Poor Twisted Me Chapter 5
Hi, Mud here again. Okay, time to answer some reviews. Which I do at the beginning of every story. Maybe I should try a change of pace...Nah, I already did that with the end. I'm still getting used to that TV announcer thing. Brr...
Princess Cat- YAY!!!!! I GET BROWNIE POINTS!!!!!! I don't know what those are but I STILL HAVE BROWNIE POINTS!!! Yeah, having too much candy is always fun. Up until you get a cavity. Then you just get a filling and EAT MORE CANDY!!!! YAY!!!!!!
ScarletAngel68- Yes! They do love each other! Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwww (I gotta breath)wwwwwwww. But when you say 'that evil guy', do you mean Slade? Because that will become very important in later chapters. Not to give too much away, of course...
Sanity-Stealing-Lawn-Gnome- Hey, you reviewed again. And thank you! Christ, everybody just loves to flatter me.
Moezy-chan- I will! And thanks for reviewing!
Metallikid- Nice job! You found them all!! EXCEPT ONE!!!!!! The title of this story, Poor Twisted Me, is a Metallica song from the album Load. But your efforts inspire me. So this chapter and the rest of the story are dedicated to you, Metallikid. LET'S GIVE HIM A HAND!!!!!!
Warprince2000- Still saying the same thing! That's kind of funny. But you are my most consistent reviewer, so kudos.
Kestrel- I'm glad you trusted me too! And Fallen Cherub will play important parts yet to come. By the way, can anyone guess where I got their name? It's a little obvious, but still...And YAY UBERY GOOD FLUFF!!!!
Writerofthefuture- Well, I'm glad you were so open-minded to read my fic. BBRaven is my personal favorite, so I don't read much of anything else. So it's pretty remarkable of you to be so flexible with your tastes. Thanks for reviewing!
My apologies to anyone who doesn't speak Spanish, as part of this chapter might get a little confusing for people who don't speak it. Me, I'm just bilingual ^_^
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She ran as fast as her legs could carry her, yet the chaser managed to gain on her. The poor Tamaran stumbled, and she covered her face as she waited for the attack. As her attacker neared her, she was able to make out its ridiculously long teeth and claws, loose leathery skin, and elongated head.
"No...please don't," she sobbed, knowing it was of no use. The creature opened its mouth and...
"Ahh!" Starfire yelled, awakening from her slumber. A dream. It was all a dream.
She got up from her bed and looked into her mirror. She had bags under her eyes from lack of sleep and her insomnia was beginning to take its toll.
It had been one week since Beast Boy returned to the Tower, clad in earrings and tattoos. She was shocked at his sudden change, but she was now used to it. But ever since his return, she was incessantly plagued by horrific dreams of a haunting creature that somehow...looked familiar.
"I need sleep..." she told herself lazily. But she couldn't fall asleep, for those haunting dreams returned without fail.
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Elsewhere...
Lyrim walked through the nighttime darkness, shielded by his own obscurity. Fenrir crawled loyally by his side, making careful notice to make not a single sound.
The two suddenly stopped. In front of them stood a 200-year-old Catholic Church, celebrating its bicentennial tomorrow. Or rather, today, seeing as it was 2 in the morning.
Lyrim grinned and reached into his cloak, pulling out a fine, tenuous powder. He chanted something unrecognizable, and the powder began to glow blood red. He threw it at the church, and the instant the powder made contact with it, it burned sultrily, erupting in a jet-black flame. It took but a single minute for the church to burn completely down, leaving only ashes.
Lyrim walked over to the remnants of a once hallowed and sacred place, and picked up some of the ashes. He tucked them in his cloak and walked on, Fenrir torpidly walking at his flank.
'Two down...one to go...' He thought to himself malevolently.
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Starfire yawned as she shuffled into the kitchen; her eyes glued shut from lack of sleep. She sat down at the table and yawned loudly, making Robin turn his head.
"You okay Star?"
She shook her head. "I have been having trouble sleeping Robin. Lately I have been having these...horrible nightmares, and I can't sleep because of them."
Robin raised and eyebrow and sat next to her. "What about?"
Starfire didn't even open her eyes. "I don't know...but they are always the same...first I'm being chased by this terrifying demon...then I trip...then it catches me...then my vision turns red and I wake up."
"Sounds bad. Maybe we should take you to a psychologist."
"Anything that will rid me of these ghastly dreams," she said, and hugged Robin. "Thank you, Robin."
Robin smiled and hugged her back. "Anytime, Star."
They gazed lovingly into each other's eyes, but there attention was caught by a new report blaring in the living room.
"In conclusion, French fries are not really French. In other news, local authorities are struggling to find out the cause of a mysterious church burning in uptown Jump City. St. Anger's Catholic Church, as it was called, was burned down on the eve of its bicentennial. Some police place the blame on arsonists; others on immoral death metal stars."
(A/N: This is actually based on a very infamous incident. In the late 90's, there was a church burning in Norway, and locals attributed it to rising death metal stars, since Norway is like the hub of death and forest metal)
"What was that look for?" Beast Boy's voice asked unpretentiously. Raven's voice then replied, "I didn't say anything."
"I did not burn down a church."
"I never said you did."
Robin walked into the living room the see Raven and Beast Boy watching the morning news. It was something they did together now, for some reason. "What's going on in here?" he asked inquisitively.
Beast Boy gestured to the TV. "There was a church burning in uptown Jump City, and some stupid 'authorities' placed the blame on death metal. Which is total bullshit," he said, making the quotation marks sign with his index and middle fingers around the word "authorities".
"Sure about that?" Robin joked. Beast Boy lowered one of those fingers.
"Very funny," Robin said, rolling his eyes at Beast Boy's obscenity. He had yet to get used to this new Beast Boy.
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-Later that day-
"Cyborg, when are you going to introduce me to the rest of your friends?" Carmen asked innocently as she linked her arm in Cyborg's.
The half robot shrugged. "How about now?"
Carmen lit up. "Really? That would be great!"
Cyborg led her to the T-Car, and opened the door for her. "After you, m'lady," he said, in a false gentlemanly tone. Carmen giggled and climbed into the passenger side.
Cyborg hoped into the driver's seat and revved the engine, gushing at the 1500-horsepower engine's sheer brawn.
"Who's my baby?" he said. Carmen looked at him funny and said, "Are you talking to the car or me?"
Cyborg chuckled nervously. "Uh, you! Of course! Heh heh..."
It was about a ten-minute drive from Axis to Titans Tower. Cyborg turned the CD player on, which began blaring NOFX.
Carmen enjoyed the punk melodies resonating throughout the enclosed area. Before long, they had already arrived at their destination.
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We've all done it before. Beast Boy was online, more specifically on Google. He typed his own name in, and sat back, waiting for the results.
"10,754,927 hits," he said carelessly. Seeing as he was a hero, most of the hits were either from tabloids, devoted fans, or something to do with a certain orange cat.
"Hmm...tabloid...tabloid...tabloid...ooh, what's this?" he said, and clicked on a link displayed in blue. It was a picture, posted on a message board someplace. It was a very poor drawing of the Teen Titans, a caption underneath each picture.
He read the caption of Robin out loud, chuckling as he read it. "Robin was Batman's sidekick for many years until suspicions arose that Batman was getting a little too attached to him. After raiding Batman's fairy dream wonder home, they found disturbing evidence that caused him to lose custurdy (Not to be confused with custody) of Robin. Since then, Robin has been suffering from a tuna addiction and it is feared he may turn into a turnip at any moment...well, I fear it. Robin's second name is 'Banks'."
Beast Boy laughed. "This is good stuff!"
Moving onto Starfire's picture, he read, "Starfire is an alien from a planet where everyone wears a miniskirt. She derives her power from the mysterious alien liquid known only as 'Sunny Delight'. The copious amounts of sugar in Sunny D allows her to fly, shoot zappy things, and say comic phrases. The only drawback of using Sunny D as a power source is that her skin is now tainted orange."
Beast Boy was doubled over with laughter. He would definitely have to show these to the others.
He shifted his attention to his own picture, where he was drawn as a squid.
"Beast Boy is a short...I mean, vertically challenged young man who can become a variety of different animals. Here, he would be shown in 'neutral' form, but he's much easier to draw as a squid. Heh, squid."
'I grew!' Beast Boy thought to himself indignantly. Still, he admitted, it was really funny.
Next was Raven. Oh, boy. But before he could read it, a voice yelled out, "Beast Boy! Come here!"
He book marked the page and headed downstairs. He saw all the Titans congregating around, and it was only after he nudged Robin aside that he saw what it was about.
"BB! Just in time!" Cyborg said. Next to him stood a very, very beautiful girl, who looked Hispanic in nature. She had flowing black hair and deep brown eyes.
"Who's this?" Beast Boy asked. Cyborg held the girl close to him and said, "Guys, this Carmen. Carmen, meet the Teen Titans."
Carmen waved and said, "Hola!"
Beast Boy looked at her. "¿Tú hablas español?"
Carmen nodded. "Sí, yo viví aquel hasta tengo trece años, luego viví en el Gotham City hasta último año, cuando yo vení aquí."
Beast Boy replied, "Ah. Mi abuelo y mi abuela etuvieron viviendo en Mexio, y yo estoy vivido recto norte de la borde. Al vez me moví, estuvo fluente."
The other Titans, however, had no idea what the hell they were saying. They didn't even have any idea that Beast Boy spoke Spanish.
"Translation?" Raven asked flatly. Beast Boy turned to her and scratched his head.
"I was just telling her where I learned to speak Spanish," he said, grinning proudly.
Carmen held her hand out to Raven and said, "Hi! Nice to meet you Raven!"
Raven took it dubiously, and slowly shook it. "Charmed."
Once everybody had gotten acquainted with each other, Beast Boy lightly punched Cyborg in the arm. "You lucky dog, you."
Cyborg grinned. "Hey, you're the one that fu-"
Beast Boy covered his robotic friend's mouth with his hand, knowing he was going to bring up his encounter with Affection. "Don't say it..."
Cyborg chuckled. "Mhhm mhmm mmmm hmmh."
"What?" Beast Boy said, and uncovered his mouth. Cyborg took a breath and said, "HEY RAVEN!"
Before he could say anything else, a large wolf had tackled him. The two wrestled on the tiled floor, fighting for verbal dominance. The other Titans stared at them, and then resumed talking.
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Elsewhere...
Lyrim read acutely from a giant spell book resting on a pedestal. This was no ordinary spell book; written in human blood, bound in human skin, it was rumored to belong to Lucifer before his downfall. Lyrim had to slit many throats to get it.
"The green one may have held strong against my ideals, and the Azareth may have gotten her emotions back, but those were merely two paths to take in a conduit of many," Lyrim mused to himself as he looked through the macabre tome.
Fenrir lethargically chewed a human bone, crunching it adeptly into the tiniest pieces with his immense, acerbic teeth. Since Lyrim had forbidden him to harm the body of Slade Wilson further, the apocalyptic hound had nothing of interest to do.
"Hmm...the Tamaran will not do, she is not from the earth...the same goes for the Azareth...the green one has impure blood...the half-breed is not fully human...I suppose Robin will be the perfect candidate," Lyrim cogitated to himself.
"Fenrir!" he called. His unearthly comrade ran over, grateful for this opportunity to please his master.
"Fenrir, do you see this human?" Lyrim said, and held out a picture of Robin. Fenrir roared loudly, corroborating his overlord. Lyrim held his stony expression.
"I want you to draw blood from him. DO NOT kill him, lest I send you back to the underworld from whence you came."
Fenrir cringed at the thought of returning to his previous home, and made chary note to leave the human alive. He growled, signifying his obedience.
"Once you have his blood, return to me. If you do this without fail, I will let you kill him."
'Fenrir not kill human. Fenrir kill human master send to home. Fenrir get red stuff. Fenrir give to master. Master happy. Let Fenrir kill human. Fenrir happy,' the archaic beast told himself.
"Now go."
Fenrir scurried up the stairs, keen to do his master's behest.
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"Nice meeting you Carmen!" a voice called out. Fenrir recognized it as the green human's. Not the one he was looking for. He continued listening, grasping the sone surface of the Tower like he had done in the past.
"See you later!" a more feminine, cheerful voice said. This time it belonged to the Tamaran. Fenrir remembered her face well.
"Bye." Still not whom he was seeking, the Azareth spoke this time.
"Later!" Fenrir's ears perked up. This was his target. Deciding it was the right moment; he used his hell-gotten power of mind luring. As his subconscious entered Robin's, the demonic hound enticed him mentally.
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As Robin waved farewell to his departing friend, he felt a strange sensation, as if he were being magnetically drawn someplace. The others went inside, yet took no notice of Robin's peculiar behavior. His legs continued moving independently of his mind, until he found himself at the base of the Tower.
He snapped out of his trance and looked around.
"What the hell am I doing..." his sentence trailed off as he was tackled by a horrific beast. Before he could register who or what was attacking him, he rolled out of the way and withdrew his Bo-staff. He could not see anything in the midst of the nighttime darkness, but he could hear claws clicking against stone. He swung his staff, but hit nothing.
The sound of wind rushing alerted him to his attacker's presence. He threw several bird-a-rangs, lighting the evening sky with light. The ensuing luminosity allowed him to glimpse his assailant.
It was nothing like he had ever seen before. Although it was the size of a wolf, it was infinitely more deadly than one. His colossally extended head sported gargantuan fangs, each extending well beyond the borders of his mouth. His six eyes glared horrifically, as if they were grabbed your soul and ripping it out. His claws arched broadly, and they were so sharp they would make a grizzly bear hang his head in shame.
The beast was evidently very nimble as well. In a split second, it had recovered and launched itself at Robin, teeth bared. Robin rolled underneath him, narrowly avoiding his trailing back claws.
The hound roared a blood-curdling roar that chilled Robin down to his flesh. It sprouted bat-like wings and soared above him, faster than Robin's eye could see.
Like a falcon, it dived down at Robin, and before he could react, its claws had scraped across his face. Shit, they were sharp.
"ARRGH!" Robin yelled, clutching his face, from which blood was now pouring. He stumbled over a loose log, and fell back. He braced himself for the feel of those razor-sharp claws...but they never came. Instead, he felt a wet, slobbery tongue lick his face, mopping up the blood.
And just as soon as it had come, it had left. Through his gashed eyes, he could make out its silhouette against the shining moon.
"Robin! Are you unharmed!?" Starfire yelled frantically. She parted Robin's bloody hands and gasped. "Robin! You need medical help!"
"What's going on?" Raven asked with a hint of concern in her voice. Beast Boy followed and said, "We heard explosions, so we came to check...holy crap, did you get cut up."
"Gee, you think?!" Robin yelled, still clutching his lesions.
"Dude, you need help," Beast Boy said.
"I'll get the first aid," Raven said, and flew back into the Tower.
"We must get you inside," Starfire worriedly said. She picked him up from under his shoulders and began flying towards the Tower. Beast Boy followed suit, and soon Robin was resting on the living room couch.
Raven returned with the first aid kit, and set it down next to her injured comrade. Opening it up, she reconnoitered for something to stop the flow of blood with. She moved various odds and ends around until she came across some antiseptic and a roll of adhesive tape. She analyzed the four gashes stretching upwards across his face, with one even covering his right eye and went to work.
"What the hell happened out there?" Beast Boy asked. Robin winced at Raven's appliance of the antiseptic and said, "I don't know...one minute I was standing outside, and the next this big, huge monster came charging towards me. It clawed me across my face...then it licked the blood up and left."
Raven tore off a roll of adhesive. "What did it...stop moving, you'll make it hurt more...look like?"
Robin stopped shifting around and replied, "It was the creepiest thing I'd ever seen...even worse than that time Beast Boy rented that horror movie and all the monsters began invading our house. It was like a wolf, but it had really loose, leathery skin. It walked like a dog, but its head was huge and narrow, and it had big ass teeth."
Raven looked up curiously. "Did it have six eyes? And did it have wings that it could willingly grow?"
Robin nodded, and winced from the ensuing pain. "How'd you know?"
Raven stared blankly before answering him. "Back when I lived on Azareth, when I was about 14 years old, I had a...good friend named Izevm. We did everything together. But he was always into this demon stuff, and he'd always go around summoning these horrible creatures. One day he went too far and summoned a creature known as Fenrir...it looked just like you described it. It ran rampant, and destroyed my entire village before the elders combined their powers and banished it to the depths of the underworld...I never spoke to Izevm again. But I wonder how it could've escaped...unless someone summoned it that was more powerful than all the elder's power combined. Which scares me, because that much power can't be used for good."
Beast Boy ogled her awkwardly. "Whoa...creepy."
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Fenrir crawled down the spiral staircases, feeling a strange sense of déjà vu. Reaching the bottom of the steps, he spied his master once again absorbed in his prized spell book. Fenrir roared loudly, signifying his presence. Lyrim turned around and smiled at the sight of his companion.
"You have the blood?"
Fenrir opened his mouth and spit into a bottle resting on a nearby table. Lyrim chuckled to himself as he saw the vial filling up with the human's blood.
"Excellent as usual, Fenrir. You may kill him now."
'Fenrir get blood. Give to master. Master happy. Let Fenrir kill human. Fenrir kill human. Master happy. Fenrir happy. Master let Fenrir kill more,' the demonic hound thought to himself. Killing was his sole form of pleasure.
As Lyrim watched Fenrir race up the stair to fulfill his morbid wishes, he picked up the vial filled with Robin's blood, leisurely swishing it around.
"The final element...it is mine...once Fenrir returns, I will be able to carry out the prophecy..." he mused to himself impiously.
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Raven had finished applying the bandages. Beast Boy had tried to turn in for the night, but obeyed Starfire's pleading request to stay and help her watch over Robin, lest that horrid creature returns.
Raven was confused. During Fenrir's reign of blood, he never took survivors. Although he had only taken a dozen or so lives before his condemnation, no body ever got even scratched by him without being killed soon after. Why start now?
Robin lay on the couch, all bandaged up, unable to see out of his right eye. About half an hour passed before Cyborg returned, oblivious to the events that had just taken place. After much explaining, Raven and Robin together explained what had happened. Yet Raven elected to leave out the fact that Fenrir never left any survivors.
The moment they finished explaining, however, the windows in the living room exploded, glass shattering and falling to the floor. Once the Titans had recovered from the resulting shockwave, they gasped.
In front of them crouched Fenrir, teeth bared and ready to pounce.
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Dun dun dun! Next time: Fenrir is killed by the Titans, but they are unaware of his ability to resurrect himself. And on the eve of the vernal equinox, Lyrim summons an apocalyptic monster that fights and nearly destroys the Teen Titans. But while they are knocking on death's door, a mysterious figure from Raven's past comes to assist them, much to Beast Boy's disdain.
Next time on...ah hell; you all know the title, so fuck it.
Hi, Mud here again. Okay, time to answer some reviews. Which I do at the beginning of every story. Maybe I should try a change of pace...Nah, I already did that with the end. I'm still getting used to that TV announcer thing. Brr...
Princess Cat- YAY!!!!! I GET BROWNIE POINTS!!!!!! I don't know what those are but I STILL HAVE BROWNIE POINTS!!! Yeah, having too much candy is always fun. Up until you get a cavity. Then you just get a filling and EAT MORE CANDY!!!! YAY!!!!!!
ScarletAngel68- Yes! They do love each other! Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwww (I gotta breath)wwwwwwww. But when you say 'that evil guy', do you mean Slade? Because that will become very important in later chapters. Not to give too much away, of course...
Sanity-Stealing-Lawn-Gnome- Hey, you reviewed again. And thank you! Christ, everybody just loves to flatter me.
Moezy-chan- I will! And thanks for reviewing!
Metallikid- Nice job! You found them all!! EXCEPT ONE!!!!!! The title of this story, Poor Twisted Me, is a Metallica song from the album Load. But your efforts inspire me. So this chapter and the rest of the story are dedicated to you, Metallikid. LET'S GIVE HIM A HAND!!!!!!
Warprince2000- Still saying the same thing! That's kind of funny. But you are my most consistent reviewer, so kudos.
Kestrel- I'm glad you trusted me too! And Fallen Cherub will play important parts yet to come. By the way, can anyone guess where I got their name? It's a little obvious, but still...And YAY UBERY GOOD FLUFF!!!!
Writerofthefuture- Well, I'm glad you were so open-minded to read my fic. BBRaven is my personal favorite, so I don't read much of anything else. So it's pretty remarkable of you to be so flexible with your tastes. Thanks for reviewing!
My apologies to anyone who doesn't speak Spanish, as part of this chapter might get a little confusing for people who don't speak it. Me, I'm just bilingual ^_^
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She ran as fast as her legs could carry her, yet the chaser managed to gain on her. The poor Tamaran stumbled, and she covered her face as she waited for the attack. As her attacker neared her, she was able to make out its ridiculously long teeth and claws, loose leathery skin, and elongated head.
"No...please don't," she sobbed, knowing it was of no use. The creature opened its mouth and...
"Ahh!" Starfire yelled, awakening from her slumber. A dream. It was all a dream.
She got up from her bed and looked into her mirror. She had bags under her eyes from lack of sleep and her insomnia was beginning to take its toll.
It had been one week since Beast Boy returned to the Tower, clad in earrings and tattoos. She was shocked at his sudden change, but she was now used to it. But ever since his return, she was incessantly plagued by horrific dreams of a haunting creature that somehow...looked familiar.
"I need sleep..." she told herself lazily. But she couldn't fall asleep, for those haunting dreams returned without fail.
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Elsewhere...
Lyrim walked through the nighttime darkness, shielded by his own obscurity. Fenrir crawled loyally by his side, making careful notice to make not a single sound.
The two suddenly stopped. In front of them stood a 200-year-old Catholic Church, celebrating its bicentennial tomorrow. Or rather, today, seeing as it was 2 in the morning.
Lyrim grinned and reached into his cloak, pulling out a fine, tenuous powder. He chanted something unrecognizable, and the powder began to glow blood red. He threw it at the church, and the instant the powder made contact with it, it burned sultrily, erupting in a jet-black flame. It took but a single minute for the church to burn completely down, leaving only ashes.
Lyrim walked over to the remnants of a once hallowed and sacred place, and picked up some of the ashes. He tucked them in his cloak and walked on, Fenrir torpidly walking at his flank.
'Two down...one to go...' He thought to himself malevolently.
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Starfire yawned as she shuffled into the kitchen; her eyes glued shut from lack of sleep. She sat down at the table and yawned loudly, making Robin turn his head.
"You okay Star?"
She shook her head. "I have been having trouble sleeping Robin. Lately I have been having these...horrible nightmares, and I can't sleep because of them."
Robin raised and eyebrow and sat next to her. "What about?"
Starfire didn't even open her eyes. "I don't know...but they are always the same...first I'm being chased by this terrifying demon...then I trip...then it catches me...then my vision turns red and I wake up."
"Sounds bad. Maybe we should take you to a psychologist."
"Anything that will rid me of these ghastly dreams," she said, and hugged Robin. "Thank you, Robin."
Robin smiled and hugged her back. "Anytime, Star."
They gazed lovingly into each other's eyes, but there attention was caught by a new report blaring in the living room.
"In conclusion, French fries are not really French. In other news, local authorities are struggling to find out the cause of a mysterious church burning in uptown Jump City. St. Anger's Catholic Church, as it was called, was burned down on the eve of its bicentennial. Some police place the blame on arsonists; others on immoral death metal stars."
(A/N: This is actually based on a very infamous incident. In the late 90's, there was a church burning in Norway, and locals attributed it to rising death metal stars, since Norway is like the hub of death and forest metal)
"What was that look for?" Beast Boy's voice asked unpretentiously. Raven's voice then replied, "I didn't say anything."
"I did not burn down a church."
"I never said you did."
Robin walked into the living room the see Raven and Beast Boy watching the morning news. It was something they did together now, for some reason. "What's going on in here?" he asked inquisitively.
Beast Boy gestured to the TV. "There was a church burning in uptown Jump City, and some stupid 'authorities' placed the blame on death metal. Which is total bullshit," he said, making the quotation marks sign with his index and middle fingers around the word "authorities".
"Sure about that?" Robin joked. Beast Boy lowered one of those fingers.
"Very funny," Robin said, rolling his eyes at Beast Boy's obscenity. He had yet to get used to this new Beast Boy.
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-Later that day-
"Cyborg, when are you going to introduce me to the rest of your friends?" Carmen asked innocently as she linked her arm in Cyborg's.
The half robot shrugged. "How about now?"
Carmen lit up. "Really? That would be great!"
Cyborg led her to the T-Car, and opened the door for her. "After you, m'lady," he said, in a false gentlemanly tone. Carmen giggled and climbed into the passenger side.
Cyborg hoped into the driver's seat and revved the engine, gushing at the 1500-horsepower engine's sheer brawn.
"Who's my baby?" he said. Carmen looked at him funny and said, "Are you talking to the car or me?"
Cyborg chuckled nervously. "Uh, you! Of course! Heh heh..."
It was about a ten-minute drive from Axis to Titans Tower. Cyborg turned the CD player on, which began blaring NOFX.
Carmen enjoyed the punk melodies resonating throughout the enclosed area. Before long, they had already arrived at their destination.
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We've all done it before. Beast Boy was online, more specifically on Google. He typed his own name in, and sat back, waiting for the results.
"10,754,927 hits," he said carelessly. Seeing as he was a hero, most of the hits were either from tabloids, devoted fans, or something to do with a certain orange cat.
"Hmm...tabloid...tabloid...tabloid...ooh, what's this?" he said, and clicked on a link displayed in blue. It was a picture, posted on a message board someplace. It was a very poor drawing of the Teen Titans, a caption underneath each picture.
He read the caption of Robin out loud, chuckling as he read it. "Robin was Batman's sidekick for many years until suspicions arose that Batman was getting a little too attached to him. After raiding Batman's fairy dream wonder home, they found disturbing evidence that caused him to lose custurdy (Not to be confused with custody) of Robin. Since then, Robin has been suffering from a tuna addiction and it is feared he may turn into a turnip at any moment...well, I fear it. Robin's second name is 'Banks'."
Beast Boy laughed. "This is good stuff!"
Moving onto Starfire's picture, he read, "Starfire is an alien from a planet where everyone wears a miniskirt. She derives her power from the mysterious alien liquid known only as 'Sunny Delight'. The copious amounts of sugar in Sunny D allows her to fly, shoot zappy things, and say comic phrases. The only drawback of using Sunny D as a power source is that her skin is now tainted orange."
Beast Boy was doubled over with laughter. He would definitely have to show these to the others.
He shifted his attention to his own picture, where he was drawn as a squid.
"Beast Boy is a short...I mean, vertically challenged young man who can become a variety of different animals. Here, he would be shown in 'neutral' form, but he's much easier to draw as a squid. Heh, squid."
'I grew!' Beast Boy thought to himself indignantly. Still, he admitted, it was really funny.
Next was Raven. Oh, boy. But before he could read it, a voice yelled out, "Beast Boy! Come here!"
He book marked the page and headed downstairs. He saw all the Titans congregating around, and it was only after he nudged Robin aside that he saw what it was about.
"BB! Just in time!" Cyborg said. Next to him stood a very, very beautiful girl, who looked Hispanic in nature. She had flowing black hair and deep brown eyes.
"Who's this?" Beast Boy asked. Cyborg held the girl close to him and said, "Guys, this Carmen. Carmen, meet the Teen Titans."
Carmen waved and said, "Hola!"
Beast Boy looked at her. "¿Tú hablas español?"
Carmen nodded. "Sí, yo viví aquel hasta tengo trece años, luego viví en el Gotham City hasta último año, cuando yo vení aquí."
Beast Boy replied, "Ah. Mi abuelo y mi abuela etuvieron viviendo en Mexio, y yo estoy vivido recto norte de la borde. Al vez me moví, estuvo fluente."
The other Titans, however, had no idea what the hell they were saying. They didn't even have any idea that Beast Boy spoke Spanish.
"Translation?" Raven asked flatly. Beast Boy turned to her and scratched his head.
"I was just telling her where I learned to speak Spanish," he said, grinning proudly.
Carmen held her hand out to Raven and said, "Hi! Nice to meet you Raven!"
Raven took it dubiously, and slowly shook it. "Charmed."
Once everybody had gotten acquainted with each other, Beast Boy lightly punched Cyborg in the arm. "You lucky dog, you."
Cyborg grinned. "Hey, you're the one that fu-"
Beast Boy covered his robotic friend's mouth with his hand, knowing he was going to bring up his encounter with Affection. "Don't say it..."
Cyborg chuckled. "Mhhm mhmm mmmm hmmh."
"What?" Beast Boy said, and uncovered his mouth. Cyborg took a breath and said, "HEY RAVEN!"
Before he could say anything else, a large wolf had tackled him. The two wrestled on the tiled floor, fighting for verbal dominance. The other Titans stared at them, and then resumed talking.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Elsewhere...
Lyrim read acutely from a giant spell book resting on a pedestal. This was no ordinary spell book; written in human blood, bound in human skin, it was rumored to belong to Lucifer before his downfall. Lyrim had to slit many throats to get it.
"The green one may have held strong against my ideals, and the Azareth may have gotten her emotions back, but those were merely two paths to take in a conduit of many," Lyrim mused to himself as he looked through the macabre tome.
Fenrir lethargically chewed a human bone, crunching it adeptly into the tiniest pieces with his immense, acerbic teeth. Since Lyrim had forbidden him to harm the body of Slade Wilson further, the apocalyptic hound had nothing of interest to do.
"Hmm...the Tamaran will not do, she is not from the earth...the same goes for the Azareth...the green one has impure blood...the half-breed is not fully human...I suppose Robin will be the perfect candidate," Lyrim cogitated to himself.
"Fenrir!" he called. His unearthly comrade ran over, grateful for this opportunity to please his master.
"Fenrir, do you see this human?" Lyrim said, and held out a picture of Robin. Fenrir roared loudly, corroborating his overlord. Lyrim held his stony expression.
"I want you to draw blood from him. DO NOT kill him, lest I send you back to the underworld from whence you came."
Fenrir cringed at the thought of returning to his previous home, and made chary note to leave the human alive. He growled, signifying his obedience.
"Once you have his blood, return to me. If you do this without fail, I will let you kill him."
'Fenrir not kill human. Fenrir kill human master send to home. Fenrir get red stuff. Fenrir give to master. Master happy. Let Fenrir kill human. Fenrir happy,' the archaic beast told himself.
"Now go."
Fenrir scurried up the stairs, keen to do his master's behest.
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"Nice meeting you Carmen!" a voice called out. Fenrir recognized it as the green human's. Not the one he was looking for. He continued listening, grasping the sone surface of the Tower like he had done in the past.
"See you later!" a more feminine, cheerful voice said. This time it belonged to the Tamaran. Fenrir remembered her face well.
"Bye." Still not whom he was seeking, the Azareth spoke this time.
"Later!" Fenrir's ears perked up. This was his target. Deciding it was the right moment; he used his hell-gotten power of mind luring. As his subconscious entered Robin's, the demonic hound enticed him mentally.
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As Robin waved farewell to his departing friend, he felt a strange sensation, as if he were being magnetically drawn someplace. The others went inside, yet took no notice of Robin's peculiar behavior. His legs continued moving independently of his mind, until he found himself at the base of the Tower.
He snapped out of his trance and looked around.
"What the hell am I doing..." his sentence trailed off as he was tackled by a horrific beast. Before he could register who or what was attacking him, he rolled out of the way and withdrew his Bo-staff. He could not see anything in the midst of the nighttime darkness, but he could hear claws clicking against stone. He swung his staff, but hit nothing.
The sound of wind rushing alerted him to his attacker's presence. He threw several bird-a-rangs, lighting the evening sky with light. The ensuing luminosity allowed him to glimpse his assailant.
It was nothing like he had ever seen before. Although it was the size of a wolf, it was infinitely more deadly than one. His colossally extended head sported gargantuan fangs, each extending well beyond the borders of his mouth. His six eyes glared horrifically, as if they were grabbed your soul and ripping it out. His claws arched broadly, and they were so sharp they would make a grizzly bear hang his head in shame.
The beast was evidently very nimble as well. In a split second, it had recovered and launched itself at Robin, teeth bared. Robin rolled underneath him, narrowly avoiding his trailing back claws.
The hound roared a blood-curdling roar that chilled Robin down to his flesh. It sprouted bat-like wings and soared above him, faster than Robin's eye could see.
Like a falcon, it dived down at Robin, and before he could react, its claws had scraped across his face. Shit, they were sharp.
"ARRGH!" Robin yelled, clutching his face, from which blood was now pouring. He stumbled over a loose log, and fell back. He braced himself for the feel of those razor-sharp claws...but they never came. Instead, he felt a wet, slobbery tongue lick his face, mopping up the blood.
And just as soon as it had come, it had left. Through his gashed eyes, he could make out its silhouette against the shining moon.
"Robin! Are you unharmed!?" Starfire yelled frantically. She parted Robin's bloody hands and gasped. "Robin! You need medical help!"
"What's going on?" Raven asked with a hint of concern in her voice. Beast Boy followed and said, "We heard explosions, so we came to check...holy crap, did you get cut up."
"Gee, you think?!" Robin yelled, still clutching his lesions.
"Dude, you need help," Beast Boy said.
"I'll get the first aid," Raven said, and flew back into the Tower.
"We must get you inside," Starfire worriedly said. She picked him up from under his shoulders and began flying towards the Tower. Beast Boy followed suit, and soon Robin was resting on the living room couch.
Raven returned with the first aid kit, and set it down next to her injured comrade. Opening it up, she reconnoitered for something to stop the flow of blood with. She moved various odds and ends around until she came across some antiseptic and a roll of adhesive tape. She analyzed the four gashes stretching upwards across his face, with one even covering his right eye and went to work.
"What the hell happened out there?" Beast Boy asked. Robin winced at Raven's appliance of the antiseptic and said, "I don't know...one minute I was standing outside, and the next this big, huge monster came charging towards me. It clawed me across my face...then it licked the blood up and left."
Raven tore off a roll of adhesive. "What did it...stop moving, you'll make it hurt more...look like?"
Robin stopped shifting around and replied, "It was the creepiest thing I'd ever seen...even worse than that time Beast Boy rented that horror movie and all the monsters began invading our house. It was like a wolf, but it had really loose, leathery skin. It walked like a dog, but its head was huge and narrow, and it had big ass teeth."
Raven looked up curiously. "Did it have six eyes? And did it have wings that it could willingly grow?"
Robin nodded, and winced from the ensuing pain. "How'd you know?"
Raven stared blankly before answering him. "Back when I lived on Azareth, when I was about 14 years old, I had a...good friend named Izevm. We did everything together. But he was always into this demon stuff, and he'd always go around summoning these horrible creatures. One day he went too far and summoned a creature known as Fenrir...it looked just like you described it. It ran rampant, and destroyed my entire village before the elders combined their powers and banished it to the depths of the underworld...I never spoke to Izevm again. But I wonder how it could've escaped...unless someone summoned it that was more powerful than all the elder's power combined. Which scares me, because that much power can't be used for good."
Beast Boy ogled her awkwardly. "Whoa...creepy."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Fenrir crawled down the spiral staircases, feeling a strange sense of déjà vu. Reaching the bottom of the steps, he spied his master once again absorbed in his prized spell book. Fenrir roared loudly, signifying his presence. Lyrim turned around and smiled at the sight of his companion.
"You have the blood?"
Fenrir opened his mouth and spit into a bottle resting on a nearby table. Lyrim chuckled to himself as he saw the vial filling up with the human's blood.
"Excellent as usual, Fenrir. You may kill him now."
'Fenrir get blood. Give to master. Master happy. Let Fenrir kill human. Fenrir kill human. Master happy. Fenrir happy. Master let Fenrir kill more,' the demonic hound thought to himself. Killing was his sole form of pleasure.
As Lyrim watched Fenrir race up the stair to fulfill his morbid wishes, he picked up the vial filled with Robin's blood, leisurely swishing it around.
"The final element...it is mine...once Fenrir returns, I will be able to carry out the prophecy..." he mused to himself impiously.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Raven had finished applying the bandages. Beast Boy had tried to turn in for the night, but obeyed Starfire's pleading request to stay and help her watch over Robin, lest that horrid creature returns.
Raven was confused. During Fenrir's reign of blood, he never took survivors. Although he had only taken a dozen or so lives before his condemnation, no body ever got even scratched by him without being killed soon after. Why start now?
Robin lay on the couch, all bandaged up, unable to see out of his right eye. About half an hour passed before Cyborg returned, oblivious to the events that had just taken place. After much explaining, Raven and Robin together explained what had happened. Yet Raven elected to leave out the fact that Fenrir never left any survivors.
The moment they finished explaining, however, the windows in the living room exploded, glass shattering and falling to the floor. Once the Titans had recovered from the resulting shockwave, they gasped.
In front of them crouched Fenrir, teeth bared and ready to pounce.
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Dun dun dun! Next time: Fenrir is killed by the Titans, but they are unaware of his ability to resurrect himself. And on the eve of the vernal equinox, Lyrim summons an apocalyptic monster that fights and nearly destroys the Teen Titans. But while they are knocking on death's door, a mysterious figure from Raven's past comes to assist them, much to Beast Boy's disdain.
Next time on...ah hell; you all know the title, so fuck it.
