I do NOT own Teen Titans
Malchior,...
The shape shifter calmly considered his options, and pulled out the T-communciator. Setting the device only to transmit to Robin, he sent the 'Titan in need of assistance' call. If Starfire were to learn of his situation she might turn back to help him, while Cyborg would be thinking of him and not whatever foe he might face at the burning schools. Their leader, on the other hand, would do whatever had to be done regardless the cost to him personally. He would see to it the children were safe, and then rush back. Raven, he knew, would help the children, but should he die the guilt would kill her. Which means no dying. The boy told himself. Furrowing his brows, he awaited the great dragon. There was too much wind for him to fly, and even if there hadn't been, he couldn't outrun Malchior. He might try to hide, but against someone who was telepathic that would just end in failure.
"Not running? Insect." A dark voice boomed out, and the form of his deadly adversary took shape, effortlessly descending through the howling storm.
"Would it do me any good?" Beast Boy studied his foe, squinting his eyes against the wind.
"Looking for something?" Malchior asked, showing his teeth with a small burst of flame.
"There's no sign of Trigon's mark on you, but it's too much of a coincidence that you would show up now." The boy said, almost intoning the words much as Raven would.
"Did you really think an arrogant pest such as Adonis could bend me to his will?"
"No. But that doesn't explain why you're working with him." The shape shifter replied, letting a hint of confusion show.
"Power. Why else?" The great dragon flapped his wings, and the gusts it generated rivaled that of the hurricane. "This is my true form, yet at times I am nothing but a human made of paper." The malevolent beast snarled in dark fury. "Paper burns, and I am a creature of fire. It's not merely insulting, it's unthinkable."
"Should Trigon escape you're in the same boat as the rest of us." Beast Boy pointed out.
"I stood unaging for a thousand years in that book before I was freed." The great beast peered down with a bone-chilling stare. "What does that tell you?"
"Let me guess. Not mortal." The green-skinned Titan sighed, taking a step back.
"Right. That fool Adonis will end when he frees the great demon Trigon, but I shall not. Yet in return for my aid my full glory shall be restored."
"I see." Beast Boy tried to keep the fear from his voice. "So you're actually trying to free Trigon?"
"Of course. That's the bargain I made with him. But Adonis is obsessed with destroying the Titans, and I have a score to settle with you as well." The beast grinned maliciously. "Now that I no longer need the witch to release me from my curse I am free to wreck whatever vengeance I wish upon the lot of you." He inhaled, and then breathed forth fire that washed over the land in a wave.
Seeing his foe start to inhale, the shape shifter took the form of a Cheetion again. It was fast and nimble, yet large enough that it might last for a second within the dragon's fire before being roasted alive. Turning, he raced away, knowing it was already too late. The cataclysm that erupted around him was nothing like he recalled from the first time he'd fought the dragon. Trees didn't just burst into flames, they exploded as the water within them became steam, sending fragments of their remains across the landscape. The ground wasn't just scorched of vegetation, but in places actually briefly glowed red, almost turning molten. In desperation, the panicked boy raced from the inferno.
"You're still alive." Malchior mused when the onslaught ended, sounding impressed.
Yikes. Was all the shape shifter could think, healing his wounds. "Is that power from Trigon as well?" He asked, hoping to delay the next attack.
"No. That was a little gift from Adonis." The dragon replied, disdainfully eyeing the creature that crawled in the dust beneath him. "He found a ring some time ago that had a rune. The stupid fool lost it, but he recalled the inscription, which I then translated." He tilted his left wing, showing where symbols had been inscribed on it. "It gives me ten times the power I once had."
"But only at ten years for each minute ... Oh. Right... What would you care about that, being immortal and all."
"Useful." Malchior grinned. "How something such as this could've been on this world, and escaped me for so long is puzzling." The great beast inhaled again.
Ready this time, Beast Boy streaked away, yet there was no avoiding those deadly flames. The devastation they wrought was more than a hundred feet wide, and the path they followed was carefully plotted by the dragon whose neck was immensely flexible. Able to twist in any direction, it allowed the fearsome beast to direct his wrath at the fleeing boy with incredible speed and accuracy regardless of which way his prey fled. With his flesh burning, all the shaper could do was avoid the center of the fury that would've incinerated him in an instant. When it ended, he shifted to renew his body, knowing it'd been close.
"Annoying pest." Now the dragon sounded truly amused. "Why doesn't the power a dragon's flame with its magic and fire burn you to ash?"
"Magic?" Beast Boy blinked.
"Of course. Mere flame is nothing compared to my breath. Why aren't you dead?" Malchior rose on his hind legs, and inhaled deeply.
Pure destruction reached out for the green-skinned Titan who once again ran for his life. Magic? The word echoed in the boy's mind, and he recalled some of what Kishar had taught him. There were wards against various forms of magic that she'd made him study. Against fire they're useless. The shape shifter frantically thought, twisting to one side as he felt his fur being burned off, followed by layers of skin. But if part of his power is magic then ... Beast Boy reached inside, and focused some of his own essence into his skin. Crystallizing it, he used it to inscribe ancient hieroglyphs on his flesh. He stilled burned alive within the inferno, but the fire no longer carried the same destruction it once had.
"As a pest, you're fun to toy with." Malchior spoke several seconds later. "Let's try again. It's pleasing to watch you squirm like a worm." The fearsome beast laughed darkly, and inhaled.
Even as he raced desperately away, the shape shifter studied his situation. The breath of the great dragon was at its core a dazzling white, tinted by what looked like black smoke. Surrounding it were various shades of less intense white fire, also possessing the same hint of something dark within it. In all, that part of the inferno was about fifteen feet wide, and were it to touch him then he knew he would be turned to ash, ward or no ward. However, when it hit the ground it spread out in a wave that was more than a hundred feet across. Within that part of the holocaust his flesh burned, but it didn't kill instantly. There, with the help of the wards, he could outlast the dragonfire, and then heal his badly charred body.
With every cell in agony the shape shifter ran, twisting and turning. His lungs ceased to exist after the first few seconds, incinerated by the flame he inhaled, and only determination drove him. Fortunately the onslaught only lasted thirty seconds before his dark and malevolent foe had to inhale for another breath. During that time he healed, and kept running.
"A pest who can handle dragonfire. I've never seen the like." The great beast roared with a snarl, twisting its head to hurl more destruction.
I can't keep this up forever. Beast Boy thought just as the center of the dragon's breath struck a boulder which exploded, sending shrapnel at him. Staggering, his left side touched the core of that monster's fiery attack, and his hind leg vanished. Unable to move, the blazing inferno washed over the fear-stricken boy. Frantically, he shifted even as his body was burned to ash, and took on the form of a blue whale. At a hundred and thirty tons it was also a hundred feet in length. The destruction ripped into the massive form, badly burning it, yet at the end it still lived. Becoming a Cheetion again, the shape shifter raced away.
Malchior laughed with dark glee. "That was fun to see, and delicious to smell. If you were to die in that form there would be enough meat for me to feast on." He inhaled again.
I haven't struck back once. Beast Boy fumed. He's going to kill me, and I won't even leave a mark on him. Twisting around, he tried to armor his flesh against the fire, but the same thing happened as when he'd tried it with Kishar. To cover his whole body he would exhaust his power in seconds. Growling, he struggled to stay alive, and sought some way to strike back.
When his foe paused to inhale again, the green-skinned Titan took the chance to rush close, and formed a knife. Becoming a combination of human and cheetah, he enhanced his muscles and threw. It flashed forward, vanishing from human perception as it hit more than three hundred miles per hour. It shattered, but to the boy's surprise, a tiny trickle of blood ran from the dragon.
"You actually hurt me." The great beast roared in disbelief.
Beast Boy stared, wondering why he himself was so surprised. "That knife was as sharp as anything could possibly be." He stated. "It's edge was just a molecule thick, and it was stronger than diamond. Yet it just pricked you."
"The hide of a dragon is enhanced by magic, and is stronger than steel. That you actually drew blood, however little, is an amazing feat." Malchior paused. "You I shall remember. Appreciate that, for in my mind you shall never die."
"Enhanced by magic?" The boy's lips twitched a little. "I see." He then paused as well. "I guess that's a form of immortality of sort. To never be forgotten. I shall strive to make sure you keep that promise." When the dragon inhaled, he raced away with his mind no longer clouded by the power of the foe he faced. Even as the boy frantically dodged the fire that could kill him, he plotted his next attack.
When the wave of destruction ended, the shape shifter formed not a knife, but a shard. On it was etched the same rune that he now wore on his own flesh to counter some of the dragonfire. Once again becoming a combination of cheetah and human he raced in as close as he dared, knowing the time he had was limited by that in which it took his massive foe to inhale. It didn't allow for much action on his part, however, clenching the blade in a hand that bleed from its mystically-sharpened edge, he let fly. The ward allowed it to penetrate his foe's magically enhanced hide, and with no handle to bring it to a halt, it vanished inside the creature. A single drop of blood fell to the ground before the tiny cut healed.
"You adapt." The great dragon roared in malicious glee. "But how long can you survive my fire?" It grinned a malevolent grin and inhaled. Run little pest, and make this one of the rare fights that will be worth remembering. Over the ages there've been so few. But know this, I am a creature of magic, and the weapons you use are magic. I absorb their power." It's head bowed down to peer at the boy. "You merely feed me."
"Well, that sucks." Beast Boy muttered, turning to run. But the flames were already upon him, and in desperation he became a blue whale to ride out the blazing inferno that carved his flesh. Even as the fire consumed him, he realized the form could hold long enough to allow him to shift, so that was what he did. With more than half his mass turned to ash, he reformed the body of the great whale, praying the dragon didn't strike for his head. An arm or leg was one thing, but his brain was something else entirely. Even as he burned, the boy planned his next strike and, with great reluctance, wondered what it would be like to kill.
The shard the shape shifter formed this time was hollow, and had two indentations in it. In the space of an instant he became a combination of inland taipan snake and human. Biting down on the dagger, he once again became a merged form of cheetah and human. The dagger slipped through his foe's armored hide with ease, yet did nothing.
"You feed me yet again. You should know that's why we dragon hoard things of magic. We rest beside them and absorb their power. Inside me the blades you create dissolves, and the essence you used to forge them becomes mine. Why try that trick again?"
"I know that now." The shape shifter replied, taking care the that great dragon couldn't see into his thoughts. "But I have no other way to strike back."
"I'm disappointed that your only weapon empowers me." The great dragon sighed sorrowfully, exhaling a blast of pure destruction again.
He raced from the wave of hellfire, tired of feeling his flesh burn and tired of the agony of having his lungs incinerated when he tried to breathe. Beast Boy wasn't sure how long the battle had lasted, just that when he touched the source of his power he found it was running low. He wasn't merely shifting, but at times using his essence as armor to help survive the flames. On top of that he was creating knives and wards. The drain was incredible.
Still, when the flames wavered and vanished, the shape shifter turned once again to strike at his foe. Creating another hollow shard he filled it with the venom of the inland taipan snake, and shifted to the human and cheetah form to throw it. Staggering from the effort, he then became a Cheetion to race for his life as the inferno washed over him.
So it continued. For more times than Beast Boy could recall, the great dragon sought to reduce him to ash, and he ran for his life. Twice, despite becoming very adept at remaining within the outer edge of the deadly flames, he was forced to become a blue whale whose flesh burned even as he repeatedly shifted to stay alive. It was also an unknown number of times that he thew hollow shards formed of his essence. Each time, filled with the venom of an inland taipan snake, it penetrated his foe's flesh, yet seemed to do no harm.
With his power nearly gone the shape shifter focused on staying alive. Maybe twice more he could avoid death, but certainly not another three times. He wobbled, and fought to stay on his feet.
"Hhooww muuchh loongerr caann yoouu eevaaddee mmeee?" Malchior slurred with a vicious glint in his dark eyes.
Beast Boy noticed the way the great beast spoke, and wondered if just maybe... Even as something within his heart wept, the boy sighed in relief when the great dragon stumbled and tried to inhale for another attack, only to stagger once again. His fearsome foe shook its massive head while a tremor ran the length of its reptile-like body.
"Wwhaatts wwrong wwittth meeee?" The dragon pondered, dropping to all four before collapsing to the ground.
Beast Boy followed suit, letting his weariness carry him to the scorched earth that was still hot enough to burn. He didn't care, knowing that he had to rest or that he would collapse as well. An inland taipan snake could kill more than a hundred men in a single bite. He'd placed at least three to four times that in each shard he'd thrown, and yet despite the dozen or so, or perhaps more, that he'd thrown the great beast had shown no signs of the poison. Yet now it seemed it'd finally taken affect.
With fear in his heart, the shape shifter saw the dragon's eyes close. I'm about to become a killer. He realized, wanting to weep, yet no tears came. With a shudder of his own, he continued to watch. Then before his startled eyes, the body of the dragon shrunk, and slowly became paper. In his human form, the dragon Malchior rose from the ground.
"What did you do?" The man demanded.
The green-skinned Titan blinked. Paper? He thought. Poison. He blinked again. Poison won't affect something made of paper. "Like I would tell you." He pushed himself from the ground, knowing the fight wasn't over, and glad of it. He hadn't killed, even if that was what he'd plotted.
"I can make you." The eyes of the creature who now stood in human form glowed.
Feeling something in his mind, the boy drew what remained of his essence into a shield around it, and sent imaginary shards of his energy at the foe who dared to intrude. While he couldn't project power, he could defend what was his. The malicious presence retreated.
"The witch taught you some magic." Malchior said, clearly astonished. "The fight isn't over." Lowering his head, he began to chant.
Not willing to give his foe a chance to launch the first attack this time around, Beast Boy became a cross between a cheetah and a human. Wearily enhancing the form with the genes for extra muscles, and the attribute of a hummingbird that speed his thought processes, he attacked.
His foe still wore the rune that gave him incredible strength, and which also seemed to aid his endurance, but speed wasn't his fort. The shape shifter dancing around him and aimed where the hieroglyph was inscribed on his arm, striking deep with power in his attack. The offending symbol vanished, and Malchior screamed in pain and rage.
Now the fight is over. Beast Boy thought, swiftly attacking before his foe could call on any of his spells. Two seconds later the man formed from the pages of a book dropped to the ground.
Beast Boy sank to the charred earth, and pulled out the T-communicator, cancelling the 'Titan in distress' call. He then sent a text message asking for someone to pick up the vanquished dark dragon called Malchior. Stretching out among the cooling, wet ashes, the shape shifter stared blindly up into the storm, recalling that their original target had been Adonis, and that he was still out there somewhere. But at the moment his limbs felt so weak that he knew even standing was beyond him. Instead, he just closed his eyes and waited.
End of Chapter.
A longer battle scene than I'd planned. But Beast Boy did get to make use of those knives of his.
Many thanks to those who read and review.