CHAPTER EIGHT – Titan Trauma
"For the record . . . I'm nobodies servant" the Face drew back the flaming axe and threw it as hard as he could possibly muster, right into the face of Trigon. Retribution and satisfaction was writhing through his entity at the sight of the towering behemoth staggering back into hell's molten; no matter if the damage done to Trigon was superficial, just hurting the son of a bitch was glory in it of itself.
Perching himself on a rock, he caught the Titans out of the corner of his eye – well, four out of the five, that Raven was somewhere else. Once Trigon had been taken care of, his five foes would be riddled with fatigue and then he would destroy every single one of them.
"ENOUGH!" the brusque, guttural wail from the demonic being rang throughout the apocalyptic wasteland; the Face did not expect the sudden burst of red beams emitting from Trigon's red orbs.
The force hit him with such impact, it cause him to be thrown back a considerable distance before colliding into unforgiving concrete.
His head throbbed, his body ached, his breathing laboured.
He was not certain how long he had been wavering in and out consciousness for – it seemed like hours, when in reality, it was only a matter of seconds – fuzzy speech patterns filled his ears; he could not make them out clearly. As the pain in his head began to lessen, he caught some dialogue; it was vague, yet audible.
". . . You survive, only because I allow it. What hope could a mere child have of defeating her OWN POWERFUL FATHER?"
Willing himself to open his eye, the Face was greeted by vision of a blurred red mass and a blinding white light. He shook the opacity in his orb and stared in aghast at what was happening.
Raven was no longer a child; she had retuned to her teenage self . . . and was attacking her father.
The cries of pain that Trigon emitted from his mouth rang louder than before. With every strike, the red leviathan staggered, swayed and swung in all directions as Raven continued her assault.
As the purple haired empath began striding towards the demon, he noticed that the other Titans rose to their feet and took position behind her. Even he would admit, the sight of the sorceress delivering blow after blow, bringing pain down on Trigon was exhilarating; he knew her powers were incredible, but this was unlike anything he had ever seen the girl do.
He noticed something else as well; they were no longer paying any attention to him. He saw Raven levitate higher and higher, defying gravity with every passing second. Once she had finished with Trigon, all five of them would make their way over to him and would be certain to have him incarcerated.
That's not going to happen, I will not be cannon fodder, then thrown in jail.
Hoisting himself to his feet, he began a brisk walk away from the action.
He must have got at least thirty meters before a white light began chasing him. Right now, he was not concerned about what was happening to Trigon right now; he was concerned about making his grand exit. Inevitably, the white light swallowed him up . . .
Time: 7:00:00 a.m.
Bzzzzt, bzzzzt, bzzzzt . . .
His eye shot open, startled slightly by the monotonous cries of an electronic alarm clock, calling to be turned off. He kicked his feet of the desk, stood up, stretched his back, arms, and legs, cracked his neck, wrists and ankles and began walking towards an indigo curtain. Pulling the curtain away, he was greeted to the sight of a makeshift bed: a single mattress, a greying quilt that was devoid of a bed sheet and an even greyer pillow that also had no sheet; hardly fit for a king, but it did its job regardless.
Eyeballing the blinking red lights from the alarm clock, he reached over and flicked the switch that ceased the irritating tone coming from the electronic device.
The flashing illuminations turned on the light bulb in his mind. He left the bodge-job bedroom, walked back to his desk and opened one of the many drawers; his face lighting up at the sight of the numerous envelopes that were stashed in the drawer.
Of course, she was instrumental in making sure that a lot of today's 'incidents' went off without a hitch, but these little letters were incredibly important for a specific individual.
But until then, current business was the top priority.
He gathered the envelopes and removed them from the drawer before closing it. Next, he reached underneath the desk and took out a black, leather briefcase; this would also be important to him. Grasping the letters and briefcase, he took one last observation of the multitude of television screens. In the majority of areas he had placed the cameras; they were yet to be disturbed. Soon enough, those cameras would show the disruption and disaster that he been pre-planned.
He turned his attention to the cameras that did show activity.
At Caspar Confectionary, the fire fighters had long done their duties in extinguishing the fires and the police were deep in roaming around the shop. The camera angle only showed faint bodies entering and leaving the building, not what was going on inside. But that did not matter; the reward came in the form of paramedics wheeling a trolley out of the charred, destroyed sweet shop a black body bag. He could only imagine the state of the body that was contained in the bag . . . he liked it.
The next camera was focused on a concrete path where he saw the young, delectable body of poor, little Hannah Young bleeding, writhing, and dying; the life inside her exuding with every breath she took. He imagined her calling weakly, begging for anyone nearby to help her, to save her. Well, that was not going to happen.
The third camera showed the inside of the house . . . correction, burning house that belonged to Saira Thurman. He was impressed, yet disappointed. Impressed in his compatriot had used such ingenuity in attracting attention, but disappointed that he had missed the whole show. As the flames continued in licking and something the floors, walls and ceiling, the inferno slowly, ever so slowly, began to eat up Saira's dark skin. This current activity sent waves of electricity flowing through his body.
The fourth camera showed . . .
Interesting, he thought to himself, very interesting. Batman's rent-boy and the green circus freak have stayed back . . . not what I expected but still. And what's this? They're arguing with one another?
He did not think his smile could get any wider, but somehow, it did. The only thing that was a shame was that the cameras had no sound emitting from them. He would have loved to have heard what they were saying.
The cracks are already beginning to show.
He saw Robin take out his communicator and begin speaking into it; BeastBoy walked away, out of shot from the camera.
Squinting, he could tell that the Boy Wonder had just received some horrific news.
What in the world could that be I wonder?
"WHAT!"
"The pair of us was talking and then we both smelled gas. Seconds later, a house exploded right besides us."
"Where are you?" Robin asked in a panicked voice; he could not believe the day that was occurring today.
"I don't know" BeastBoy's ears picked up perfectly the state of panic and uncertainty that was laced in Raven's voice.
"What do you mean you don't know?" Robin's voice showed a sign of irritation.
"The pair of us landed in a rural part of the city; I have no idea where we are" Raven's dialogue ceased. Robin overheard the purple haired heroine ask someone where they were, "I've just been told that we're at Steinhouse Avenue.
"The public have already called for an ambulance and the police and fire fighters should be here soon enough"
Robin harshly ran his hand over his face, and then shook his head. This was all unbelievable, seriously unbelievable. He quickly remembered . . .
"Starfire . . . Raven, please put Starfire on, I want see if she's okay"
Raven did not immediately respond. Instead, she stuttering and hesitated in responding to the Boy Wonder.
Robin was starting to get aggravated by Raven's vacillation; BeastBoy was getting anxious. The changeling could tell by Raven's vocals that she was struggling to say something . . . Something bad?
"Raven . . . put Starfire on now . . . that's an order" Robin pushed the empath again.
BeastBoy chose to speak up, completely forgetting about his earlier encounter with the empath a few short hours ago, "Raven, what's happened?" and then followed the next sentence that sent Robin's heartbeat racing through the roof "Is Starfire okay?"
Robin wide wide-eyed with shock.
Raven finally spoke, acknowledging Robin rather than BeastBoy "Robin . . . I . . . I'm sorry . . . Starfire's hurt".
The two males' jaws fell to the floor in horror.
As the trepidation in Robin increased and intensified, he hurriedly called down the communicator, "Hurt . . . what do you mean hurt? Raven? What happened? Is she breathing? Is she moving? Raven? Answer me! What's going on? How . . .?"
Raven repeatedly told Robin to stop stammering and explained what had happened.
Raven interpreted to the events that occurred, "When the building exploded, the pair of us was thrown off our feet. Whilst I landed on the road, the force sent Starfire into a fire hydrant . . . and she hit her head pretty hard"
BeastBoy swore he say a tear fall down the Boy Wonder's cheek as Raven described the events that took place.
Holding back the emotion – which was such a damn hard thing for Robin to do at this moment in time – Robin asked, "Raven . . . is Starfire . . ."
Raven cut of her leader, "She's still breathing Robin, and she's unconscious but still breathing"
Both boys sighed in relief at the news.
"Raven" BeastBoy piped up again "can't you heal Starfire with your glowing, healing thingy powers?"
"My healing powers only work for abrasion and broken bones; I don't have the ability to heal major organs"
Robin gritted his teeth in disappointment. He pushed this aside and managed to ask "Raven, cant you fly Starfire to the nearest hospital?"
"Robin, don't worry. An ambulance is coming soon enough."
"Raven, that's not what I asked."
Huffing in frustration, Raven responded, "No . . . Robin. I was almost wiped out by a gas explosion. My emotions went haywire and therefore, my powers are not working."
"How do you know that if you haven't tried?"
"Whenever I get any form of skin abrasion or broken bone, my powers heal them within a matter of seconds. The explosion happened no more than five minutes ago and I am still covered in cuts, scratches and I'm still bleeding from my arm . . . and thanks for asking me how I was by the way"
Both Robin and BeastBoy looked at each other in uncertainty blended with embarrassment.
Robin quickly ended this awkwardness and resumed speaking, "Raven, stay with Starfire and make sure that she's safe. You've had first aid training, so make sure you utilise it fully, okay?"
"Sure thing, I wont let her come to harm"
"Thanks. Robin out"
Robin closed the flap on his communicator and returned it to his pocket.
Robin now had a dilemma on his hands. The current location he and BeastBoy were at had practically been finished as far their investigation goes; they had unearthed some crucial information and now knew that a young female was involved in the old woman's death. However, now that Raven and Starfire had been prevented for going to Caspar's, there was still pivotal information that the Titans needed for the events that occurred at the sweet shop. He could not ask Cyborg to go there as he was already on his way to the hospital and he would not ask BeastBoy because, well . . . it was BeastBoy.
He shuddered; he almost could not believe what he was going to say, but it had to be done, "Okay BeastBoy, this is what's going to happen.
"I think we are both in agreement that we're finished here, yes?" the changeling nodded in agreement, "Good, okay, so this is the plan. We are going to leave here, and then you're going to fly my over to Caspar's. Once you've dropped me off, you go over to Raven and Starfire and . . ."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa" straight away, BeastBoy stopped the Boy Wonder in mid-flow, "What do you mean that you're going to go to Caspar's and I'm going to Raven and Starfire?"
Robin sighed in frustration before resuming his speech, ". . . and you're going to go with them to the hospital, understand?"
"Uh, no, I don't understand . . . I don't understand why the hell you're abandoning you're girlfriend after she's been severely injured and was nearly killed. I don't understand why the girl you love" BeastBoy was so close to adding 'supposedly' in the sentence but thought better of it "is not going to being seeing your face when she wakes up. I don't understand why . . ."
"BeastBoy . . . SHUT UP!" Robin closed the gap and was virtually nose to nose with the green teen, "I gave you an order, and by God, you are going to follow that order, do you hear me?" Robin voice was now in a low, growling tone; every syllable uttered through clenched teeth.
BeastBoy gave a laugh that was littered with disbelief, "Ha, you're unbelievable. You're basically saying that you're pride, you're ego, your selfishness . . . this mission, is more important than Starfire", jabbing Robin in the chest with his finger at everything he listed, rage was boiling in his stomach and it threatened to overflow and scold Robin.
Robin had got this far, he was not backing down now, even if the glower in BeastBoy's eyes had returned; maintaining the same tone level, he said "I'm selfish? You're protesting because you don't want to see Raven right now, aren't you?
Oh my God, tell me he didn't just say that?, the green teen could not believe what he had just heard, "You what?" BeastBoy's vocals matched the obfuscation charging in his mind.
Ignoring his question, the traffic light on legs concluded his dialogue, "I'm going to say this once and only once . . . you're going to drop whatever issues you have with Raven and ensure that she and Starfire are alright . . . and that . . . is an order"
Before BeastBoy had a chance to snap back, Robin quickly spun around, sprinted out of the door and pulling out his grappling hook, he unleashed on a nearby building and hoisted himself into the air.
BeastBoy had been left in the house, stewing in his own anger at Robin's blatant lack of concern, consideration and cogitation for his girlfriend.
He paced back and forth, back and forth; the temptation to punch a hole through the wall presented itself on a myriad of occasions, but he held back. If he imagined Robin's face on the wall, that would definitely make it easier, but it would not change help in the least.
In truth, Robin's words really irritated BeastBoy. Whilst speaking to Raven over the communicator, he completely forgot about his 'issues' with Raven. He was even aghast that Robin suggested such a thing. But Raven's manner over the communicator – how she dismissed the changeling and only directed her speech to Robin – caused the doubt to resurrect itself in BeastBoy's mind.
No matter how hard it was to ignore, one of his friends was currently needed assistance. And whilst Robin may not have been willing to be by Starfire's side, BeastBoy would be.
Making his way to the door, he stepped outside and shut the door behind him. He ran at a brisk pace, leapt in the air and morphed into a kestrel. All he had to do now was find Raven and Starfire.
Swinging in on his grappling hook, Robin landed perfectly on top of the roof of the building opposite Caspar Confectionary. The repugnant essence of burnt wood, burnt brick and carbon monoxide brought back the nauseous feeling in Robin's stomach; he could not remember such a sight in his life.
His eyes surveyed the streets. The number of punters had increased significantly since the Titans left; he swore that those who were here the first time had stayed and had no intention of leaving the sight.
Robin's masked orbs landed on Lieutenant Steve Brauner who was having banter with one of his colleagues; laughing and joking no less. The Boy Wonder could not believe it.
What the hell is that jackass laughing for? Does he really think that this is funny? Robin's fury boiled inside him like a bubbling cauldron; he felt that now was the best time to make his appearance.
Out of nowhere, Steve Brauner saw the traffic light on legs appear from nowhere. He was hoping that after his drumming down, the Boy Wonder would get the message and not bother showing up. Obviously, the message had not sunk it. The last thing he wanted was kids getting in the way of something as serious as the incident at hand.
Sighing in frustration, Steve broke away from his colleague, placed closed fists on his waist and made his way over to the superhero, "I thought I told you that you and your teams help were not required"
Not backing down from the officers rhetoric, Robin replied, "You said that we could not go in whilst forensics did their jobs. Well, they've had more than two hours now, that should have been plenty of time for them to have found something; I thought that you would like to keep me updated"
To say that the lieutenant did not like the cut of the Boy Wonders jib would have been an understatement. He could not give a flying fuck whether he was Batman's ex-protégé or whatever affiliation he may have with any other big booted hero or the Justice League faction; he was still a kid, nothing less and certainly nothing more.
He eventually noticed that his colleagues were nowhere to be seen, this intrigued the lieutenant, he had to bring this up; it was too good of an opportunity to miss, "I admire your persistence" he lied "which is more that can be said about your team. Where are they? Back in their comfy, warm beds?"
The lieutenant's discourteous tone did not settle with Robin. What was this guy's problem? And 'team'? What the hell?
"First of all, they're not 'my team', they're my friends" Robin ignored Steve's sarcastic nod of the head "Secondly, they have their own objectives and thirdly, you can try your damndest to push me away from this, but I intend to stick on this investigation like glue. So, you can either fill me in on what you and your team have discovered, or I can just find out for myself" Robin closed the gap between him and the officer "either way, I will find out who did this"
Steve was unshakeable. He had to admit, the kid certainly had some front; maybe his assistance would not be such a bad thing.
"Okay, you want in, then let's set some ground rules"
Good, Robin mentally high-fived himself, I'll play his game if it means getting an insight into what they've discovered.
"Anything and everything that you are told stays with you and only with you, got it?"
Robin nodded.
"Good. Oh, and if you and your team discover anything that indicates who did this, then you let me be the first to know, understand?"
Well, Robin knew that that was not going to happen, but he had to feign agreement.
"Brilliant, I'm glad we got that clear"
"Oh my gosh. Mommy, look, look . . ."
"Carla, it's rude to point at people"
"But Mommy, its Cyborg, look"
"Carla, don't . . ."
Cyborg saw the woman pause to stare at the cybernetic being. Her jaw dropped at the sight of the Titan.
"Mommy, it's rude to stare"
Cyborg could not help but laugh at what was happening between the young mother and her child. He stopped to wave at the two females, to which they replied back with their own wave; the mothers jaw still hanging loosely.
Cyborg approached the reception desk. Sitting behind the lengthy desk was a young woman who looked no older than twenty-five years old, brown hair that was fixed into a ponytail and a matching pair of brown eyes behind a pair of black framed glasses and a crimson t-shirt that hugged her body with a name badge which read Kimberly.
The receptionist looked up at the half man half machine and asked "May I help you sir?"
Cyborg leant on the counter and replied "Yeah, I need access to the morgue". Even Cyborg would admit that his answer was particularly blunt and . . . well, weird, and Kimberly's face certainly did not betray the notion of confusion.
"I'm . . . I'm sorry, what?"
Leaning forward and dropping his voice to a whisper, Cyborg went into further detail, "Look, earlier on, a woman called from 1679 Ridenour Street requiring assistance, right?"
Kimberly creased her face, trying to remember that call. Within seconds, the light bulb was switched on in her head. Yes, she had taken a call from someone of that address. She could remember an elderly woman sounding particularly distressed, asking . . . no, pleading for help before blurting out the address then ending the call. She nodded in a response to the Titans' response.
"And two paramedics were sent out . . . ummm, Leo and Melissa?"
"Ah yes, yes it was those two that were sent out"
"Well, they came back shortly and I'm here to receive a confirmed report as to the cause of death"
Perplexity pounced on Kimberly's mind, "Is that a duty for the Titans to do now? I thought that was the duty of the police"
What Cyborg was about to say was risky, and he knew it. It could potentially bite him in his metal arse, but if it was to get him into the morgue, he knew it had to be said, "I was specifically asked to come here by Lieutenant Steve Brauner. He would've come himself but he's back in the town centre. D'ya hear about the stuff that went down at Caspar Confectionary?"
"Oh God, yes I did. Now with what happened at Steinhouse Avenue, I should imagine that the police will be . . ."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, what do you mean 'what happened at Steinhouse Avenue'?" Cyborg cut off the young receptionist.
"You mean you don't know what happened?"
Cyborg shook his head.
Kimberly was surprised, "I thought that was the reason that you were sent here. It's all over the news. It happened about twenty, thirty minutes ago when . . ."
Cyborg did not listen to the rest of Kimberly explanation. Instead, he broke off into a sprint and into the patient's waiting room.
The waiting room was a particularly small area. There were rows upon rows of chairs; fifty to be exact and only ten people occupied those seats, tables strewn with magazines; some which dated back to January . . . of last year, the walls plastered with a sickly green colour to which Cyborg thought was very apt in conjunction with the hospital itself, health posters which intended to scare the be-Jesus out of anyone severely concerned with personal hygiene or signs to look out for in case anyone suffered a stroke were plastered all over the walls, an analogue clock hung on one of the green walls which read the time as seven-twenty-nine and thirty-seven seconds and a small screen television hung in one corner. He approached the television and turned the volume up.
" . . . to which we now cross over to Hilary Jenkins with the latest news of what happened not long ago on the rural area of Steinhouse Avenue. Hilary, what's the latest?"
The screen cut from the newsreader's face – whose name was Christian Solomon – and to a forty plus year old woman in an all black, corporate style suit with greying black hair. Behind her, Cyborg saw that police cars, a fire engine and an ambulance had surrounded what appeared to be a burning house. Crowds of people were gathered around the burning wreckage as police attempted in vain, to haul people away from the scene in order to protect them.
Hilary began speaking, "Thanks Christian. Approximately half an hour ago, the quiet suburb of Steinhouse Avenue, here in the heart of Jump City, was viciously disturbed when this house behind me" she turned to point at the house behind her on that sentence, "for reasons unknown, ignited and as you can see, has been totally destroyed.
"Emergency services arrived no more than five minutes ago. As you can see behind me" the camera zoomed away from Hilary, "police are desperately trying to usher civilians away from this horrific incident. However, due to the incident that occurred to Caspar Confectionary, police are short in numbers so they do face a tough challenge.
"Fire services are on course in quelling the burning wreckage, but as of yet, we have no reports as to who was in the building at the time, or to what could have caused the fire in the first place, but we will bring you up to speed on any updates.
"Furthermore, we received video footage taken from a video camera on a cell phone that we have received from an anonymous member of public which shows, what can only be described as, shocking footage.
"We are about to play this footage, so viewer discretion is advised"
Cyborg was hooked onto every single word that was pouring out of the newsreaders mouth. He could not believe it. If he thought he was shocked now, he was in no way prepared for what came up next.
The shaky footage showed the burning house crumbling as crowds of people ran in an assortment of directions. Cyborg picked up on some speech patterns, speech patterns that were extremely familiar. Cyborg did a double take . . . the camera phone's footage showed Raven pushing her way through a crowd of people; that familiar voice belonged to her.
As Raven shoved her way past the gathering crowd, the person behind the camera took initiative and moved in closer. The bobbing and weaving of the camera went to a birds-eye view. About five/ten seconds later, the camera caught a sight that made Cyborg's heart to freeze . . . Starfire was splayed out on the concrete, her eyes closed, not moving; Raven screaming the Tamaranian's name was the last thing he saw.
Rooted to the same spot that he had been the last two minutes, Cyborg saw Hilary's face re-appear on the screen and she resumed speaking, "As you can see, Raven and Starfire, members of the infamous Titans, were in this vicinity when the explosion occurred. From the video footage, we can see that Starfire was injured during that explosion whilst Raven is seen virtually unscathed. Paramedics have refused to release the extent of Starfire's injuries but we have received unconfirmed reports that she has suffered a concussion and no other major injuries. We can confirm that a few moments ago, an ambulance took Starfire, along with fellow Titans: Raven and BeastBoy – whom arrived at the sight no more than three minutes ago. With regards to the explosion, police are asking desperately for people who . . ."
Cyborg stopped listening to the rest of what Hilary was saying and slumped down in one of the many waiting room chairs. He rested his head on his right hand; he had been stunned, virtually stunned into shock.
Starfire had been injured. His own sister – well, they were not blood related but still, she was as good as a sibling – had been involved in an explosion and was knocked out . . . Why had he not been told about this the second it occurred?
Raven was plainly caught up in the mess; BeastBoy was also involved in that mess, where the hell was Robin? What the hell was going on? What else had happened that he had not been told about? Which hospital were Starfire, Raven and BeastBoy heading to? Here? Another hospital?
Cyborg began seething. Again, he had been left out of any update, excluded from any changes that plainly happened in Robin's orders, and was not made aware of his teammates coming a cropper.
In the confines of his chair, Cyborg began to shake . . . shake in rage.
Why? Why the hell am I the last to find out? Do they even remember that I'm here? Of course they won't. After all, I'm just their friend, their family, their good ol' toaster, blender, their coffee maker on legs, their . . .
"Mister Cyborg? Sir?"
The sweet, subtle, soft sound of a female's voice and the poking of a finger snapped him out of his thoughts and brought his eyes down the little girl who was with her mother when he first entered the hospital? Carly? Carol?
"I'm sorry to bother you, but . . ." Carla's voice was shaking with nervousness, he hands shook as she held out a pen and paper, "please . . . may I have your autograph Mister Cyborg?"
The female paramedic – whose name was Angela Starr – kept a cautious watch on the heart rate monitor. The electronic device showed that the Tamaranian had a heart rate at one-hundred and twenty-seven beats per minute. At first, she was instantly panicking at the insanely high heart rate, but was quickly reassured by her purple haired teammate who told Angela that, for Tamaranian's, that was the normal heart rate and if it dropped below seventy-five beats per minute, that was when Angela had to worry.
Angela stared at the orange skinned super hero – who had a damaged purple-blue cloak wrapped over her body – with abject wonder. It was easy to forget sometimes that she was in fact non-human and it was the first time that she had ever been in contact with something of Starfire's kind.
Roughly five minutes into the journey to the hospital, Angela's co-worker – a male by the name Matthew Carshalton, who was driving the ambulance – asked what had happened.
Raven explained everything. She told both paramedics that she and Starfire smelled gas coming from somewhere and before they knew it, they were propelled into the air. When Raven found Starfire, she was crumpled up on the pavement; her head was nestled on a fire hydrant. Raven assumed that when Starfire was thrown into the air, her head had collided with the hydrant and knocked her out. She also told the paramedics that she did make sure that Starfire's airways was clear, that she had made sure that she had a pulse, put her in the recovery position and wrapped her cloak around her friend to keep her warm.
The paramedics thanked Raven for taking the necessary procedures, attached Starfire to the trolley and put her in the ambulance.
Seconds later, BeastBoy – who sat opposite Starfire but kept some distance from Raven – sat hunched over, his gloved hands clasped together and had a look of solemn despair etched all over his face.
Raven could not help but notice how the changeling looked. She momentarily forgot that there was any friction between the pair of them and felt genuine sorrow for the guy. She knew that he and Starfire were close; practically brother and sister. She could feel the hurt radiating off of the guy.
Angela saw the way Raven was looking at BeastBoy. She then saw how the changeling looked before placing a gloved hand on his knee, inspiriting the green teen, "She's going to be alright BeastBoy . . . I promise"
BeastBoy broke his gaze from the floor to look into Angela's eyes; emerald eyes, just like Starfire's. He went from Angela back to Starfire's static state. The sight was unbearable. He did not stop the tears falling from his eyes. He unclasped his hands and placed his face in them. He did not bother stopping his sobs, even if there were two women surrounding him.
BeastBoy did not notice the hand that the female paramedic placed on his shoulder . . . or who he thought was the paramedic.
Angela watched as the purple haired heroine closed the gap between herself and the morphing hero and placed a hand on his shoulder. Whilst it was rather cute to seen the look of compassion of the sorceress face, the paramedic watched in wide-eyed wonder as she saw the empath arm starting to . . . heal itself?
Yes, her skin was healing itself. Of course, Angela and Matthew had asked Raven whether she needed any treatment, she declined. But – and Angela still could not believe it – the second her hand made contact with the changeling's shoulder, the scratches and blood started to fade away and within what could not have been fifteen seconds, it was replaced with undamaged skin; as though she had not been injured at all.
Silence screamed throughout the vehicle – all apart from the bleeping from the heart rate monitor – for a long time until Matthew's voice called from the driver's seat, "Here we are ladies and gentlemen . . . Jump City General Hospital"
Time: 7:58:57 a.m.
With his dog hauling at his leash, William 'Billy' Wilson walked his dog along Pinehurst Street; which was almost deserted at this time of the morning; which was not uncommon on a Sunday morning. Along his usual route, the clipping of his Alsatian's claws on the concrete, plus the sounds of the chirping pigeons were the only noises that filled the street at this time of morning.
The early morning sun warmed the streets at a toasty twenty degrees Celsius (sixty-eight degrees Fahrenheit) and Billy wished that he had not worn a sweater.
However, unbeknown to him, the heat was about to be the last thing that was about to concern him.
As he turned the corner, the sound of Ronnie's (his dog) toenails against the concrete and the twittering birds were accompanied by what sounded like screaming.
Billy stopped and listening intently. He could hear cries for help. A woman screaming.
"Help! Someone help me" these repeated cries were then cut off by a high pitched scream.
Releasing the leash, Billy sprinted down the street until he reached an alleyway. His eyes were introduced to the sight of a young, dark haired girl who was being assaulted by a towering figure.
"Hey" Billy called out, "Oi you"
He was ignored as the assault continued.
Fuelled by instinct, Billy rushed into the alleyway.
The shadowed figure saw a brown haired man running towards him, a grin spread from underneath his mask. He turned his attention away from the young woman and stood up to take on the 'hero-of-the-hour'.
Billy went to strike the assailant but ended up receiving a kick in his stomach which sent him crashing to the dirty, wet, litter covered concrete. He hunched himself up, scrunched his eyes closed and clutched his stomach and tried to recuperate his breath. Even in pain, Billy opened his eyes and saw the leviathan stalking him, like a cheetah approaching a wounded deer. Mustering his strength, Billy waited until this bastard was close enough before he drew his leg back and kicked him in the knee.
Billy will filled with a small sense of triumph as the figure doubled over, holding his knee. Drawing back his same leg, he kicked his square in his jaw. The assaulter fell back like a falling tree and landed on his back.
Gathering his breath, Billy stood up, brushed himself off and made his way to the young girl who was cowering against the wall, holding her legs and her face was against her knees; she was shivering.
Taking caution, Billy bent down and placed his hand on the girls shoulder. She instantly shuddered and looked into Billy's eyes. He could see that her eyes were dark red, tears were streaming down her face, make-up was smeared, and lips were shivering and her skin was cold to the touch.
In a quiet whisper, Billy asked, "Miss, are you hurt?"
Whimpering, the girl shook her head.
"Did he . . . um, well did . . .?"
"No" the girl quickly responded, she knew what he was going to say, "No, he didn't"
Nodding his head, Billy expected the girl's clothes. There were no obvious abrasion or injuries, just her shirt had been torn at both sleeves and that the shirt, jeans and shoes were dirty.
Offering his head, Billy said, "Okay miss, can you stand up?"
She nodded.
"Okay, come with me and we can go to the police, alright?"
With her lips quiver, she mustered a thankful smile and replied "Okay"
The girls took his hand with her left and supported herself on her right hand.
As Billy helped the young lady onto her feet, completely oblivious to the knife that she took from behind her back.
In one swift movement, she took the knife from behind her back and stuck it in the mans neck; blood spluttered from his windpipe onto her face; her mouth turned into a smile . . . an evil smile.
From the moment the knife went in his neck, to the moment he collapsed to the floor, she kept eye contact with him . . . until the moment his eyes rolled into the back of his head and his eyelids closed.
Moments later, he - who had pretended to assault her - joined her side and placed a hand on her shoulder.
What had just passed was probably the riskiest move in the whole plan, but it had worked fantastically. He knew that if he was wearing his trademark attire, then he would have been rumbled by the 'failed hero'. He had taken the liberty of picking out a costume which consisted of a leather trench coat, olive coloured khakis, brown boots and a brown fedora that offered enough coverage to hide his facial features.
"You did well" his low, haunting voice – which sounded like music to her ears – spoke out.
"Thanks. I've always been a good actress" she turned to look at him, the grin still plastered on her face.
Making eye contact with his assistant, he flashed a black envelope that had the letter T emblazed in red text on the front.
Looking quizzically at her boss, he responded, "A little note for our good friends . . . the Titans" before bending down and placing it on Billy's stomach.
Rising to his feet, he said "Now, how about some breakfast"
END OF CHAPTER EIGHT
Just to update you guys, I said in the previous chapter that I was considering releasing a small story with a Christmas-y theme. Well . . . it's been scrapped. The truth of the matter was that it was completely unrealistic releasing a twelve chapter piece in the space of eighteen days. So, it's been put on hiatus until next year (possibly . . . I don't know . . . who does know?).
Reading Recommendations
1. Brown Eyes by GreenRock (yeah, it's a shameless plug for my own work . . . but can't I be an attention whore now and then?) . . . two girls, one boy. A romantic themed one-shot with a sorrowful twist. Due to moments where both girls let their guards down, they were soon to learn that they lost their love . . . all because of brown eyes. Inspired by the song Brown Eyes by Lady Gaga.
2. No, We Are Not Happy Campers by PanamaRoxMySox . . . Garfield Logan signs himself and his friend, Rachael Roth, up for volunteering work for a summer kids camp. As chaos ensues and their time is dominated by rowdy, unruly little brats, the result of their time as volunteers ends in unexpected results. Recommended for those who are feeling down this Christmas period and are gagging for a laugh.
3. A Partridge in a Pear Tree by Tammy Tambourine . . . no one wants to be alone in life. Despite loving the Christmas season, Raven only wants one gift, and this year, it's going to come from the most unlikely source. And by Christmas day, maybe, just maybe, she will get the gift that she longs for . . . and maybe just a little bit more.
Next chapter will definitely be released on Christmas Day. I know all of you will probably be too busy for Fan Fiction for the 25th, but think of it as a present for all my readers around the world; I certainly don't forget about you guys.
Until then . . . lots of love, peace and all that jazz.
