Soulfrenzy
Chapter 25 – Rally
"Yo! BB, you out there yet?"
Beast Boy frowned at the buzzing T-Communicator.
I'm trying! he thought, though he didn't make the thought known. Hard to do when you're a cheetah sprinting down the top-floor hallway.
"You gotta hurry man, he's going to get out any second now! If he gets to the city he's gonna-"
"Blow it up, I know!" he snapped back, morphing into his human form. He couldn't help but retort just a little, even if it slowed him down. "Are you even going? You're the one down there!"
"Starfire's gone catatonic," Cyborg remarked gravely. "And the others are unconscious. You just gotta delay him, I'll get there as soon as I can."
Great. I have no idea what catalogic means. He pouted, even though his fellow Titan couldn't see it. "Dude, I can't take him on my own! You remember what happened last-"
"We. Gotta. Stop him!"
"Fine!"
He slammed the communicator shut. As usual, he had no idea what was going on. He hadn't even known that there was a situation until about thirty seconds ago. He'd be sleeping if the alarm hadn't bugged out and rang once. Just once.
He wished that somebody, if only today, would tell him what was actually going on.
It didn't take long for him to find out. Even from the top of the tower, he could hear it – the bullet-proof glass at the base of the tower exploded. The sound was muted by distance and the 6-inch window between them, but there was no mistaking the flaming creature that leapt out of the smoke and dust far below.
"Crap!"
Raguil – if it was even him anymore – hit the ground and charged on all fours toward the coast. Beast Boy looked up – all of Jump City lay across the water, shining and undamaged.
There was nothing for it.
"Aw, man..." he sighed. Then he ran at the tower's window. A quick shift into elephant form broke the glass with ease, followed by a transition to flying squirrel. He tilted himself forward, gliding to land just ahead of the running monster...
Come one, Beast Boy. You've got him this time.
The creature bounded forward. Soon, it would be free.
But not before a giant green velociraptor landed right on top of it.
Starfire's eyes were open, but they seemed not to see him. Cyborg shook her again, but it had as much of an effect as his previous attempts.
"Starfire, snap out of it! He's gone!"
She finally looked at him with the faintest recognition.
"He… is?"
"Yeah, and he's gonna stay gone if we don't stop him," he continued. "You're… you're too weak to fight, Star. Stay with Robin and tell him where I went when he comes to."
He expected her to argue, but all he got was dazed consent. Something really was up with her.
"Of course," she said uncertainly, even embarrassedly. "I think that is for the best…" She nodded again, as if to confirm it to herself.
Cyborg frowned.
Aw, Star… we'll talk about it later.
"Target ID: Teen Titans. Command: neutralize."
The two of them looked up suddenly; the word out of their mouths was the same.
"What?!"
Raven groaned as consciousness slowly returned.
Gah… what…
The memory flashed into her mind all at once. Raguil! The turrets! The explosion!
Head still throbbing, she rose to her hands and knees. The entire room was silent – distant sounds of turret fire and battle echoed into the cell, but no sound came from within. Where Raguil had been, only a crater and scorch marks remained.
No, she thought flatly. He's not dead.
It was impossible. His… other side was too powerful. But he wasn't here anymore. And that was bad.
"Agh! Damn it!"
"Cyborg!"
Her eyes widened – Cyborg and Starfire were upstairs. If they were still here, maybe they were containing Raguil. And if they were…
We haven't lost everything yet.
She felt foolish to hope, but she had learned that it was a powerful thing. She donned her hood and rose toward the shattered window of the decimated cell.
What she saw when she reached it was… unexpected. Cyborg and Starfire stood at the surveillance room's exit; a limp Robin was draped over Starfire's arm. One of Cyborg's shoulder plates was smoking from a laser shot, but it didn't stop him from firing his sonic cannon at the turrets bombarding them.
"What's going on?" Raven said as loudly as she could without shouting. She flew to their side and raised an energy shield that blocked the tower's fire.
"Raguil… he has escaped!" Starfire said exasperatedly. Her hair was plastered to her face; she was sweating. Raven didn't know that Tamaraneans could sweat.
"Whoever's hacked into the tower doesn't want us getting out!" Cyborg added. "I think he wants Raguil to get out of here!"
"Then we won't let it happen," Raven said. Her tone had become dead-even. An emotional blanket fell over her; she felt her mind sharpen, and her doubts subside. She couldn't even feel them.
All she knew was that that demon was not getting away.
"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!"
A shockwave of black energy rippled down the hallway, tearing apart anything – metal plating, turrets, support beams – in its path. The threat dealt with, she wordlessly turned toward the gaping hole in the wall beside them.
"I assume that's where Raguil went?"
Cyborg looked at her with a mix of awe and uncertainty.
"Uh, yeah, but-"
"Then let's go."
She noted the doubt in the psyches of her teammates, but they were side thoughts at the moment. She was stopping him.
"Star, you stay with Robin. Get him to us when he comes to," Cyborg said.
"Of-of course."
Their voices were already behind her. She flew through the torn and shattered walls that the demon had left in its wake.
She couldn't wait for this rematch.