Chapter 2: Decimated
...
Raven arrived at the collapsed warehouse just as a sudden rain started up. "Robin..." She muttered to herself as she tried to focus to pinpoint her teammate's exact position. It took a few moments, but finally she was able to hone in on Robin's location; he was under a large boulder. Raven used her powers to move the boulder only to find Robin's crushed body beneath it. Upon seeing the gorey sight, tears started to well up in her eyes "No..." She stuttered as she dropped to her knees next to the body. "Robin... Why did I not listen to Cyborg?" She asked aloud. Her mourning was interrupted by the sound of falling rocks and a groan. She looked up, trying to identify where exactly it was.
Seconds later, she saw Red X rising from the fresh rubble, holding his head. Her eyes glowed white and her dark energy covered her hands as she levitated to the adversary. "You bastard!"
Red X was barely able to turn his head before he was blindsided by a piece of debris. He was sent flying and hit again from above, slamming him into the ground on his back. Groaning, he attempted to get up but was hit again by another piece of broken building. Defeated, he laid on the ground and watched as a massive slab of concrete was levitated above him. "Wait" he choked out.
Raven walked over to him, keeping clear of the concrete she was holding above him. "You killed Robin... Now I'm going to kill you!"
"I didn't kill him!" X exclaimed.
Annoyed at the denial, Raven turned the slab vertically and lowered it so a piece of exposed rebar was pushed against X's chest. "Defiant to the end... Give my father my regards!"
"Look around! Look at the walls! I don't have any weapons that would make blast patterns like that! We got ambushed!" X pleaded. Raven paused, the white glow in her eyes fading. She looked at the walls that were still standing and saw scorch marks from plasma guns. "These guys, they came out of nowhere and attacked me and Robin!" X explained, trying in vain to push the rebar away. "They got the drop on us, we didn't have a chance."
Raven returned her gaze to him, not convinced. "Then why is it you survived and Robin didn't?"
"They were focusing more on him than me... It was like I was an afterthought... I got hit a couple times and buried, I stayed put until the shooting stopped."
"So you didn't even try to help him?"
X grunted, "Come on... Do you remember who you're talking to?"
Raven growled, pushing the rebar further against X's chest, causing him to cry out in pain. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you anyway!"
"You kill me... You lose your only lead to who did this."
Raven's infuriated facial expression didn't change. She closed her eyes and waved her hand, causing the slab she had possessed to fly off to the side harmlessly. Now calm, she told X; "I'm only going to say this once... If you're lying, I will kill you slowly and painfully... You got that?"
"Promises, promises."
...
Argent was flying as fast as she could to Titans Tower, but in her wounded state she couldn't reach her top speed. Two trickling streams of blood ran down her forehead and over her right eye, originating from an injury above her hairline. She was clutching the lower portion of her left ribcage with her right hand, doing her best to nurse another injury. She moved her hand away and looked at it to see her palm was covered in blood. Grunting, she put her hand back over the wound and kept going.
As she flew, she saw a large fireball lift from street level ahead, she slowed down, unsure if it was safe to continue. She approached slowly, looking down to the street below and saw at least three-dozen armored soldiers running down the street, but she couldn't see what they were chasing. It then dawned on her that these soldiers were dressed the same as the ones who had attacked her, she quickly landed on a roof so as not to be seen. "Shit, who are they after?" She asked herself, figuring it was one of her allies. She took to the air, staying very low along the rooftops, eventually she caught up to the soldiers, who had stopped and taken a defensive position. One of them threw a grenade at a stack of crates, the only obstacle in the street. The detonation destroyed the crates and sent the person behind them flying back; Hotspot.
Disoriented and now exposed, Hotspot was severely vulnerable. The soldiers raised their weapons and fired, Argent swooped in and formed a large barrier with her crimson energy, "Hotspot!" She yelled, landing a few feet to his side, still clutching her side and using her left arm to hold the barrier, she was struggling to keep it together.
"Uggghhh... What? Argent?" Hotspot said, holding his head.
"Get out of here!" She yelled.
"And leave you? No way!" He said as he got up, he looked at Argent's barrier, which was showing sign of failing, and shot a powerful beam of flame between it and the two heroes, creating a wide crater with open flame. Hotspot quickly powered down and moved to Argent, who had fallen to one knee, and helped her to her feet, running further down the street and rounding a corner as her barrier faded. "What happened to you? And why are you here?"
"The same thing that that happened to you, or was about to... Those same kinds of soldiers attacked me."
"Why? What do they want?" Hotspot asked.
"I don't know but right now we need to get away, I'm on my way to Titans Tower in Jump City, come with me, the Titans can help us!"
"Good idea" Hotspot said, he powered up and the pair took to the skies, flying low and using the buildings for cover until they felt they were far enough away to take to higher altitude.
...
In the infirmary of Titans Tower, Raven assessed Red X's injuries. "You've got internal bleeding in addition to what's obvious, I'm going to need to knock you out so our machine can do it's thing."
"No thanks" X quipped, "I'll take my-" Raven turned and pointed her energy-covered hand at the man on the table, knocking him out.
"That attitude is going to be the death of you" Raven mumbled to herself as she pulled out her communicator. "Raven to Cyborg" she got no answer, sending a chill down her spine. She quickly activated the communicators locator mode so she could find Cyborg, as soon as she had a lock on location she engulfed herself in her raven-shaped power and passed through the walls.
...
Argent and Hotspot arrived at Titans Tower to find an unexpected guest sitting at the entrance; Speedy, who stood up and readied an arrow.
"Speedy! It's us!" Hotspot yelled as he and Argent landed near him.
"Hotspot? Argent? What are you two doing here?"
"We could ask you the same question" Hotspot replied.
Speedy sighed and put his arrow away. "Titans East was attacked... I was the only one that made it out alive."
"Let me guess..." Argent began, "faceless soldiers dressed in grey and red armor, plasma rifles and at least thirty of them?"
Speedy looked surprised, "how did-?"
"Same thing happened to us" Argent said. "Come on, I can get us in the Tower."
Upon entering, the trio made their way to the infirmary, Argent laid down on a bed while Hotspot, now powered down, and Speedy administered the medical help she needed. "Two broken ribs, mild concussion, abrasions to the torso, plasma burns on various parts of the body... She took a hell of a beating" Speedy said as he read the diagnostics computer.
"And she still managed to save my sorry ass" Hotspot said.
Speedy turned towards the unconscious girl on the bed. "We need to patch up that wound on her side, it's pretty bad."
Hotspot turned his eye towards the redhead. "So... We have to take her clothes off?" He asked sheepishly.
Speedy nodded. "This is for medical purposes, if you can't be professional about it, step out."
"Hey, I'm perfectly professional!" Hotspot said, pointing his thumb to his chest.
"Really? Then why are you getting all hot under the collar about taking an injured girls clothes off?"
Hotspot growled and walked around the bed, getting in Speedy's face. "You got a problem Robin Hood?"
Speedy pushed him away, causing Hotspot to stagger backward, bumping into another bed. "Take a walk hot head!" Speedy spat.
Enraged, Hotspot powered up, an ember burning atop his head. "Say that again!"
From the far side of the room, to Hotspot's right and Speedy's left, came a mechanized voice; "well, Raven didn't say anything about having friends over."
Speedy and Hotspot turned in the direction of the voice, seeing the caped figure sitting on another bed. "Who are you?" Hotspot asked.
"He's Red X..." Speedy answered, remembering from the list of villains the Titans left for him on his brief stay in Jump City years ago.
"Nice to hear my reputation precedes me" Red X mocked, "So who are you two?"
"Your worst nightmare... How did you get in here?" Speedy said, drawing an arrow and pointing it at X. Hotspot put two and two together and assumed a combat stance next to his ally, putting aside their personal grievance.
"I was invited, maybe it's you two who are intruding!" X said just as he fired two X's out of his palms, one at Speedy and the other at Hotspot. Speedy released his arrow and Hotspot two beams of fire in retaliation, all three of their attacks were stopped by a black barrier forming between them.
"You three done playing who has the biggest dick?" Raven said, causing the three men to look at her, she lowered the barrier. "We're all on the same side here, so like it or not we're all going to be looking out for each other... Where's Argent?" Speedy snapped out of his confusion and turned his gaze to Argent, who was still unconscious on the bed, cut off from Raven's view by a curtain. She walked around, seeing the badly injured Honorary Titan. "She's in bad shape."
"Yeah, she has two broken ribs-" Speedy was cut off by Raven.
"I've got it."
"But, don't you-?" Speedy was cut off again.
"I said I've got it" Raven repeated as she walked closer to Argent.
"So... Where's the rest of the team?" Hotspot asked.
Without turning around, Raven answered; "They're all dead." She used her power to close the curtain between her and the others.
