Teen Titans: All Things... Good and Bad...: Part Two

Author's Note:

I'm not good at writing disclaimers, because at the moment I am not motivated enough to dig around to find out all the copyright information regarding Teen Titans... so...

Disclaimer: Blah blah blah... D.C. Comics... blah blah blah... I do not own stock in them.. blah blah.. do not take credit for Teen Titans characters.. blah blah... just paying homage... yadda yadda.

Warning: This chapter has a little bit of graphic description in it. If you're faint of heart, then be forewarned.Thanks. R&R if you so desire.

Part Two: The Horror... The Horror...

There was no want for dramatic posing when the Teen Titans came a-knocking. Robin hit the hard concrete floor soundlessly and jerked his body quickly into the random martial arts stance of the day. His compatriots, who had assumed their characteristic stances as well, surrounded him. All of them bore intensely dire expressions on their faces, including Beast Boy who had returned to normal once more. Robin was planning to let out a war cry of sorts when his enemies came into view, but no such opportunity seemed to want to present itself. The five of them stood ready for a good minute or two before they allowed their muscles to relax, and their expressions to become confused. Silence ensued. Beast Boy, as per the norm, was the first to break this silence.

"Uh... are you sure this is the right warehouse, dude?"

Robin's eye narrowed and his green gloved fingers slid across his chin pensively. "I was certain that the distress call was being transmitted from warehouse 5."

Raven had already pulled her hood off of her head and let her cloak consume the rest of her figure. She glanced over to the wall, her vision being distracted by an enormous number "5" crafted in white paint. "Obviously, this is warehouse 5."

The organic part of Cyborg's face twisted in both confusion and distaste as he frantically looked around for any signs of life. "Aw man! This place is empty! Was this some kind of joke?"

Starfire's eyes returned to normal and the vibrant green glow dissipated from around her clenched fists. She took a few steps towards Robin and tilted her head to the side. "Yes, it appears as though a jest has been made at the expense of our sense of duty. Are you certain that the signal was--"

"This wasn't a joke," Robin cut in, marching forward before Starfire could get much closer. He scanned the area with his eyes as he walked, his lip pursed in disbelief at the huge, very empty building. Not only was it empty, but very dark as well. Perhaps an ambush was to come. Robin made a note of this possibility and bent low to the floor, quickly moving across the length of the warehouse as his acute eyes inspected every inch of the darkness.

The others stood by, again waiting for further instructions. Raven took it upon herself to levitate up several feet to get a better scope of their surroundings, and Starfire followed suit. They observed nothing but a big, empty building with a white 5 on the wall.

Some time later, Robin returned to his companions, a look of frustration on his masked face. "This doesn't make sense. There were several reports that the Hive Academy creeps were raiding this warehouse less than an hour ago. There were eyewitnesses..." He turned and looked towards the rafters high up on the ceiling. "Gizmo is a loudmouth twerp... I couldn't see those three not being seen or heard no matter what they do."

Cyborg nodded fervently in agreement. His distaste for Gizmo was more than apparent. He placed his thick fingers on the barrel of his sonic cannon on his right arm, almost itching to use it on the half-pint villain. "I feel that. But I sure don't see a trace of any of them in here."

Beast Boy took a few bold steps towards Robin and put one had firmly on his hip, and slid the other hand through his soft, green hair. "Maybe we're too late. I mean, they coulda just bailed, right?"

Raven, deep down, really enjoyed raining on Beast Boy's parade. She drifted a few feet closer to the boys and touched down gently. "I highly doubt that. Take a look around. I know it's dark, but if you look closely, you'll see that nothing seems to be out of place. Knowing Jinx, Gizmo, and especially Mammoth, if they had gotten what they came for, this place would be a mess."

Starfire clasped her hands together and merely observed the conversation, not having anything to add to it. Robin rubbed his chin some more and nodded in agreement. "Raven's right. It's too quiet and too clean. But I stand by the fact that this was a real distress call. I don't understand..."

"Are they not lying in wait?" Starfire finally chimed in, looking around anxiously.

Robin shook his head and stared at the far wall for a moment. "No. I checked. Besides..." He suddenly reached his hand to his belt and whipped off a birdarang, holding it high over his opposite shoulder. "... That's really not their style."

The ebony-haired boy threw the red projectile swiftly towards the wall he had been staring at. It impacted against a large switch, suddenly bathing the entire warehouse in pale, artificial light. Robin turned to his teammates. "Let's shine a little light on this mystery. Go make another sweep of the building. Search for clues. Yell if you find anything."

He did not really expect anyone to have to yell, but as it turned out, it was more inevitable than he had ever dreamed.

"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

The high pitched, shrill, and blood-curling shriek that left Starfire's lips would haunt everyone for months, maybe years to come. Instantly, ever Titan was on alert, whipping around from wherever they were to face Starfire and rush to her aid if need be.

"Starfire!" This was Robin's automatic response whenever he perceived the Tamaranean princess to be in harm's way. He dashed towards her, being flanked by the other three as they all ran up to see what had alarmed her so. "Starfire what's-- Oh my god..."

Starfire's entire body was trembling violently, and another scream echoed throughout the building as she turned her head and looked behind a stack of wooden crates. Instinctively, Cyborg seized the small girl by the shoulders and pulled her away from where she stood, turning her around and shielding her with his massive arms. "No... Star... don't look anymore..." his deep voice stammered, losing strength and volume increasingly.

Beast Boy reacted similarly to Starfire, only he managed to repress the urge to scream out. He recoiled violently, moving back to where Cyborg was restraining Starfire. His lean body dropped to the floor and he started to shake as well, his emerald eyes wide and frightened, his lip quivering with speechless fear. It was almost like he had become an instant vegetable.

Raven's cold stare was on the floor ahead of them. She stood unblinking, her expression never changing. "My god..." was all she uttered in an unmoved voice. However, somewhere in the back of the room, a light bulb exploded. This caused Starfire to scream out again in terror.

Robin would usually go to Starfire to console her, but what he was staring at completely blocked her suffering out from his mind. Two cold and stiff bodies lay mangled and sprawled out on the floor between various boxes and crates. They were the bodies of Gizmo and Mammoth. It may not have been so awful if the expressions on their faces were not so twisted and terrified, and if blood was not trickling from the corners of their mouths. Tiny Gizmo's face was covered with fresh wounds and bruises, and his right leg was bent in a direction that definitely was not natural. His beady eyes were soaked in fear and his mouth hung open as if he were still screaming. Mammoth was not in much better shape. The large male was only half-visible behind a stack of crates, but it was clear that a large chunk of his flesh was no longer connected to his chest. A fresh pool of blood speckled with flesh was a testament to this. Beast Boy turned to the side and doubled over before vomiting violently onto the floor. Raven gracefully sidestepped it without looking down at him and Cyborg let go of Starfire for a moment and knelt down beside the changeling.

"Beast Boy... it's.. it's all right. You're gonna be cool. Just let it out... it's cool."

He held tightly to Beast Boy's shoulder and patted his back as gently as he could as the green boy continued to spill his guts onto the hard cement floor.

Starfire fell to her knees and started to weep uncontrollably. Robin had not quite snapped out of the initial shock of seeing Gizmo and Mammoth lying on the floor, stone cold dead. His eyes darted to Raven who was already looking at him, her emotionless gaze burning into his eyes. It almost occurred to him to say, "What about the other one" but that statement seemed so outlandish that it did not leave his lips. However, another shriek from Starfire soon answered that question for him.

Robin and Raven turned to see what had terrified Starfire this time. The orange girl was staring wide-eyed up at the ceiling, her tears flowing from her eyes like waterfalls. Cyborg turned his head as well, still coaxing Beast Boy through his vomiting fit. Robin, Raven, and Cyborg all followed Starfire's gaze towards the ceiling. About 20 feet up, the saw the dangling figure of Jinx. Robin and Cyborg gasped, Raven said nothing. The magenta-haired girl had been strung up by her neck on a rope and now swung back and forth slowly, emitting an eerie creaking noise that could only be heard in dead silence. Blood oozed from her mouth and her nose, and what made matters worse, she wore a rather psychotic grin on her face, though her eyes were glazed over and spaced out. Starfire started to wail like a child deprived of something he really wants. Beast Boy had finished hurling, but Cyborg refused to let him look up. Robin finally broke out of the iron-grip of shock and horror and strode over to Starfire and knelt in front of her, sliding his arms around her trembling frame.

"Star... It's ok. You're ok..." This was all he could say, for everything was not ok, and he did not want to lie to her further. He held her for a minute or two before he looked direly over to Cyborg. "Cyborg... I think you should take Starfire and Beast Boy out of here... Go back to the Tower, in fact." His eyes lowered, then shifted over to Raven who stood still and quiet. "Raven... could you... stay and..."

Raven nodded, knowing what had to be done, and knowing that Robin chose her for her skill at controlling her emotions so well. "Yes, Robin. I'll help you."

Robin nodded appreciatively at her, his lip quivering a bit as he caught a glimpse at Gizmo's shattered expression again. "Thanks."

"But Robin..." Cyborg usually put up a much bigger fight when it came to things like this. He never wanted to leave any of his teammates in need, but as he looked at Beast Boy and the sobbing Starfire, he knew that he would be helping just as much by bringing them home. He lowered his head and nodded. "Right... I'll take them. You keep in contact."

"Of course. Thank you, Cyborg." Robin turned back to Starfire and pulled her up to her feet with some difficulty. "Star? Listen to me. Everything is going to be all right. Cyborg is going to take you and Beast Boy home. You'll be safe there with them, ok? Raven and I will be home soon."

Starfire could not speak and Robin did not force her to. He held onto her firmly until Cyborg relieved him, gently lifting the small girl up and holding her over his shoulder. He had picked up Beast Boy in a similar fashion and was ready to make the long trek home with his incapacitated comrades. He looked at Robin with a concerned face. "Be careful Rob... sort this out and come back as soon as possible." He looked over his shoulder as he started walking towards the large doors at the front entrance of the warehouse. "You too, Raven. Take care of each other..."

Raven nodded sincerely to Cyborg as the cybernetic man started running to the door with Beast Boy and Starfire slumped over his shoulders.

Robin and Raven watched as he forced the locked doors open and hurried out into the night. Then turned and looked at each other silently, as if making all sorts of wordless agreements. "Right. I'm going to notify the police," Robin began, holding his communicator up to his face. "Meanwhile could you... you know... get her down...?" He tilted his head to indicate Jinx who was still swinging grotesquely from her noose in the rafters.

Raven cast another emotionless glance up towards the ceiling then nodded to Robin. "Yes. I'll do that." She closed her eyes and lifted both of her hands into the air. "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos....."