My Riddles Three
Still don't own Teen Titans. ::Deep Sigh:: Though I MIGHT have run all the way from Michigan to Hollywood a few hours ago and I MIGHT have thrown a brick through Pixar's window… what… what do you mean Pixar doesn't make Teen Titans? Oops…
~~~~~
Raven stood, immobile, for one minute, staring at the shadow on the wall where the Sphinx had once stood. Now, rather than a half-human mythical monster's shadow cast against the wall an entirely different half-human's shadow peered back at her…
She reached down and picked up the Sphinx's single feather from the ground- it had a tuft of thick brown fur at the base, and the rest was decorated black markings that seemed to be the alphabet to some obscure language. She put it inside her cloak.
Raven heaved a shuddering sigh. She took one shaking step, and nearly collapsed, belatedly realizing just how much energy the Sphinx had taken from her… and how much she had expended in destroying the monster. Raven stumbled down the hallway, before her shuddering limbs failed her and she collapsed in a heap on the ground. This prone position felt so comforting to her exhausted limbs that they refused to move, no matter how hard she tried to push herself up. *I have to help my friends…* she thought to herself.
*No… by now, they'll be doing alright without me…* Another part of Raven's mind assured her.
Gratefully, though unwillingly, Raven fell into an unconscious sleep.
~~~~~
Starfire found the Hydras a little easier to handle.
The ground bound snakes hissed angrily- but impotently- below her, their
multiple heads twining, teeth flashing, but ultimately they were out of range. Starfire
threw a starbolt at the nearest Hydra- hitting it at
the base of its multiple heads. The limbs were blasted off like icicle plucked
from a windowsill- and none grew back, the wounds having been cauterized at
their source. The Half-Hydra, with now half as many heads as well, hissed
angrily, and its companion turned and fled.
"Not so quickly!" Starfire chided, taking off after the first of the Half-Hydras. The one she had knocked half of the heads off of chased her shadow, biting futilely at the concrete. Starfire blasted the fleeing Hydra directly in the back- its slimy body exploded, showering nearby pavement and parked cars with its deadly acid blood.
Starfire fired at the Hydra directly below her, blowing another mass of heads from its body- and then the massive form of the Basilisk reared up before her. "Oh!" Starfire yelped, and banked sharply away to avoid its gaze- so sharply that she nearly collided with a lamp post. The alien shot to one side to avoid the collision- and then was forced to land to keep from crash-landing.
The disgusting form of the Hydra reared up behind her, its heads hissing- Starfire wheeled around, an enormous bolt of energy crackling from between her outstretched hands. The Hydra disappeared in a flash of green light and was utterly reduced to ash.
"Starfire, look out!" Robin shouted, and with another yelp, Starfire rocketed upwards, safely out of the reach of the Basilisk that had been directly behind her. The vile viper hissed angrily, and then slithered in the direction of Robin's voice.
Cyborg was also doing well against the Gargoyle- unlike the Hydras; the Gargoyle could not as easily regenerate a shattered limb. The Obsidian Gargoyle slashed at Cyborg, one enormous ebony claw streaking towards him- Cyborg caught it, and ripped it off.
Stone split, cracked, and pebbles rained down on Cyborg's head. The Gargoyle screeched in pain, and struck out with its other claw, sending Cyborg flying, but not doing any damage to his metal chassis. Cyborg jumped to his feet, and rose his arm- it turned into the sonic blaster.
The Gargoyle watched this transformation silently. "You like this?" Cyborg asked.
The rock monster opposite of him screeched, its face cracking into a terrible snarl, and started forwards. "Oh, I guess you want a private testing, huh?" Cyborg exclaimed.
His sonic blaster fired- blue and white crackling energy shot at the Gargoyle, piercing it through. Chunks of stone were blasted out of its tattered, cracked hide- after the collision with the concrete; its smooth obsidian hide had cracked and left plenty of places for energy to catch. The Gargoyle's eyes cracked into a look of dismay, and it fell backwards.
The monster hit the ground, cracking apart into several different pieces. The
glittering luster of its living stone hide was replaced with the dull form of
concrete and granite. "Alright! Who's the boss?"
Cyborg exclaimed in delight.
Robin and Beast Boy went racing past. "Run, Cyborg! RUN!" Robin exclaimed.
"Run from *what*?" Cyborg demanded, turning around.
"Noooo Cyborg!" Starfire shrieked
from high above.
Cyborg looked straight up into the baleful gaze of the Basilisk…
…and nothing happened. The Basilisk hissed in surprise when Cyborg did not immediately perish.
The rest of his team had been staring at their robot friend- now their jaws dropped in disbelief. "You… how are you…" Robin began.
Cyborg turned to grin at Robin and pointed at his red electronic eye. He had closed his human eye. "Only seeing the snake in infra-red!" He said in delight.
The Basilisk had watched this for a minute, and now hissed in rage. It swung its massive head, hitting Cyborg- who still had his back turned to the monster- a crushing blow, and sending flying across the clearing. The enormous viper then shot towards where Beast Boy and Robin stood, head lowered to the ground, fanged mouth open, tiny, semi-formed limbs dragging at its side.
Once again, Beast Boy transformed into the Basilisk to meet the other creature head on. This time, before he even met the other snake's stare his eyes were burning. He locked stares with the monster, and fell, stricken, once again driven to the ground by the *real* Basilisk's stare.
The Basilisk itself was also stunned, though not quite as badly- it shook its head from side to side, trying to clear the burning sensation. Starfire channeled a blast of green energy into the snake- the monster hissed, and writhed as it was struck, throwing up a cloud of dirt around it.
This gave Robin an idea.
The Boy Wonder pulled two smoke bombs from his belt- the last two he had left,
and threw them both at the Basilisk. Clouds of smoke erupted around the snake-
obscuring it from view. The Basilisk hissed in dismay, all of its senses
obscured by the smoke.
Robin could hear the giant viper's movements within the smoke- could hear its hissing, and could hear the movement of its scales over the concrete, like a thousand knives scraped over stone…
He pulled his staff from his belt, poled it out to its full length, and then leapt into the smoke. "Oh Robin! Be careful!" Starfire cried in distress as Robin disappeared into the roiling vapors.
There was a single loud, pained hiss from within the smoke- and then Robin reappeared, now empty handed. He stumbled over to where Beast Boy was rubbing his eyes, fully human, and watched the cloud of smoke as it slowly dissipated into the wind.
The mighty Basilisk had it's head held high, mouth agape- it's eyes transfixed by a long, metal object- Robin's staff, piercing directly through one eye into the other. The snake gave one final, throaty hiss, and then teetered, its scales scraping together like a thousand blacksmiths sharpening their knives- before it collapsed, hitting the ground with a resounding metallic clang.
Robin's staff, the metallic parts of it touched by the Basilisk's blood, disintegrated, and then Basilisk's vile blood flowed freely onto the concrete, burning holes in the rock.
Cyborg stumbled up, holding his head and staring at the remains of the vile snake- and then their leader- in slight awe and surprise. Starfire landed alongside the rest of the team, staring at Robin, her mouth half open and somewhere between a gasp of shock and a smile. Beast Boy simply looked up at Robin and said, in an altogether too-chipper voice, "Cool!"
"Well," said Robin, glancing around at the ruined block of the city, "I think that's about the end of that…"
~~~~~
"Yoo-hoo… sleepy head… time to get up now…"
Cyborg's irritatingly cheerful voice invaded Raven's
blissfully dreamless sleep, and she jerked her head upwards. Her teammates
stood around her. Starfire, Beast Boy, and Cyborg all looked slightly amused at
their teammate asleep on the floor- Robin looked quite annoyed.
"Sleep well?" He asked.
Raven sat up, and then stood up, brushing herself off. "Not in the least," she replied in her classic monotone.
"Well, we could have used your help back there," Robin said evenly.
"What a coincidence, I could have used your help back *here*," Raven said, easily keeping the indignation out of her voice as she was still too drained and exhausted to offer much of a fight.
"What's the matter, Raven; nightmares?" Beast Boy asked cheerfully, a huge grin on his green face.
Raven regarded Beast Boy coldly- he shrank back in surprise at her glare. "No," she said darkly, "I had to see to our guest…" she said, and pulled the Sphinx's feather from her cloak, handing it to Robin. It was easily as long as his forearm, and nearly as wide. He looked up at Raven, a question written on his lips.
"Later," Raven said, waving one hand, "now, if you'll excuse me…" she continued, and headed up to her room, closing the door firmly behind her.
She had had enough questions to last her a lifetime.
~~fin~~