Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans, but I watch the show.
Chapter 3: Protector
Raven quickly used her powers to transport the team a construction site, where Cinderblock had been spotted.
He was crushing some of the equipment there, and was using a fork lift to swing at one of the beams that was the frame of the building. Most of the people had run away be the time the Titans got there, but the man operating the forklift was trapped inside it.
Using her powers, Raven made the door of the fork lift glow black, and suddenly it had been removed from the fork lift, allowing the worker to run. Cinderblock tried to crush him in a fit of anger, but Star Fire quickly flew by and lifted the man away to safety.
Beast Boy then turned himself into an elephant and tried ramming into Cinderblock, but was blocked then turned over to his side. Cyborg quickly took a shot with his laser cannon while Cinderblock was off guard, causing him to fall over into a truck that was filled with gravel. Robin then rushed over to the rising villain, and nailed him full force in the head using his extending pole. Cinderblock yet again fell over onto the gravel truck, and fell onto the ground.
Unfortunately, Cinderblock hit the base of a crane that was hauling at least thirty Steel beams. Two fell towards the ground and Raven was able to stop one with her powers. As for the other one, Zaith caught it in his hands and tossed it at Cinderblock.
Cinderblock caught the beam in his right hand, and began to use it have some batting practice. His first target, Cyborg, who being heavy from all the metal, was struck and tossed to the far end of the building in construction.
Next was Beast Boy, who had turned into a raging Triceratops. Just before being nailed by the steel beam, Beast Boy managed to turn into a musk rat, narrowly dodging the attack.
Immediately after that, Cinderblock swung again, hitting Robin square in the chest. Robin was then flung at a Diesel Mack truck, and when he hit the door of the truck, he fell to the ground, unconscious. Star Fire quickly rushed over to her friend, and upon inspection of his body, she became very angry. Her eyes glowed green, and she soon flew straight at Cinderblock.
Cinderblock was too slow to hit Star Fire with the beam, and was pummeled by the alien girl. He was practically beaten to a pulp, all the while Raven was checking on Robin's status, and Zaith hurried over to Cyborg. As Star Fire continued to punch Cinderblock wildly, He some how managed to get the upper hand and grasped her body. She was unable to move, even with her immense alien strength.
"LET ME GO!!" yelled Star Fire, as she blasted away at Cinderblock with her laser vision.
Yet the laser did little to damage the brute, and he began to squeeze the life out of her. His stone grip began to over come Star Fire's body, and she cried in agony.
Then, as suddenly as Cinderblock had gotten the upper hand over Star Fire, Cinderblock was forced into the ground. Zaith stood there with his arms out, as he waited for Star Fire to fall into his arms. Once safely in his arms, he entrusted her protection to Raven as he dealt the soon to come damage to Cinderblock.
Zaith waited for Cinderblock to arise from the ground. And when he did, Cinderblock rushed towards Zaith. He tried to crush him with his mighty fist, but was stunned when Zaith not only held his own, but caught his hand with what looked like great ease. Cinder block then tried to attack Zaith with his other hand, only to be stopped again.
Zaith then lifted Cinderblock off of the ground and body slammed him back down. The vibration of his landing caused the crane to shake, which in turned caused some more beams to fall to the ground. Yet Zaith was not worried, and let the beams fall the ground, creating a large cloud of dust between Zaith and Cinderblock.
Cinderblock arose once more and charged to the much smaller man. His charge was met with a simple, yet an effective flying kick (much like a Bruce Lee moment). Cinderblock fell yet again, and the rose to fight some more. With another straight punch, Zaith managed to snake around his arm, twisted it, and then land a double round house kick to a sudden body slam.
Zaith then backed away a few feet, knowing full well that Cinderblock was not done yet. And as he predicted, Cinderblock stood up yet again. Tired of the fight, Zaith ran forward, punched Cinderblock in the gut three times, then jumped over his head, grabbing his neck as he did then land on the ground again. Cinderblock was now bent completely backwards, leaving him quite defenseless to a frontal attack. But Zaith didn't wait for a friend to just sock Cinderblock; instead he lifted Cinderblock into the air, punched him twice in the head, and then slammed him into the ground.
Zaith, seeing an obvious victory, slowly walked away. Unfortunately, Cinderblock had just enough energy to get up again and walk over to the crane. When Zaith had noticed him try to walk to the crane, he ran back into the fight, and began punching him wildly. Yet it would seem futile, as Cinderblock soon fell unconscious and laded on the base of the crane.
The crane could no longer take the strain of holding the beams and Cinderblock, and the cords holding the beams together snapped. As the beams fell to the ground, Zaith noticed the path they were falling to, and it just happened to be where Raven was watching the fight. Zaith ran as fast as he could to get to Raven, and when the beams hit the ground, He had just gotten to her. Her tackled her lightly to the ground, then used his body as a human shield against the beams.
When the other Titans came back to reality, the noticed the large pile of beams in front of them. Robin thought for just a moment, and realized what had happened when he saw Cinderblock atop the crane. He tried to run over to the pile of beams, but found it too hard to breath, let alone move with all the broken ribs he now had.
Star Fire had come to a similar deduction, but was also unable to help her friends, as she suffered from a broken arm and some fractured ribs. Cyborg on the other hand, being of metal, was just fine and ran to the pile of Beams. He began lifting beam by beam, in hopes of freeing both Zaith and Raven. Beast Boy, who happened to be in the air flying over head, also came down and began to move the beams.
They're help was little needed though, as the pile of beams began to move by themselves. Moments later, Zaith could be seen lifting all the beams with a sing arm. In the other, he held Raven, who fell unconscious when Zaith tackled her.
"Whoa, are you two alright?" asked Beast Boy when he first saw Zaith and Raven.
"I'm alright, but Raven's out cold." Zaith replied.
"Friend, Are you undamaged?" asked Star Fire worriedly.
"Don't worry about me. You guys are worse off then either Raven or I."
Just then a squad of police cars came into the site, followed by two ambulances.
"Think you guys should go to the hospital, you two are pretty messed up." Zaith said.
"What about you," asked Star Fire, "What shall you do with Raven?"
"Don't worry about that so much, Star. Let's just go and get fixed up." Said Robin in a calm tone.
"I'll stay here with Beast Boy to make sure the police get Cinderblock under control." Said Cyborg.
"Besides, we've got some investigating to do." Said Beast Boy. "Detective Beast Boy is on the case."
"Man, cut it out." Said Cyborg.
Zaith carried Raven in his arms and made his was to Titans Tower, leaving the others to deal with they're problems. Once inside the Tower, he entered the stairway, and eventually made his way into the hallway that Raven's room was on. He made his way to her door, and managed to open the door.
'I know I probably shouldn't invade her personal space, I don't know of any other place to set her down' Zaith thought to himself.
He entered the dark room, and used his shoulder to turn on a sing light in the ceiling. The light was very dim, but illuminated to room enough for him to see where Raven's bed was. He walked over to the bed, and gently placed her onto it. He then moved a wooden chair that was placed at a small desk across the room and moved it next to the bed.
"Listen Raven, I'll be your protector tonight, so get some sleep, I'm sure you'll need it."
Zaith kept his focus on the room for a few minuets, yet the dim room did not reveal much, save for a small table in the corner of the room, several book shelves, and a small night stand with a strange looking mirror on it. Zaith dared not touch anything in the room, as he did not know for what purpose they were in the room, or what sentimental value they may have to the pale girl on the bed.
Zaith woke to a new nightmare the next morning. This one was of his new friends, and some sort of looming danger. He was not as panicked as he usually was when he woke from his nightmares, but he still breathed heavy. This almost seemed normal to him; it had been so long since he had a normal dream, and he could only vaguely remember the faces of his parents now, though they would continually haunt him in his dreams.
He looked over to the bed, and saw that the Pale girl was still sleeping there, and seemed to have only turned a few times in her sleep.
'I wonder what she is dreaming of." Thought the troubled Zaith. 'It's probably better then any of my dreams.'
Just then, Zaith heard a light knock come from the door to the room. Quietly, he rose from his chair and went to the door. He opened the door, and found Robin standing there. He was apparently wearing another set of his usual attire, but the indentations of the bandages around his chest and abdomen were evident.
"You got a minuet?" Robin said quietly.
"Yeah."
"Follow me." Robin said, as he turned around and began walking down the hall.
Zaith followed him, and soon they were at the door that Raven had led him to a few nights before. Robin opened the door, revealing a completely black room.
"Go on in." Robin said.
Zaith did as instructed, flipping the light switch to the on position as he stepped in. Once the lights were on, Zaith could see a new room. The wall to His direct left showed a cherry blossom tree with the blossoms trailing in the wind. The far wall followed up the cherry blossoms with a running stream, which made it's was through the wall into the carpet. The right wall revealed a landscape view of what looked like a Japanese country side.
Alone from the new wallpaper, the objects had noticeably been move and changed around. There was what looked like a cushioned platform in the far left corner of the room with a large Japanese sleeping matt in the middle. Towards the middle of the room laid a low to the ground table, as those used still in Japan. There was also dresser to the direct left of Zaith, along side a large chest, both of which were of an Asian style that matched the artwork of the walls.
"Wow…" was all Zaith could say.
"I figured you would like this design."
"How did you-"
"Let's just say I have my ways." Was Robins reply. "There's also something else you should have."
Robin reached into his golden utility belt, and from what seemed to be nowhere came a yellow and black communicator. The letter 'T' was inscribed in white into the cover of it.
"Wait… you serious?!"
"You've earned it, after what you did yesterday. We could use your help, and having Beast Boy as company all day gets kind of annoying." Robin said jokingly.
"I… I'm honored. Really."
"Well, I guess I'll see you later, I've got work to do."
"Alright, C-ya."
Robin left Zaith alone to his new room, which Zaith found very awesome on all accounts. Yet he had something more important to do. He said he was going to be Raven's protector while she slept, and he planned to make sure he was there when she awoke.
Zaith made his way to Ravens room once more, and when he entered, he found Raven still sleeping. He took up his chair next to the bed once more, and watched her for sometime before falling asleep himself.