"And stay out!" A grumpy old man, dressed in a robe and slippers shouted, his voice unheard over the din of laser cannon fire.
Kid Flash, carrying his on again off again girlfriend bridal style, dashed away from the billionaire's island mansion, zig sagging over the bay's azure surface, anxiously dodging the blasts. Jinx shrieked each time he changed direction and a laser bolt missed them by inches. He continued to run until they reached the shoreline of the state park, right next to the abandoned warehouse. It was then that the shooting stopped. They turned back and looked towards the island in the middle of north end of the bay. They could see the crotchety old billionaire angrily wave his cane and heard his voice boom over a PA system.
"Don't you whipper snappers try that again! if you do I'll be waitin' for you!"
The old man turned around and slowly walked back into his mansion, stopping every once in a while to wave his cane at them, until he was finally gone.
"What a grumpy old coot!" Kid Flash complained. "Why didn't Robin tell us he was armed to the teeth?"
"We did just barge in uninvited and searched his house without his permission, technically that is illegal." She replied.
"So is shooting at people who are running away." Wally retorted. "Are you OK?"
"I thought I was gonna hurl for a moment, with all those direction changes you made; but yeah, I'm fine. And it wasn't a total loss. At least we know that Slade isn't there either, which means …"
"He should be here." Kid Flash finished her sentence for her as he gestured at the warehouse.
The young couple walked into the dilapidated warehouse building. It was littered with trash and its exterior walls were covered with graffiti. Its corrugated asbestos roof had seen better days and it had large gaping holes in it, which allowed the sunlight to enter at strange angles. They silently walked around, inspecting the structure's interior for a possible entrance to an underground lair. Jinx picked up a piece of trash, a faded and empty potato chip bag.
"I don't think anyone's camped out here for a while." She remarked as she tossed the bag aside.
"I hear you … someone's been chasing the hobos away. It's gotta be here, but where is the entrance?"
"Over there." She pointed at the foreman's old office.
They entered the room together. Wally looked around, searching the room for a secret entrance. He opened a closet, but all it contained was a dusty, moth ridden old coat that had been abandoned for decades, judging by its unfashionable cut and style.
"I don't know, Jinxie. This just looks like an old office."
"There has to be a hidden control panel or something." She replied. "It's what I would have done."
"So to catch a villain you have to think like one?" He asked.
"Yeah, something like that." She replied with a slinky smile.
Kid Flash disappeared in a blur and zoomed around the office, inspecting every nook and cranny until he came upon the employee of the month plaque. As he lifted it from the wall, he saw that a thin fiber optic cable came out of its back and disappeared through a small hole in the wall. He stopped and smiled at his pink haired girlfriend.
"Found it." He crowed.
Jinx rewarded him with a smile. She then opened her communicator.
"Jinx to Robin."
Robin here. What's your status?
"We found it. It's the abandoned warehouse."
Good work. Wait for us; we'll be there in 10 minutes. Don't go in by yourselves. Robin out.
Kid Flash checked the clock on his communicator.
"Slade's gonna start torturing Raven in just 3 minutes, we can' wait for them. We gotta go in there now." Wally remarked.
Jinx shook her head.
"Robin said to wait, and he's right. The two of us charging into Slade's lair without any backup is a really bad idea."
"But he's gonna torture Raven."
"Better she than us, besides, I never really liked her, she's kind of a bitch if you ask me."
Wally frowned. "No she's not; and we can't let Slade hurt her!"
The sorceress crossed her arms and frowned at her beau.
"Wallace West, is there any girl in the world you don't like!?"
"Aw, c'mon! That's not fair! Raven's a friend, a good friend. I know she sometimes comes across as grumpy …"
"Grumpy? More like the four eyed psycho bitch from Trigon hell."
"Jinx, she has a good heart, she's a good person, and a good friend too. She's saved me more than once. We can't just stand by and do nothing."
Jinx slapped her forehead and grumbled.
"Wally, you're gonna be the death of me one these days."
The speedster wrapped his arms around her and pressed his lips to hers. She tensed up at first, but immediately melted into his kiss, wrapping her arms around him.
"I take it this means you're my boyfriend again?" She asked breathlessly.
"You know it, babe." He cooed back to her.
Jinx gently pushed him away. She aimed her hand at the plaque and pink magic waves shot from her hand striking it, and it sizzled momentarily. The entire room shuddered and began its descent into Slade's hideout.
"Let's go save Raven and kick Slade's butt." She replied.
-( scene break )-
Raven's black hemisphere rose from the floor and melted away, revealing the Chromatically Challenged Couple™. Beast Boy immediately recognized the surroundings; they were in the main hallway.
"Slade has some kind of dampening field around his base and I can't teleport us out of here. We're gonna have to leave the hard way."
Beast Boy nodded. "We just have to avoid Slade, Ravager and Red-X."
"Red-X?"
"He's Slade's son."
"You're joking?" She replied as an ashen look covered her face. "All the more reason to get out of here, now."
"We have to find Terra first."
"Must we?" She muttered under her voice.
"I heard that."
Before Raven could reply, Terra's grating voice echoed down the hallway.
"BB! Where's that damn ice cream you promised me! Hurry up, the show's about to start!"
The changeling's heart froze. Slade was no doubt on his way to retrieve Raven from her cell. Time wasn't on their side. Slade certainly had lockdown procedures like they did at the Tower. If he kicked those in they would be trapped in his lair. He grabbed Raven's hand and took off towards the lounge.
Terra was seated on one of the couches, her feet propped up on a coffee table while she twirled a remote control in her hands.
"Terra! We gotta leave! Now!" He shouted.
Terra turned in his direction with an annoyed look on her face.
"Leave? What are you talking about? Slade's gonna start torturing …"
She stopped midsentence, her mouth agape. He was still holding Raven's hand. A scream escaped her lips as she leaped to her feet.
"BB! What's going on!? Why is she here?"
"There's no time to explain." He gestured as he reached out to her. "We gotta go, now!"
Terra's face was screwed in anger and her fists were trembling in fury.
"We're not going anywhere!" She screamed back at him.
"Terra! Slade's gonna kill us, I heard him myself."
Terra howled and two sheets of concrete peeled away from the floor and floated menacingly next to her.
"No way! Slade needs us." She howled as she pointed at Raven. "She's tricking you BB, she's using her magic on you, I know it!"
Beast Boy released Raven and ran to Terra, grabbing her hand.
"Terra, we gotta go now!"
The geomancer jerked her hand from the changeling.
"I said that I'm not leaving, and neither are you, BB"
Raven stepped forward.
"Terra, you have to listen to him. He's telling you the truth."
"No he's not; he's just repeating your lies! What did you do to him, witch?"
Terra gestured with her arms and the two concrete slabs flew towards the sorceress. Beast Boy was able to slap at of them and it became engulfed in transmutation energy tendrils, after which it turned into sand and crumbled.
Raven caught the other slab and got into a tug of war with Terra. The two women snarled at each other as they fought for control of the concrete. Beast Boy dashed up to it, unnoticed, and slapped it with his hand after which it too turned into sand. The two women staggered backwards and regained their balance before falling.
"I knew coming for her was a waste of time." Raven growled. "We should have left her behind."
"Oh, you would have liked that, wouldn't you witch? You just want to keep him for yourself!"
"Knock it off Terra! We're leaving, and you're coming with us!"
"Like hell I am. And you're staying here, with me. In case you forgot, I'm your girlfriend … you owe me! Big time!"
"Why, because you're a slut and you put out?" Raven snarled at her.
"Shut up, witch! He's mine, not yours."
Beast boy felt as if was about to have an aneurysm, and he rubbed his temples. There was no time left; they had to leave before …
Red lights began to flash while claxons blared. A thick metal door slid shut, closing off their escape route. Slade's voice boomed from an overhead speaker.
Raven has escaped. I repeat, Raven has escaped. Garfield, Terra, report your location!
Terra ran over to a telephone handset that hung from a nearby wall.
"Slade, we're in the lounge! BB and Raven are here too, and he's betrayed us."
Don't allow them to escape! Help is on its way!
Beast Boy stared in shock at Terra. The scowl on her face was the same one she had that night years ago when after learning of her betrayal he told her wasn't her friend. For a moment he felt transported back through time, because just as he did then, he was now learning an unpleasant truth. The look on her face said it all: she belonged to Slade.
"Don't bother trying to phase through the door or walls, witch, you can't. Slade made sure of that."
Terra raised her hands in a menacing gesture.
"And now, you and I have some unfinished business, Raven. When I'm done with you, you'll wish you had never been born!"
A whirlwind of concrete pieces, the size of small stones, rose from the floor and began to pelt Raven, who raised a bubble to shield herself. The fury of the stones intensified, hitting the dark bubble with the intensity of a machine gun, never relenting, hitting her over and over, like a downpour that wouldn't slow down. It began to wear Raven down ad beads of sweat formed on her brow... Beast Boy ran to Terra.
"Terra! Stop!"
Terra's eyes glowed with a yellow fury and her teeth were clenched. Her hair billowed as she summoned the fullness of her deadly powers, as she had the night she fought Slade and cast him into the lava pit. She gestured and the floor buckled up beneath the changeling, send him flying.
"You always liked her more than me! Why? Why? She's a witch and she's always treated you like crap! Dammit BB! I'm your lover, I gave myself to you! What more could you want!?"
Raven's dark sphere collapsed, popping like a bubble. The stones began to hit her now exposed body and she cried in pain as she fell to the floor. Beast Boy slapped the ground and the energy tendrils appeared, zooming towards Terra, who dodged them by become airborne on a piece of concrete that separated from the floor.
"Terra, stop, please!"
She shook her fist at him in anger.
"You betrayed me, BB. I won't forgive you, never. And now I'm going to punish you … I'm going to kill Raven!"
"Nooo!" He shouted as he gestured at the blond. The energy tendrils shot through the air and hit Terra, who flinched upon their impact. At first she seemed puzzled as she thought nothing happened. But Beast Boy saw her turn blue. She fainted and fell off of her rock. Beast Boy caught her and laid her on the ground. Raven recovered from the now suspended attack and ran to his side.
"What did you do to her?"
He gulped as he replied.
"I turned all of the oxygen molecules in her body into carbon dioxide."
"You did what? Gar! You need to turn them back into oxygen right away, if you don't she'll die."
Beast Boy placed his palm on Terra's exposed midsection. Once again the energy danced over her body and her complexion returned to its normal color. Beast Boy heaved a sigh of relief.
Raven frowned. "She isn't breathing." She placed a finger on Terra's neck. "She does have a pulse."
Raven laid her hand on Terra and her blue healing light appeared. It spread over her torso and Terra began to shiver until she finally coughed and resumed breathing.
"Raven, you saved her."
"Don't remind me." She grumbled.
Terra coughed again and began to sit up. She opened her eyes and shook her head.
"W-what happened?"
Before Beast Boy could reply Raven punched Terra in the face, knocking her out, leaving her supine form sprawled on the floor.
"Oh, I've been waiting so long to do that." Raven grinned maliciously.
She then locked eyes with the changeling.
"I'm so sorry, Garfield. She broke your heart, again."
He shook his head.
"No … it's not her fault … it's mine … I chose to believe a lie, something that I knew wasn't true … but wanted to be true."
Raven took his hand.
"I understand, but we need to leave, Gar, before the others get here."
He shook his head.
"No, I'm not running. Not this time. Slade's gonna pay for what he did. I'll fight him even if I have to do it alone."
"Garfield?" Raven asked in a soft voice.
"Raven?"
Raven leaned forward and gave him a chaste kiss on the lips.
"You think you're alone Garfield, but you're not."
"Raven … you kissed me."
The sorceress nodded at Terra's supine form.
"She was right … I love you … but we'll have to talk about that later. We have some butts to kick."
Beast Boy smiled. "Just like old times."
"But better." She smiled back at him. "A lot better."
-( scene break )-
Jinx and Kid Flash stepped off the elevator as it reached its destination. The large room, which was full of crates and other supplies, was as silent as a school classroom on a weekend and just as deserted. The two looked around cautiously, anxiously trying to determine if their entry was detected.
"I think the coast is clear." Wally whispered.
Jinx nodded her agreement. "I think we pulled it off, now we just need to find Raven and we can blow this Popsicle stand."
"Finding things is what I do best. You wait here, I'll be right back."
Without waiting for a reply, Kid Flash disappeared in a blur.
"Wally … wait." She replied, far too late.
As soon as she finished speaking the red lights began to flash and the alarm system shrieked. All exits, including the elevator, were sealed off.
"Great, just great." She grumbled to herself. "I'm trapped in a room in Slade's lair. It can't get any worse than this."
To her immense surprise it did get worse, as several boxes burst open and platoons of Slade-bots emerged, firing their laser pistols at her.
"Me and my big mouth." She chastised herself as she began to battle with the droids.
-( scene break )-