Terra cradled Beastboy's head in her arms, holding it with the utmost tenderness, trying not to hurt him further. Thick smoke still filled the air, infused with the scent of death. The deaths of the Titans, the deaths of Slade. But none of that mattered to Terra right now. She didn't want to lose Beastboy as well.
"Beastboy," she called out. "Please, say something... anything..."
"Terra...?" he rasped out, his voice deathly soft.
"Oh thank goodness," she breathed out, never feeling more relieved in her life. Gently, she picked up Beastboy, as always marveling at just how light he was in her arms. And how small he was, even Terra was taller than he. Right now, he seemed impossibly fragile, and she carried him with the utmost care onto a solid piece of rock and lifted it up into the sky, carrying him towards a hospital. She needed to save him.
"You... you destroyed the Tower..." he whispered, his eyes closed, his voice accusing even with its weak tone.
"I... I had no choice," she replied hesitantly. Her heart ached over the destruction, but she pushed those sad feelings aside. Her first concern was Beastboy.
"But you... you killed them all...!" he shouted weakly, pushing at her shoulders. She dropped him, and he landed roughly on his feet, hissing painfully. He must've had broken bones. Terra started to move forward to catch him but he swatted her hands away. Her expression was one of pain as he hit the ground, barely managing to keep on his knees, supporting his body with his left arm. His right arm hung limply at his side.
"Beastboy stop you're hurting yourself!" she said. "Let me help..."
"You've helped enough!" he shouted back at her.
"I didn't mean to hurt anyone!"
"That didn't seem to stop you!!"
"I was trying to save you all from Slade!!"
"You worked for Slade!! You betrayed us!! You betrayed -me-!!"
"I... I..." she started to say, but stopped, sinking to her knees, barely aware of the tears coursing down her cheeks. She had no response to that. It was, after all, true.
"What?!" he shouted angrily, grabbing her by the collar and yanking her forward, his angry face inches away from her terrified one. "You wanted to save me, why?! Did you want to keep me as your damn pet?!?!"
"No!! Beastboy, I... I..."
"Well I'd rather have died with my friends then!" he shouted out, ignoring her. Without even a backward glance he pitched himself off the side of the floating boulder, drawing a startled cry from Terra as she watched him plummet down towards the bay below.
"Beastboy...!!" she cried out, immediately commanding her rock to dive, hurling both herself and the stone quickly towards the water, far faster than it would've fallen, faster than Beastboy fell. Still, they weren't going to make it... unless...
... Terra threw out her hand and at the same time back-flipped in the air, leaping off the rock and hurling it forward, letting it scoop underneath Beastboy and catch him before he hit the water. The drawback to her plan, of course, was that she herself had no such ability to stop her descent and she hit the waves, diving in to reduce the impact as best she was able. Still, from the height she'd fallen, it'd still hurt pretty badly. Belatedly she swam towards her stone, keeping it afloat with her power, and climbed aboard. Beastboy was unconscious.
"Beastboy I'm... I'm so sorry," she whispered, tears coursing down her cheeks as she hugged him close, though trying not to injure him further. "I know what you told me that... that I have a choice but... no matter what I seem to do someone seems to get hurt. I can stop it... I can't... I can't... stop it..." she broke off into tears, soaking Beastboy's uniform as she clung to his unconscious form, wishing desperately in that moment that all that had come to pass had not.
"Help me please... someone... help me..." she whispered through the tears, wishing desperately for someone... anyone... to help her. To save her. To take everything bad and make it right. Like her mom used to, when she'd been little.
"As you wish," came a soft, silibant voice behind her. Like a serpent's hiss.
Terra whirled around, startled. There, beside her boulder was a smallish motorboat. She hadn't even heard it approach, she'd been too busy crying, her own sobs drowning out all other sounds. And standing atop the bow of the ship, peering down at her, arms behind his back in a casual stance was the person she hated most in the world.
Slade.
"YOU!" she shouted. Instantly her eyes filled with a golden glow, the same glow engulfed her hands as she sought out nearby rocks to use against this, her most dread enemy.
"Stay your hand Terra," he said, holding up a hand of his own to ward off her attack. That simple gesture stopped her, though the glow did not leave her hands. "You asked for help... do you now intend to reject it?"
"I..."
"I thought not. Come now, Apprentice," he said, offering his hand now. "Come back to me, and I'll save Beastboy's life. You have my word," he added, his one eye boring into hers. She shivered, but hesitantly stretched out a hand. Slade never broke his word... if... if he could save Beastboy... she didn't care what price he demanded...
"... Wait!"
Terra stopped, her hand inches from Slade's as she glanced back over her shoulder, seeing Beastboy had sat up and was reaching out to her imploringly. Gone from his face was any trace of anger. Or any other expression, rather. He didn't seem... quite himself. Something about him seemed strange. Like he was a puppet. Strange violet eyes peered out from underneath his brow, not his normal green eyes. And then Terra recognized them.
Those were Raven's eyes!
"Terra, do not do this... you know what going down the path leads to," said Beastboy. Or rather, not Beastboy, but Hope, though Terra did not realize it. The eyes and the voice were Raven's, and the form it had borrowed in this dreamscape was Beastboy's, but it was Hope. "Do not do this."
"I... I have to," she said, turning back to Slade. He was still standing there, still holding out his hand. Waiting patiently. "It's the only way to save Beastboy..."
"That isn't true. There is always another way. And you always have a choice, Terra. Do you intend to make the same mistake again? Or learn from it?" asked Hope, her voice edged slightly with characteristic Raven's sarcasm. Terra hesitated, thinking. Both Hope and Slade awaited her decision, hovering over her two sides like the metaphysical angel and devil on her shoulders.
"I... I make my own choice," she said aloud. "And I choose... you."
Slade glowered darkly while Beastboy smiled, his eyes returned to normal, Hope having left. The nightmare was over for Terra. Already Slade had vanished like fog in the morning light, and Terra hugged Beastboy close to her. And, even better, he returned the hug this time, stroking her head softly, whispering soothing and comforting words to her that she couldn't hear. But she didn't care.
For Terra, the nightmare was over... but Hope flapped her ivory cloak and vanished from this dreamscape, moving to the next. Things were not yet over... not by a long-shot.
Deep in the labyrinth of mirrors, the cries of horror had died away, replaced by a more ominous sound.
The sound of silence.
Cyborg had collapsed in a corner of the hallway, huddled tight into a ball, arms wrapped around his legs. He did not shiver, he did not cry. His body was steel, steel did not shiver the way human muscle did. His eyes were glass and fiber-optics, they could not produce tears. Cyborg had tried to shut himself down, to end his misery, but death too was denied to him. His body would simply re-activate in a few seconds, and he was again forced to peer at the countless surrounding mirrors at his own hideous countenance.
"Cyborg...!"
Cyborg heard the voice. He heard almost everything now. He couldn't ignore it. And in the utter silence of the labrynth, sound traveled remarkably well from one end to the other. Thus, he'd heard the soft semi-whisper. But who was it? It couldn't have been his dad... someone else was here?
Hesitantly, Cyborg pushed himself to his feet, scanning in three hundred sixty degrees, despite the pain it caused him. Every direction he looked, he saw a mirror, and every mirror showed only him.
"Cyborg...!"
"Who's there?!" he cried out, turning this way and that. "What do you want with me?!"
"I want to fix you...!" replied the voice, again seeming to echo from everywhere at once.
"No way!!" shouted Cyborg, both his arms switching instantly to plasma cannons, aiming them down both ends of the corridor. No matter which way his foe came from, he'd obliterate them. "I don't need any more repairs, you hear me?! Never again!!"
"Cyborg, please... let me save you...! I'm your friend...!"
"WHO ARE YOU?!" he shouted, his mechanized voice (normally flat and emotionless) filled with his panic.
"I fix things... I make them better," said the voice, more localized now. Cyborg pin-pointed it, pointing both his arms down the right corridor, waiting for the bastard to come forward. He knew exact who it was now.
"Alright come on out here Fixit! I'll show you exactly what the full machine is capable of!! I'll dip your motherboards in acid!!"
Fixit did indeed appear, but then stopped at the end of the corridor, watching Cyborg quietly with his cold, mechanized blue eyes. He appeared remarkably calm, but considering his face was silicon it wasn't any surprise, he likely would've looked the same if falling into a vat of lava. But for some reason he seemed somehow... sad. And his sadness was directed at Cyborg.
"Get the hell away from me!!" shouted Cyborg, both his eyes provided a double-lock for his plasma cannons. No way he could miss. Machines didn't make mistakes. But Fixit made no effort to dodge the blasts, no effort to stop them. He took a slow step towards Cyborg.
"Get the hell away from me!"
"Cyborg..." he repeated, his voice changing. Cyborg could tell instantly, his inner sensors detected a distinctly different wavelength. And if that wasn't strange enough, Fixit's eyes had altered, going from a straight blue hue to white with human pupils. Familiar ones.
"Raven?" he asked, confused and frightened. Had he still had a heart, he imagined it would've been beating like crazy now. His arms shifted back into hands.
Fixit shook his head. "No," he/she/it replied. "I am Hope... I'm here to save you Cyborg. But I require your assistance."
"No... leave me alone!" said Cyborg, turning to run. But he skidded to a halt again, inches away from one of the mirror-like walls of the labrynth, and gave a low, mechanized moan, covering his eyes. "... leave me alone..."
"Cyborg please... let me help you. I need your help."
Enemy Presence Detected. Enemy Presence Detected. Activating Self-Defense Measures.
"Get away from me!" he roared, lashing out with his mechanized fist, grabbing a fistful of Fixit's robe and hauling him off his feet. His other arm switched to a plasma cannon, targeting Fixit's face.
Target Acquired. Terminate. Terminate. Terminate.
"Cyborg... remember who you are... remember -what- you are."
Terminate. Terminate. Terminate.
"I..."
Terminate. Terminate. Terminate.
"I...!!"
Terminate. Terminate. TERMINATE.
"I am not going to kill you!!" he shouted, hurling Fixit aside. The wiry mechanic hit the ground with a dull thud, even as Cyborg reached up, placing a hand on his own arm, and forced it down, forced it to become a hand once more, forced himself to take control. "I am in control," he said.
"You remembered," said Fixit, still speaking with Raven's voice. It sounded eerie coming from his mouth. "Now I can fix you," he went on, his voice sliding back into the semi-cold, monotone voice of its proper owner. Fixit drew out a single long bar from his sleeve, holding it up. It didn't even look much like a tool, just a metal toothpick really. Cyborg watched cautiously.
"I'll fix you," he said again, and drove the bar hard into Cyborg's chest, into a previously unnoticed slot.
Cyborg screamed, gave a purely human yell as his body shifted, the metal plates sliding back, vanishing to god's-only-knew-where, and a bright light engulfed him, overloading even his optic receptors.
When the light had cleared... he could see... through two separate eyes. One still remained the hated and feared optic fibers and red glass. But the other... the other was a normal warm, brown human eye.
"Thank you," he whispered in his human voice.
"Do not thank me," replied Fixit. "I was merely the tool. You were the mechanic here. You remembered, as you have tried to teach me, that it isn't the machine that defines people like you and I. It is the heart."
"Thanks Hope... Fixit... whoever you are."
Wake-Up Sequence Initiated
Beastboy bounded through the thick foliage of the jungle, easily keeping pace with his prey. Every so often a bright gold lock would become visible in the otherwise green and brown monotony of the place, telling him she was very close indeed. But he often slowed, giving her a chance to continue running. No sense in ruining his fun by ending it so soon.
Deep inside the monstrous green wolf that was Beastboy, the higher side of his mind was struggling to reassert control over his darker instincts. But as usual, he was helpless. He could see, hear, smell, feel everything he was doing, but it wasn't he who was doing it. It was like being in the grasp of a puppet-master. And he was being forced to watch it all, as he tracked down the girl he loved. To eat her or...
... he didn't even want to think about what he might do once he caught up to her.
But finally he did catch up to her. Terra was cornered. He'd been pushing her subtly with his tracking, forcing her towards the edge of a cliff-face, where she'd skidded to a stop inches away from pitching over the edge of the cliff and down, dooooowwwwnnnn to a rocky death below.
Terra whirled, gasping in surprise as a green wolf emerged from the woods behind her, licking its great chops and bearing its unnaturally large canine teeth, growling hungrily at her. She took another step back, nearly losing her balance as the rockface crumbled slightly. She nearly fell.
"Terrrraaaa..." he hissed wickedly, reverting into his humanoid form, his teeth no less wicked looking in this one, his expression one of plain hunger as he advance on her. Terra shrank back fearfully. And the animal within Beastboy drank deeply of her fear. It helped to whet his appetite.
"Beastboy... nooo..." she said softly, her eyes wide with terror.
Beastboy's reply was to leap forward and swiftly assume the form of a great gorilla, grabbing Terra by the shoulder to keep her from falling off the cliff and hurling her back towards the jungle, where she slammed hard against a nearby tree. Even as his lips drew back into a sinister grin, Beastboy's eyes grew wide with horror. No, he thought. Stop it! Don't hurt Terra!
The body ignored the mind, as Terra slipped woozily to her feet, Beastboy advanced, assuming first one shape, then another, each one moving forward to hurt Terra again, sinking in its teeth or smashing in its horn or lashing out with its claws. Each blow hit Terra dead center, she was unable to defend herself, and soon she was cut and bleeding from a number of rips, and her black t-shirt was torn and barely allowed her any sense of modesty as it clung to her in ribbons. Finally, Beastboy shifted back into his humanoid form, determined to finish her off this way.
"Terrraaa..." he rasped out. But internally he was screaming. Run! Get away from me! Don't let me hurt you!!
"Stop," she said. Clearly, concisely. And the nature of her voice pushed Beastboy back, as did her expression. She wasn't scared anymore. Then, sniffing the air, he realized she wasn't even Terra anymore.
Hope was there.
"Rrraaauuugh!" he roared, leaping at her. But Terra moved with blinding quickness and grabbed Beastboy's arms, restraining him. He tried to shift, tried to change form and destroy her, but she held his gaze fast with this violet eyes of hers. That didn't stop him from roaring like a wildcat and lashing out with his limbs, clawing at her arms and stomach. She held on, her expression one of grim determination.
"Beastboy... stop this. This isn't who you are!"
His response was a wild roar, right in her face.
"This isn't... I know you're in there, I know you don't want to do this. You need to take control! You need to remember who you are!" Slowly, very slowly, Beastboy's struggles became less and less wild. "That's it," she said again, still holding him close. "You were born human. You are human still. No skin change, no power, will ever alter that. You are Garfield Logan first, Beastboy second... do you understand?"
"I... I understand..." he said softly. And then he collapsed into her arms, as Terra returned and hugged him close. "Oh god Terra I'm so sorry..." he started to say.
"Don't be," she said. "Let's just call it even, and move on."
"Deal," he murmured back. And the landscape shimmered and melted, and Beastboy's dreamscape vanished, Terra included, as his emerald-green eyes snapped open. He was awake.
And there was someone else in his room with him.
Author's Notes:
Now the horror level drops down a little, replaced unfortunately by sap. So much you'll be able to blow your nose with a pancake, should you be so inclined. For those confused, Hope is able to enter other people's nightmares but she needs to assume another form while there, usually someone present, and speak through them. She's not very powerful in the dreamscape sense. Terra's dream likely reminds most of her final moments in 'Aftershock,' and again we see she makes the right choice. Cyborg's is a reverse on 'Sum of his Parts,' where he saved Fixit as much as he saved himself. Good to see dream-Fixit was able to return the favor. Beastboy's dream has no precedent yet, but that might change after 'The Beast Within' airs (which'll be after Beastboy's nightmare is over, unfortunately). Next chapter: Starfire, Robin, Raven. Three down, three to go. The nightmare's not over yet.
Nariko: Well I plan to finish by the night of All Hallow's Eve. That give you a rough idea?
ViciousAssassin: As usual many thanks for pointing out my stupidity concerning spelling and grammar. I'm aiming for a seven-chapter story. Enough to tell what needs to be told.
Snow Werewolf: I don't have any one particular Titan, I just love the team in general. I'm afraid BB's definitely my least favorite, however.
ShadowSage2: Dialogue is over-rated, but I do also have to be very careful not to over-do the inner thoughts and explanations as well. I'd like to think I've reached a nice balance the way I have it. As for magic, how else can you explain BB (the -other- BB) deflecting a super-charged sonic cannon blast coming his way with that force-field thingie?
Todd fan: You're always like that. Always so super excited happy. I blame the sugar.
Crystal Renee: Well neither was I, so don't feel too bad.
Yomiori-wolfdemon: Well when I get a frequent reviewer, I am compelled to post replies in my stories. Welcome to -my- nightmare. Forgetting is burdensome, isn't it?
Ray1: I know, kinda makes you wonder what other kinds of emotional manifestations inhabit Raven. I saw this one fic that introduced me to Love, Hippie and Lust Raven's. Terra's fate you'll see soon.
Katergator: It feels so reassuring to hear things like that. Thanks mucho, glad you're enjoying the story.