Stone rubble filled the room where Beastboy had fallen, where his body had been crushed by the Zornian attack squadron, who had now moved on after the remaining heroes. Dust filled the air, making it hard for anyone present... if anyone was present... to breath. Rats were starting to gather as well, smelling the scent of blood and hoping for a chance to find meat. Fresh or rotten, they didn't really care either way.
One bloodstained glove, covered by reddish-green blood, lay on the ground beside the pile of stones. All the Zornians had been able to locate of the body of their metamorph enemy. Flies filled the air, buzzing about, searching, seeking. Some broke off, sensing the scent of smell elsewhere in the sewers of Jump City. They were drawn to it.
Cyborg and Raven continued down the myriad of tunnels in the sewers beneath Jump City, searching for a way out, trying to stay as far away from the roars of the Ravager as possible. Neither was anxious to try to go up against the beast again. Fortunately, the two of them had found a tunnel complex leading them away from the sounds of the Ravager, though unfortunately the slope indicated they were heading downwards, away from the surface. The steel and stone walls almost abruptly vanished, replaced by dirt and rock. They were truly underground now.
"I have a very baaaaad feeling about this," said Cyborg as they made their way along even more slowly now. Ravager behind them, the unknown ahead. Who knew which was worse? The mechanical teen had his plasma cannon glancing back and forth down the corridors before his head, ready to obliterate anything with more than two legs the instant he spotted it.
Unless it was green, of course.
"I know. I sense the Ravager is growing closer," intoned Raven, sticking close to her companion. "He could be anywhere in the tunnels."
"How can a two-story tall scorpion just wander around these tunnels I have to crouch in?" asked Cyborg fearfully.
"Magic," she replied enigmatically.
"Well let's just keep our eyes peeled. I haven't got any readings yet, he can't be too close."
"Anywhere in this dimension is too close," remarked Raven humorlessly. Cyborg agreed, she had a point.
However, Cyborg was wrong about just how close the Ravager was. Though considering the monster had been using magic to shield its presence, a force Cyborg was unfamiliar with, it wasn't all that surprising the beast would be able to ambush him. Though he would've been -dead- wrong if he'd taken another half-step forward when the Ravager's claw burst out of the ground and clamped itself around his leg, narrowly missing his upper body as he leapt backwards in surprise. It nearly cleaved him in half, and instead grabbed hard onto his mechanical foot and clamped down hard.
"Get off of me! Get off of me!" shouted Cyborg, hastily blasting his plasma cannon at the claw holding his leg. He barely made a dent.
"Azerath Metrion Zinthos!" intoned Raven, her eyes glowing as she grabbed up loose chunks of rock and hurled them at the Ravager's claw. Again, not doing much damage, but it was enough to let the beast loosen his grasp. Cyborg yanked his leg free, scrambling into a standing position alongside Raven as the Ravager fully emerged from its hiding place, spraying chunks of dirt and rock everywhere and it stretched itself to its full height, filling the entire passageway and cutting of the heroes exit.
"Caught you at last, little spawn... and the stone as well, I see."
"You shall never have this!" shouted Raven, handing the stone to Cyborg and levitating herself up into the air. "Azerath Metrion Zin- ackt," she cried, as the Ravager's claw clamped hard around her throat, cutting off the final word to complete her magic. The glow from her eyes faded and died as she clutched feebly at the claw with her pale hands, trying vainly to throw it off. She might as well have tried to wrestle an oak tree out of the ground with her bare hands.
"Let her go!" shouted Cyborg, throwing himself forward and slamming his fist hard into the Ravager's side with all six-hundred raw pounds of mechanized man behind it. To his shock and vast relief, the blow sent the Ravager reeling, though not off-balance. Raven was still in its claw, however, and Cyborg reared back his left arm for a follow through punch.
It didn't land. The Ravager lashed out with one of its legs with a speed bordering on blurring. Cyborg's human eye couldn't follow the movement, but his mechanical one slowed the images to a crawl as the sharp claw lashed out...
... and -cleaved- right through steel, circuitry, one of his few remaining organs, his stomach, and clear out his back, missing his spine only by the barest of fractions. Cyborg gasped, and the faintest hint of blood passed his lips, wetting them. His one remaining eye opened wide in shock as his hands, reacting before he was thinking, grabbed a hold of the leg that had pierced completely through his body.
Raven, unable to draw enough breath to cry out Cyborg's name, slumped loosely in the Ravager's grasp.
Cyborg, to his credit, did not go down easily. Fighting back the pain (more easily accomplished because of the design of his body allowed for the shutting off of nerve receptors in case of damage) his mechanized right arm grabbed a hold of the claw, trying to pry it out. The left one dangled uselessly.
System Error. Left Arm Inoperative. Left Leg Inoperative. Primary Power Cell Damaged.
Repairs will have to wait, he was thinking with grim determination, trying to put all of his strength (now only 50) into removing the claw. I might not have time for repairs later. But at the least I should be able to give Raven a chance to grab the stone and run.
Error. System Error.
"Any last words?" hissed the Ravager, peering down at Cyborg with its four cold, reddish glinting eyes.
Cyborg grimaced harshly, knowing exactly the words he wanted to say.
"Go... to..."
The Ravager jerked its leg straight out of Cyborg's body. The edge of the leg was like an insects with serrated edges designed for inflicting maximum damage both on entry and, worse, on removable. He tore at circuits, wires, fluids. A mixture of oil and blood flowed out of the gaping hole in Cyborg as his body slumped to the ground, his fluids splattering onto the stone he'd tried so desperately to protect.
Tried... and failed.
System Shutting Down.
Mom... he thought. I'm sorry.
Then he knew no more.
The Zornians were, on the whole, big stupid and ugly. Those were the three biggest traits any race who had ever encountered them had described them as. But among that they were also relentless in the service of their god, the mastermind demon who ruled them from afar. Thus, for every one that fell against the Tamaranian and the Human, a dozen more filled its place. They kept coming, showing no fear, no hesitation, and no mercy.
Robin hurled a few more of his exploding disks, driving back the Zornians but slowing them down only a little. Starfire followed up his attack with some star bolts but again, they kept coming. However, the tunnel was lightening as the two heroes ran and flew away from the horde. They were nearing the surface. Then, hopefully, the sunlight and open air would be to their advantage, and they could drive back the insectoid monsters and rejoin with the others. Hopefully Raven and the stone had made it to safety.
Finally, they saw daylight. An opening in the tunnel.
"Friend Robin, the star! I can see the starlight!" she said, zipping past him and out the opening into the bright rays of the noonday sun.
"Alright!" shouted Robin, hurrying after her. He didn't bother to tell her that the star in question, Sol, was called the sun here, and it was properly -sunlight- she saw. He'd do that later. Though he skidded to a stop when he realized where the tunnel led them.
Right off a cliff. No doubt during a rainstorm the water flooded out the tunnel and down into the watery ocean below them. Starfire could fly but Robin was only -named- after a bird. The Zornian hoard closed in on him, and Robin grimly turned to fight, drawing the broken ends of his metallic bo staff from either side of his belt and holding them up like a pair of clubs.
"Robin!" shouted Starfire. Without hesitation she dove in, grabbing the young boy underneath his arms and hauled him up into the air with only a minimal of her strength. He glanced up in shock and surprise, not expecting her to be able to carry him, let alone willing to do so.
"Are you alright?" she asked over his shoulder at him, as they moved further away from the entrance to the sewers.
"I am now," he replied. However, upon peering down... down... down... at the ocean below him, his feet dangling helplessly, he reconsidered. "Well... I will be once we get down to earth."
"You do not enjoy flying?" she asked, truly puzzled beyond all belief. Who did not know the joys of flight? Still, he was an alien after all. Their ways were as strange to her as the Zornians were. But she sensed that Humans and Tamaranians shared more in common than a physical appearance. She saw courage, she saw love, she saw fear. With the Zornians she saw only violence and meanness.
Robin was about to reply, carefully choosing his words so as not to upset Starfire, when a bolt of red energy lanced past the two of them, startling them out of their conversation.
The Zornians had managed to squeeze three or four of their number near the mouth of the tunnel and were blasting at the two teens with their wicked weapons. Starfire immediately dropped down and avoided another such blast, making Robin's stomach lurch suddenly. He stifled a groan, unable to do anything, only hoping that Starfire could keep them out of harm's way.
Another sudden blast lanced out, and this one connected, slamming hard into Starfire's shoulder. It was a glancing blow and, coupled with her tough Tamaranian anatomy, barely hurt her more than a bee sting would a Human. However, it was enough to startle her and make her lose her grip...
Robin gave a sudden yelp as the strong, gentle hands holding him let loose and he slipped, plummeting through the air and into the cold, dark depths of the ocean far below. Starfire gasped, zooming down to try and catch Robin... their fingers were so close... so very close... but she missed... and he was swallowed up by the water.
"ROBIN!"
The young Princess didn't hesitate, she dove in right after him, though the water clouded her vision. She didn't have any fear of breathing, though she kept her mouth tightly shut to prevent her lungs from filling with water, and she searched the depths for signs of a bright yellow, red or green blur. Or a black mask. She found neither. She found nothing but cold, empty water. She'd lost him. She felt despair wash over her like the waves of the cold, alien ocean as she drifted back up to the surface.
Despair... and then rage...
Starfire roared like a Gordanian and hurled herself into the air, filling her hands with emerald fire as she blasted into the tunnel, determined to fight the Zornians, determined to hurt them as they'd hurt her, to destroy them all for taking away all her friends and leaving her alone and scared and helpless. Heedless, she hurled herself into their ranks, knocking them left and right with star bolts and incredibly powerful punches that would've shattered stone.
However, with each punch, she over-exerted herself, letting her rage fuel her, and when it faded, she was exhausted, and still more Zornians remained. They swarmed over her, despite her efforts to flee. She was overrun and brought down by their superior numbers and strength. A blow to the head came then, and she lost consciousness.
Author's Notes:
Angst central with the fall of Starfire and Raven and the apparent deaths of Cyborg, Robin and Beastboy. Poor Teen Titans. Don't worry, I'm not done with them yet. Next time: The pieces come together, as the story reaches it climax.
Nightsbolt101: Glad you're enjoying the story and the characterization. And the plot, that too me ages to come up with.
Anwen: Of course I can explain anything you want to know. I understand that some episodes aren't being seen yet by my fans worldwide, and I try to accommodate them. Send me an e-mail with your questions.
Todd fan: I shall do it to the living end, staring James Bond. Ten bonus points if you can guess where that quote is from, since you seem like such a quote-meister with all the quotes in your stories as disclaimers.
Koriand'r Star: All good questions, though I hope the second was answered here in this chapter. The Ravager is a burrowing monster, plus it was using its magic to keep them guessing where it is. It's true though, the first bit was done mostly to further the plot later to come, as most can no doubt guess why. Glad you enjoyed the characterization of the Titans as they start to feel the stress of being heroes.
Destruction: Bit late for that. And I never read a comic, Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, any of 'em, ever in my entire life. Period, end of sentence. Oh, and calm down about Beastboy. I can't kill any character in this story, since they're involved later in the Titan series. So relax guy, and put your feet up.
Tigeress419: Glad you enjoyed the scene between Cyborg and Raven. I do enjoy writing those two a great deal for some reason. Anyway BB's fate will be revealed -next- chapter, so you'll just have to be patient until then. Everyone's? He's okay but he's not my favorite by a long shot.
Spazzfire: Well I do try, couples being something I love I try to portray them as accurately as possible. Whether they be love-hate, mutual interest, one-sided or so sweet it makes the teeth ache. Hopefully I'll get a chance to write more Titan coupleness when the series is over and I am less restricted.
Byronne: Well that's good 'cause there's plenty more where that came from!
Dragonblond: Nah, I'll stop. I never argue with someone who can kick my butt. Happy? Try Starfire-on-a-sugar-rush estatic. I can't wait for first chapter of your rewrite to come up. Actually I think her first slang misunderstanding was further back, with the reset and game over thing. But s'all good.
ViciousAssassin: She knows words, she knows definitions. But like an English-speaker speaking Spanish, or vice versa, they're not necessarily familiar on how to put the words in order. That and she totally doesn't understand slang. Glad you're enjoying the characterization, the interaction, and all the little nitpicks I tossed into the story to make it come alive.
Green-Husky: Oh relax you, you know I would never hurt Beastboy… too much. As for the rest, well… I'll just say you're weird, and leave it at that.