Disclaimer: The Teen Titans aren't mine.
Moonlight Maelstrom—Chapter Six
"Ah, yes… thank you both for coming." The mayor said with a smile. "You are quite highly recommended in what you do… I hope that your services will prove satisfactory.
There in front of his desk in the manor stood two young men, both seemingly in their teens. One was completely garbed in black leather all around himself, even the head. The black hood that covered his head had the insignia of a skull with a red 'x' marked across one eye, and a crimson cape flowed down the back of his black-leather suit.
The other was decidedly Asian looking, with dark skin and black hair. Over one eye he wore a monocle, while the other eye was almost completely white; he was blind in one eye. He wore a black trench coat over a gray-and-red ninja suit with large red shoulder armor that was samurai-like.
"I assure you, Sir… if you need someone taken care of, then you've come to the right people." The skull-masked one said from behind his mask.
"Yes… the infamous Red X… and the one known only as The Ghost." The Mayor stated. "I do indeed need someone taken care of… as a matter of fact, several people."
"… The more the merrier." Ghost said. "Or, in this case, the higher the body count."
"Right. Now, there are eight people down there. Seven of them must not come out alive. The last one, well… he doesn't have to die. But if he does, no one will miss him, if you catch my drift." Mr. Markov explained to the two assassins.
"Who is the highest priority?" Red X asked. "In case we have a shot at more than one."
"The girl." He replied without a flinch. "Long blonde hair and blue eyes. She's the one I want dead more than anyone else! I tried to take care of the matter myself long ago…" He sighed. "… Unfortunately, she seems to be too stubborn to die."
"Not to worry. We can be very…" Red X pulled an 'X' shaped shuriken from his cape and twirled it. "… Persuasive."
"Right. The two Tamaraneans and the two mercenaries have a hefty bounty on their head already from the Bloodtusks. And, the Royal Soldier with the Witch both have prices on their lives from the Convent mistress. As for that performer, no one will even notice he's gone. He was on his way out of town anyway…"
"How dangerous are they?" Ghost asked.
"The girl is as malicious as she is abnormal. You saw yourself the quakes that she's been causing. As for the two mercenaries… both of them used to be murderers, I hear, and the Tamaraneans are ruthless dictators in their homeland. The knight is corrupt, and the witch is nothing but pure evil. The green one is a scoundrel and a con, stealing people blind before they even know it…"
All of these were lies, of course, but the two assassins didn't know that. If they had known the truth, they would not have taken the job, and the mayor, shrewd devil that he be, was fully aware of that.
"Rest assured, Sir… we'll make sure they never cause anyone any trouble again." Ghost said with a respectful bow.
"… For the right price." Red X added.
Mayor Markov reached into a drawer on his polished desk with a businesslike smile, and pulled out a small black briefcase. Placing it on the table and unlatching the small iron clips on the side, he opened it up to reveal… several rows of pure gold bars; shining and sparkling in the light.
"You have my word, Gentlemen… that you will not regret doing business with me."
Red X and Ghost took one look at the gleaming bounty within the briefcase, and gave a hurried farewell before hurrying out the door towards the mine entrance.
The crooked Mayor sat down in his plush chair, smirking proudly. His little modification of the truth had worked flawlessly.
"Yes… after those two simpletons do the dirty job for me, I can personally kill them and collect the bounties for my own profit. Hohohoh… Good business, if I don't say so myself." He mused arrogantly, stroking his blonde goatee.
"Yes dear…" His wife spoke from a nearby window.
She was gazing listlessly out the window, her blue eyes strangely empty and hollow; her voice was pitchless and lacking emotion. The way she stood there was almost like a statue, with only the swirling of her longhair and sweeping skirt in the breeze to give the impression she was alive.
"Oh, Bah! Stupid thing… forgot to banish it again…" Mayor Markov muttered to himself.
He cracked his knuckles and swung a single hand at his wife, and it suddenly began to glow with shadowy energy as he muttered a few strange words under his breath.
Mrs. Markov crumpled to the ground. Then, with a hiss and a puff of smoke rising from her prone form, she flickered and faded, shrinking up… and then, with one last crackling sound, she was gone entirely.
"Doppelgangers are quite useful, but I simply can't stand to have one around longer than I must." The Mayor sniffed to himself disdainfully. "… Reminds me too much of that wench…"
"Come on; admit it: we're lost." Smoke groaned.
"No! I'm telling you I know where we are! Or… at least, I did. But… something's wrong. This place isn't on the map!" Robin said, pointing to the mine map he held. "We should've hit a dead end a while ago, but we just kept going…"
"… Perhaps we should turn around?" Sub-Zero suggested. "… I think it's clear that there's nothing down here but mud and rock."
Blackfire and Starfire were both less than suited to this environment in their fancy dresses. Star had been lifting her skirt to step over muddle puddles and Blackfire was constantly tripping over rocks.
"I hate this! We should've just stayed outside, Starfire…" Blackfire grumbled. "Damn caves… damn mud… damn filth… Grrrr!"
"Please, calm yourself, Sister." Starfire attempted to soothe her.
"Calm myself? How am I supposed to do that?" She muttered under her breath. "… I REALLY need to blast something right now…"
Robin turned to them. "Y'know… if you want, you COULD just go back up and wait for us in town. I can lead you guys to the exit and—"
"No. That would be wasting too much time, and besides…" Blackfire trailed off… mainly because she couldn't think of anything else to say.
"He's right. You're welcome to wait for us at that Inn we stayed at earlier." Smoke offered. "We're big boys; we can handle ourselves."
Blackfire was silent for a moment. Then, looking down at her slightly frayed and dirtied skirt, she actually contemplated the idea in her mind…
"… You really wouldn't mind?" Blackfire asked. She felt bad about leaving them, but this place was getting on her nerves.
"Not at all. Star, would you rather wait up there for us, too?" Robin asked.
"I… well…" Starfire looked around at the dismal cavern. "… Yes… I think that would be preferable. But… what if something happens to you?"
"Smoke's right." Sub-Zero suddenly broke in. "We can handle ourselves. Don't worry about us; if you'd rather stay up there, then that's perfectly alright."
"Yeah! Come on; I'll show you back to the entrance…" Smoke volunteered himself, sidling up to Blackfire.
Abruptly Robin knocked him out of the way and walked up to Starfire.
"No! I mean, I better do it. You stay here with Zero in case anything happens."
"No… I"ll go with them." Smoke insisted.
"No… I will!" Robin glowered.
As the two Tamaraneans just stared bemusedly, Jinx sweatdropped and said "Actually… maybe it would be better if I went with them. I remember how to get back to the entrance. And that way, you can both go with Zero. This is your job anyway… we're just helping."
So, with a bit of resistance, it was decided that Jinx would take Starfire and Blackfire up to the surface while the guys pushed further on, still with no idea what they were looking for.
"This is ridiculous." Sub-Zero muttered as he ducked under a stalactite. "No amount of money could be worth this…"
"… There's something down here. I know that much." Beast Boy, who had been silent up until now, said with a shudder.
"How do you know?" Robin asked, gripping his staff nervously.
"Well… earlier, before you guys found me, I kept…. Well…. Seeing things. Things… moving…"
Smoke unconsciously reached for his crossbow and blunderbuss. "… Moving? What was it…?"
"I dunno. But… every so often, I'd look behind me and think that I'd seen something standing there. But then it would just disappear…"
"Are you sure it wasn't just your imagination?" Sub-Zero said skeptically. "I don't make a habit of putting much stock in ghosts or monsters."
"Hell, those pig monsters were real enough for me." Smoke snorted. "And if they're real, then who knows what else is?"
"… Do you see them?"
"Yeah, I see 'em… but where's the others?"
"Huh?"
"The others! There were three girls with them…"
"Perhaps they split up."
"Yeah, well… then you better find them. I'll take these guys out myself."
"Are you quite sure? I mean—"
"We don't kill them all, we don't get paid. Simple as that. Now go!"
"As you wish…"
Red X and Ghost split ways; Red X to take down Robin, Beast Boy, Sub-Zero, and Smoke, and Ghost to assassinate Starfire, Blackfire, and Jinx.
As X watched his slippery partner disappear instantly into the shadows—which he was quite good at—he reached into a pair of black scabbards on his side a drew a pair of scimitars. The first had a shining gold hilt with a blood-red blade, and the second had a silvery hilt with a jet-black blade; other than the colors, both of the curved scimitars were quite the same… when held across each other, they formed a large, jagged X shape.
"… X marks the spot…"
"Geeze… it's even creepier down here with them gone." Smoke grumbled.
"Oh, you just wanted to keep an eye on Blackfire." Robin sighed. "… Personally, moreso on some parts than others."
"Me? What about you and redhead? Don't even tell me you—"
It was at this point that Sub-Zero stopped listening and groaned to himself. He wasn't sure which was more painful: the aching in his feet from marching so far in all that heavy armor, or the aching in his ears from listening to those two.
'I wonder if I was to just freeze them and drag them along behind me?' He mused. '… I could always thaw them out later…'
Beast Boy rolled his eyes. "You guys always so loudmouthed? I mean, I'm not one to talk, but still…"
"HE STARTED IT!" Robin and Smoke shouted simultaneously.
"Don't make me come back there…" Zero said. This quieted them down a bit.
"Look. I think Starfire's cute, Ok? But that's nothing compared to the way you've been ogling over Blackfire." Robin sighed finally.
"Hey, I never said it was a bad thing." Smoke said defensively. "… It just ain't like you to be mixing business with pleasure."
Robin went stark red. "… W-what do you mean by THAT?"
Smoke chuckled. "Not what you think I mean… unless of course, I'm right."
"Alright, settle down guys. You're getting loud enough to wake the dead." Sub-Zero scolded.
"Heh… Well, this applies to you to, Mr. Heroic. I've seen the way you look at witchy-woman back there…" Smoke chortled.
"I…" Zero faltered. "… I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Ah, nevermind. You guys are no fun, anyway… always so serious… you wouldn't know a joke if it walked up and bit you in the ass."
Fweet!
Thump!
The three of them were now so preoccupied by their bickering that none of them noticed Beast Boy suddenly crumple to the ground limply. They just kept on walking, assuming he was following behind them…
After they were out of sight, a black figure with a skull mask scuttled out from behind some rocks and examined his handy work, plucking a pair of X shaped shuriken from Beast Boy's neck.
"One down, three to go. Don't worry, little fella… I'll be back for you, later…"
Fading into shadows, Red X stalked along the path the others had taken…
"This is too easy. They make more noise than a goose getting raped by a grizzly bear…" Ghost chuckled to himself as he tracked the three girls. "They should have never split up… it'll be too easy like this. Although, it's a shame I have to kill defenseless women. Ah, but if they're half as bad as the Mayor said, then at least I'll have THAT to ease my conscience."
Taking out his scythe, he rattled the chains loudly and vanished from sight, going invisible.
"… Does anyone hear that…?" Jinx said suddenly.
…Rattle, rattle, rattle…
All three of them froze in place.
… Rattle… Rattle rattle… rattle…
Starfire gulped. "… What is making that sound?"
Blackfire lit up a ball of energy in her hand, prompting a shocked gasp from Jinx.
"You can do that?" Jinx demanded.
"Yes, there's no time to explain so just don't ask." Blackfire said bluntly. "Star, get ready… I think we've got company."
Starfire nodded and her eyes and hands began flashing green as well.
Jinx looked around and shrugged. "Well… may was well." She charged up a hex and prepared to sling it at the first thing she saw.
"… Who's there?" Blackfire demanded. "I know I hear someone."
"We are asking you politely to please show yourself!" Starfire added.
… Silence…
"… I don't think there's anyone there." Jinx said slowly.
Blackfire huffed and opened her mouth so speak… but instead, there was a loud ripping noise and she let out a hoarse scream and fell over to the ground.
Immediately, Jinx and Star rushed over, kneeling next to her and staring in disbelief.
There was a large bleeding gash—unmistakenably made by a blade—running down her back, her dress ripped in a straight vertical line. She moaned softly and clutched at her back as Jinx quickly tore a long strip of cloth from her skirt and tried to bandage the wound with it. Starfire floated up into the air, eyes blazing.
"Who has done this?" She demanded, launching a bolt at some nearby rocks, causing them to explode in a green nova. "COME OUT!"
"… Sorry. Afraid I can't." A voice echoed from everywhere at once. "You see, it's nothing personal; it's just business… but I'm going to kill you."
And at that point, Ghost appeared behind Star and kicked her in the back, sending her reeling into Jinx.
Beast Boy groaned and shuddered in his sleep. He was bleeding lightly from two pricks in his neck where the shuriken had hit, and the venom from the shuriken was taking effect already.
Slowly, a figure crept from the rocks nearby… the girl that had seen him earlier.
She hurried up to him and knelt down, examining him silently. Then, she picked him up in both arms like a sack, and she carried him off to a nearby wall.
As they came to what was naturally a dead-end, her eyes shone with gold… and a deep roar bellowed through the Earth itself, shaking the cavern to its foundations. The wall cracked up the center and opened itself up like a massive pair of Earthen doors, slowly grinding apart to allow entrance.
The girl carried Beast Boy in, cradling him to her chest. She whispered to him…
"Don't worry. I'll take care of you…"
The rocks closed up behind her, sealing them off from the outside world.
"Hey, uh… anybody seen Beast Boy?" Smoke asked, looking around.
Sub-Zero smacked his head. "Wasn't he just behind us?"
"He WAS… but where is he now?" Robin asked. "Did you see him leave?"
"No. Did you?" Sub-Zero said.
Robin rolled his eyes. "If I had, why would I be asking you?"
…
…..
…….
"… You'll meet up with him, soon enough." A raspy voice answered from the above them.
Abruptly, Red X materialized from thin air and swung both swords at Robin's head in a scissors-like motion. Reflexively, the boy wonder reacted at once. With a leap, he avoided the blades and sent Red X flying with a staff blow to the face.
Sub-Zero drew his sword and Smoke cocked his blunderbuss as the stranger got up and dusted himself off.
"Who are you?" Robin demanded, amazed that he'd been able to keep his head (both literally and figuratively.)
"Name's X… Red X. But you can call me, 'Sir'."
And with that, he threw a glowing X-shaped energy blast at them, exploding into flames before they could react.
As X drew his blades again, Sub-Zero stumbled to his feet. "Alright… I don't know why you're doing this, but you're under arrest! Do you realize you've just attacked—"
"Two ex-murderers and a corrupt piece of royal-swine? Absolutely. TAKE THIS!"
X leaped at him, brandishing both blades at once.
CLANG!
Blade and Staff met with a deafening sound as Robin and Red X struggled against each other's strength, deadlocked in one spot.
Smoke loaded up his blunderbuss and shouldered it, keeping both eyes open.
BLAM!
Red X was sent flying by the spray of fire and lead from the gun's barrel.
Smoke smirked, confident the assailant had been dealt with… but when the dust cleared, he was getting back up from the ground!
"What the? You should be dead!" Smoke protested.
Red X stumbled to his feet, in pain but not out of the fight. He motioned towards his suit and cloak. "… This stuff's not made of regular leather, y'know. Gunfire is nothing."
Sub-Zero growled and slung a massive shockwave of blue ice energy at him, but Red X leapt over it and hurled a fistful of shuriken. It was thanks only to quick reflexes that Zero brought his shield up in time, preventing him from becoming human swiss-cheese.
Red X charged Sub-Zero, swinging his double blades wildly. Zero countered with his own sword, dodging and parrying X's blows with ease.
"Give up." Zero panted, the swords clashing together deafeningly. "It's obvious who's the better swordsman."
"Look out!" X shouted suddenly.
Without thinking, Zero whipped around reflexively… opening him up for a fist to the face that sent him hurtling into a boulder with a grunt.
"… It's also obvious who's the more intelligent, Scum." Red X snarled from behind his mask. "Now why don't you do the world a favor and die."
Robin suddenly kicked Red X in the back, knocking him to the ground.
"HA!" Robin swung his Bo Staff at the stunned assassin whilst he was down, beating him in the chest and face relentlessly. Finally, X managed to kick Robin in the gut, knocking the wind out of him… then, he kneed him in the chin, causing the Boy Wonder to tumble backwards again.
Red X jumped to his feet and immediately dashed to the side as a barrage of arrows, courtesy of Smoke, whizzed past where he used to be standing.
"Why don't you put away those ranged weapons and fight like a man?" Red X sneered. "Swords and knives are much more personal."
Smoke scowled, loading some more arrows into his crossbow and cocking it. "… Swords are for people like Zero. Sticks are for people like Robin… and guns and bows are for me…" he paused. "… The arrows and bullets, however, are all yours."
Smoke fired off another volley of arrows, but X dodged each one of them with lightning speed, jumping and rolling to the side and flipping into the air.
"Grr… would you HOLD STILL?" Smoke roared, his constant arrow-fire doing little good against such a mobile opponent.
"Better idea yet." Red X yelled back, perching on a rock. "… How about you AIM?"
Infuriated, Smoke gave up firing and ran straight at X as though to grab him.
Unfortunately, Smoke's deft opponent did a hopping somersault over his head and came down right behind him, grabbing him by the neck and holding his crimson scimitar to his throat threateningly, ready to slit his neck open and spill his blood at a moment's notice.
"Tsk, tsk… you should really learn to control that temper of yours…"
….
…….
Robin and Zero, only just recovering from the beating they'd received, were not quite sure what to do… if they took one step further, Smoke was a goner.
"… What do you want?" Robin said slowly.
"… This isn't about what I want…" Red X hissed silkily. "… This is about what must be done. Injustice must be prevented. Debts must be repaid. And evil must be…" He tightened his grip on Smoke's neck. "… Slaughtered."
Abruptly, Red X toppled to the ground as the boulders beneath him rolled and tumbled.
"… Leave… them…. Alone…"
Everyone present was stunned. Not only was this a new voice, it was a… well… for lack of better words, a tiny feminine pansy-ish voice. A girl…
"Who's there?" X glowered, getting up from the ground. "It's you, isn't it? The one causing the quakes! I'm coming for you too; don't you worry."
He was so caught up in his monologue, he didn't notice the blunderbuss pointed at his head until he heard it cock.
"… (ca-click!)… Son, if you wanna keep that brain inside your head… you're gonna put your hands in the air and tell us what the Hell is going on…"
"He's the one that took your friend…" The small voice continued.
"… Beast Boy?" Robin asked sharply. "Where is he? Is he alright?"
"That little runt?" Red X sneered. "Heheh…"
"Give me one damn reason I shouldn't paint the walls with your blood right now." Smoke demanded, voice trembling with rage.
"… Because where would your freakish little friend be without my antidote?"
"That means nothing! I can take it from you once you're dead." Smoke countered.
"… And if you can't figure out how to apply it?" Red X uttered in a bizarrely calm voice, as though this was all a game to him.
"……." There was silence.
Robin shouted out to the voice. "Who are you? Why are you helping us?"
"Don't play dumb." Red X said sharply. "It's not fooling me. We know you're all in this together."
"… 'We'? Who is 'We'?" Robin demanded.
"My partner… who has already taken care of your little female friends, no doubt."
THIS got Sub-Zero's attention. Abruptly, he stormed over and grabbed Red X by the collar. "No! You bastard… if either of you so much as put one hand on Jinx, I'll TEAR OUT YOUR SPINE AND HANG HIM WITH IT!" The knight bellowed.
Red X chuckled. "… If he didn't kill you first."
Zero, eyes shining, grabbed his hammer from his back and made as though to crush X's skull in.
"Ah-ah-ah… the antidote…?"
Reason clicked in Zero's mind, and he sighed heavily, lowering the weapon…
Smoke stared amusedly. "… And I thought you had no idea what I was talking about?" He taunted Zero.
Robin glowered. "Smoke, this is hardly the time or the place…"
Suddenly, something moved in the shadows… a girl. She had blue eyes and long blonde hair, with pale skin and dressed only in rags.
"… Are you…?"
"… Terra."
Robin stared. "Terra?"
"I told you, there's no use in carrying on with this act!" X spat vehemently.
"Look you moron… I don't know who you think you are, but I'm REALLY starting to suspect you've got the wrong guys. First you refer to us as 'murderers' and then you say we know this girl? You're full of it!" Robin growled.
Softening, he turned back to the girl. "Your name's… Terra?"
"Yes…"
Smoke stared. "… You're the one behind all these quakes?" He asked incredulously.
Suddenly, she took on a look of alarm. "I… I…"
Abruptly, she turned and ran.
"Wait! Hang on…" Smoke yelled. "We just want to talk!"
She froze in mid-jog, and turned to face them again, eyeing them nervously and fidgeting. "I… I didn't…"
"… Did you, or didn't you?" Robin said gently.
"… I… can't… help it…"
Robin stared. "So… it WAS you?"
"No! I mean… yes… I… please… don't kill me… don't kill me…" She fell to her knees and started rocking back and forth.
"Kill you? You saved our friend, Beast Boy! Why would we—" Robin began, but was cut off.
"Beast Boy…?" She asked hesitantly.
"Yeah… y'know… short green little guy? Changes into stuff?" Smoke explained. "He's… kinda hard to miss…"
Sub-Zero put away his weaponry and dusted himself off. "I assure you, we're not here to hurt you, but… I don't understand… why are you doing this?"
"I can't… It… happens. I can't stop it…" Terra moaned slowly.
Robin and Zero looked at each other while Smoke kept his firm hold on Red X, with the gun barrel pointed at his head.
"… Do you know why it's happening?" Robin asked.
There was a long pause. The silence was ringing, even more deafening than the sword-clashes and gunfire of before.
"… Dreams…"
"What?" Robin blinked confusedly.
"Dreams… bad dreams."
Sub-Zero stared. "You're saying nightmares are causing you to… make earthquakes?"
The girl nodded. Then, she spoke… "Monsters… they weren't here before. They're here now… I don't want to stay down here anymore. I can't go outside…"
"Why not?" Smoke asked.
"…" The girl apparently had no real answer to this.
"Look, if it's not your fault, we can just tell the Mayor that. He seems like a nice enough guy, and… well, maybe he'll understand." Smoke said.
Robin shook his head. "… Smoke… whether she did it intentionally or not, she DID level several buildings… I don't think Mr. Markov would be too happy about that."
Terra began trembling violently.
Zero walked over, putting a hand on her shoulder. "What's wrong?"
"No… no, don't… I can't… he'll kill me!" She blurted out. "He'll kill me…"
"No… I'LL Kill you." X corrected dryly.
"One… more… word…" Smoke snarled hatefully. "… And I'll rip your eyes out of their sockets! … Which is nothing compared to what I'll do to your little friend if he hurts Blackfire…"
"Why would he kill you?" Robin pressed, kneeling down to her. "Why?"
She shrugged shakily. It seemed she didn't know.
"Look, this is… a lot more than we bargained for." Robin said to Zero and Smoke. "We need to find Beast Boy. Then, we need to find the girls… before…" He trailed off.
"Can you take us to Beast Boy?" Zero asked Terra.
She nodded, and motioned for them to follow as she got to her feet.
As they followed, Smoke prodded X roughly with his blunderbuss barrel. "You… you're comin' with us…"
A Few Minutes Later…
They stood in the small hidden chamber that Terra called home… it had a wooden table with a few chairs, and a makeshift "Bed" of hay and cotton quilts, with a bag of grains served as a pillow.
On this primitive bed, lay Beast Boy.
"You! Cure him, on the double!" Smoke ordered. "… Before I give your inner child a lead enema."
Grudgingly, Red X stepped forward and bent over, grabbing some strange herbs from his black cloak and using them on Beast Boy in a strange manner… murmuring and doing weird gestures with his gloved hands as he did so.
… Shortly afterward, Beast Boy's eyes fluttered open and he yawned widely.
"… Dude… What… what… happened…?"
"This rat here tried to poison you." Sub-Zero said wryly. "… And SHE saved you." He added, jerking his thumb at Terra.
Beast Boy's bleary green eyes drifted to Terra… she promptly blushed and turned, avoiding eye contact.
There was a long silence…
BOOM!
"Oof!"
Red X elbowed Smoke and Zero in the guts simultaneously and hauled ass down a nearby stone corridor, catching everyone by surprise.
"S-s-s… son of a…" Smoke groaned angrily as he caught his breath.
The three of them, along with the newly recovered Beast Boy, began chasing him…
… Until Terra jumped in their way. "No! No, you can't—"
"Out of the way, Terra." Zero said gruffly. "Time to finish what we started."
And with that, they charged past her while she pleaded frantically.
"No! Not down there! NO!"
Her cries going unheeded, they pursued Red X until he abruptly disappeared from view…
… A moment later, it abruptly became clear why as they tumbled off the same ledge he had.
As the battered warriors got to their feet, they found themselves inside what looked like a huge pit-shaped chamber. Unlike the rest of the cavernous mines, its floor was covered in a thick layer of sand and dirt…
"Grr… Time to finish this once and for all!" Robin roared.
"Agreed…" Red X responded.
As the two sides began slowly approaching each other…
…
…..
…………………
RRUUUUUUUUUUUMMMMBBBLLLLEEEEEEEE!
The entire chamber suddenly came alive, shaking violently. As they all looked around, they saw something startling.
There was a trail coming at them… a trail in the sand, like something below… something the size of a small whale.
"What… the…?" Smoke started, but he was interrupted.
"SCRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"
A large snake-like thing, with fangs and leathery red skin lunged from the dirt at Smoke's legs. With a startled yelp, he jumped out of the way, dodging its snapping teeth and jaws.
But that didn't stop it. The thing, eerily lacking any form of eyes, lunged next at Red X, who black flipped over it and came down on its head with a powerful stomp.
It screeched and angrily and retreated back into the ground…
Suddenly, the shaking and trembling of the Earth resumed… and the middle of the pit swelled and warped, something growing and coming out…
"Oh God… There must be a million of them!" Zero yelled, badly panicked.
… And then, all Hell erupted from the ground up.
A worm, with a black razor-sharp beak and the size of a baby whale, erupted upwards from the ground. It had no eyes, but where its eyes should have been there was part of the black beak. Its entire brown, leathery body was coated with black spikes and bony bumps.
The monster opened its mouth and loosed a dreadful roar, chilling the bones of all present. And then, it became apparent where the snakes were coming from…
… They weren't snakes at all. They were tongues. Tentacles. Three of them total, they squirmed and writhed in the giant worm's mouth, snapping and hissing.
"No there's not a million." Robin grunted grimly, tightening his grip on his staff. "… Just… one…"
