Chapter 14

"Beastboy!" Cyborg yelled, pushing aside large amounts of debris. "Can you hear me?"

The communicator in his arm went off. He considered ignoring it in favour of searching for Beastboy, but thought better of it. Robin would want to know what was going on, and maybe he had some valuable information that he should hear,

"Cyborg I heard… What's wrong?" the leader's face changed to one of concern, as he took in Cyborg's sweaty and dirty appearance and desperate expression.

"Tower- Beastboy," Cyborg could only speak in fragments, his mind was still full of shock.

"Cyborg, what happened?" Robin demanded, his order laced with worry. "Where's Beastboy?"

Instead of trying to explain, Cyborg held out his arm, so that the camera pointed at the ruins.

He could hear shaken incoherent noises coming from his communicator. He himself didn't make any noises, just hung his head.

"I should have been there," he mumbled. "I should have known."

"Cyborg, this is not your fault. How could you have known?" Cyborg looked at the black-haired boy, discontent with the statement.

"I'm going to contact Starfire, and we'll get there as soon as possible. Ten, fifteen minutes tops," said Robin, his voice full of authority again. "In the mean time, you search for Beastboy, and let us know if you find him." The screen turned black, Cyborg stared at it for a moment, open-mouthed. He would never understand how Robin could remain so calm at a time like this. One friend had been possessed by her father who was bent on the world's destruction, and another was possibly crushed by the ruins of their home.

Shaking his head to clear the disbelief out, he resumed his search for Beastboy. "I'm going to find you Beastboy," he mumbled, more to himself. "I won't let you down."

"I won't let you down."

Trigon smiled. Even with his daughter's interference (he mentally kicked her again), everything was going according to plan. Beastboy was still alive, he could feel that, but barely. Now Cyborg had arrived, and he knew the other titans were on their way. He only had to bide his time, then he could destroy the titans all at once. Then he might have gathered enough strength to create his own body, and discard the petit one he had now.

Everything seemed to be going his way.

Raven heard her father's thoughts. Her efforts in trying to save Beastboy had obviously been in vain, and she didn't have enough strength to try again. She cringed from the mental kick her father had given her in the ribs.

It didn't feel nearly as bad as the feeling of letting her friends down, of putting them and the entire world in danger.

A tear squeezed its way out and slid down her cheek.

"I'm so sorry…"

After several minutes, Cyborg still hadn't found Beastboy, and the other titans were no where to be seen. He honestly couldn't remember a time when he felt more anxious, nor more afraid. Beastboy was counting on him to keep him safe, and he wasn't there. Robin and Starfire were counting on him to find their green friend, and he couldn't. And Raven…

He should have sensed something was wrong, and tried to talk to her. Raven was a complicated person, but Cyborg was one of the few people she trusted. And he had let her down.

He was a failure as a friend.

The sound of a cough brought him out of his thoughts. It sounded like…

"Beastboy!" he ran over to where he heard the noise, and dug furiously. He found a green hand, followed by an arm, which was attached to the torso of the changeling.

He was conscious, and looked up at Cyborg, and grinned at him.

Cyborg began to check over his injuries. He frowned. That wasn't right, all previous injuries he had were healed. Now that Cyborg thought of it, this area wasn't where the living room was at all. It was nearer to the stairs that led to the roof. Beastboy was trying to escape.

Cyborg opened up his communicator. "I found him Robin, he's alright." The black haired leader smiled at him.

"Good work. Starfire and I will resume the search for Trigon, but I think you should stay there with Beastboy."

"Roger that."

Trigon was furious. He had thought Beastboy would be dead by the time Cyborg found him. That boy was too resilient for his liking. How many times did he have to kill him? And now the Titans weren't going to rendezvous, so he couldn't take them all out at once.

Oh well. At the very least he could kill Cyborg and Beastboy at the same time. He chuckled to himself. That would be very enjoyable.

Unseen by the teenagers, he stood up, taking care to stick to the shadows. His daughter's body was significantly less powerful than his own, but it would get the job done. Besides, he knew far more destructive and dark magic than she could ever dream. It would be easy.

Raven felt her father's mounting blood lust. She knew he would attack her friends soon.

A thought struck her. Her body wasn't nearly as strong as his. Last time she had defeated him using her will, and the love and support of her friends. Trigon had no sense of these emotions, only greed and hatred. In his current state, he might be able to hurt her friends, but he would never kill them; their will was jus as strong as hers, and they had each other. She allowed herself to relax slightly.

Something still didn't feel right though. She knew her friends would not be seriously hurt, but her father's blood lust scared her.

Then she sensed it. Dark magic. Her father was going to use dark magic. It felt blacker, more sinister than the magic Malchior had tried to teach her. It was growing stronger. It seemed to have a mind of its own. It was hungry; it wanted to devour their flesh. It wanted it feel the warm blood, hear their dying screams. It wanted to destroy their very souls. And Raven knew that if it got far enough, it would.

She had to do something. She gulped. She had been punished severely after taking over to heal Beastboy, and she hadn't regained her strength. But she had to try. She wanted, needed, to save her friends. They were all she had. They were her…. family. She felt warm at that thought. That's exactly what they were. She had never had a proper family. She was alone most of her life. Then she met the Titans, and she felt happier and safer than she had in years.

With this thought, she pushed with all her strength. She thought she could gain control for about a second. A second was all she needed.

Trigon shouted at her, and tried to force her back, but she kept pushing. She could barely hear his threats or feel the blows through her effort.

Finally she did it; she was out in the sunshine, in the fresh air, after so long of being a prisoner inside her own body. But she didn't notice these things. She could already feel Trigon trying to contain her again. She only had a second.

Raven took a deep breath.

"WATCH OUT!"