Chapter 4: Abomination
Downtown Jump City was, for lack of better words, in absolute discord and chaos. Columns of charcoal-colored smoke rolled into the sky, thick and ink-like, from buildings caught ablaze. From the mushroom heads of dust heaved up into the air, like the souls of the structures that had collapsed, a gray fog blotted out the sun so the sky was tinged with blood colored rust. Robin zoomed ahead on his red motorcycle through the deserted streets, passing skyscrapers and hollow buildings in a blur, some with chunks torn out of them where a creature's massive shoulder had scraped. The yellow beam of light shined into the eerie twilight ahead like the gaze of a dragon. Cyborg was driving the T-car with its blue tech and sleek white exterior; racing behind Robin and adding another set of pale dragon eyes into the void in front of them. Beast Boy, in the form of an eagle with keen eyes, observed the area below, joined by Starfire to his right and Raven to his left, her blue cape flapping wildly.
They cast obscure shadows along the buildings, their luminescence causing all of the windows and shards of glass to glint with a thousand flashes. Raven turned her head slowly, scanning the area and looking for signs of movement. The lucky people had fled the area; and there were no human signs or sounds of life, just the hissing of burst pipes, the crackling of massive fires, and the hum of the engines. Starfire glanced behind her for just a moment and watched a crowd of citizens in the far distance scramble for shelter. Her heart throbbed for a second with pity and sadness; all of those homes and jobs destroyed, she frowned and darkened her bright face. She looked forward and narrowed her neon green eyes. Ternion must be stopped quickly before he could do any more damage; but through all the smoke he was difficult to find even if he was a colossal foe.
Robin's cycle suddenly banked to the left and the T-car completed the sharp turn with a screech. Beast Boy tilted his wingspan and dove lower at an angle for speed; then as Raven and Starfire sped ahead he morphed into an imperial falcon and darted after them. Suddenly, Raven caught a glimpse of a hulking mass to the far right; but it was encased in smoke that rose up from what looked like a shallow fissure in the ground between two large buildings.
"Star, did you see that?" Raven asked her, and Starfire nodded. Raven transmitted her findings to Cyborg and Robin using her round T-communicator and both vehicles screeched to a halt. The Boy Wonder and the Mechanical Human abandoned their transportation devices and ran towards the wall of smoke where Raven had spotted what could be their target. The three aerial Titans hovered by the two grounded one's sides.
"Does anyone see anything; 'cause my radar is acting up from all the clouds." Cyborg asked forebodingly, staring at the screen on his arm and then looking at the smog. Beast Boy shook his razor beaked head and both Raven and Robin were silent.
"How can we see into that blackness?" Starfire asked, squinting intently. Near the oppressing smoke, everything was strangely silent.
The flashlight built into Cyborg's shoulder sprung up and he tried to use its tiny but powerful beam to pierce the darkness, moving from the left to the right, up and down, standing with his hands near his hips. It seemed only lost in the wall of smoke when the line of light caught the edge of something glistening and bio-green in color. A covering slowly closed over the convex lucid green light, and before it was too late the Titan's realized it was a bulbous, slimy eye, one they were all too familiar with.
A black appendage groped its way out of the darkness above them, the end of it clawed wickedly like a warped pitchfork, as lengthy and dense as a dead oak tree, its darkened form contrasting with the red of the sky. The arm and hand of Ternion poised above threateningly, but Robin managed to shout: "Titan's, split up!" before the arm came crashing down in a horizontal swipe that would have severed a head or cleaved a body in two. Cyborg and Robin dived aside and Beast Boy, Raven and Starfire darted up and away, scattering like frightened fireflies.
Starfire flew into range and began hurling spheres of sage-hued energy into the darkness where she had estimated the body of their enemy was stationed, bombarding it from above. For all she knew, her shots could have missed completely, the monster could have stepped further back into the protective curtain of darkness. Raven flew close to the ground at a rapid pace, looking frantically at the abandoned theatres, restaurants and casinos, trying to find something to project at Ternion. Her dark indigo hair lashed about and the gem on her head shined.
"Where the hell is it?" Robin growled and unlatched a few bombs from his utility belt, clenching them in one hand in the manner that one would hold playing cards. Cyborg stood in a bracied stance, the mouth of his extended charged particle cannon facing the darkness.
At last one of Starfire's bolts struck home and a ragged; unnatural cry that was a mix between geometric vibrations, computerized vocals and gurgling, primal rage sounded out. It sent shiver's up their spines and made their hair stand on end.
"Slade was a crazy bastard for creating somethin' so horrible." Cyborg spat.
Out of the darkness a misshapen purple head with many random green eyes and a gaping mouth with rows of crooked teeth emerged; patches of its slimy bio-violet flesh eaten away revealing glowing blue cracks underneath where Overload's cybernetic body was fused. Its breath was rancid and it smelled of chemicals and decomposing matter.
"Titan's, attack in unison!" Robin yelled, and he hurled bombs at the creature, which exploded in its hideous face. It gave another screech of pain and clawed at Robin, who was in the air as the talons of a green Pterodactyl swooped down, seized his shoulders, and flew him to safety out of the creature's reach. Starfire began to fling more energy bolts at its face, and Cyborg's cannon was almost finished charging, wavelengths of ultramarine light forming in the throat of the cannon. He furrowed his hybrid brow, leering in concentration.
Raven seized a flipped over car with her mental energy, a glowing sable aura emitting from her eyes and shrouding the car.
"Azerath, Metrion, Zinthos!" She cried and flung the car straight into what she thought was Ternion's gut. The creature was slammed backwards, knocking the wind out of it, and it disappeared in the smoke once again. Raven cursed silently and seized a bent lamppost with her telekinetic energy and waited in the air. They had all attacked at once, as they had done when Slade's forces once rampaged through the city, and they had defeated it the last time with one fluid strike. Apparently it had learned to hide; a fact that Robin questioned in the back of his mind.
He stood with Cyborg to his left and Starfire to his right, still in the air but having ceased her barrage, and Raven hovering mystically to Cyborg's far left. Above Beast Boy flapped his leathery, reptilian wings.
Raven's car was suddenly thrown back at them out of nowhere, traveling at amazing speeds, but Cyborg had anticipated this and he fired his arm cannon. The blast stopped the car in thin air and punctured the gas tank, which exploded. He smiled grimly as pieces rained down and the other members of the team shielded themselves. Again an arm reached out, far quicker this time, and Robin frantically leaped over the deadly incisors. Starfire shot a large energy ball at the arm, striking it, and the creature seemed to flinch, the arm was withdrawing slower this time. Robin shouted a battle cry and leapt on the hand, striking it vehemently with his metal staff. Ternion howled in pain, and stretched out its other arm to squash Robin like a fly when Raven appeared in the air from above, her arms extended and palms facing the sky, launching the lamppost down like a nail driven by an invisible hammer, and impaling the brute's arm by the wrist into the road. Robin rolled off of the pinned appendage a bit perplexed, and shook his head as he quickly regained his senses and ran out of reach of Ternion's remaining free hand. A glossy black fluid leaked from the wound in the creature's wrist and Starfire cringed, almost feeling some remorse for it.
Ternion's loathsome anterior revealed itself as it emerged from the darkness. It desperately tried to rip its pinned arm out of the ground, pulling at it with its free hand and attempting to un-wedge Raven's makeshift spike. Robin whipped his field of vision around and noticed that Cyborg had deserted them, he was nowhere to be found. Could his impatience to hunt down Brother Blood have taken control of him; causing him to flee, even though it was steadfastly unlike him? Their leader had no time to contemplate the actions of his android friend, as Ternion's body tensed and it screeched, spitting a gigantic glob of acid at him. He dove behind a wall of road that had been uprooted from vibrations in the ground and the acid splattered against the asphalt, melting it away with a steaming hiss and foul odor.
Starfire took the opportunity of Ternion's exposure to fly in and deliver a skull-shattering kick to the monster's chest. Ternion fell over with a winded gasp and scrambled to get to its feet; its lower half still shrouded. Unable to shrink back into the curtain of smog the creature lay helpless and swatted at Beast Boy as he flew in front of Tenrion's face, confusing it. The dumb brute became enraged from the Changeling's taunting and spat multiple shots of acid at him. Beast Boy nimbly dodged them in the air, flapping up, diving down and maneuvering to the left and right as repulsive blobs whizzed by, morphing into a variety of flying animals. His enemy still fired at him, and the green metamorphose transformed into a bat and flew out of range, shrieking. The building face behind him that had been pelted from the acid 'bullets' was peppered with gaping holes.
"Raven, see if you can impale his other hand while I distract him!" Robin shouted to the psychic girl from behind his melted and almost useless wall of protection. "Starfire and Beast Boy, cover me!"
Robin ran as fast as his legs would permit it towards Ternion, breathing heavily but steadily and readied the rhythm to which he would attack. Almost as if dancing, with as much grace but more unrestrained and powerful, he revolved his staff like a fan and used the obtained force to drive the pole into the ground and vaulted, cape flapping behind him and raven hair waving wildly, onto Ternion's obscene head. Just behind the splatter of lucid eyes, the Boy Wonder exhibited his balance and strength, and yelled as he drove his metal staff into the cranium of the monster. Most beings would have been severely injured or even dead from a blow such as that, but Ternion was made of more than purple sludge, underneath him was the compact shell of Cinderblock and the stamina and power of Overload. It was painful nonetheless, and the creature screamed wretchedly and desperately tried to shake and claw Robin off of him. Robin leapt onto the ground, stumbled from the height and force of the landing, and spun around just as the talon of the monster was about to crush him.
Starfire had seen this preemptive strike and rocketed down from the skies; grabbed her friend and flying out of the way. Ternion howled again, a terrible, straining sound, and spat more globs of acid at the alien girl as she lowered Robin onto a roof.
Making use of the distraction, Raven sent another lamppost down forcefully with a 'Thunk!' and succeeded in binding the creature's other hand to the road. Ternion screeched but continued to hurl acid at the air born Tamranian.
"Star, watch out!" Robin shouted cautiously as some sludge flew right above her head.
Starfire shrieked and covered her face as the acid shot straight at her; but Beast Boy flew in the way to shield her, in his Pterodactyl form once again, and some of the chemicals splattered into his face and on his breast. A burning sensation spread and sent waves of searing pain through his trembling body. The Changeling transformed back to normal, falling limply towards the street far below him. Starfire caught him just before he hit the ground and hid out of range as fast as she could muster.
"Beast Boy!" She cried in desperation, her face twisted with grief as she lowered him to rest. The acid had burned a gaping patch into his chest and a few splotches on his face. He was barely conscious and moaned in agony, his body unnaturally straight. He had not received a lethal dosage, she estimated, but the wounds would take a long time to recover and there would be scars…
Robin watched his courageous friend get stricken down and heard his cry of pain. He looked at the pathetic position Ternion was in, with both wrists impaled to the road and bleeding, but still growling and spitting at Raven, who blocked each shot with a valiant wave of her hand and flicker of telekinetic energy. He gritted his teeth with a feeling of rage and sorrow.
Beast Boy opened his eyes, staring and seeing only blurred shadows, hearing nothing but a reverberating pounding in his elfish ears. Starfire cradled his head in her arms and urged him to stay still. Suddenly, far distant in the Changeling's vision a streak of light appeared across the horizon like a beacon of hope, and he recognized the steady roar of a speeding engine.
"Cyborg!" He cried out happily, the light reflecting in his feverish, bloodshot eyes. He only gazed out for a few more seconds before collapsing. Starfire looked ahead and laughed with relief, her fallen friend's head and shoulders resting in her lap.
The T-car, with its charged particle cannon fully loaded on the roof of the vehicle, screeched as it braked and fishtailed to a stop right near Ternion. The cannon craned its opening to the left and locked onto its target.
Ternion gaped at Cyborg, breath coming in ragged gasps, a clear slime trickling from the corners of its mouth, splayed on its knees before him. Cyborg returned the glare boldly, a look that struck intense dread into the creature's soul. It was staring back at its own demise.
"Booya." Cyborg said smugly and pressed the red thumb button on his control. The cannon blasted a ray of dazzling blue light that thundered into Ternion, causing the abomination to fly backwards into the abyss, separating the body from its pinned arms. The car had been pushed backwards from the aftershock and the android stepped out and pumped his fist into the air with triumph. A snaking river of smoke trailed out of the cannon mouth and the air buzzed with heated motion.
"Oh yeah, baby! That's what I call a barbeque." He laughed, half grimly as his companions walked over. Raven smiled gently but her usual look of somberness returned as Starfire walked near, carrying Beast Boy in her arms like a child. Robin lowered himself down using a grappling hook from the rooftop, and retracted the cable with a humming noise. He ran over to join them.
"Oh my god, what happened to Beast Boy?" Cyborg asked and ran to meet Starfire. He looked at the seared flesh across the boy's chest and the few spots on his chin and cheeks, a grim expression on his now haggard face.
"Ternion hit him with an acid blast when he protected Starfire. That was an extremely brave move." Raven told him. Even if it was a bit foolish, Beast Boy thinks sometimes too much with his heart instead of his brain, she thought sadly to herself.
"I think he will recover; though it will require much treatment." Starfire said quietly. "The acid did not burn deep because of his clothes, and a only a few molecules landed on his face."
"We have to get him to a hospital, and fast." Robin said, examining Beast Boy with concern, but nodding as he realized the wounds were not mortally serious. They carried him to the oddly angled car in the center of the broken, thrashed street and placed him in the back seat, where they gently washed his burns and bandaged them.
The area that Ternion had stormed through was already receiving clean up efforts as they headed to the hospital. Fire trucks and airplanes coming from above extinguished the blazes and the smoke began to blow away in the swift winds. Citizens were put into shelters and given food, water, warmth, a place to sleep and medicine. The sun was beginning to set on the horizon; a brass half-circle shining brightly, as another day came to a close.
The Titans had lasted almost a year without any change, but little did they know that a cataclysm was soon to come with the red dawn.