Cyborg pivoted his arms and checked a few necessary calibrations to make sure that his body was in working order. After confirming such, he spied the rest of the team gathering around Robin who had planted himself next to one of the Titan's mobile platforms, probably to confirm the disappearance of Beast Boy. He was flanked by the rest of the Titans.
Robin pointed towards a single blip on the electronic map that covered the Jump City area. "This is Beast Boy's last known position. The signal to his communicator dropped off about an hour ago before we recovered it. Whatever happened there caused a ton of carnage. We can safely assume that over the last thirty minutes he could have covered up to a thirty mile radius, depending on his transformation."
Robin tapped the point causing a large circle to appear around it. He then touched three other points inside that circle causing a ripple effect in each area. "These are Beast Boy's most probable sites of activity. There will most likely be a substantial amount of carnage around the area. I'll covertly traverse through Central Park. Cyborg, you take point for the Jump Plaza. Make sure to check the Pizza Corner first, and watch out for any civilians. Raven, you find your way through Jump's sewers. Each of you will be outfitted for classified radio frequencies. Our regular communicators don't have the security we need, so use them only in the case that your in-line microphones are damaged or destroyed. Titans, take these for communication with your team and the opposing two Titans."
Robin passed out three razor thin earpieces. A single aluminum band protruded from the circular disk that acted as a dual-point microphone and transmitter. Each was absent of color and conformed to the shape of the wearer's ear for maximum comfort and to pass visible detection.
"Starfire, you'll be flying overhead in a sweeping pattern. Make sure to notify us if you see Beast Boy." Robin turned to face the rest of the group. "Be advised that Beast Boy is most likely extremely hostile. I've taken the risk in assuming that he is currently in a feral state. He has most likely reverted to his Werebeast form. Any protection you have is basically useless against his strength and those claws are keen enough to decapitate you in one blow. Depending on how hostile he is, he could be anything from domicile to homicidal. Keep your distance and make sure to try and calm him down first."
"Well this should be fun," Raven mused.
"Yeah, you're tellin' me," Cyborg added.
Robin spoke up to get everyone's attention. "You all have your assignments. Titans, go!"
The beast was still lumbering down the sewers. Jump City had an enormous population, and, to accomodate for that, the sewers were equally large. The cold stone spoke to Beast Boy's temper, which had subsided somewhat. A hazy red fog still covered his vision, blurring his surroundings. He barred his teeth again, spit slowly falling out of his frothing mouth. This beast had one mission, and one mission only: kill whoever it was that had taken his Terra.
Unfortunately, the sewers of Jump City were about as cohesive as a bowl of spaghetti. The blocks on the surface may have been designed for ease of traffic flow, but, down here, the design had clearly been continuously added on to as the city's population exploded. It could take hours to get to another opening, and the beast had no idea where his attacker had gone. Had he been conscious and cognizant, Beast Boy would have remembered the rundown given to him by Robin all those months ago for the inordinate amount of battles that occurred down there.
That suit had a max range of 10 miles, able to be used periodically over ten minute durations. That was, of course, assuming Red X had enough xynothium. Not only was the radioactive substance hard to find and toxic, the suit used the material about as liberally as the speed at which Cyborg could consume waffles. And he ate those in spades.
The beast stopped abruptly, muscles tightened. As before, it again dropped to within a few inches of the surface of the sewage, indifferent to the stench emanating from the groundwater. Its wet black nose rose and fell with great heaves from its chest causing fur to sway back and forth violently. A sharp snap of the neck brought its head parallel to the ground. Veins began to pop in its arms and legs that were visible even underneath layers of fur. Sprinting forward into the corridor and out of the light caused shimmers in the water as the beast tore through the sewer at an astounding speed. It had found its target.
Back on the surface of Jump City, each team was at its destination. Robin had already moved beyond Central Park. He had decided to search the most likely place Beast Boy would go to seek Terra: the currently abandoned Beach Amusement Park. At night time, Robin could simply disappear into the darkness as he searched the park for Beast Boy. Though typically loud and obnoxious, his green skinned teammate could be dangerously silent when needed.
Robin moved towards the ice cream and pie parlor, Ben's, located close to the park at a rundown gas station. It was the only building still in working order, if you could even call it that. Its homely brick-and-mortar look had been marred by a broken window and busted gas pump. Somehow, the place still managed to feel cheery. Robin walked in the building to a couple of lazy glances from the pool table and some 60s style music coming from the jukebox. A woman with a greyish-blonde beehive stood behind the bar cleaning out empty mugs.
"Uh, excuse me..." Robin squinted to read the tiny name tag, "Pam. Have you seen a green skinned boy around here in the last hour or so? Or, perhaps a green animal of some sort?" Robin casually asked.
The woman just gave a hearty chuckle that caused Robin to smile a bit, even in his current state of heightened alertness that kept him on edge. "Dear, I haven't seen that green youngster in a long while. He use' to come 'ere every Tuesday night for some of our famous pie. First time he came in 'ere, he had him a pretty little thing." She sighed whimsically, absently looking at a thin white line on her tanned fingers, "Ah, to be that in love again..."
Robin's head aprublty turned at what could only be a description of Terra. "Hold on. Did that girl have on a black t-shirt with a yellow "T" in the middle?"
"Oh, yes, dear. Never understood why she 'ad to have that thing stamped on the front of 'er. Maybe she kept forgetting 'er name. Happens ta me, sometimes. Why d'ya ask?" Pam questioned, curious why a boy dressed as a stoplight had come into her building asking about one of her most frequent customers.
Suddenly, it clicked in Robin's mind. This is where Beast Boy must have come with Terra. There was no way on earth it could be anywhere else. Beast Boy would most definitely have come here out of the closeness he felt for Terra. What else but her face had been on Beast Boy's mind for the last two weeks?
With that in mind, he asked, "Has anything funny happened here over the last hour?" Hopefully something more general would make her remember something useful.
"Why, we jus' 'ad someone do a drive-by shootin' naught but twenty minutes ago. They was hollerin' somethin' 'bout findin' Bigfoot down in them sewers. Why d'ya need ta' know, dear?" Pam inquired, slightly tilting her head in confusion.
Robin pushed off of the bar he had been leaning on and sprinted outside, yelling, "Thank you!" as he rushed out the door.
Pam just shook her head and went back to cleaning dishes. "I'll neva understan' them teenagers."
From the outside, in the plaza, it was painfully clear that havoc had occurred there. The large metal pillar had been bent excruciatingly inward, causing the top level to teeter precariously close to falling. Most of the tables had been violently overturned, the wood splintered in all directions. Chairs had fused into wicked curves and most of the windows had shattered, some of which were melted. It left a pungent smell of scorched wood in the air.
Cyborg checked a few readouts on his arm before moving into the Pizza Corner. He gradually opened the door to its kitchen, making sure to shut off the lights glowing from his cybernetic body. After sliding through the door, Cyborg took a quick look around the galley. Most of the stainless steel sinks and counters had been left untouched, and those that had been messed with seemed to be from panic rather than an angry, five foot tall changeling. Numerous lights had been shattered, their glass strewn across the back floor. Something was off -the air didn't seem right here. Cyborg quickly activated his night vision to combat Beast Boy in whatever form he had taken.
Cyborg kept his body pressed against the side closest to the front door. Slowly creeping around the corner he casually armed his sonic cannon, looking over the top of one of the counters.
Empty? Though everything in his body told him that there was someone -or something- there, the inside dining area was totally void of anyone. Cyborg rose from his position, confused as to the absence of any presence. He glanced down at his left arm again, double checking the readouts. As with before, there was nothing of interest to report. Still being cautious, Cyborg swept through his array of visual sensors, analyzing the room around him. Yet again, nothing on any sensors. X-ray, infrared, and even radio, outside of his own, were all dead silent.
He shrugged his shoulders and walked through the front door. As the door closed silently behind him, he began to pick up the faint hint of xynothium towards the sewers. Cyborg's heart leapt as his mind raced to a thousand conclusions. Red X hadn't been frozen on the day the Brotherhood fell. He hadn't even been involved. While it was doubtful he would have taken Terra, it was possible, given his warped and confused moral compass. Whatever the case, Cyborg would have to follow up on this new discovery. It was the only lead he had so far.
Xynothium trail has been placed. Return to base. Mission is complete, a voice telepathically commanded.
Two red eyes, once again, melded out of the tile wall at Pizza Corner. The Thing stepped out of the wall and walked outside once Cyborg had disappeared into the sewers. It walked over to a small metal drain hugging the curb, melted, and was gone.
Raven's luck was faring even worse than Cyborg's. She hovered a few inches above the sewage, a little annoyed that she'd been given the dirty work of the group. Though she had seen multiple energy signatures down here, signified by a black misty aura in her mind's eye, most were packs of rats. She had picked up a presence earlier in the sewers that was familiar outside of Beast Boy's, but it was gone nearly as soon as she had found it. Her senses were never wrong -it was magic, after all- but Raven was confused as to who or what had come down to the sewers only to disappear again.
She rummaged in her belt, trying to find something of Beast Boy's that she could track. She could have sworn that... Hah! A deep purple piece of cloth showed itself in Raven's hand soaked in her magic, covering the fabric with a nebulous black outline. Her eyes glowed a similar color as she read the energy signature emanating from the cloth. She picked up a faint trace of his aura leading in a wispy trail farther south into the sewers. It was less of a lead and more of a general direction.
Just as Raven was finishing up her read a white light flashed on her forehead, sending her flying back into the sewer wall. Raven's body went limp where she fell. Her body writhed with pain, but she could do absolutely nothing, continuing to lay completely still. White-hot irons dug into her flesh, eating away at her bones and gnawing at her insides. Tendrils crept into her brain and slithered up and down her mind. The acid they left behind scarred and burned canals into her head. Her nails unraveled in a sickly, putrid curl, revealing the bare flesh and bone underneath.
Raven screeched as the pain ate away at her being. She strained, pushed. Tried to resist the pain, but it grabbed her, contained her. Raven grunted, attempting to speak her words of comfort.
"Azarath, Metrio- GAAAAAAAAAAH!" Raven's words were cut out from under her. Another white light flashed on her forehead, this time leaving a faint smoke behind and focusing more on her jewel. Her pain increased tenfold, too unbearable to describe.
As the pain consumed her, Raven reached into the depths of her soul to find something, anything, that would give her the strength to overcome this pain. Then... Beast Boy's words echoed in her ears, above all the chaos invading her mind.
"You think you're alone, Raven, but you're not."
That's what she was doing this for. That's why she suffered. It was for her friends. For those she loved.
Raven's fists rose up from the ground, defiant to all that was fighting against her, telling her to stay down and embrace the pain. With one last, final exertion of strength, Raven shrieked her mantra, calling out to the heavens themselves to aid her.
"AZARATH, METRION, ZINTHOS!"
A glint of black appeared upon Raven's forehead, cleansing the white that had begun invading her face. She breathed a sigh of relief, slumping her shoulders and simply sitting in the slough and sewage.
After a few moments, Raven lifted herself back up to hovering range above the sewage. She dusted herself off using some of her magic, a somewhat difficult task given her earlier predicament and current state.
As she continued pushing onward towards where she believed Beast Boy to be, a familiar voice rang in her head.
You could end all of this. You only delay the inevitable. It shall come to pass, regardless of your futile endeavors.
Raven fought back again. No! her mind screamed. I will find a way to stop you! Whatever it takes!
The voice chuckled, a sickly, corrupt laugh that chilled Raven to the bone. She would find a way to stop this. This was her duty to stop this. She would not fall prey to it's machinations. Raven would triumph. If she did not, who would be there to stop what was coming?
And done. With Chapter 3 anyway. I've got to apologize for how long it's been since I released a chapter, but I've had a severe writer's block and a busy schedule. I finally have a general idea of what I want to with the rest of the story, though I'm debating on whether or not to bring in a possibility of another character from the DC Universe that was not shown in the Teen Titans TV series. I might, if I find the inspiration, release another chapter in quick succession to the one here. That one month average is still my goal. If you've got any opinions (good or bad), questions, or an opinion on whether or not an outside character is okay with you, feel free to post a review!