Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans. Yay for unnecessary disclaimer that states what everyone already knows!
I shift into a gorilla for a moment and reach into the cell. I scoop up the weakened empath from inside it. I return to human form and set Raven down. She stands unsteadily. I hover near her shoulder lest she should fall.
"You don't need to be a mother hen." She snaps; irritated.
I ignore the comment. I know she is just covering up her discomfort at being so obviously vulnerable, especially in front of me.
She takes a wobbly step and barely avoids falling. She takes another and her foot slips. I catch her quickly around the waist as she falls and haul her back up to a standing position. Her face is very red now.
I sigh, but smile to myself at her stubbornness. "Let me help."
"I can walk by myself Beast Boy." She insists.
"Judging by what happened a few moments ago; no you can't." I point out, keeping the smugness out of my voice. "And I thought that I just said it was fine to need help."
"That doesn't mean I have to like being protected and assisted like a child." She mutters.
"I never said you had to like it." I say, picking her up again. I carry her down the rotting stairs bridal style. She mutters and complains the entire way, but doesn't try to push herself away. We exit the front of the hotel to find the other three waiting for us.
"Not one word." I say to Shadow. Cyborg grins, he knows what I'm talking about.
"It is glorious to see you are the okay friend Raven!" Yells Starfire as she envelopes the empath in a death hug.
"Good to see you too Star, now let me breath!" The half-demon says, gasping. Starfire puts Raven back into my arms and hovers behind my head, smiling down at her weakened friend.
"So, what up with you being carried by the green bean?" Cyborg asks, pointing at me.
"I'm a bit... Weak, at the moment. So I need Beast Boy's help." Raven explains, obviously uncomfortable.
"I guess this only leaves Robin left to find, and maybe now people will stop mistaking me for you." Shadow says to Raven.
"One can only hope." Raven says dryly.
The stream of jokes, comments, and sarcasm continues until the sky starts to darken. We quickly locate a hotel to stay in. Shadow pays and we go to our rooms. I sleep soundly. I'm happy knowing that Raven is safe and that Robin will soon be free.
I'm woken up by Cyborg who informs me that everyone else is already downstairs having breakfast. I walk down the stairs groggy-eyed. The Titans are in the dining room. Starfire is eating parsley and drinking mustard, Raven is having a cup of tea. Shadow is no where to be seen. Cyborg sits and orders a plate of bacon. I order a bagel.
Cyborg informs me that Shadow is loading the Jeep up on gas. We will be going to Blacksoak city in order to get the T-Car and hand off the Jeep to someone else, then we will go straight to Ottawa to find Robin. We leave at 9:00 and hop into the, now very cramped, Jeep. Raven takes the passenger's seat, and Shadow drives as per normal. Everyone else takes their positions in the back.
It only takes an hour and a half to get to Blacksoak. We locate Shadow's contact, a smuggler, and take the T-Car off his hands. We drop off the Jeep at a police station to be picked up later.
We take up every seat in the T-Car which leaves me wondering how we are going to fit Robin. Cyborg and Shadow are in the front two seats, but Cyborg organization is driving this time. He doesn't seem surprised that Shadow has an authorization; he IS surprised that I remembered how to authorize him though. Starfire, Raven, and myself sit in the back. Starfire on the left, Raven in the middle, and myself on the right.
The drive is rather noisy. With Raven back I toss out every corny joke I possibly can to try and get a laugh out of her. Starfire insists on singing the tamarainien song of hope, which sounds like out of tune bagpipes with a mangled flute in the background. I'm shocked that Starfire can actually make these noises in the first place. We play a few games, like the three word game. I try and get Raven involved, but alas, she refuses to join in the fun as always. Cyborg, on the other hand, is particularly enthusiastic about the three word game, often throwing the rest of us curveballs. Much like Raven, Shadow is quiet, but he joins in occasionally. We all eventually get quite a surprise when we find out that he is quite a capable singer, though he has an interesting choice in songs; Home for a Rest, and Rock Lobster being a few of his choices. Aside from that he sings a few more depressing or sad songs, which actually bring me to tears once or twice with the sad, mournful voice he uses.
The only thing Raven joins in on is the singing our theme song. Shadow takes Robin's place as we sing through the song. I give us an enthusiastic finish with a "Good night Canada!" and we lapse into a pleasant silence.
We all grow serious when Ottawa comes into sight. It is 4:00 in the afternoon, we only have four more hours until sunset. That means we only have four hours to find Robin today.
"Search as best you can, Raven will stay with me in the car and try to use her telepathy." Cyborg says.
We all split up and search. It is only twenty minutes into our searching that we get a call from Starfire. We all rendezvous at her location, the roof of a factory. We look at what she has found. A small, bright green box. It has a yellow R on it surrounded by a black circle.
"I'm not detecting any explosives or poison." Says Cyborg.
"I don't sense anything living in he box." Raven notes.
"I can't see any OBVIOUS traps." Shadow reports.
We all stare at the box for a moment.
"I shall do the opening friends." Starfire says. She takes two steps towards the box and places a hand on it. The box springs open and Starfire jumps back. We are all crouched in battle positions as we look at the inside of the box. We see Robin's broken communicator. The lid of the box flashes, it shows us the triumphant face of The Source.
"Sorry, meat sacks! You esteemed leader will not be found here! He has been relocated by me, The Soooource!" The ugly tofu cube announces. A very battered looking Robin is wheeled into view by two Bobs. The boy wonder is tied to a wheelchair. The strange thing is that they all seem to be outside.
"I know you're lying." Says Raven. "I can sense Robin somewhere in this city. You're trying to trick us!"
"Am I? Perhaps you just THINK that you're sensing Robin. Maybe it's just something similar."
"Dude, just how dumb do you think we are?" I say. "There's a sign right behind you that says "Welcome to Ottawa." Nice try."
"What!?" Cries The Source as he whirls around. He stares at the sign for a moment. He turns to the two Bobs. "I told you to choose somewhere without signs!"
"It's not a sign supreme creator! It's an announcement board!" Say the Bobs in unison.
...
"IDIOTS! It still tells them that we are in Ottawa!"
"You told us to find a place without signs. You never said anything about Ottawa."
"I really hate you guys sometimes." Mutters The Source. He turns back to face us. "Umm. We are in Ottawa yes, but you'll never find us!"
Cyborg's arm makes a small "ping" noise. "I searched the Web and figured out his location." The half-robot announces.
"Oh dear." Says The Source. The screen shuts off. We all rushed to the T-Car and Cyborg drives to the location of The Source at full speed. We arrive at the partially wooded area to find that The Source is gone.
Suddenly, a voice blades from hidden speakers. "Foolish meat sacks! You have fallen for my most amazing trap ever!" Walls rise up from the ground around us and an electrical field blocks our escape from above. There is a small hiss as a platform in the ground rises. We see Robin, still tied to the wheelchair.
"Robin!" Cries Starfire, and she flies to him immediately. She tears off the ropes that bind him and pulls out the nearly invisible gag that prevents him from speaking.
"Thanks Star." Says Robin. He gets up, still in relatively good health by the look of it, and we all crowd around him. We all express our happiness at his safety, but are interrupted by The Source.
"I wanted to give Robin back to you so I could say that I destroyed the Teen Titans all at once! You will all perish in my trap!" Crows The Source. The grey walls start glowing, the smell of ozone fills the air.
"He's going to fry us with electricity." Cyborg reports. "The charge is building up in the walls all around us!"
"How does a talking price of tofu know how to make a lightning chamber!?" Shadow growls loudly.
"This is no time for complaints. Raven. Can you get us out of here?" Robin asks, taking command.
"I'm too weak, I could only get myself out if I'm lucky." Comes the demoralizing response.
"Right then, listen up Titans! Beast Boy, I need you to turn into an electric eel and draw all the electricity to one wall."
"Got it." I say. I run over to a wall and shift into an eel. I focus on discharging electricity. The discharge malfunctions the area of the wall, and more power is routed there to compensate. The wall I am against glows dangerously, I can feel the electrical current flowing through it. I keep up a continuous discharge, but I'm tiring fast.
"Cyborg, set up for a shot at another wall."
"You got it Rob." Cyborg plants his feet firmly on the floor and aims at a wall connected to mine.
"Starfire, I need you to block any extra energy that shoots off Cyborg."
"Understood." Starfire stands close to Cyborg, but on the opposite side of the room from me.
"I'm not sure I like the sound on "energy shooting off Cyborg"" Says Cyborg, looking frightened.
"I wouldn't think so, But we are going to direct all the electricity at you and have you blow a hole in the wall by redirecting the energy. I'll keep your temperature down with freeze disks, and Raven will help you stay focused."
Cyborg's face sets itself in a grim line as he steadied his aim. Raven pulls up her hood and sits cross legged on the floor, chanting her mantra. Robin pulls out some freeze disks and prepares to throw.
"I guess I'll set it off then." Says Shadow. He walks over to me. He grabs me in one hand, the electricity flows through him and we smell burning ingredients flesh. He grits his teeth and smashes his other fist through the wall.
A massive burst of electricity flows through the wall and into Shadow. We can all see his skeleton for a moment as the electricity passes through him. The electricity is transferred to me and I try to remain conscious as the pain threatens to overwhelm me. The electricity shoots out of my tail and homes in on Cyborg's metal body. The bolt smashes into him and Robin throws his freeze disks. The extra electricity sparks off Cyborg and hits Starfire, who growls and remains still. Cyborg's circuits glow blindingly bright as he yells "BOO-YA!" and unleashes a sonic blast only rivaled by his Titan Tower upgrade.
We all open our eyes to see the wall that he had been aiming at completely destroyed. The land behind the wall is completely scorched. Cyborg is sparking all over as he tries to shed excess power. I roll on the floor in pain and revert back to human form. Shadow doesn't seem fazed by his electrocution and walks over to Cyborg, trying to help him out. Robin joins Shadow and Cyborg while Starfire and Raven run over to me.
"Friend Beast Boy, are you alright?" Starfire's voice clearly shows her worry.
"He was just electrocuted Starfire, do you think he's alright?" Raven asks sarcastically as he holds her hand over my body. Her hands glow blue as she heals some of my burns. She grimaces as she takes on some of my pain.
I moan my thanks and lie as still as possible. Eventually, the others come over.
"We need to get moving and find The Source." Says Robin.
"Perhaps we could wait a bit while our friends regain their strength?" Starfire suggests.
"In case you didn't notice, three of us were just electrocuted on YOUR orders." Shadow says. "Don't get me wrong, it was a good plan, but I know that Beast Boy at least needs time to recuperate, and Raven still isn't at full power."
Robin looks torn between finding The Source and giving us time to heal. He eventually decides in favor of letting us recuperate. We hop in the T-Car. Starfire actually flies above it because we no longer have a sufficient amount of seats. We locate ourselves a hotel to sleep in and I hit they hay as soon as possible, even if it is only 5:00 in the afternoon. I wake up in the morning feeling slightly better.
I waltz downstairs, trying to disguise the pain in my back, and join my fellow Titans at a table.
"There you are Beast Boy. I was just about to tell everyone the plan." Robin passes me a plate of tofu as he says this.
I nod and dig in. It's nice to have all the Titans back together, even if we are battered, bruised, and exhausted.
"We are going to split into teams of two in order to locate The Source. Myself and Starfire will head here." He points towards Quebec. "Shadow and Cyborg will head here." He points towards Blacksoak City. "Beast Boy and Raven will head here." He points north. "When you get a sign of Bob activity DO NOT FIGHT. Try and follow them, they might lead us to The Source." We all nod our understanding.
"I hate to break us up so soon after being reunited, but duty calls." We all overlap our hands in the middle of the table. "Teen Titans GO!"
Chapter 14 complete. The Titans are ready to save the world (or just Canada) once again.