RR76: Here it is. Part three in the Carson series. Ascension. This story, the main focus is Raven. She will be the central figure.
Also, you will all have to suffer through my terrible rendition of...A LOVE TRIANGLE! Dun dun dunnnnn...Sorry to anyone who no likey.You can figure out who the three are for yourselves.
Rated M for graphic depictions of torture and death. And a buttload of violence and swearing. YAY VIOLENCE! And to a lesser extent, YAY SWEARING!
So, enjoy. I dare you.
Responses (from the last chapter of Things that go bump in the night)
Rory: According to Carson, yes.
Queenie: S'okay. There were circumstances. Hope I didn't disappoint you with the lack of a sledgehammer. This'll be more dramatic...I hope.
im in a kill people mood: Only simple phrases. Like, "Hello, how are you," or "Why do you like the stupid President?"
SaintH: We shall mourn the loss of 3rd Wall. Here's part three.
Don't own, don't sue, don't flame. Or...Nah.
HEY! YOU! YEAH YOU! YOU SEE THAT LITTLE OPTION MENU THING DOWN THERE? AFTER YOU'RE DONE READING THE CHAPTER, SELECT SUBMIT REVIEW, CLICK GO, AND TELL ME WHAT YOU FRICKIN' THINK OF THE STORY! COME ON, IS IT REALLY THAT HARD? JUST A LITTLE BUTTON! WOULDN'T TAKE TWO MINUTES! SO GO! DO IT! NOW!
One year ago...
Passion. It lies in all of us. Sleeping...waiting... And though unwanted... unbidden... it will stir... open its jaws, and howl. It speaks to us... guides us... Passion rules us all. And we obey. What other choice do we have?
Beast Boy walked down the path to the inner sanctum of the cavern, his footsteps echoing loudly in the silence. He had finally come to terms with his feelings for Terra, and was ready to move on. But before he could...he had to say one last goodbye. Granted, to what amounted to a statue in the center of an underground chamber forgotten by all, but it meant alot to him. Closure. That's all I need. I need closure... he thought to himself.
The chamber came into sight and Beast Boy gasped at what he saw: A teenage girl, about 13 or 14, lay where the statue of Terra once stood. She had blonde hair and a metal suit that gleamed softly in the slivers of moonlight that came through the roof of the cavern. A smile grew on Beast Boy's face, and tears stung his eyes. He ran to her, saying her name over and over again, thinking to himself She's alive! Terra's back! Raven's gonna be pissed. Who cares? Terra's back!
"Terra!" he cried, kneeling next to her unconscious form and gently pushing her to get her awake. She stirred and looked up, blinking repeatedly to clear her vision. "Beast...Boy?" she whispered.
Beast Boy nodded and hugged her tightly. "Terra...I missed you so much..."
Terra smiled and leaned into the embrace. "Beast Boy...I...GAH!" She suddenly shouted in pain and shoved Beast Boy away. He stared in horror at what was happening. Terra was howling in agony, her body glowing with a soft orange light. The light grew and she burst into flame, her cries of pain growing louder. Her hair burnt away and her metal suit glowed white hot before simply falling off her body. Terra's skin heated, and finally started to melt. She looked at Beast Boy and stopped screaming long enough to whisper three last words. "I love you..."
Passion is the source of our finest moments. The joy of love... the clarity of hatred... and the ecstasy of grief. It hurts sometimes more than we can bear.
Her eyes sizzled and she resumed her screaming. Her face melted off, revealing her skull and her brain, which exploded after an instant. Terra's charred skeleton fell to the ground again, some of the bones exploding into dust. Her skill rolled to Beast Boy's feet and seemed to stare up at him, longing for him. Beast Boy's tears of joy turned to ones of grief, and he fell to his knees, crying openly.
Out of the corner of his eye, in the spot where the plaque had once lain, was a note. Beast Boy sniffed and walked to it, opening it. His features twisted with rage when he saw what it was.
Beast Boy-
I hoped you liked the lightshow. It was a homemade semi-napalm bomb. It injected fuel into Terra's bloodstream and ignited it on command. It was voice activated. To her name. So, Beast Boy, Gar Logan, whoever you are, you just killed the love of your life. Chew on that for a while.
-Carson
Beast Boy crumpled the note. His face pulled into an expression of pure rage and hatred. His mouth opened and he let loose from the bottom of his heart all the pain, all the suffering, all the grief he had endured since Terra first entered her stone prison. A howl of primal fury.
Raven shot awake, panting heavily. She closed her eyes and sucked in a deep breath, letting it out slowly. She could feel strong emotions coming from the center of the city. Sadness, pain, blind rage...it was all of this mixed into one. She focused, trying to see who it was and opened her eyes. Beast Boy. She dug further, to find the cause of his anger and was shocked.
Terra. Terra was gone. Forever.
She looked at the clock. 3:30 AM. She sighed. Too early for comforting. Back to sleep. She closed her eyes and lay back down but the emotions tugged at her, preventing her from falling asleep. She could feel Beast Boy moving, heading in another direction, as well as the instincts of a wolf. He was tracking someone.
She put a pillow over her head and shut her eyes tighter. Sleep Raven. Let him blow off steam. Come on. One sheep. Two sheep. Three sheep. Green sheep. Green sheep? Beast Boy... She sat up in bed, realizing that she couldn't get to sleep as long as these emotions were bothering her. She gave in and focused once more, searching for Beast Boy's target. A sudden onrush of emotion hit her, and she felt the presence of another. Two beings. Two extremely powerful beings. Both filled with demonic energy. Her eyes widened.
It suddenly dawned on her who Beast Boy was tracking.
In the canyon outside Jump City...
The Mark of Scath appeared on the cave wall. "Well done, child," Trigon boomed. "You accomplished your mission. My interests are safe for the time being."
Carson smirked. "Yer welcome," he said. "Now, the matter of my reward. Can you do it? Remove this beast from within me? I can't live with it anymore."
"Alas, this I cannot do," Trigon responded.
Carson's eyes widened. "What?" he asked. "I'm sorry, maybe I heard you incorrectly--did you say you COULDN'T do it?"
"In a word, yes," Trigon replied, his voice filled with satisfaction. "As you said, it was not you who ended Terra's life, but the changeling. You did not accomplish your objective. You sacrificed a clean kill to cause pain to one of the Titans. You failed me."
"Wait," Carson called, as the mark began to disappear. "You can't do this! We had a deal!"
"Goodbye, Carson," Trigon said. "I shall not call on your services again." The mark disappeared, and the cave was pitch black again. He went outside, only to find it was pouring down rain. He sighed, remembering that his current residence lay on the other side of town. He slammed his fist into a boulder out of frustration, causing it to shudder. This was the worse day in his life...
A rock whizzed through the air, catching him on the side of the head. Ow. He rubbed the spot it had hit and looked up at the source of his pain. He smiled smugly. I guess things are looking up after all... he thought.
Beast Boy stood ten feet away, another rock clutched in his left hand. There were tears streaming down his face--or was that just the rain? "You son of a bitch..." Beast Boy growled.
"Well well, lookey here. It's the lover," Carson sneered. "Come seeking revenge against the murderer of your little girlfriend? You should be hitting yourself--after all, you killed her, not me."
"SHUT UP!" he roared, and threw the other rock. Carson stepped out of the way and chuckled softly. "Angry, aren't we? I didn't think you'd grieve so much over a ten-cent whore like her."
Beast Boy's fists grew tighter, till his fingernails dug through the material in his gloves and through his skin. Thick red blood began to drip from his hands. "Well, you shouldn't be keeping Raven waiting. Out with the old, in with the new." His grin grew wider. "Or maybe I should pay her a visit first."
"SHUT UP BEFORE I TEAR YOU TO FUCKING PIECES!" Beast Boy roared and charged him in bear form, swiping at him wildly. Carson sidestepped each one and kicked the boy in the jaw. Beast Boy staggered back and morphed to a T-Rex, gnashing his teeth at the assassin. He chomped at him, but Carson leaped out of the way and onto his back, drew his sword and plunged it through. Beast Boy roared in pain and returned to his normal form. His tears came anew and he attacked, armed with nothing but his fists. Carson knocked away each blow, grabbed Beast Boy's arm, straightened it, held his palm just above his elbow and brought it down, snapping the bone in two. Beast Boy howled, and clutched at his arm, falling to the ground, cradling his broken limb.
Carson chuckled and shook his head. He stopped and listened closely as Beast Boy began to cry again. Not out of pain from his arm. Out of pain from losing Terra. "Why?" he sobbed. "Why did you do it? Why did you murder her?"
Carson squatted down next to him. "Well, maybe it was because I was getting paid to. Then again, maybe it was because she ruined my career. Maybe it was to avenge all the innocents she slaughtered during her little rampage. But maybe," he leaned closer. "Just maybe...it was because I love seeing you suffer. It's the best high there is." Beast Boy's sobs grew louder. "Hey," Carson said softly, speaking as a father would to a distraught son. "I'll bet you want to see her again, doncha?" Beast Boy sniffled and nodded his head. "Well, you can then," he said, standing and unsheathing his sword. "In Hell."
Beast Boy stared at him in terror and Carson brought the sword down. A black aura encased the blade and shattered it just as it was about to hit Beast Boy's neck and decapitate him. Carson looked up.
Raven was hovering two feet above the ground, her arm outstretched, a black aura around her, protecting her from the rain. "Get away from him," she growled.
Carson looked at her, smiling. "Hi Raven. We were just talking about you. Well, I did most of the talking, Beastie here mostly grieved for his fallen whore." He gave the sobbing teen a kick, eliciting a groan of pain.
"Stop that!" Raven said through gritted teeth.
"Hmm, lemme think about that...no," Carson replied. He kicked again, and again, the groans getting softer each time. He looked at Raven and grinned. "I think this one might kill him," he said gleefully, and drew back his foot, aiming for Beast Boy's head.
"NO!" Raven cried, and hurled Carson against a rock with her powers. Carson looked at her and watched, dumbfounded, as she grew 15 feet tall, her eyes glowing red, black tendrils sprouting from inside her robe. "This is new," he said, catatonic.
One tendril shot at him, wrapping around his wrist. Carson drew his knife and cut through it, only to have a thousand more fly at him from all directions. He leaped into the air and drew his revolver, firing wildly at Raven. Screens blocked each shot, and another tendril reached up and slapped the weapon out of his hand, the wrapped around his waist. More tendrils came, wrapping around his arms and legs, and began to draw him in. Carson lay there, passively, awaiting his imminent doom. He would die with some semblance of honor, at least. The tendrils drew him closer and closer, until he finally disappeared beneath Raven's robe. With that, Raven returned to her normal height and ran to Beast Boy, taking his good arm in her hands and trying to help him to his feet.
Beast Boy pulled away and glared at Raven. "What are you doing; this wasn't your fight!" he growled.
SMACK! Raven slapped him across his face and he fell backward, staring up at her in disbelief. "Were you trying to get yourself killed?" she shouted at him. She couldn't hold up her facade of rage and broke down, throwing her arms around the boy and crying. "I can't lose you," she whispered. Beast Boy returned the embrace and cried with her, the rain mixing with the tears.
"...you're the only one who understands..."
If we could live without passion, maybe we'd know some kind of peace. But we would be hollow. Empty rooms, shuttered and dank...
Without passion, we'd be truly dead
RR76: Woo, long. Longer than normal. So what did you think? Was it too sappy? Tell me. I'm always looking for constructive criticism. Now review please.
PS: I don't own the little running narration about passion. That belongs to Joss Wheadon.