Author's Note: For some reason I find it absolutely hilarious that Cyborg loves waffles. So, every time I write the word 'waffle', I burst out laughing while I write the sentence. I don't know, call me crazy but I think it's frigging hilarious. Anyway, big fight scene. Enjoy!
Chapter 6: Friday
Robin stood at the door of the Wayne mansion with Beast Boy and Starfire, all with luggage in their hands. Bruce Wayne himself had walked the trio to the door, assuring himself that they did indeed enjoy themselves.
"Thank you, sir, for inviting us to stay in your beautiful home!" Starfire said graciously.
"Yeah, dude, it's been a blast. Seriously. Thanks," Beast Boy added.
"You're welcome any time." Bruce answered in his deep voice, and said goodbye as Beast Boy and Starfire exited. Robin came up to him, hand extended. Bruce shook it, smiling at his former ward.
"Thanks for visiting, Dick." Bruce said.
"It's been fun catching up." Robin answered. He grabbed his bag and waved once at Batman, then hurried to join his friends.
"Oh, friends, we have arrived home!" Starfire cried out joyously as she, Robin, and Beast Boy entered the Tower. It was currently empty. Starfire zoomed around the area, searching for her friends.
"Friends, friends, where are you?!" She cried.
"I'm right here, Starfire." The magenta-haired enchantress's monotone voice sounded from behind her. Starfire whirled around and hugged Raven.
"Starfire… air… becoming… an issue…" Raven managed as Starfire squeezed the breath out of her. Starfire released her friend, but only because she had found another target.
"Cyborg!" She cried, hugging the third male of the Teens.
"Nice to see you too, Star," Cyborg chuckled, prying the energetic Tameranian off of him.
"Raven, Cyborg – Have you not missed us?" She exclaimed.
The two glanced at each other.
"Yeah, it has been kinda dull without you guys." Cyborg grinned.
"This is getting too emotional for me." Raven stated flatly. Cyborg noted her give him the smallest shade of a wink before sweeping back up to her room.
Beast Boy had thrown his baggage down and was rummaging through the fridge.
"Hey!" He shrieked, holding up a plate bearing something suspiciously like sausage. "Were you slaying pigs while I was gone?!"
Cyborg laughed and shoved Beast Boy.
"And chickens and cows, too. We ate them with waffles."
Beast Boy fainted.
"So Cyborg, anything new happen while we were away?" Robin asked conversationally, stepping over Beast Boy and grabbing a Coke from the refrigerator.
'Nothing except that Raven and I finally admitted we're in love.' Cyborg thought to himself.
"Nothing really, but I did add this really sweet sound system to the T-car." Was what Cyborg really said aloud, plopping down on the couch next to Robin and snatching the remote.
"Really?" Robin asked interestedly. "When can we use it? Sounds awesome!"
Cyborg shrugged.
"My baby needs to rest before we take her out on the road." He answered, to which Robin laughed at grabbed at the remote, successfully retrieving it.
"Hey!" Cyborg yelled. "Gimme that! I stole it fair n' square!"
Robin held up a controller.
"Play ya for it, what'd'ya say?" He asked, waving the remote in front of Cyborg's face.
"You're on!" Cyborg exclaimed, but as he reached for the controller to take Robin up on his challenge, the lights flashed red and the images on the screen were brushed off by a map indicating the source of trouble. Robin stood, transformed instantly from goofing off kid to determined leader.
"It's the Hive. By the docks. Titans – GO!"
Jinx twirled around, sprinkling pink sparkles in her wake. They sputtered and fluttered, diminishing to nothing moments after she had left them. Gizmo looked up at Jinx, who had started performing a ballet number as he and Mammoth (mostly Mammoth) loaded their ship with stolen weaponry from a nearby barge, whose security they'd eliminated.
"Stop dancing, Jinx, and get over here." The pint-sized computer genius demanded. The girl stopped in the middle of a pirouette and glared at the boy, hands on her hips.
"Just try and make me stop." The saucy sorceress said. She cried out in shock and anger as a birdarang nicked her arm.
"That's what we're for." Robin's voice echoed over the three villains. He held up his hand and caught the returning weapon, wiping a smear of Jinx's blood off the tip. He leaped down from the top of a building, followed by the rest of the Titans. "To stop you."
Jinx smirked.
"But the show is just beginning!" She cried, raising her hands, fingers splayed and palms outward. A slicing blade of bright pink energy whipped through the air and dug into the ground with surprising ease, right where Robin had stood seconds before. Unfazed, the pink haired villain struck with rapid-fire bursts of pink energy. The Titans sprung into action, dodging the bullets of magic as they fired back. Starfire's eyes glowed green and her hands shimmered with emerald glow. Gathering her strength, she unleashed her star bolts, showering Mammoth and Jinx with horrible singes and burns.
"AHHH!" Beast Boy cried as Mammoth shrugged away Starfire's attacks and chucked a heavy crate in his direction. It hit him with incredible force, knocking him backwards and through the flimsy tin wall of a temporary storehouse.
"Beast Boy!" Starfire gasped, zooming from her station in the sky to aid her fallen comrade. Jinx wasted no time in wiggling her deft fingers and sending pink ribbons through the air to wrap around Starfire. Screaming as they lashed around her slim figure and closed over her nose and mouth, Starfire plummeted to the ground, eyes wide with fear and losing their green zest as she ran out of air. Robin caught sight of his teammate as he dodged yet another blow from Mammoth.
"Cyborg!" Robin yelled hoarsely. "CATCH HER!"
Realizing Robin wasn't paying attention, Mammoth took his opportunity. A blow connected with the side of the normally agile teen's face, sending him flying through the air and slamming onto the hard pavement with a thud. Although Robin's skin and blood muffled the noise, underneath a sickening crack could be heard as the bone snapped. He cried out in pain, eyes watering, trying to stand.
"I got ya, Star!" Cyborg called desperately, shaking the foul-mouthed computer geek from his back and running over broken boxes and ripped construction as he raced to catch her. He jumped onto a crate and launched himself into the air, snatching Starfire from orbit before she landed on the rocky shore that edged the docks. Her face was purpling, her eyes starting to roll back into her head. Cyborg ripped away the pink wrappings that covered her face and rendered her arms and legs immobile. Starfire gasped for air.
"Thank you, Cyborg!" She wheezed as Cyborg set her down on a wooden crate to catch her breath.
"Thank me later, Star, we've still got trouble." Cyborg said grimly. Suddenly, he realized something was missing. He turned to his friend, who was still recovering. "Starfire, have you seen Raven?" He asked with growing dread.
"She told me that she would join our efforts shortly, Cyborg, for her stomach ailed her." Starfire answered. "But this was back in our home. I do not know where our friend has gone."
Cyborg felt his heart turn to ice. Raven... she couldn't be hurt, could she?
"Raven?" He yelled, scanning the skies. "RAVEN!"
"Worry about her later, Cyborg," Robin said, wincing horribly as he come up behind his friend with a revived Beast Boy in tow and holding his limp left arm to his side. "She can take care of herself for now, but I need your help."
"It's not so easy to defeat us, now is it?" Jinx addressed them smugly, causing the Titans to jump in surprise. The HIVE stood importantly, as if posing for a photo shoot. Robin's eyes narrowed.
"We're not through with you yet," Robin said firmly. In a swift movement he pulled the retractable Bo staff from his belt with his right hand, twirling it around his fingers. "Let's do this."
"HAARRAHHA!" Mammoth roared, lifting everything heavy near him and hurling them at the advancing Teen Titans. Beast Boy charged at the overlarge man in a rhinoceros shape, tackling the giant with everything he had. Jinx met Starfire head on as the two super-powered girls attacked, each matching the other's advances blow-by-blow, green against pink. Cyborg and Gizmo fought a different kind of miniature battle inside the general fight. More than just good against evil, their rivalry was something personal as they yelled foul insults at each other, battling with brains (and tech) as well as brawn. Robin flitted like his namesake from scene to scene as best he could with his broken limb, slowly wearing down the opposition with his lightning quick attack and withdrawals.
"Can't you think of anything else to do except climb on my back like some little kid?" Cyborg groaned in irritation as he threw Gizmo off his back a third time.
"Shut up, barf brain!" Gizmo responded, blowing a raspberry at Cyborg. "And don't explode too messily, crud muncher!" He cackled, sprinting away.
"What?!" Cyborg yelped, feeling around on his back. A small device beeped rhythmically, counting down. His eyes widened. "Ooh no. Ooooh no."
"Azarath. Metrion. Zinthos!" A familiar voice cut in. Glowing black light flew from Raven's hands, disabling the ticking bomb stuck to Cyborg's back.
"Whew." Cyborg breathed, wiping sweat off his forehead. Relief filled him and he beamed up at the sky where Raven levitated. Furious muttering could be heard and a sharp "OUCH" as Gizmo kicked a hard crate and injured his foot. Cyborg kicked a box aside to reveal a pained Gizmo, holding his foot and screaming nonsensical curse words. Cyborg smirked and grabbed him.
Raven hovered in the sky, holding her stomach and feeling sick again. Nevertheless, she summoned her powers, covering the two remaining members of the Hive in darkness and suspending them in the air, where they hung, furious but too worn out from fighting to break free.
Raven floated to the ground. She saw Robin grimacing, his skin a pale gray as his injury pained him, and immediately shoved her hands over his broken arm, administering her healing abilities to the break. Robin gingerly moved his newly restored appendage.
"Thanks," He smiled. She nodded.
"Raven!" Cyborg cried, throwing Gizmo into the dark mass that entwined around Jinx and Mammoth. "Where've you been?"
"Yes, friend!" Starfire said, gathering near with Beast Boy. "What ailed you so that you were unable to assist us in this battle where you were sorely needed?"
"Ugh." She said sickly, sitting down. "Felt bad."
"Yeah," Beast Boy joked, leaning close to inspect her. "Not everyone can pull off green like me, but you seem to be doing it fine today."
"Mmf!" Raven said, slapping a hand to her mouth and running away from her friends to vomit over the pier. She returned minutes later, still green in the face and holding her stomach. "Queasy." She mumbled.
"Whoa," Robin stated, holding out a hand to steady his friend. "Take it easy there, Raven. I've never seen you get sick before."
"Yeah, Rae, are you gonna be okay?" Cyborg asked anxiously, supporting her as her knees buckled. Starfire bit her fingernails and gazed anxiously at her friend, almost as anxiously as Cyborg.
"Uhhh," She moaned, leaning against Cyborg. "Could you… could you carry me back?" She asked him weakly. In response, he scooped her up effortlessly, and she wrapped her arms limply around his neck to support herself, resting her head against his broad shoulder and sighing. The three other Titans stared to see Raven so open to another Titan, looking questioningly from Cyborg to the girl in his arms. He merely grinned sheepishly, a blush coloring his face.
'Something's up.' Robin thought as the Titans made the way back to Titans Tower. He looked at Raven, who had drifted into a disturbed sleep, relaxed but paler than usual in Cyborg's arms. Cyborg occasionally looked down at her, genuinely concerned for the young woman he held. A thought crossed Robin's mind, causing him to widen his masked eyes in surprise, but he shook it away.
'Best not jump to conclusions.' Thought the young leader, and he walked ahead of his teammates, eager to sleep off the battle in his own bed.
Author's Note: Review please! Long reviews are loved, but any review is still appreciated.