A/N: Here we are, another chapter finished sooner than I thought. Found a song from the "Transformers:Revenge of the Fallen" Soundtrack that inspired the battle in this chapter. The song was called "Forest Battle" I believe, only like two minutes long, but it was enough to get stuck in my head. Look it up on youtube it's a pretty good tune.
For those waiting for an update to my other story "The Unsealed Truths." I'm planning it's next chapters very carefully, so it'll take longer. This story however I already know how it will end, so it was easier to update.
Review Responses
Stormplains - Thanks for the advice and kind words, more intense action this chapter too!
Ludra90 - You probably heard "Chromatically challenged" From one of Force's(TheForceIsStrongWithThisOne) stories, who is an amazing writer. I like to give Beastboy the spotlight and make him look cool in my stories as I feel he deserves it. As for things happening to Raven, you'll just have to wait and see.
Jump City sewers, normally it was very quiet, the only sound being the gentle flow of dirty water. Within it's debts sat a grey-skinned girl with purple hair, clothed in a blue cloak and a dark blue, almost-black leotard with blue boots. The right sleeve was torn, and her right arm all the way up to her right shoulder was heavily bandaged. An angry red stain near the girl's right shoulderblade indicated a serious injury.
Surprisingly enough, the girl's face was calm and serene. She was levitating a few feet above a concrete walkway, seated indian-style in midair. The fact that she was able to maintain this calmness while four super-powered beings were only a little ways away battling it out was even more surprising.
However, this girl was no ordinary teenage girl, she was Raven of the Teen Titans. Meditation and healing trances had been a part of her life since she was a little girl. Right now, she was in a healing trance, desperately trying to mend her ruined right shoulder, however time was not on her side.
As if to drive that point home, the passageway she occupied began to shake slightly. The aftereffects from a powerful attack in a battle that was being waged not far from her. Although Raven's face was still calm and serene, her eyebrows furrowed slightly, ever so slightly. Her healing trance remained uninterrupted however, and her right shoulder began to slowly mend itself.
She needed more time however, much more time. Unfortunately, time was not a luxury that neither she nor her green-skinned teammate could afford at the moment.
Beastboy in his sasquatch form struck out with his right hand, aiming for Mammoth's face. The massive Hive villain was ready however and swatted away the changeling's right hand with his left forearm. Mammoth answered back with a right fist of his own, striking the green sasquatch on it's left cheek, the force so great it snapped the changeling's head to his right.
The green Titan stumbled backwards a step and Mammoth tried to press his advantage, swinging a nasty left hook at the sasquatch's head. Instead of hearing the satisfying sound of his fist hitting flesh, his left hand passed harmlessly through the air. In the span of a single moment, the emerald sasquatch had morphed into a mule.
With a mighty kick from it's hindlegs into Mammoth's midsection, the green mule was able to knock the big man back a little ways. Mammoth growled and was about to counterattack when the mule morphed again, this time into a triceratops. The giant green dinosaur rammed into him like a freight train. The massive villain defied gravity for a few moments as he was sent flying back through the passageway.
A recovered Gizmo flew under Mammoth as he sailed past him. Momentarily distracted from having to dodge his teammate, the pint-sized genius was unaware that a green lion was about to pounce on him. The jade-colored lion sprung forth, seeking to sink it's fangs into Gizmo's left shoulder, however it's teeth bit into nothing.
Beastboy was surprised as he actually sailed THROUGH Gizmo. Too late he noticed the square device placed on the concrete walkway, emitting a hologram. He saw Jinx in front of him, a wide grin on her face and her arms spread wide. The pink-haired sorceress' hands were glowing as she fired a blast of pink energy from each of them.
The blasts hit the walls on either side of the changeling and sections of the concrete wall of the passageway burst forth. The sections sandwiched the poor green lion, which howled in pain. Quick as a cat, Jinx leapt forward and delivered a beautiful jump-kick that connected with the green lion's jaw.
Amazingly Beastboy managed to land back on his feet on the concrete walkway in lion form. He shook his head to try and clear out some of the cobwebs, just in time too, as Gizmo had thrown a silver-colored grenade at him that was shaped like a baseball. His feline eyes widened in surprise as the grenade exploded.
The explosion rocked the passageway that Raven was in. Sweat began to gather on the dark girl's forehead, but otherwise her face remained unchanged. Her healing trance still continued unabated.
Gizmo started to laugh loudly after his grenade exploded almost on top of the changeling. It didn't last long however as a green turtle was hurtled toward him from the force of the explosion. The turtle was neatly tucked into it's hardened shell, which had protected it from the grenade's explosion.
The pint-sized villain hastily changed his tech from a jetpack to it's spider-form. He used the right mechanical foreleg to swat the turtle, smacking it away to his right. The changeling found himself quickly approaching the wall opposite of Gizmo and quickly reverted to his normal form.
Beastboy righted himself in midair, landing on the wall with his feet rather than his face. For a long second the green Titan crouched against the wall and before gravity could take hold he sprung forward. Cracks spidered up the wall from where the pointy-eared changeling jumped off, he immediately morphed into an armadillo and rolled into a ball.
The green armadillo slammed into the right side of Gizmo's face like a cannonball. Beastboy thought he saw a tooth fly out as the pint-sized genius slammed into the opposite wall that he had just leapt from. Gizmo had impacted the wall with his left shoulder first, his head bounced off of it a moment later. The tiny villain crumpled to the concrete walkway in a heap.
Animal instincts quickly alerted Beastboy that Jinx was leaping at him from behind. The pink-haired sorceress twisted in the air to build momentum, ending in a spin kick that would plant the toe of her boot into the right side of the changeling's skull. It would have, if a green ape hadn't caught her foot with both of it's massive hands.
Gripping Jinx's right shin tightly, Beastboy lifted her over his head and slammed her down spine-first into the concrete walkway, just to the right of Gizmo's prone form. She cried out in pain, arching her back after the impact, her mouth and eyes wide in shock. Something big and heavy suddenly slammed into the green morphling's chest. Beastboy barely registered it was Mammoth, who had used his right shoulder as a battering ram.
The big man had slammed his shoulder right under the jade-colored ape's sternum. He then wrapped his large arms around the primate's waist and began pushing him back a few feet. Beastboy tried to halt his backwards progress, digging his feet into the floor as much as he could. Mammoth however had caught him by surprise and had dazed him with his first attack.
The massive Hive villain lifted the big green ape into the air by it's waist, raising the primate to just above his head. Mammoth then leaned forward, freeing his right hand so he could plant it onto the ground for balance. Then with his left arm still around Beastboy's waist, he slammed him down onto the concrete walkway as hard as he could.
A crater formed where the emerald-colored ape made impact. Beastboy was extremely jarred from it, his vision and hearing were very distorted. He was however, able to make out the blurry outline of Mammoth preparing to hit him once more. The changeling lashed out with his right fist, striking the big man in the face. He faintly heard the sound of cartilage snapping and Mammoth crying out in pain. His strike had knocked the big man back into the green-greyish sewer water, which splashed all over the concrete walkway, the incapacitated Jinx and an irate Gizmo.
Beastboy noticed too late that Gizmo had recovered. Before he could make a move the pint-sized villain pointed what looked like a gun in his hand at him. Instead of a laser or bullet though, two darts attached to cords shot from the gun. The darts punctured the changeling's skin near his ribs and with an evil smile Gizmo pressed a button on the side of the gun. A powerful electric current ran through the green ape which roared in agony.
The ape's roar of agony reached Raven's ears and she momentarily lost her concentration. More than anything she wanted to help, but in her current condition there was nothing she could do. Letting out a sigh to calm her rattled nerves, Raven closed her eyes and attempted to find her center once more. The best thing she could do for Beastboy right now was to try and heal herself as much and as fast as possible with the time he was buying for her.
"Suck on that snot-muncher!" The pint-sized genius exclaimed. Beastboy crashed onto his back, the impact jarred the darts out of his chest thankfully. Stars danced across his vision and he angrily shook his head to clear them out. He felt his muscles spasming all over his body and fought to get them under control. Rising back to his feet, the emerald ape was greeted by an unhappy looking Jinx lashing out with her right foot.
Jinx's kick successfully landed in his gut, doubling him over, the pink-haired sorceress immediately followed through with a left hook to the jaw. Beastboy staggered backwards, but Jinx continued her onslaught. She used the momentum from the left hook to do a complete rotation and strike out with her right foot once more in a vicious roundhouse kick. The blow was actually strong enough to twist the big green ape around.
Amazingly, Beastboy managed to stay on his feet, he twisted back around to face the Hive leader once more. The changeling was just in time to see her perform a backwards handspring, the toe of her left boot smashed against the underside of his chin. Jinx had actually hit him hard enough to lift his feet off the ground and knock him into the air. The green Titan finally reverted to his normal form and managed to right himself in the air, landing safely onto his feet in a crouching position. Blood dribbled down the right side of his lip and he quickly rubbed it away with his clenched right fist.
His plan was falling apart, He had wanted to stealthily attack the Hive and slip back into the shadows unnoticed, but the Hive was just too good. He was never able to keep all three of the villains down long enough to make his escape. Still, not all hope was lost, he still had a card to play in this game although he hated to use it.
"You've been luckier than most Beastboy, but it looks like that is running out." Jinx announced. She began walking towards the changeling slowly, stalking him, Mammoth and Gizmo regrouped, both walking behind her and one of them on each side. Beastboy spat out some blood that had collected in his mouth. To the villains' surprise he was smirking.
"Dudes, you rely too much on luck. There's more than that to determine the winner of a battle." Beastboy replied. Jinx raised an eyebrow in response.
"Such as?" The pink-haired sorceress asked.
"The desire to protect..." The green Titan answered, suddenly leaping backwards. He placed his thumb at the top of the center of his silver utility belt and his index finger at the bottom of the center. He hit two buttons simultaneously located at those positions on his belt and the center started to blink red. The changeling swiftly removed his belt and tossed it at the terrible trio. "...And the guts to back it up!" He finished.
The Hive could only stand there with surprised looks on their faces. Beastboy turned and ran, trying to get as much distance between them as he could. The belt began descending in the air, still blinking red. It was within five feet of the Hive when the self-destruct activated.
Fire engulfed the passageway and Beastboy morphed into a cheetah and ran as hard as he could to stay ahead of it. Finally after what seemed like an eternity the explosion expired. No longer being chased by the flames the changeling reverted to his normal form. Leaning against the wall for support and breathing heavily.
"Duuuuude! You think you put enough explosives in the belt Mento? Good god." Beastboy complained out loud. His former leader in the Doom Patrol had put self-destruct mechanisms in all their belts for extremely desperate situations. He thought this qualified, but he didn't think they would be this powerful, Mento really went overboard on it, probably to make sure that whatever threat the Brotherhood of Evil had presented would be destroyed utterly.
For a moment, Beastboy wondered if he had accidentally killed the Hive, but he had a feeling that they were still alive. After all he survived didn't he? Besides they were trying to kill Raven and might have killed him too if not for the bomb in his belt. The explosion had collapsed the passageway, leaving a pile of rubble. If the Hive were still alive, they would be delayed in pursuing them hopefully.
Beastboy turned and began making his way toward Raven, hopefully he could get her to the others or the very least a hospital. He had already lost one friend to betrayal, he didn't want to lose another to injuries. Morphing back into a cheetah, he ran as fast as his legs could carry him.
"Raven!" The sound of her name being called drew her out of her healing trance. She opened her eyes to see the familiar face of her green teammate looking at her in concern. Raven frowned as she noticed what condition Beastboy was in.
"You're hurt." She stated, The changeling had a bloody nose and lip. Various bruises covered his face and there were small rips and tears in his costume. She also noticed that his silver utility belt was missing. He flashed her what he thought was a reassuring smile.
"These injuries are nothing compared to yours." He replied, picking her back up and holding her piggyback-style. Raven felt him wince in pain slightly as she wrapped her arms around his neck. She had to hold her right forearm with her left hand as her right arm wasn't moving like she wanted it to. "Come on, we got to get out of here."
"What about the Hive?" The dark girl asked. Beastboy took off at a brisk pace, searching for a ladder that would lead out of the sewers and to the surface.
"I managed to delay them. It took a little work though." He answered with a small laugh.
"I never would have guessed." Raven commented in her monotone. "Are we in the clear?" The changeling shook his head slightly.
"I doubt it. My animal instincts are still going crazy, telling me there is danger close by. We need to get out of the damn sewers, it's too confined down here. At least on the surface I might be able to improvise a little better." He told her, his face brightened slightly as he finally found a ladder. "Ah, there we go. Hold on tight Raven I gotta use my hands to climb here."
Raven complied, holding onto him tight and wrapping her legs around his waist so they wouldn't dangle uselessly and add more complications for her green friend. Beastboy climbed the ladder swiftly and surely. He practically threw the manhole cover away and burst back onto the surface, the sun bathing both Titans in welcome light.
"Never thought I'd be so glad to see the sun." Raven commented, Beastboy chuckled slightly.
"Me too. Come on I think Jump City General Hospital is just a mile away. We can..." He was interrupted by the sound of someone screaming at him, someone who was very angry.
"BEASTBOY! You're dead! Do you hear me? You and your little witch friend are DEAD!" Jinx screamed angrily from behind them. Beastboy spared her a glance, She was standing about one hundred feet away, Gizmo by her side. Her left eye was clenched shut and her usually grinning mouth was snarling. Her clothes were ripped and torn and she had numerous bruises and cuts where her skin was exposed. Gizmo was likewise, in a similar condition. Mammoth was nowhere to be seen.
"Ah shit." The changeling cursed, and ran as fast as he could. Raven spared a glance at the two members behind them. Although they were pretty torn up, they looked more than ready to fight, which was not good for them. As long as Beastboy was carrying her, he wouldn't be able to properly fight back.
The cloaked Titan frowned as she pondered the grim situation. They couldn't escape and they couldn't fight back, what in the hell were they supposed to do?