Chapter 10: Melancholia
Robin's lifeless body laid battered against the floor. It was a smudge against the otherwise pure, wholesome atmosphere of the Tower. Innocence had been lost: the thought was so cliché yet it made Beast Boy laugh.
"Dude! You didn't have to kill him...yet." Beast Boy paused and jokingly gasped out that last word.
Cyborg moved towards Beast Boy, his eyes darting towards the doors around the living room. Despite the noise of their quick fight, neither Raven or Starfire had come to help the boy blunder. Even in sleep, they must have heard. Raven had magic to detect such trouble and Starfire wasn't deaf the last time they left her.
Beast Boy gloated about his victory over his fake boyfriend: Robin, the boy who was blundered. Their would be no more lies.
"A couple of punches and he just died. How was I supposed to know he would go down so quickly?"
"Robin going down quickly? Oh, what could that refer to?" The green hero tried pretending to be innocent in his innuendo.
"BB, that boy was way too flexible not to be doing any and all of the things you're thinking," Cyborg smiled. "But seriously, you better have plans to find the other Titans or your plans will be finished."
Beast Boy sighed. "I know. But I'm not the one who lied to Robin that we were dating...then just bashed his head in anyways. There's just so many men...fighting over me." He laughed.
"Don't flatter yourself, BB." Cyborg rolled his eyes before glaring at his friend. His inner sensors were whirling, trying to locate Raven and Starfire in the Tower. Suddenly, his voice emitted, "They're here."
"It's not like it'll be too hard of a fight. Only Raven could be a match for us." Beast Boy said matter-of-factly.
"I killed the love of Starfire's life. She's not going to be calm and let herself die."
"No, she's obviously going to throw herself into the arms of his killer. Pretty normal alien babe stuff."
They laughed, readying themselves for another fight. There was no point in escaping the Tower; Cyborg could track Raven and Starfire. Like Robin, they would be blundered.
The last true Titans would come to an end.
"We won't win." Starfire looked into Raven's eyes with a poignant sadness. She had already given up. It was ironic how her usual happiness had faded; Raven was the one who held hope.
The two had escaped onto the top of the Tower, waiting to be confronted by Beast Boy and Cyborg. They would either win or die. There was no alternative: if Robin was dead, no one in Jump besides the two girls could be a match for them.
"We can fight." The witch placed her hand on Starfire's shoulder, trying to reassure her. It didn't work. Nothing could have eased the boiling fear in the alien.
"We can fight...but we can't win. Raven, don't lie." The alien looked away, out into the city of Jump. The sky as still dark. It would be several more hours into the morning until it dissolved into a grayish haze.
"Starfire..." Raven gulped, not knowing what to say in her last moments. "I..."
"Raven, don't. Just don't. I don't want to deal with some love confession before we die. You're a loner and learned to find love in your friend...I can already hear you saying it pathetically." Starfire spoke with a slight venom to her words.
The witch paused, dumbstruck at Starfire's bluntness.
"But...I showed you the truth. I couldn't tell you what they were doing, but I could show you them killing Robin. I'm trying to save you...save us."
Raven had sensed a commotion when Beast Boy and Cyborg entered the Tower. She couldn't tell Starfire, but she had been able to show her just as Robin was silenced. Starfire hadn't clung to her after it for emotional support. If anything, Starfire loathed her, beyond a teenage sense of hate.
"Raven, I am this close to ending you myself. Just drop it."
Silence passed for several minutes between the two as they waited for Beast Boy and Cyborg to come up to the roof. Raven had grown irritable in that silence, so she was the first to break it. She craved Starfire's voice even with its hatred towards her.
"Robin is dead. Maybe you should be more grateful for who loves you among the living."
Starfire laughed at her dryly. "Love? And I was the one who was obsessed? I don't know why I'm still waiting here to die with you. You want me as a idea to save you from your whiney, emo darkness."
"That's not true..." Raven barely believed in her own words.
"It is. I'll show you something truly emo, Raven. I'm tired of waiting for them to kill us. If I'm going to die, it's going to be one my own terms. Goodbye..." The alien paused, purposely not calling Raven her 'friend.'
With that, Starfire distanced herself from Raven and began drawing green energy into her hands. The light became stronger and larger, pulsing wildly until it enveloped Starfire.
Raven couldn't stop her. Using her magic might only set off the energy more and grant Starfire's wish. The green light began dissolving into itself and melting Starfire, burning her too quickly for her accelerated healing to work.
She was dying and all Raven could do was watch. In the end, Raven was a loner even amidst the Titans. Starfire never loved her nor cared to even call her a friend in death.
"Raven..." Beast Boy almost purred out, striding over to the witch. He relished in the fear beating from her eyes.
"Azarath." She began her chant, focusing on the green hero and Cyborg coming into view.
"Go on, Raven." Beast Boy pursed his lips, almost impatiently waiting for her to cast the spell.
He was eager and confident: everything that Raven was not right now. She had little power behind her words. Raven could only tremble.
"Metrion..."
Before the final word could be said, Beast Boy shifted into a lion and quickly descended on the witch. Her fear had restricted her magic; she was no match for the physical terror of his animal form. Beast Boy would maim her.
The last Titan had been devoured by the new. It was truly poetic.
"My, my. What a good show."
Blood was still settling on Beast Boy's suit as he and Cyborg turned to the deep voice coming from the other side of the roof. Cyborg almost seemed shocked at who it was, but Beast Boy had expected this confrontation for the past few weeks. It was inevitable; he was an even bigger threat than the Titans.
Slade made no effort to fight them, standing and almost taunting them from his spot several feet away. "I'm surprised it was you and not the work of my apprentice. Excellent work." His words dripped of sarcastic back-hand compliments.
"Let's not banter and just say why you came here, Slade." Beast Boy spat as he wiped his lips clean.
"Fine. So eager, little boy. I have seen your work, kill after kill."
"It was you who hid Mammoth's body." Beast Boy didn't say it angrily, but the silence following his response confirmed his suspicions.
"You at least learned to clean up the rest." Slade spoke again, his voice still so cool; still so cocky.
"Slade, you're going to lose."
"Really now. Here I thought you've matured, but you sound just as ever the insolent little brat."
Cyborg only glared at the elder man, readying himself for whatever attack Beast Boy was planning. There would be no elaborate plans; this battle would be about raw power. Beast Boy and Cyborg had betted their lives and security with every target eliminated up until this point.
Slade would be just another victim on their dwindling list.
"If you had said that years ago, I would have agreed. But I'm not weak. I can transform into dozens of animals that could maim, poison, strangle, and trample you to death."
"Mmm...you're still an angsty little brat. But I have come to offer you a deal."
Beast Boy looked to Cyborg, both confused by what the older man was offering. There was no one left of the Titans to be of any interest to Slade. Robin and Raven, the only two the man had ever cared about, were dead.
"It'll be a trap, BB." Cyborg finally spoke, fighting back the urge to just pummel the elder villain.
"I was wrong. There are two brats on this roof." Slade almost snickered at them.
"You have nothing to offer me, Slade. Cyborg is right." The green hero eyed Slade defiantly, his mind quickly registering all the different animal forms he should use against him.
"I offered, but am wrong again. If you're going to act like a child, then I can't grace you with the offer of being...my apprentice." The man said it sickly, the very word 'apprentice' recalling images of Robin's abuse to Beast Boy and Cyborg. They knew better than to say yes.
"Let's just stop talking and let you die. I'm hungry." With that, Beast Boy shifted into a T-Rex.
There would be only a couple hours left of darkness. This fight needed to end quickly or the denizens of Jump would see them as they awoke in the morning. Perhaps that had been Slade's plan all along: simply exposing Beast Boy for the crazed killer he was.
It's not like Slade was ever the creative type; he was more so a playground bully than a real villain. He was a middle-aged man who fought teenagers; that insult was more cutting than anything Slade could yell at them.
Their fight was going well.
Beast Boy had bitten off one of Slade's arms and thankfully, it wasn't the limb of a robot duplicate. He had bitten into real flesh and blood...and he had tasted the terror of the villain.
Cyborg had concentrated on dodging Slade's attacks and distracting him for Beast Boy to bite at the man. The robot hero had been able to shot several sonic blasts at the villain even. When Beast Boy and Cyborg had fought the villain with the other Titans, they had been messy. They had fought like children or better yet ants fighting the giant human before them. Now, there was an intensity and mania in their attacks. Neither Beast Boy or Cyborg held themselves back.
They were not fighting to restrain and arrest Slade. Beast Boy and Cyborg were breaking his bones and tearing his limbs. All of their adrenaline from the day was flooding into them, channeling power into their attacks. It was manic.
Cyborg shot another sonic blast at Slade. This time, it formed a slight crack in his mask. The old villain was a dying man, fighting to keep himself and his generation of villains alive. He must have thought them easy targets to come this unprepared. It would be the elder villain's weakness.
Beast Boy had never been closer to realizing his plans.
Beast Boy lunged down, still in the form of a T-Rex, to bite off the last of Slade's limbs. The elder villain's right leg was his. The green hero might not have needed to remove all of the villain's limbs, but him and Cyborg felt an insane energy propelling their attacks. They were overzealous and he loved it.
They had taken down the only capable villain in Jump.
Slade wouldn't be able to walk and they had survived this battle with only bruises and sweat. Even Cyborg's circuitry still worked, still illuminated in blue.
Beast Boy focussed, shifting back into his human form. He and Cyborg took a moment to just breathe before walking over to Slade. The villain was still alive. Even though a regular human or any other villain would have died by now; the villain still looked defiantly at them. His heart still beat angrily. His mind was still hellbent on ending them.
It was laughable.
"BB, you made a mess all over the Tower." Cyborg jokingly yelled, much to the laughter of his green friend.
"It's Slade's fault." Beast Boy whined. "But come on, let's be honest and say we thought he'd be a harder kill."
Slade choked, his body twitching in anger. If he had arms, he would have throttled them.
"Seriously, Slade. I think you can admit we did well for two whiny little brats."
The villain tried clearing his throat, only to whisper: "You can't win, Beast Boy and Cyborg."
"I think we already have. Or do you believe you can just waltz away..."
"Maybe he'll hop, BB." Cyborg cackled.
"I can't die. Not to you." The man forced himself to yelled, croaked as it sounded.
"Okay, just lie to yourself and pretend you have limbs." Beast Boy rolled his eyes at Slade.
"Robin was a better apprentice than you ever could be." Now, the anger of Slade's voice was slipping away. The man seemed melancholic and Beast Boy could only laugh at him.
"You offered me to be your apprentice just the same. I just wasn't weak enough to accept like Robin."
"You're sloppy, Beast Boy. There are other villains in this city."
Cyborg came to Beast Boy's defense. "If he can take you down, I don't think he'll have to worry about the likes of Mad Mod and Dr. Light."
"The police will find out. Anyone with eyes can. You killed your team, Beast Boy and Cyborg. A green baboon and his pet computer can't hide the bodies of the true Titans."
"Slade," Beast Boy sat next to the man, fully enjoying their glare match. "No one cares about the other Titans. You might have been watching me kill lately, but you still don't understand people. You can have all the facts of what I did but never know how to put them together. No one cares about Raven, Starfire, or even your precious former apprentice."
"You're still a brat."
"You're still dying and that will always be worse than whatever insult you can call me."
"You can't win. You're...just you. Beast Boy isn't a hero let alone a good towel boy." Slade spat, his mind further slipping into death.
"I am Beast Boy, the best of the former Teen Titans. Unlike what you said, people can forget about the Titans. Especially when new ones arise in their place..."
AN: Sorry for the longer wait. I plan to write one more chapter to serve as an epilogue. I'm sorry that I didn't cover more villains (like Mad Mod), but the story needs to come to a close. I've also started writing another Teen Titans fanfic called "Wretched Reality" that features Beast Boy/Killer Moth. Stay crazy, my readers :)