My Riddles Three

At this point, you should already know what I do and don't own. But let's review. Don't own: Teen Titans, anything related to Teen Titans, any sort of mythological beast. Do own: A killer budgerigar.

~~~~~

"Very good. You have completed my first riddle. And in record time, too, I must say." The Sphinx said. There was no sign of any sort of amazement or even interest in her voice.

"How good for me," Raven said dryly.

"However, there is one other riddle. And this one will not be so easy as the first," the Sphinx continued, ignoring her captive's perpetual glare.

"I'm waiting," Raven said.  

"I am the beginning of eternity,

The end of time and space

The beginning of the end,

And the end of every place,"

The Sphinx grinned at Raven- though the teen's face remained as stoic as ever. "Come, little girl, tell me the answer. After all, it must be as easy as the first, correct?"

~~~~~

Robin watched the roiling smoke for several minutes. There was a confused coughing from within- and then, the Manticora lunged at him. The enormous monster landed right on top of Robin- but did not pin the smaller human with his paws. Robin rolled out from underneath the Manticora, leaving another of his small bombs behind. The bomb exploded on the Manticora's foot.

The blood-red lion creature roared in pain, and then in indignation. "Smoke and pop toys! You fight like a little child! Come, face me as a true warrior, face to face!"

Robin stared dubiously at the Manticora. "Why would I want to do that? You're a giant lion. You'd tear me apart," he said, a little too seriously.

The Manticora stared at Robin for a minute, and then roared at lunged at him. Robin threw another small explosive- the Manticora's lightning-quick tail shot forward, hitting it, sending it rocketing back at him. The bomb exploded at Robin's feet, swallowing him in smoke. Robin stumbled backwards somewhat, coughing and trying to get out of the smoke- the dark figure of the Manticora was suddenly overhead. One massive paw swung at Robin, sending him flying. He landed among the debris of totaled cars- with a groan he fell through one of the cracked windows into the interior. The massive weight of the Manticora landed on the top, denting the metal, and one giant red paw reached inside.

Meanwhile, Cyborg was having his share of trouble with the Hydras. "Why- won't- you- DIE?!?" Cyborg screamed, tearing forests of heads off of the Hydras. More sprung up, hissing just as mindlessly as the first. He couldn't keep ahead of the Hydra's regeneration.

The broken necks and heads of the hydras on the ground around him were still hissing, and would occasionally, to no avail, snap at his feet. He hated to think of what would happen if he fell down, surrounded by broiling masses of snapping heads?

One of the Half-Hydras had snuck around behind him, and now wrapped its amphibious body around him. The amphibious creature's slime began to work its way into his circuits. "Eech!" Cyborg protested, grabbing the creature's body and trying to slide it off before it could do anymore damage.


The Hydra would not come off. The same slime that was affecting his circuits also made it nearly impossible to get a grip on. Its underbelly, however, apparently did not have the same sort of lubrication, because it had no trouble keep hold of *him*. The other Hydra approached menacingly, hissing and flickering its many heads in every direction, looking for a place to strike. One head struck tentatively at his metal arm, broke a tooth, and drew back. The other heads swiveled around, before seeming to focus on his flesh itself. Their poisonous fangs glittered as they prepared to strike…

Starfire felt almost helpless in the sky. She could easily run circles around the Obsidian Gargoyle- shoot far out of its range, and it could hardly catch up to her. But though she could run she could not fight it- all of her attacks against it were utterly worthless.

The alien swirled around the Gargoyle, throwing bolts of green energy at the monster. She might as well have been throwing sticks at it- the energy slid off its hide, slipped from its obsidian skin to disperse harmlessly in the air beyond it. Her attacks did no damage at all. And Starfire could not remember a time that that had happened before.

The Obsidian Gargoyle drew into range and took another swipe at her- she darted out of the way of its ebony claws, and blasted it straight in the chest with green energy. She was only a few feet away from the monster- but still her energy slid off of it like water over glass.

Starfire turned and fled, but was not quite quick enough to avoid it's claws- the monster struck at her, and the force of it's blow sent her spinning once around, and she tumbled towards the ground. Unable to control her descent she took one final shot at the Gargoyle- and missed, instead blowing out a chunk of the building behind it. The Gargoyle laughed as she fell- and belatedly saw the building falling atop it from behind. Its stone eyes cracked wide open in surprise, and then it was sent hurtling to earth as well, crushed under the weight of part of a building.

Starfire hit the ground hard and lay there, stunned, her body unwilling- or unable to move. So, she only watched in a slight daze as the Obsidian Gargoyle came falling directly towards her.

The Basilisk was silent for a long moment- but Beast Boy did not dare open his eyes. He knew it was just waiting for him to look up… to get a full-on glimpse of those deadly eyes…

But he could not stay here. In frustration the Basilisk struck again, and small pieces of the curb struck Beast Boy's small furry body. The giant viper would shatter the curb and have free access to him. Beast Boy slowly opened his eyes, staring resolutely at the wall. As the Basilisk struck again, he moved his four furry little feet as quickly as he could, racing out from under the curb, under a car, and to the other side, where he changed back to human. He drew one hand across his brow… that was close! But the Basilisk already knew that he had escaped- it just wasn't quite sure where he had gone, as it had been too intent on gnawing on the curb to see Beast Boy run.

Beast Boy squeezed his eyes shut and listened. The Basilisk's scales scraped across the concrete as it hunted for him. He could hear the tongue flickering in and out of its frightening fanged mouth. Beast Boy knew the monster could taste him breathing.

'Just one accidental glance full into those eyes and you're done for!' Beast Boy kept chanting to himself. This mantra was far from reassuring. He didn't want to die!

'Think, man, think!' He berated himself. How could he attack something he couldn't look at? How could he defend himself against something he couldn't see? What could take on the baleful stare of a Basilisk…

…except for the Basilisk itself?

"Of course!" Beast Boy shouted aloud.

The rattling hiss of the Basilisk sounded just overhead. Beast Boy transformed, his legs fusing into a long tail, his head stretching infinitely away from his shoulders; he caught sight of his reflection in the side-view mirror of the car and angry red eyes glared back.

Confidently he turned towards the Basilisk. For one minute, the two reptiles locked stares, red eyes staring venomously, hatefully, at each other.

And then Beast Boy felt all of the air driven from his lungs, a crushing weight on his chest… ears buzzing head throbbing thoughts sluggish vision going black…

…and then he felt nothing at all.

~~~~~

"Well? Well, little girl? What is your answer? Surely you must have one by now," the Sphinx snarled. There was a hint of triumph in her terrible voice.

Raven was silent for a few minutes longer, playing through the riddle again and again in her head. If she got this riddle wrong, she could not doubt the Sphinx would truly eat her- the same force that kept Raven from simply flying away would probably bind her to the rules of this insipid game as well. She had to answer correctly or she would die. And probably all of her friends as well, if they stumbled into this Sphinx's trap…

Again and again she traced the riddle's lines. And when she found the answer, she felt slightly foolish for not having caught it early. "You resort to word games now, Sphinx. Are you so quickly running out of ideas?"

"What is the answer?" The Sphinx persisted. She looked confident that Raven would be wrong.

"The letter 'E'. Both 'eternity' and 'end' start with it. 'Time' and 'place' end with 'E'. And so does the word 'place'. 'E' is your answer," Raven said evenly.

The Sphinx snarled, rage lighting up her face for one minute before dying back down. "Very good little girl… but we are not yet to the end of our riddles. And I guarantee this last riddle will not be so easy to complete as the first…

"If you solve this riddle then you will go free.

If you fail, you become my slave for all eternity.

What is my true name?"

The Sphinx sat back on her haunches, and smiled viciously at Raven. Raven stared just as evenly back.

"That," she said slowly, "Is even easier than the first."

~~End part 3~~