Another short chapter, I'm sorry. Author's note on bottom. Disclaim: As always, TT not mine, but Cartoon Network.
"Beast Boy!" They all shouted.
But when they looked up, their eyes widened with shock.
Instead of Beast Boy, they saw a figure in black. With silver boots and matching gloves. He wore three belts and had a two-toned golden helmet. His face was hidden underneath.
"My apologies; allow me to introduce to you my new protégé," Slade said,
"Maelstrom."
The figure remained still. It gave no movement. Elastic Girl quickly got up and ran up to it.
"Rita! Don't!" Mento yelled to his wife.
But the call was on deaf ears as she ran towards him. When she did reach him she wrapped her arms around his shoulders. Tears were cascading down her cheeks.
"Garfield! We - I have been so worried about you. My son, what has he done to you?"
The figure was silent. Its head shook with hesitation. Slade spoke up.
"He won't respond unless I order him to." Rita glared at him.
"What have you done to him? What have you done to my son?!"
"And what makes you think that I have done anything? How do you know that he didn't join me willingly?"
"Because we know you! And we know Beast Boy! Slade, I know enough how you think. You have messed with Beast Boy mind! Just like you've done before!"
"Now, Robin, we both know that isn't true. Both you and Terra chose to become my prodigies in the past."
"You messed with our minds so that we felt we had no choice but to follow you! If Terra was at all like she was when we first met, she was tricked by false promises."
"Oh, but I did keep my promise to her. I was the one who guided her into controlling her powers. Did you not recall how much more control she had, the second time you met her. As for you…"
"I made a mistake. I should've realized sooner. But I won't be fooled again, not this time. Now tell us what you have done to Beast Boy!"
"Why don't you ask him yourselves? Maelstrom, show our friends your answer."
The figure had stiffened slightly, Rita noticed.
She watched as he turned his head towards Slade and then towards her. She froze, unwilling to believe what was to come.
"Garfield…" she whispered in a pleading voice.
And for a moment, she thought it registered something in him. He gently placed a hand under her chin. Her eyes widened with hope.
The hope shortly turned to shock and then into horror as his hand closed upon her throat. Her lungs, already sore from sobbing earlier, were now suffocating.
Her feet soon were dangling above the ground. She wriggled and pawed at his hands trying to break free with no success. Mento surged with anger.
"Rita! Doom Patrol! Attack!" At his command the remaining two members went into action. Robot Man charged right out.
"Sorry squirt. But it's time to take you out," the metal man spoke as he readied a heavy punch towards the dark figure.
But where the punch was to meet flesh, it met empty air.
A moment's hesitation, and he felt the impact of a large foot upon his back. He stumbled forward only to feel an object by his shoulder. Prying it off he glanced at a beeping disk that was in his hand.
"Uh-oh" was no sooner out of his mouth when a sudden electrical charge shorted out his circuitry and he was in a pile heap.
"Cli-iff" Rita gasped as she began to lose consciousness. Slade began to laugh.
"Now, Elastic girl, you should know better. I ALWAYS get what I want. No matter the price."
He had his voice dripping in acidity and pleasure as he uttered that last word. That voice.
A moment of realization dawned on the veteran hero as the darkness took over her senses.
"Rita! Larry!"
Mento placed his hands on his head, preparing a telepathic attack.
"Yeah, I'm on it," the bored voice replied.
Negative Man knew what to do. As the telepathic waves made their way towards Beast Boy, he separated from his body and headed towards Rita.
Maelstrom already foresaw this, however, and dodged Mento's attack while throwing out a grenade at Negative Man's astro form.
The grenade exploded to reveal a net made out of energy that conflicted with Negative Man's. He went right into it before he could dodge it.
"Titans, we need to help the Doom Patrol. Cyborg, see if you can help Robot Man. Raven, your powers might help Larry. Starfire, you help Mento distract Beast Boy and rescue Rita. I'll take care of Slade."
Each Titan nodded in response to their charge. At the command they went into action, only to be ambushed. Surrounding them were at least 20-30 Slade bots. And many more were coming.
Cyborg had his hands full trying to make his way to his metal counterpart. After punching out a good five bots he felt the weight of another ten on his back.
"Get off of me!" He shouted as he unleashed his sonic cannon, scattering the bots away as if they were flies.
Clearing a pathway he charged back towards the down hero. When he finally reached him he was too busy fighting off the many robots attacking him before he could attend to the metal being at his feet.
"Azarath…Mentrion…ZINTHOS!"
Raven unleashed another incantation and a piece of rubble cleared another three Slade bots. She took flight again as she dodged many lasers coming at her direction.
She pulled up a shield wordlessly, absorbing their attacks as she got to her target. Pushing out her shield in a sweeping fashion, she cleared her comrade of being swarmed by those annoying robots.
He was wriggling as the energy sent jolts of surging pain onto him. Enveloping him in her dark aura, she was muttering a few spells that she thought might release him from his bonds.
After some moments, she found the right spell and he was free. He panted in what she thought to be relief.
"I…need to get back…I've parted too long…"
She nodded and wrapped them both in her energy shield. It provided him a net of energy so he could reach his body in time. But it was easier said than done.
For at that moment they were surrounded by ten or more of Slade's robots.
AUTHOR'S NOTE
Sorry for such a long delay guys but I'm going through a really rough time right now.
There's the hurricane issue, the election, my work, my wedding, and I have two family members in the hospital.
One of them may not live to see the holidays.
As much as I'm glad to see you wanting me to update and fill your minds with this story, I'm afraid I'll not be writing much anytime soon.
So please understand my absences and enjoy other great writers and their stories. I'll update when I can. Thanks for support everyone.
~Moongrl
