The Demon, The Witch, And The Ghost--Chapter Twenty Three, Part Two

"I feel kinda bad… Mom always said to knock before you came in." Beast Boy yawned in a half-joking voice. "… But then again, I guess that doesn't exactly apply to caves with sea monsters living in them, now does it?"

"Oh, sure it does." Cy said dryly. He flipped open a glass casing on the armrest of his seat, and flipped a small, ornate lever within it. … Soon, there was a muffled rumbling of gears and mechanical systems as the far left and far right 'wings' of the sub, jutting out at the sides, folded slightly into a V-shape as if on hinges, displaying a row of shimmering lights. The pointed, conical protrusions began to spin like drills for a few moments, then stopped abruptly, flashing with light. POP! They flipped themselves open to reveal a pair of wicked looking, pointed torpedoes.

Cyborg grinned. "All right, Fishface. Knock knock…"

A small monitor screen flickered to life in front of him, and a flashing reticule, shaped like a crosshair, materialized at the center of the screen as a joystick-like apparatus jutted upwards as though spring-loaded. Cy took a hold of it, and slowly, carefully slid the reticule to the center of the craggy cavern's backside, maneuvering the submarine at an angle.

'Scanning… scanning…. Buffering, 32... Scanning……' A loud buzz. "Structural Integrity Compromised; structural weaknesses detected in stone structure." A glowing arrow blinked into the picture, pointing out a precise section of rock wall. Cy moved the crosshairs accordingly…

He opened the tip of the joystick like a lid, and mashed the hidden button there with his metallic thumb.

WHOOSH!

A pair of torpedoes, jagged-edged and fitted with large propellers on the back, were loosed simultaneously from their ports, and quickly tore through the murky waters at the cave's thick exterior; a frothing trail of bubbles and foam was left momentarily behind them, such was their speed, until they finally struck the cavern a moment later.

The explosion was massive. There was, of course, no fire as they were underwater, but there was a blinding flash of light and a strangely muffled bang, like firecrackers going off under a lid of some sort. Moments later, sections of the cavern's back began collapsing into themselves and crumbling off, revealing a huge hole leading down, down, down ever deeper into a black abyss…

"All right. Hang onto your Asses, y'all…." Cy muttered in a semi-joking, semi-literal manner as he took a tight hold of the steering controls in front of him.

Smoke's voice echoed across the radio receiver. "Say… if you guys are going in there, what are we supposed to do? Wait up here; let y'all have all the fun?"

Raven glanced at a topographical scan of the cavern's interior that Cy brought up on a monitor screen nearby. "It looks like the entire thing isn't flooded… there's dry ground in there?"

"What? Can't be; it's at the bottom of the ocean…"

"I know. But sea monsters can't be either, right?" She said flatly.

"…… Point taken. But what does this have to do wi—"

Robin continued where she'd left off. "Cyborg can drop us off on the first bit of dry ground we find; then, he can go and pick you and the others up."

A long pause; then… "…. A'ight. Sounds like a plan to me. Smoke, out."

A BIT LATER…

"Look Dawg; it ain't gonna bite you…" Cyborg groaned. Zero, halfway down the rope ladder that dangled from the deck of his ship, had paused and begun warily poking the T-Sub with his sword as one might do a foreign object.

"… Are you… quite sure this thing's safe?" He said doubtfully. It looked… rather like a fancy, floating casket to him; especially considering he'd always been taught the objective of sailing was to remain ABOVE water.

"Look… It's fine!" Smoke hollered down at him, shaking his head whilst Blackfire and Terra tried to suppress laughter. "Most of the time, they even come back up intact!" This set the both of them off, howling with hysterical laughter as they watched Sub-Zero's already pale face turn another few shades of white.

Cyborg groaned, knowing full well that any reservations the Knight may have had were just multiplied twofold. "Come on; if Jinx was here now, she'd be ashamed."

"If Jinx were here now, I'd be hiding behind her…" Zero muttered crossly to himself.

"What was that?"

"Erm, nothing!"

Blackfire and Terra, having recovered somewhat from their laughing fit—though Terra, in particular, was nearly in tears—decided to nip the problem in the bud. Terra leaned over the side and pointed off into the horizon. "Hey! Hey, What's that?"

Zero turned and blinked confusedly. "… What?"

Blackfire abruptly grabbed the ladder and whipped it like one does a wet towel. Zero went flying upwards in a wide arc, yelling at the top of his lungs, before he finally landed in the T-Sub with a massive clank and a French curse.

Terra and Blackfire, both laughing their asses off once again and Smoke, laughing the loudest, filed into the T-Sub and went to rejoin the others, who were already inside the cavern…


The group was reunited once again, on the bank of a strange, undersea grotto. The T-Sub floated tranquilly off to the side, amongst some jagged rocks and floating weeds, as they looked around in wonder.

The sand beneath their feet was gray, the color of ash, but was strangely moist; the dim light that permeated the cavern—strange that light should be present at the bottom of the ocean, but it came from somewhere—reflected off of its surface as though it had been freshly oiled. The walls were smooth stone, dripping with water and sometimes covered lightly with a layer of moss or weeds. The only path forward lay in a single craggy trail directly in front of them; to their sides, there was only rock wall, and to the rear, only water.

"… I do not like the appearance of this area. It is… unnerving…" Starfire said slowly, unable to suppress a shiver. "… And to think that beast is hiding in here somewhere!"

"It's not in the water." Cyborg said matter-of-factly. "Something that big would have generated enormous alterations in the flow of the water, and everything looked normal on the T-Sub's diagnostic charts."

"So you're saying, it's further into the cave…?" Beast Boy asked nervously, suddenly a lot more hesitant to keep going.

"Most likely. If he ain't, then he must be somewhere else altogether. And somehow, I don't think that's likely. This is the perfect spot for it to hide; and the only cave like this for who knows how far."

"… We should search a little farther in. Just go slow, and above all: Stay. Together." Robin said firmly. "… If we get separated in here, we're as good as done for."

"You heard the Man." Cy said, activating the integrated spotlight in his shoulder. "Let's go, Everybody."

Between Robin's flashlight, Cyborg's shoulderlight, and the tactical lights mounted on Smoke's revolvers, they managed to make their through the dim cavern. It was, as already stated, not the most inviting area possible. In fact, it was downright eerie. The sound of drifting waters, echoed and multiplied by the resonant rock structures, created a whispery hiss that was constant, and the sounds of shifting rocks and dripping droplets occurred at random intervals; sometimes distant and soft, sometimes nearby and deafening. These combined sounds, taken as one effect, created the illusion of groaning and gnashing of teeth all around them…

"…. (Cough, cough)…"

Smoke and Terra turned to see Beast Boy hacking and coughing hard as he walked, clutching his chest. They stopped quickly to help him, and the others turned as well.

"Hey… you all right?" Smoke asked, blinking.

"… Y-yeah… just… stuffy down here." Beast Boy said hoarsely. It was true. The air was musty, having not touched the surface of the ocean for countless years, and being permanently imbued with a thick, humid mist.

"We can stop and rest for a moment, if you need it." Robin said quickly.

"N-no… I'm all right." He said, attemptcooing a grin, though he still cleared his throat loudly and banged his chest. "I'll be fine. Let's just… keep going…"

… In their concern for their friend, the Titans didn't notice a shadow far above them, perched among the stalactites, that had been following them all this time. As they moved on, further down the pathway, it leapt and glided or swung after them…


"Hello….? Hello?" Jinx called, wringing water from the sleeve of her dress; it puddled itself on the floor below her. "…. Hey! Where is everybody?"

Her voice echoed through the lobby of Titan's Tower, but there was no response.

Mammoth, Gizmo, and Shimmer—the latter somewhat sulky looking—stood behind her. They were back from their trip, and their bags were already stacked neatly against the wall… they had more urgent matters, at hand, however. They'd encountered a major storm on the way back, and it hadn't quit. In fact, it seemed to become the most severe and stable just above Jump City—a massive maelstrom that hung over the city like a specter. They'd had a good view of it on the way back, looming especially above Titan's Tower, and pouring rain and hail.

… More importantly, the Titans were gone. But to where?

"… I don't think they're home… and it gives me the creeps…" Gizmo squeaked, pointing out the dimmed lights and drawn curtains—as though they weren't painfully obvious enough already. "Maybe we ought to just wait for them to come back."

"Sure…" Mammoth grunted, and then added sternly… "… As long as a certain someone… behaves themselves." He said, nodding towards his temperamental sister.

Shimmer huffed sulkily and didn't respond.

"Now, Sis, I'm tellin' ya; they ain't so bad. Just hang around 'em a little and you'd like 'em, same as anybody." Mammoth insisted gruffly. "And you're gonna apologize for breakin' in the other day, if it kills ya."

"But there's something bothering me…" Jinx persisted, turning her worried gaze towards the doorway. "…… Where would they have gone with this weather…?"


It had been a long ride. A VERY long ride. But somehow, Kitten had managed to get Voltaire and herself to Jump City—as per his request, when he'd finally swallowed his pride and asked—without getting them both killed with her erratic driving. She'd made a few uncomfortable advances… most of which he'd tried to ignore… but that girl was simply creepy.

For instance: Voltaire could have sworn she kept glancing back in the rear-view mirror, constantly even… which was natural enough, save for the fact that she'd been gazing, not at traffic, but at him. All this was understandable—he considered himself a fairly good-looking guy, except perhaps for his definite devilishness. But he'd never seen anyone with quite such an unnerving stare. Furthermore, she'd taken to calling him—dare he think it again—Volty-Poo. He shuddered.

After a bit of nervous thanking—and many backwards glances on her part—she'd dropped him off at Titans' East Tower and driven back towards town, leaving him at the doorway to the great building, in the rain with only his coat to shield him.

… Good riddance, he thought irritably.

He raised his fist towards the door, and hesitated a moment… the metal looked thick and potentially painful to bang one's fist against. Thus, he was relieved when he found a doorbell nearby and quickly mashed it with his bony, crooked forefinger—which, with its long blackish nail looked more like a claw.

A light, almost musical tone was heard muffled within. A few minutes passed that seemed like forever. He tapped his foot impatiently; it splashed in a puddle of rainwater that, even now, ran down the length of his body. At least the hail had slackened…

Finally, the door opened and he was treated to a glance at a dark-skinned African-American girl with two bobs of black hair and a yellow-and-black striped outfit. "Hi! You must be here for the job interview!" She said, almost ecstatically. "Come in; we thought for a moment no one would show up for a few minutes, here..."

He blinked, somewhat surprised she had not commented on his… appearance…. He then remembered with a jolt that he was wearing his coat and cloak, with hood deployed. He started to respond, but could only yelp as she grabbed his hand and yanked him in, shutting the door.

… His arrival must have been a sort of catalyst, because he was the first in a series.


"… Did you hear that…?" Beast Boy gulped, shaking bodily and wide-eyed.

"I didn't hear nothin'." Cyborg responded flatly.

"I swear, I heard something…!"

"You're getting nervous. Just don't let it go to your head."

Robin, still leading the group, shuddered a little bit himself, but quickly shook it off and made a gesture to the rest of the group with his hand, signaling to stay close. He said calmly: "…. Try not to make so much noise… we don't know where that… creature… is."

… They continued on. Suddenly, a rock creaked and cracked overhead, as though responding to a shifting of weight, and the sound echoed down to the Titans. Everyone's head snapped up.

For a moment, they stood stone-still. Eventually, Cyborg leaned back a bit, tilting his shoulder-mounted light, and the beam of illumination rose up, revealing the jet black ceiling. Strange though, that the texture was slightly more velvety than stone… and it seemed to be wriggling…

Instantly, it was upon them. Bats. A swarm of screeching bats. They swooped down in legions from the ceiling and divebombed the titans erratically, causing them to cry out and drop to the ground; Robin dropped his flashlight and Smoke's shotgun hit the ground, going off inadvertently and blowing a chunk out of the wall. Within seconds, suddenly as it had begun, the bats were gone, having swarmed to other parts of the undersea cave.

…. They slowly looked up.

"… Damn…. Scared the shit out of me…" Smoke groaned, reaching for his dropped gun to reload it.

"Ack! ARGH! I think there's one in my hair! Get it out; GET IT OUT!" Zero yelped panickedly, waving his head around wildly and clawing at his scalp as he leapt up as though scalded.

Robin stared blankly, getting up, and yanked a small shard of stone out of his hair. "… There is nothing… in… your… hair…" He snapped.

"……….." Zero looked at the stone. "…. Right. Of course. I was just testing you; making sure you were alert."

"… I should smack you."

Zero began to retort, up until… CRACK!

Everyone froze, no pun intended in Zero's case.

CREAK! CRACK!

Everyone's head slowly turned…

A tiny fissure was creeping downwards from the dent Smoke's gun had blasted in the wall… it branched out, lengthened, became thicker and more gaping… it began to spread to the ground beneath their feet.

Raven was the first to grasp the meaning of this. "……. No…"

But before anyone could react, the ground split up the middle like a sheet of paper, apparently unstablized somehow, and swallowed them up with a collective scream. There was a fall, a tumbling through pitch-black space where the air was thick and wet with dust and mist; it was stagnant and hot, not having stirred for no-one-knows-how-long. They almost, considering their location, expected to land in water… so it was quite a shock to hit dry, dusty ground. There was a thump, a puff of dust from the ages, a few assorted groans, and then silence.

"…. Ow… I think I broke something that wasn't supposed to break…" Terra groaned.

"I would have flown, but… I was not given enough time to react properly." Starfire lamented. "The thought never presented itself to me…"

"And that's… why we're stupid…" Blackfire groaned, sitting up and attempting—to limited effect—to suppress the pounding in her head.

"Whoa… It wasn't that bad." Beast Boy said with a shrug, sitting up himself. "I landed on a pillow or something…"

"What?" Robin demanded. "That's not right…"

"I swear! It's soft and everything; a box of padding or something…"

Cy muttered grumpily and switched on this flashlight. Everyone gasped and stared at Beast Boy with horror. He stared back, unnerved. "…. What?" He looked down… and yelped, leaping up.

… He had landed in an open coffin.

Beast Boy brushed himself off frantically, yelping in a panic: "Get it off me; get it off! Yuck! I smell dead people! Shit!"

There was a sudden hiss of wind—from apparently nowhere, as there was no opening to the outside, lest water escape in. Then, a blinding glow of light as torches—row upon row of antique torches and lanterns—suddenly sparked, glimmered, and flashed to life. The heroes stared around, stunned.

They were in a sort of chamber. Protruding slabs along the walls held coffins. Numerous, countless concrete coffins all open and devoid of life, though some held stacks of bones or wooden chests. The floor was covered in velvety red carpet that didn't quite prevent feeling the pebbles and rough stone below; torches lined the walls between caskets.

… At the far end of the chamber, the wall split into an open arch, massive in size, and just beyond that arch was what looked like a large lake, perhaps drawing its water somehow from the ocean outside.

"… I had vondered vhen you all vould arrife. You haffe certainly kept me waitink…" A thickly accented voice echoed from the opposite end of the room. "… Mein pet haz been vaiting, too. He iz eager to finish vhat he started."

Everyone pivoted around with a gasp, and saw a tall, yet extraordinarily lean man—perhaps early thirties or late twenties in age—with silver-gray hair in a pair of long ponytails and a beard; he wore a black suit of armor that shone unnaturally in the dim torchlight, and a formal red cape covered his back. He propped on a cane with a skull mounted atop, and grinned, displaying several rows of feral fangs between his red eyes and pointed ears.

"… Baron Von Magnus, Arch-General of Lord-Trigon's Demon Horde, and Assistant Commander of Lord Myntull's minions, at your zervice!"

…. There was a long awkward pause.

Cyborg muttered, "You've gotta be shitting me."

The Baron, such as he was, narrowed his gaze disdainfully. "I don't know vhat your gastrointeztinal functions haff to do vith this, nor do I vant to know. But, vhat I do know iz… it iz time for you to die."

And with that, he gave a quick flick—half of his cane unscrewed itself like a pen top, revealing a curved shamshir-like blade within. "Haff at you!"

Robin blinked at the demon charging at them. "He's crazy. We've got him outnumbered."

Magnus, his black cape flapping behind him, sneered and kept coming, fully aware of the remark. He closed the gap between himself and Robin fairly quickly, but when Robin took a swing at him with his staff, he ducked and knocked the Boy Wonder back several feet with his sword—thankfully, Robin's suit was durable or else he might have been sliced through.

A tremendous volley of shots rang out, and in instants Cyborg's sonic beams were hurtling towards the creepy young man. He had no time to dodge, and they connected, exploding point-blank and sending him flying back into a wall; he thudded off and several segments of the wall fell over onto him. Tendrils of dark energy soon began to slither from the pile of rocks…. Within moments, he'd freed himself and hurled a few black rays of magic at the group.

… There was a rumble, and a boulder—manipulated by Terra—moved itself into the path of the blasts; they popped harmlessly on its surface like dark firecrackers. Having served its purpose, the boulder launched itself at Baron Magnus like a living projectile…

He simply glared and lifted his blade. There was a flash of silver, and a metallic clang, and the boulder split down the middle, dropping harmlessly to both sides.

"You children annoy me… Zo! I vould like you to meet MY children!"

He cupped his pale hand to his mouth and whistled shrilly.

… A deafening sound suddenly filled the cavern. Chittering, chattering, wailing screeches; the sounds of small, rabid animals. From the same opening in the roof they had fallen from came the bats from before, grouped into one cohesive mass and hurling themselves in a thick line at the Titans.

They swooped in an inverted arc, ready to tear them limb-from-limb, but a superheated blast of emerald-green light incinerated a large chunk of them and scattered the rest. Before they could regroup, a similar assault was launched with crackling purple bolts.

"Stupid flying rats…" Blackfire muttered, hurling as many spheres of energy as quickly as she could. "Star, aim for X'hal's sake, don't just blast randomly!"

"I am trying!" Star said, her massive eyebeam blasts less precise—though arguably more effective—than her sister's bolts at the moment.

The bats fluttered away from the siege of energy attacks and regrouped in the shadows, joined by more and bigger vermin—but as fast as they came, just as quickly were they blown apart by Blackfire's bolts; the violet spheres connecting and sparking, splattering the bats into inky black goo.

"It iz no use." The Baron said smugly. "Zey are endless, are they not? Now… you shall zee vhy—"

He was cut off when his left arm exploded in a cloud of buckshot, splattering into the same black inky substance as the bats. The sound of a shotgun reloading sounded behind him.

"Man, you really ought to watch who's comin' up behind you." Smoke grunted, getting ready to fire off another round, raising the barrel to aim at Magnus's face.

"You arrogant mortal FOOL!"

The stump, still seething with dark liquid, morphed itself into a tentacle shape and lashed Smoke in the neck, knocking him over with a painful crack. It lashed out again, and slapped the gun away, clattering across the ground out of his reach.

Terra and Beast Boy had joined Star and Blackfire in holding off the horde of bats, now swarming the entire chamber. Terra launched large chunks of rock with deadly accuracy, and B.B. had changed himself with a green flash into a Pteranodon, pecking at nearby bats with his bony beak and tail whipping large groups, scattering them.

Just in time for Smoke, Robin, Sub-Zero, and Ghost all rushed Magnus at once—unfortunately, he still held his cane-blade in his good arm.

One would think three-on-one would be rather overwhelming odds.

… Oh well.

Blocking a staff blow with his tentacle appendage here, parrying a frozen rapier blade with his sword there, and kicking away a katana at the same time, he proved more than a match for the three. No matter how rapid their simultaneous attacks, they couldn't overwhelm him.

"I zay, you are quite ze active onez, yez? Vell, no matter…" He chuckled.

Without warning, he turned a rapid 360, swinging his tentacle as he did so and knocking all three of them to the ground.

"Grr… You just got insanely lucky…" Zero snarled from the ground. "FREEZE!"

Sure enough, he hurled a freeze ray that almost nicked him—but bats swarmed in front of him like a living shield and took the blow, leaving him unharmed.

"God, we got to do something about those damn ba—" Robin started, but he was cut off by a scream.

The three looked over where Beast Boy, Starfire, Terra, and Blackfire were cowering on the ground, bats circling them in a vortex of moving shadows and drawing in ever closer, ready to tear them apart like winged piranhas.

… An answer clicked in Ghost's mind. He dropped his gold katana and instead, threw his baggy sleeves out, eyes shining. In moments, his trademark locust swarm—which hadn't dulled since its last use—emerged and began flying in a buzzing, red and black mass towards the bats. … There was a screeching sound, terrible to hear, and numerous little white bones began dropping to the ground as the insects devoured the bats.

Magnus moved to impale Ghost on his blade—but his body lit up with several thousand volts of electricity. Smoke, recovered from his winding, had grabbed his ankle and lit him up like a Christmas tree.

"Guys, now!"

In moments, Robin and Zero had broken into a run; Robins slashed off the remaining arm with bladed boomerangs, and Zero thrust his rapier through the Baron's gut with all the strength he could muster. Then, a combined kick from the both of them knocked him back, black slime gushing from his arm stump and forming a tentacle even as he slid; Zero's rapier was knocked back out from the force, and the Knight recovered it.

"Imbeciles… you haff accomplished nothink." He chuckled, apparently unbothered by the fact both his arms had been severed. … The remaining bats in the chamber began to flock to him…

As he stood, the Titans regrouped, watching cautiously for his next tactic.

The creatures swarmed him and perched upon his body at all angles, covering him like a suit of armor; not even an inch of him could be seen. Then, suddenly, they began to liquidize… melt into the same black sludge seen before…

… They merged, and became one tangible mass; the resulting blob of shadowy gloop began to expand and take on a new shape…

WAM! A massive, jagged wing jutted out from one side… it unfurled, becoming hard and leathery… BAM! The same thing happened on the other side. The entire mass began to bubble and steam…

Then, it was… as if someone had detonated a bomb. An explosion of heat and noise shook the room, and a gaseous shockwave of noxious fumes knocked the Titans to the ground; every torch went out and the room went pitch-black.


"I'm telling you, I heard something…" Gizmo insisted. "Something…. Right.. down… here!"

"You're imagining stuff." Mammoth said with a deep sigh. "It's this weather. Makes ya think all oogity-boogity like, like something's gonna get you. Now come on, before Ji—"

"I don't care what Jinx says!" The young inventor snapped. "Look!"

He leapt and tugged Mammoth down to his level by his orange goatee; he pointed.

… The front door to Titans Tower was standing wide open in the storm, forced open somehow.

Two pairs of footprints, one large and lanky looking, rather clumsy in its pattern… the other small and evenly spaced between steps, with a brisk, straight line… both muddy prints leading in from the door and to the elevator…

"… Somebody's in here that shouldn't be!" Giz hissed.

"Maybe the others?" Mammoth gulped.

"No Way, Peabrain! They would have just knocked. That door's been forced open, and besides, there's only two trails! We gotta tell Jinx…"


Ghost sat up with a groan. He waited a moment for his eyes to adjust… but they never did. He saw only a dimly lit blur of blacks, grays, and whites around him… he glanced down with a shaky groan.

… His monocle was gone, lost on the ground somewhere, but he couldn't see well enough to find it.

… He was as good as blind.

His head snapped up as a massive impact shook the ground. He gulped and began trembling violently as his impaired sight vaguely made out the outline of something big, winged, with massive pointed ears and an open jaw, dripping with venom. The Baron had transformed. He looked around in a panic, and saw the dim outlines of his friends—all still on the ground, either knocked unconscious, or already d—… No, no he wouldn't think that. He refused.

He began backing up with a few gasps and groans, pushing himself back with his feet and elbows, ignoring the sting of rocks below him.

The creature let out a sinister chuckle and stomped towards him.

"You are lucky, Mein Friend." The creature snarled in a deep, warped version of his previous voice. "… Before I feast on your friends, I have somethink special in mind for you. Yez… very, vonderfully special indeed." He stomped forward again, prompting more frantic scrambling from Ghost. "… I von't kill you. No! Inztead, I vill give you Life! Life, forever! You vill never die! … Although, before too long, you may vish I had killed you."

He opened his mouth—yellowed, jagged, serrated fangs popped forth like so many switchblade knives; greenish and pale-gold poisons dripped down, mingled with filthy gray saliva as the torchlight from the freshly relit torches reflected from the tusklike teeth.

Without warning, he lunged forth in light-speed—though perhaps shadow-speed would be a more descriptive term—and sank the massive molars into Ghost's chest. Instantly, he screamed and blacked out.


It wasn't long before Smoke found himself running away from a swooping, batlike monstrosity with Ghost slung over his shoulder—strangely not bleeding from his chest, despite the enormous bite—like a sack of potatoes. As if coming out of a trance, the Titans had awoken simulteaneously only to find the monster—presumably the Baron's true form—standing over Ghost, teeth dug into his chest.

"Catch!" He tossed Ghost upwards, where he was caught by Star and Blackfire, who each grabbed one arm and easily ferried him a safe distance away.

"Come here, leetle Mouze! I haff a suprize for you!" The beast cackled in it's grotesque, throaty screech. "SONIC BOOM!"

It opened its mouth and let out a deafening shriek. A blast of clearly visible, glowing soundwaves fired out at the speed of sound and shattered the very ground Smoke stood on, sending him flying forwards onto his gut, hands clapped over his ears.

He let out another Hellish wail and fired off another volley of sound waves, this time knocking the Titans back, save for Star and Blackfire, both of whom were still crouched protectively around Ghost.

"Nothing they're doing seems to work…" Raven muttered. "Maybe… this." Recovering from the sonic assault, she loosed a geyser of dark energy spouting at the monster's mouth. There was a shadowy puff of smoke, and in moments the creature fell backwards, wings twitching and chest coughing and hacking.

The creature looked up just in time to see a green hawk above its head…

In a flash, it became a large, particularly corpulent green hippo that came crashing down like a living boulder. … This wasn't good for the beast.

BAM!

The hippo transformed yet again into a small hyena which promptly cackled and dashed off, leaving the bat monster fairly worse for wear, as indicated by the little chibi-demons fluttering in circles around its head.

"You know what they say…" Smoke grunted as he got back up, dusting his black leather coat off. "Where there's Smoke… there's FIRE, Baby!" His mechanical arm morphed into flamethrower phase and, taking aim, spat a stream of napalmesque embers onto the downed demon, setting its entire dark body ablaze.

… Insult was added to injury as the flames were doused with a beam of frothing, foaming water, courtesy of a pale warrior.

"Too hot?" Zero said as he approached; the creature writhed and screeched. "Maybe some good ol' AC'll do ya some good… FREEZE!" He wound up in a pitcher-like motion and fired a powerful freeze beam at the creature—a flash of blue light and an eruption of powdery white snow ensued, and when it died down the monster was encased in frigid crystalline ice.

The knight stepped back and admired his handiwork. "One superdemon, on ice, comin' right up."

"And I got just the thing to spice it up." Robin said. With a flick of his gloved appendage, his hand flashed to his belt and whipped out a small, cubic device with an LCD screen. He gave a quick flourish and tossed it onto the ice; it latched on like a suction-cup. … 30:00 came into display on the screen, and began ticking downward, second by second.

"Everybody, GET DOWN!"

They didn't have to be told twice.

Whoa, quite a lot happening, huh? It gets confusing even for me, the Writer, so I understand if you're a bit, '… what?' at the moment. Don't worry. It'll clarify up soon enough. In the mean time, I've finally created some forums of my own. If you want to add your two cents—or two bucks, whichever—simply go and post. In the mean time, reviews are love, people; so stay groovy and dish out the reviews.

--L'Count M.P.