As one, the Zornians rushed forward, swinging their great claws. Robin deflected them with his staff, knocking them backwards and then launched himself into the fray, using his staff as a vaulting pole and propelling himself foot first into the nearest Zornian, breaking his mandibles and hurling him backwards. Starfire was quick to follow after him, zipping up into the air and downwards with the force of a cannonball, hurling her small but powerful fists left and right, sending the great bug-men flying in every which direction.
Raven and the Ravager, meanwhile, had resumed their deadly struggle. And while Raven's power might have -barely- outstripped the demons, the physical might of a fifteen year old girl was nowhere close enough to match up against a two-story tall scorpion-spider. As if to prove a point, a deadly claw lashed out, swatting Raven out of the air and sending her hurling at the ground.
"Raven!" shouted Beastboy, seeing her fall. Angered beyond all reason by the callous nature of the Ravager, he lifted himself up and transformed into a great huge T-Rex, giving a roar that shook the chamber as he charged the Ravager. The two great beasts clashed, the Ravager's back legs and Beastboy's great green tail swatting aside Zornians who clustered around heedlessly as the two great titans clashed.
Starfire and Robin, meanwhile, were making quick work of the Zornians hordes, driving them back with exploding disks and star bolts. The cowardly Zornians, unsure of certain victory, were starting to retreat. Robin tossed off a the remainder of his exploding disks and then leapt backwards as they drove the Zornians out of the chamber. That had been his last, and apart from a few throwing birdarangs, his staff, and his grapple, he was running out of weapons to use. So was Starfire. The Tamaranian had absorbed a great deal of yellow sunlight since coming to Earth but there was a finite amount to the power she wielded. Her star bolts were becoming less frequent and less powerful as they left her hands and exploded against the ground. Still, it had been enough to drive away all but one enemy.
The Ravager.
The great black scorpion narrowed its four reddish eyes, knocking aside Beastboy, who assumed the form of a bird and flew upwards before he struck the ground. Roaring mightily, making the whole chamber shake, the Ravager advanced on Robin and Starfire with a killing light in its eyes, chanting a spell to launch dark bolts of energy at them.
However, a black wall of energy rose up to counter that, made of the same black energy as the bolts. Raven shielded the two heroes, standing in the way of the Ravager.
"Die, spawn!!" shouted the Ravager, hurling itself towards her, hoping to crush her in a mad stampede. A rhino slammed into its side, knocking it away, as Starfire ducked down and grabbed Raven, moving her to safety. Robin flipped up and over as the Ravager came crashing down, landing on its head and (retracting half of his bo-staff) proceeded to slam his half-staff into the beasts head, hammering away at it.
The Ravager replied by grabbing Robin by his cape and hurling him aside, where he flipped through the air and landed gracefully in a crouch. The great beast roared and lashed out with its barbed tail, but Robin was ready and dodged aside, letting the sharp tip pierce through stone behind him and dig in hard.
"I will destroy you all!!" it cried as it ripped its tail clear of the ground. "I will pave the pathway for my master, the great and all powerful Tr-" started the Ravager.
Raven telekinetically grabbed up a rock and hurled it into the Ravager's open mouth, jamming it in between his mandibles as he'd started on his tirade. Her expression was one of utter hatred.
"Shut up," was all she said, her voice as icy cold as death itself.
The Ravager stumbled backwards, spewing the rock from between its mouth, giving yet another earth-shattering roar as it launched itself as the gathered heroes, who stood their ground bravely against such a terrible opponent.
The Ravager lashed out with its claws, knocking aside Beastboy as it grabbed up Starfire and Raven, clamping down hard to try and slice the girls in half. It had no more need of them. It scarcely paid any attention to Robin. The boy was just weakling human, after all. He had no powers, and he'd lost all his explosives. He was no threat.
Robin proved him wrong, however, as he reached behind his back and into another compartment of his utility belt, grabbing a loose can he'd been saving since his first run-in with the Zornians. He hadn't been sure then if it would work, he was even less so now. His mentor had taught him one very important rule in fighting super-villains. If you weren't sure it would work, don't do it. Test it first.
But he didn't have the time now. This was their last resort.
Robin jumped upwards and grabbed a hold of the Ravager's mandible to support himself, holding up the can and spraying the ugly thing full in the face with a very powerful liquid spray.
To describe the scream that followed afterwards as loud would've been a dreadful understatement. It rippled through the air like a physical presence. Robin was hurled backwards by the pure force of it, and for a moment he thought he'd been struck deaf by the power of the blast, before he heard (dimly) the sounds of the Ravager's struggles. It had tossed aside Starfire and Raven to clutch at its face, its four reddish eyes leaking crimson tears as it felt the full power of the spray Robin had unleashed upon it.
"Dude, what the heck was that stuff?" asked Beastboy, as he bounded over to join the others.
"Acid?" surmised Starfire, who was familiar with the substance. One of the neighboring planets in the Vega system was covered in whole oceans of the stuff.
"Holy water?" thought Raven aloud. She wasn't a very strong believer in any sort of faith but if anything could damage demons like that, it would've had to have been something blessed.
Robin smirked, holding up the can and tilting it slightly to the side, letting them all get a proper glimpse of the image engraved upon it. A cockroach being hit by a bolt of lightning.
"Bug spray," Robin stated.
A laugh would've filled the space then, had the Ravager not chosen that moment to scream again, clawing at its own face, trying desperately to rid itself of the feeling of pain that had spread throughout its entire face. It stumbled around blindly, lashing out unthinkingly with its claws and tail and legs, slashing at anything near it, destroying great chunks of rock with its swing. This, coupled with the power of its roars, made the cavern shake... shake dangerously. Great stalactites had broken from the ceiling and were raining down upon the gathered heroes.
"This place is coming down," stated Robin fearfully.
"We should get out of here now," said Raven. Her tone did not rise, but even the others could sense a note of urgency in her voice.
Robin turned towards the exit to the chamber where, moments earlier, the Zornians had fled. Beastboy and Starfire followed after him as quickly as possible. Raven lingered only a moment more, glancing in disgust at the Ravager before telekinetically grabbing up the stone and drawing it to her, catching it in her hand. This accomplished, she levitated up into the air and after her allies.
However, mere moments away from the only exit, they saw them. The Zornians. A great stone boulder came crashing down, sealing off their exit, even as Robin (in the lead) jumped backwards to avoid being crushed. Beyond, they could hear what they imagined was the laughter of their enemies. They hadn't fled at all. They had hoped to crush them all. Destroy them and be rid of the nuisance heroes. They could always dig out the stone later, likely.
"Raven, can you move this?!" asked Robin, narrowly avoiding a stalactite that streaked past him, missing his booted feet by scant inches.
She shook her head. "I lack that sort of power. It's... its just too big!" she replied fearfully, her eyes wide underneath her cowl.
"Star?!"
Without hesitation she hurled herself forward and slammer her powerful yet tiny fist into the stone. It shuddered, cracked, but it did not break. She tried again, with much the same results. She tried to conjure up some more starbolts but they fizzled harmlessly against the stone. She lacked the power, she'd expended too much of it. And deep down here, under the ground, she was cut off from the source of that power. Sunlight.
"Damnit!" shouted Robin, drawing out his bo-staff and throwing himself at the boulder with the same amount of effort he would've shown a criminal. His staff rang against the stone as he redoubled his assault. If they didn't break aside the boulder, they were all going to die.
Beastboy came to their aid as well, trying to push aside the rock, but no matter what form he took, from a great gorilla to an even larger brachiosaurs, he wasn't strong enough. The angle was too wrong. Robin's exploding disks might've been able to shatter the stone but he'd run out a long while back fighting the Zornians. Even Raven's powers were exhausted from her fight with the Ravager. They couldn't teleport out.
"Break, damn you!" shouted Robin, not giving up, slamming his staff harder and harder against the unyielding rock. Behind them, the Ravager roared again, and the chamber shook even more terribly. An earthquake was shaking apart the entire tunnel complex likely.
Then suddenly, Robin heard something.
A rather distinct 'rhrrrr'-ing sound. Characteristic of a plasma cannon...
"Get down!" he shouted, knocking Starfire out of harm's way at the exact same instant Beastboy ducked behind Raven (already protected by a black energy shield).
A bright blue-white blast of pure energy ripped clear through the great boulder and blasted it into a million tiny pieces, sending them flying throughout the chamber. As the smoke cleared, a figure became visible in the smoke. A great teen, his left arm hanging limply, his left leg dragging along the ground, his right reverting back into an arm from its previous form as a plasma cannon. And despite the weariness on his now visible face, his left eye sparkled as brightly as the red right one glowed.
"Boo-yah," breathed out Cyborg, out of breath.
The gathered heroes wasted no time in formal thanks or welcome reunions. The chamber shook even more violently from the unleashed plasma, and they had to leave. Here and now. Starfire gathered up Robin in her arms, tightly this time, so she would no drop him, and flew upwards through the tunnels at a near blinding speed to reach the surface and safety. Raven followed after them, creating a black energy disk to carry Beastboy and Cyborg atop of it.
They all fled the chamber, leaving behind only the Ravager, who roared in pain and anguish and despair.
It had failed.
Its last image before it perished was a burning yellow gaze that obliterated everything in its path. Its master had no use for those who failed it.
An earthquake struck Jump City that day. A mild one, barely a 3.0. Most people paid little attention to it. They went about their daily routines without a care in their heads.
Five people did.
Five extraordinary teens who stood by the cave entrance in the middle of the flatlands, panting for breath, covered in dust and dirt and the marks of battle. They'd just escaped from a most horrible death, defeated hundreds of terrible enemies. They had just saved the world, and they doubted if anyone even knew it.
"How the heck did you find us?" asked Beastboy, addressing Robin. No need to ask how Cyborg had. The guy had a built-in radar that could've located a license plate on Pluto.
Robin smirked and gently reached over to Starfire, plucking something from the back of her neck. He held it up, displaying a tiny bird-shaped device that gave of a steady reddish glow.
Which they recognized instantly as a tracking device. Robin had placed it on Starfire before he'd entered the museum, and it had been stuck to her all this time by sheer luck. So it had been a simple matter for Robin to track her after they'd been separated. Once he'd reached the shore he'd remotely guided the Robincycle to his side with a control specially designed for it. Stored within, of course, his emergency supplies, including his spare bo staff. And from there it had been a simple matter to find an entrance back into the caves and locate the others.
"Look!" said Starfire, pointing at the sky. The other's followed her finger. High up in the sky, they saw them. A single little dot against the skyline, a black triangular shape. A battleship. The Zornians.
"Running with their tails between their legs," remarked Raven.
"They won't be back," said Robin, putting away the tracking device.
"How do you know?" asked Beastboy, scratching his head in puzzlement.
The Boy Wonder just gave a knowing smirk. Behind his back, he slipped a communicator shaped like a black bat into the back of his utility belt.
High up in Earth's orbit, the Zornian battleship was even now attempting to break out and enter true space. They would return home, they would try again another day. Perhaps, if their master ordered them to, they would simply destroy Earth. Five measly little kids certainly couldn't stop...
Suddenly the ship shuddered, stopped dead in space. Their leader glanced up in surprise.
"What is going on?" he demanded angrily.
"I don't know sir we've just stopped. Some sort of beam engulfed us."
"On screen!" shouted the leader.
His subordinate obliged him, conjuring up an image on the screen of a single man in a black and green uniform, holding out his fist. From a ring on his finger a great green glow had engulfed the Zornian vessel, holding it still.
"Incoming ship sir!"
"Visual!"
The image shifted, showing a sleek vessel flying right in front of the Zornian ship. Flanking it were more people in spacesuits, a pale man and a green man. They took up positions to block the ship's escape as the tiny scout ship moved in to stare right down their throats.
"Incoming transmission!"
"Put it on," grunted the leader, unimpressed by the meager forces.
He was when the image shifted a final time. It didn't show anything truly extraordinary, just the inside of the cockpit of the tiny scout vessel. However, its occupants were enough to make him freeze. A man in a dark suit stylized like a bat sat at the helm of the vessel. Next to him, a dark-haired woman in a bright costume stood, arms folded across her chest. Further back, behind them, a man in a red suit lounged lazily.
Now the Zornian leader recognized them. The man holding their ship in a green glow... Green Lantern. The man and the martian... Superman and J'onn. And there, in the cockpit of the ship... Batman, Wonder Woman, and the Flash. Who hadn't heard of these people, even as far away as Vega. They were practically celebrities throughout the entire universe, as known and feared as the Green Lantern Corp.
The Justice League.
"You were surrendering, right?" asked Batman darkly. He was very glad that his former protégé had contacted him. They hadn't even noticed the Zornian ship until they'd been told about it. They must've been getting sloppy.
Apparently, though the Zornian leader, yes.
They surrendered with little fuss.
Author's Notes:
Hopefully my last Justice League mention in the story. I really should stop myself but it just seems so natural. The Titans can save the city and themselves but they're not all that good at saving the world (just yet, give 'em a few years). I elected not to include Hawkgirl among the heroes, and not include some of those seen in JLU (or even that whole fleet of javelin's they've got themselves) so it can neatly fit into just about any point in the Justice League timeline as well as prior to the Teen Titan's timeline. Next time: the battle is over, but is the war?
Spazzfire: Quick as possible, I promise you. Glad you enjoyed my demon-esque Raven. I feel that aspect of her is really underplayed, though understandably show considering Teen Titans is a kids show.
ShadowSage2: There's your tin-man, there to save the day just like all of 'em. Seems everyone loves demon-Raven. Maybe I'll bring her back for some more stories when I'm done with this one. No, no sequel, since after this is roughly the start of the animated Titan series. When its over I promise I'll write more, however.
Koriand'r Star: As for how Robin got there, well, the answer is above. As to how he found time to replace his gear and dry off before arriving well, convenient plot hole. And perhaps torn was a bad word, ripped maybe. Like how Robin's were in 'Haunted.' She's still decent, I'm keeping the story rating in mind. I'm glad you enjoyed Starfire, demon-Raven and the Ravager, however.
ViciousAssassin: Or a clone. Don't forget about clones. Am I too obvious with my couplings? Glad you enjoyed the dramatic deaths/defeats of the Titans, I do try to keep those in-touch with their nature as best I could, and also to further the plot. Concerning the stone, it does not protect only earth, but our entire plane of existence, so any innocent will do. Yes, even alien. And yeah I cut out those words but the animated shows do it all the time. It's a nice way to reach out to both older fans and still protect younger ones, as you said.
Anwen: Wow. Okokokokokokokok. Update as soon as I can, promise. Cross my heart and hope to be stuck in a room with Kitten.
Dragonblond: All the more reason not to get on your bad side. And yeah, I give all the Titan's a chance to shine in their own way. Cheesy? Well yeah I see what you mean but he's gotten better since the beginning of the series. This isn't the end. Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end. Semisonic. Closing Time.
Tigress419: Beastboy certainly does work well as a set of morals for Raven, doesn't he? Oh yes, and I purposefully suggested Cyborg's reanimated by placing in the subtle "primary" power cell being broken. That should've tipped people off. But its okay, no one saw it coming. And no, it isn't. Fast as I can, promise.
Green-Husky: Nah s'cool. Apologies for mistaking you for a boy, I've had the same happen to me (though reverse, since I -am- a boy). Hope you're enjoying Beastboy's contribution to the story.
Nightbolt101: Well I'm gonna have to tip your seat over then. Sorry but you just make it so gosh darn tempting. Heh. S'okay I'll update quick as I can. Promise.
Todd fan: Wow, exactly the angle I was going for. I am unworthy of such praise. But thanks anyway.
TheGeek: Certainly, soon as I'm able to. Remember, got the speed of the Flash on my side.
WildSpiritofDarkness2: So far everybody's enjoying demonic Raven. I'll definitely be bringing her back. And fourteen is the number. Fourteen chapters.
InsaneLynx: Aqua/Rae huh? Interesting. Well terribly sorry I won't be showing much of Terra or Jinx at all, so obviously no BB/Terra and no Cyborg/Jinx. Maybe in another story. Though still very glad you're enjoying the story and added it to your faves.