Alphas
1-6-2016
Beast Boy crashed into the wall. A sickening thump as he drops to the floor. He grimaces; his whole body throbbed like one gigantic ouch. He struggled to his feet and tried to ignore the red crisscrossing his vision. Through all the pain he could hear Adonis roar. His Goliath-frame casts a shadow over the green boy. "Aww, did the wittle puppy get hurt? Where's the Big Bad Wolf now, huh?"
His friends were scattered throughout the warehouse, recovering from their own wounds and piles of debris, but he knew that Robin could hear him. Beast Boy's upper lip drew back in a growl. "Now?"
"No!" Robin shouted somewhere across from him. "Wait until—"
A red gauntlet swooped down, and only the leader's superb reflexes saved him from being as smashed as the cement next to him.
"Now?" Beast Boy snarled.
"Now."
He roared. The sound thundered against the metal beams along the ceiling, and the other Titans backed away, even Starfire. Beast Boy hunched over, the bumps of his spine stressed from beneath his taut suit. His head whipped back and forth while his muscles convulsed, bulging until tears sprouted in his suit, before completely splitting down the center. Elongated claws shot out and tore at the remaining tatters of clothing until not a shred was left.
Beast Boy lurched forward, and from one step to the next the Beast towered where the boy stood seconds ago. Beast threw back his head and howled.
Ropes of drool drooped from his maw as he crashed onto all fours. His eyes were as hollow as a sniper's scope when he zeroed in on Adonis. The Beast snarled as he circled him, hackles bristling. Adonis laughed. His voice was muffled, as if fangs were starting to protrude from his jaw, when he spat, "You think you can set your pup on me, Titans? There's a new Alpha in town, and his name is—eek!"
Crash!
The Beast charged headfirst into the metal man, slamming him into the wall and leaving a robot-size dent. The blue in Adonis' irises flashed white. He growled. Then whimpered, as any chance to shift from man to beast was smothered by a blur of green claws and fangs. Growls, whimpers, and spitting sounds. Scraps of red metal flew over the Beast's shoulder. Another whimper.
Cyborg slanted an eyebrow. "You think we should, you know…stop him?"
Robin shook his head.
Finally the Beast turned just enough so his prey was in sight. What was left of him, anyway. All of his armor was shredded away and a scrawny teen was left dangling in fetal position by his shirt collar, trapped in the monster's fangs. The Beast sniffed, then swerved around at the reminder there was more than one prey to sate his hunger. His eyes caught the minuscule movement of a male—lean, but still juicy—when he flicked his hand at a floating girl in a cape.
"Raven, now!"
The girl closed her eyes. Her shoulders and head drooped as she soared into the air, rising in height until she loomed over the Beast. The dark cape almost skimmed the floor as it billowed around her. Inky tentacles whipped out from under it, clawing greedily at anyone fool enough to come within range.
Her head snapped up, four scarlet eyes flaring from the shadow of her hood.
"Heel."
The voice was hers, but more. Low, steely, and chilling. An order, not a challenge. It prickled the hair on the Beast's back.
A growl rumbled in his throat. Raven growled back. In Nevermore, more Emoticlones than the colors of the rainbow cornered a snarling Rage. Their hands were aglow and aimed at her. "Don't. Even. Think about it," Knowledge warned. Bravery cracked her knuckles and grinned, daring Rage to give her a reason for a smackdown.
Meanwhile, the Beast crouched low, hackles raised, white glare assessing. Instinct warned him that this foe was not one to trifle with. Strike fast. Go for the kill.
He slackened his jaw, relinquishing his prize in favor of a new one. Adonis thumped to the ground and immediately curled back into fetal position. He rocked back and forth. "Fangs. Drool. Bottomless pit…"
Beast and demoness glared each other down.
"Know your place," she snarls.
The Beast didn't back down, but didn't attack. His wolf-instincts waited for its prey to make a move, then give chase, while the demoness' had enough of her self to remember she must hold her ground. When it seemed they had reached a deadlock, the Beast's eyes caught on a shift of movement from behind his foe. He had forgotten about his other preys, and now they have sided with the demoness.
Outnumbered. He howled in rage and pulled back.
The demoness took the opportunity to stride forward. "I am the alpha." The words were hammers to his skull, and he thrashed his head, spittle flying. "Know. Your Place. Mutt."
The growls dwindled to whimpers as the Beast turned on his heels and ran. With each bound his mane receded and his body shrunk until he collapsed mid-step. As fast as Beast had appeared, an unclothed Beast Boy returned, gasping for breath. Still on his hands and knees, he glanced up at Raven as she floated down beside him, with no trace of glowing eyes or shadowy tentacles. Her normal size has returned, along with her impassive expression.
"Mutt? Really?"
"You are of many breeds," she said matter-of-factly.
"That doesn't make me a mutt! It makes me one of a kind!"
Raven raised an eyebrow. She unclipped her cloak and laid it over Beast Boy's naked form. "Oh. Right." He laughed nervously.
Still tight in a ball, Adonis whimpered. "Mommy…"
NEXT: Nimble fingers jerked him back to the present as they slid under the waistband of his jeans, caressing the sensitive plane of skin. "It's our little secret," Kitten whispered, her breath hot in his ear.