and the king shrieked as blue light burst from his eyes, his body convulsing beneath Ashborn’s boot.
“Without magic,” the King gasped, “I’m just—”
He didn’t finish.
The body went limp, slumping like a marionette with its strings cut.
Ashborn with a smile looked toward the Titans, now freed from the spell. Their glowing eyes had faded, replaced with wide, stunned expressions. The girls now regained their bodies. They were themselves again.— And they were all staring at him.
Still smiling, still calmly pressing his foot into the lifeless puppet, Ashborn lifted his tied hands.
“Care to free me?” he asked lightly. “It’s kind of annoying to stay like this.”
But none of the Titans moved.
They just stood there.
Staring.
___________
The Titan Tower loomed tall against the early morning sky, the first hints of dawn brushing its surface with pale gold light. Inside, the team returned, exhausted but silent, their steps echoing through the halls as they trudged toward the common room.
The battle was over. The Puppet King was gone. Their bodies were their own again.
But their minds lingered on Ashborn.
Robin broke the silence first, rubbing the back of his neck and frowning. “I don’t like him,” he said flatly.
Starfire, floating beside him in a gentle glide, turned her head. “He helped us. He saved us.”
Robin shook his head. “I know. But something about him rubs me the wrong way.”
Beast Boy flopped onto the couch, shifting back into human form with a sigh. “Dude’s got nerves of steel, though. I legit thought the Puppet King was gonna go nuclear on him… and Ashborn just sat there, calm and smiling. He was even brainstorming magical theory with the guy holding him prisoner!”
Cyborg, leaning against the wall, looked at Raven. “Speaking of which… Why didn’t the magic work on him? Any clue?”
Raven folded her arms. “I’m… not sure,” she admitted. “I don’t know how the Puppet King’s magic actually works. But it could be what Ashborn suggested, the magic was weakened by the body swap incident. Maybe it was stretched too thin or disrupted somehow. It’s not impossible.”
Robin narrowed his eyes. “Convenient.”
Beast Boy chuckled. “Maybe you just don’t like him because he shot your mentor in the…”
Robin froze.
Starfire gasped. “Oh my!”
Cyborg burst out laughing, and even Raven’s stoic façade cracked with a faint smile tugging at the corner of her lips.
“Too soon?” Beast Boy grinned.
Robin slowly turned his head, glaring. “Yes.”
As the laughter died down, Raven drifted away toward the windows, her gaze settling on the horizon, where the first real sunlight began to spill across the sea.
Inside, her thoughts stirred.
The magic didn’t work on Ashborn… and not just because of the body swap, maybe.
There was something else.
A darkness. Not evil. Not chaotic. But calm. Deep. Unfathomable.
Something she felt only the moment he stepped near her.
But she had no proof. No evidence. Just a feeling, a shadow whispering at the edge of her perception. She couldn’t accuse him, not after he helped them, not after he’d risked himself, however casually, to stop the Puppet King.
Still… there’s something inside him. Something she doesn't understand.
