Teen Titans: Half-Life
Chapter 7: H.I.V.E. of the Mind and Darkness of the Soul.
The doctor entered the room with his eyes towards the floor. How could he do it? He didn't want to tell everyone that their friend had died. That he had been unable to pull another young soul back from the chasm. He lifted his eyes and peered at the 3 edgy visitors. They returned his stare with hopeful gazes. He wiped beads of sweat from his brow. Hidden behind his surgical mask, his mouth opened to deliver the news, when his eyes betrayed the truth before he got the chance to sugarcoat it. Moans of sadness and cries of denial filled the room.
Quickly Cyborg reached for the remote and changed the channel. The sounds of anguish disappeared with a click, only to be replaced with a commercial featureing a gray suited gentlemen advertising life and medical insurance. A speedy flick of his index finger and again the TV channel cycled up a number. He had been flipping through channels for at least an hour. Cyborg, after having re-discovered his intolerance for accusing silences, blame-filled agonies, and guilt-ridden insecurities of uncertainty and conjecture, had finally decided that he wasn't getting anywhere just marinating in it.
"A little TV won't hurt, just to take my mind off things." He had thought, only to discover that the TV had it out for him. It wasn't going to afford him the peaceful state of mind he sought or let him forget his problems, so it bombarded him with soap operas, hospital dramas, documentaries on death, hell, it even served him advertisements on the importance of choosing the right headstone. Even video games were of no help either. Every game reminded him of the countless hours he had teamed up with, or fought against, Beast Boy.
Starfire was here as well. She hadn't moved from her spot on the couch since the rest of the team had returned. Cyborg couldn't help but wonder about what was going through her alien mind. Though he was sure that it didn't differ too much from his own thoughts. Had the Titans made the right call by letting 'him' take care of Beast Boy? He had protested that there was no time to get a real doctor and had assured them that he had the equivalent of a bachelors in medicine. But Cyborg didn't trust him, but circumstances had forced them to entrust him with Beast Boy's future.
................................................................................................
Nothing.
At first there was nothing.
Then.
Then there was something. It was a light. A tiny shard of brilliance that shocked him with its suddenness.
Then.
Then there was nothing again. There was no way of telling how long it lasted: nothing has no time. Then the light again, and the light grew, and across the face of the light a dark shape began to move.
He watched as the shape became a face. A face he didn't know, yet seemed familiar. It was a concerned face; gentle, kindly. It made him feel safe.
Then he lost consciousness. But unconsciousness wasn't like nothing; it was studded with dreams. He dreamed of a garden, pungent with jasmine just outside a small one floor house. He knew both the garden and the house. He knew them very well. But he had couldn't recall where he knew it from. There was no one else around, which gave him a feeling of anxiousness. Beast Boy was a social animal. He hated being along. Always had done.
Then pain.
A blast of scorching air assaulted his senses and knocked him to the ground. So powerful it was that it shattered all of the windows. His hands clasped his eyes, burning inside their sockets. He couldn't breath, he couldn't scream, the air was cooking his lungs on the inside and all around was the sound and feeling of an enormous fire consuming the once lush garden.
Then there was an explosion; a low growl yet loud and deafening, and a flash of light so bright that even his eyes, closed as they were, were blinded. He forced himself through the pain and struggled open his eyes.
Everything was on fire. The garden, the house, even his clothes; it destroyed everything and took it away as the sound; the sound taunted him. It sent a chill down his body despite the extreme boiling temperatures. Like a man beseeching an angry god for mercy, Beast Boy screamed for it to stop, pleaded for it. But his words were insignificant in contrast to the towering firestorm that erupted on the horizon and overcast by the mushroom cloud.
Beast Boy's scream reverberated throughout the whole tower. He bolted upright on the medical bed, his body stiff as a wooden plank. He realized that the inferno was gone and replaced by the white sterilized walls of the Tower's medical facility. Yet his cry didn't end till his lungs emptied and he was forced to paused for a breath of air.
Clutching his chest, he willed for his heart to slow down before it punched a hole in his ribcage. Gulping down load of oxygen and wiping sweat from his face
"Just a dream, it was just a dream." He repeated to himself several time in a half convinced manner.
"Are you ok?" A voice entered the room followed by Knives.
"Eh...Dude, why are you here?" BB exclaimed in surprise.
"Oh....ah" Knives stuttered realizing that BB had been left out of the loop on current events. "I was the only one who could treat your injuries." And proved it by showing his hands which still had medical latex glove on them.
BB looked down to quickly examined his body. His uniform had been removed, or shredded and currently was only covered by a white surgical gown with nothing underneath. No bandages, all the skin had been healed completely. However there were a couple of places were he could see light scars. They could only be seen if you were specifically looking for them. Looking in a nearby mirror, he thanked his lucky stars that his gorgeous handsome face remained unblemished by any sort of marks. Other than that all limbs were accounted for and everything was working, including the most important bits. He favorite bits too.
"So that was you?" BB asked.
"Pardon?"
"Nevermind." BB dismissed the question. It just didn't seem the proper question to ask, 'That was you, the angelic figure in the tunnel of light with the kindly gentle face that made me feel safe and secure?' Not to another guy.
There came a rapid series of knock on the door and Cyborg's muffled voice. Knives walked over to a small panel on the wall next to the door and disengaged the electronic lock. The door automatically swished open revealing a blue and green energy beast. Knives jumped behind a computer console and BB yelped as he fell behind the bed. In a flash of light the beast invaded the room and blew out the opposite wall from the door shooting plastic and metal debris everywhere and filling the room with smoke and dust.
"Hey," an irate Knives shouted from his hiding spot, "I just finished healing the patient!"
"Sorry." Cyborg apologized.
"Cyborg and I perceived the sound of a young female in distress." Starfire explained as the two Titans entered the medical room.
"That was the Colonel Sanders Special over there." Knives pointed to BB who had morphed into a chicken and was currently laying his third egg. Realizing the danger had passed, BB returned to his human form and emerged from behind the bed.
"BB, buddy!" Cyborg ran over to his friend and gave him a bear hug.
"Our friend is well again." Starfire helped Knives to his feet. "Thank you healer Knives," she smiled.
"Eh he," he chuckled, embarrassed, "I didn't do much. It was all due to the quality of...of the healing machines." He returned her smile but was unable to look her straight into her eyes.
After popping all the joints in BB's body, with the power of his embrace, Cyborg release the flaccid Beast Boy back unto the bed. BB just groaned and flopped unto the covers.
"Come, we must celebrate our friends healing with great amounts of unhealthy junkfood." Starfire grabbed Knives by the wrist and started to lead him towards the Rec room.
"Well I am hungry." Knives said as he and Starfire disappeared out the door.
"What happened to the love? I'm the injured hungry one here." BB shot from the bed and ran after the other two.
"Don't start without me!" Protested Cyborg as he jogged to join the other three.
................................................................................................
As for Robin, he was inside the evidence room: A large spacious, room which contained countless staked boxes, display pedestals and stasis booths to hold and contain the vast amount of weapons, gadgets, artifacts, and tools, both broken and working types, that had been recovered, stolen, withheld, and claimed from the equally impressive list of villains, criminals, and evil-doers that they had taken down and sealed in prison.
There was enough destructive power contained in that room to supply a whole army. For this reason the whole room contained, by far, the most security safeguards than the rest of the Titans Tower combined. Just to enter the room you needed a a pass-card, eye scan, finger scan, and a special password. In addition every single box, pedestal and booth contained their own anti-tampering device. To top it off there were dozens of micro camera covering every inch of the room.
Robin was standing in a corner cataloging the newest addition to their collection into the evidence database, the shiny metallic box that had been taken from Money. The central battery had already been removed and placed in a booth to contain the radiation leakage. But to occupy his time until he heard work of BBs condition he felt it necessary to examine the strange device and put it away.
During his examination he discovered something unsettling. Having placed the object under an electron microscope, Robin scrutinized the inner working of the box. Robin had examined countless pieces of technology before, enough to know that this particular object was constructed from Human technology. The discover came when he was writing down a serial number he found etched into the metal skin. 'U233-BA-001-00013,' the serial read and right below that, 'Property of H.I.V.E."
................................................................................................ Teen Titans is copyrighted Cartoon Network and DC comics. However, this story is a work of my own imagination. I did however borrow/was inspired by part of other series. Which, in a small way, makes this story a bit of a crossover. The most heavily borrowed from series are 'Red Dwarf' and 'Babylon 5.' Remember, this is fan fiction and written for fun so I can do whatever I want.
The doctor entered the room with his eyes towards the floor. How could he do it? He didn't want to tell everyone that their friend had died. That he had been unable to pull another young soul back from the chasm. He lifted his eyes and peered at the 3 edgy visitors. They returned his stare with hopeful gazes. He wiped beads of sweat from his brow. Hidden behind his surgical mask, his mouth opened to deliver the news, when his eyes betrayed the truth before he got the chance to sugarcoat it. Moans of sadness and cries of denial filled the room.
Quickly Cyborg reached for the remote and changed the channel. The sounds of anguish disappeared with a click, only to be replaced with a commercial featureing a gray suited gentlemen advertising life and medical insurance. A speedy flick of his index finger and again the TV channel cycled up a number. He had been flipping through channels for at least an hour. Cyborg, after having re-discovered his intolerance for accusing silences, blame-filled agonies, and guilt-ridden insecurities of uncertainty and conjecture, had finally decided that he wasn't getting anywhere just marinating in it.
"A little TV won't hurt, just to take my mind off things." He had thought, only to discover that the TV had it out for him. It wasn't going to afford him the peaceful state of mind he sought or let him forget his problems, so it bombarded him with soap operas, hospital dramas, documentaries on death, hell, it even served him advertisements on the importance of choosing the right headstone. Even video games were of no help either. Every game reminded him of the countless hours he had teamed up with, or fought against, Beast Boy.
Starfire was here as well. She hadn't moved from her spot on the couch since the rest of the team had returned. Cyborg couldn't help but wonder about what was going through her alien mind. Though he was sure that it didn't differ too much from his own thoughts. Had the Titans made the right call by letting 'him' take care of Beast Boy? He had protested that there was no time to get a real doctor and had assured them that he had the equivalent of a bachelors in medicine. But Cyborg didn't trust him, but circumstances had forced them to entrust him with Beast Boy's future.
................................................................................................
Nothing.
At first there was nothing.
Then.
Then there was something. It was a light. A tiny shard of brilliance that shocked him with its suddenness.
Then.
Then there was nothing again. There was no way of telling how long it lasted: nothing has no time. Then the light again, and the light grew, and across the face of the light a dark shape began to move.
He watched as the shape became a face. A face he didn't know, yet seemed familiar. It was a concerned face; gentle, kindly. It made him feel safe.
Then he lost consciousness. But unconsciousness wasn't like nothing; it was studded with dreams. He dreamed of a garden, pungent with jasmine just outside a small one floor house. He knew both the garden and the house. He knew them very well. But he had couldn't recall where he knew it from. There was no one else around, which gave him a feeling of anxiousness. Beast Boy was a social animal. He hated being along. Always had done.
Then pain.
A blast of scorching air assaulted his senses and knocked him to the ground. So powerful it was that it shattered all of the windows. His hands clasped his eyes, burning inside their sockets. He couldn't breath, he couldn't scream, the air was cooking his lungs on the inside and all around was the sound and feeling of an enormous fire consuming the once lush garden.
Then there was an explosion; a low growl yet loud and deafening, and a flash of light so bright that even his eyes, closed as they were, were blinded. He forced himself through the pain and struggled open his eyes.
Everything was on fire. The garden, the house, even his clothes; it destroyed everything and took it away as the sound; the sound taunted him. It sent a chill down his body despite the extreme boiling temperatures. Like a man beseeching an angry god for mercy, Beast Boy screamed for it to stop, pleaded for it. But his words were insignificant in contrast to the towering firestorm that erupted on the horizon and overcast by the mushroom cloud.
Beast Boy's scream reverberated throughout the whole tower. He bolted upright on the medical bed, his body stiff as a wooden plank. He realized that the inferno was gone and replaced by the white sterilized walls of the Tower's medical facility. Yet his cry didn't end till his lungs emptied and he was forced to paused for a breath of air.
Clutching his chest, he willed for his heart to slow down before it punched a hole in his ribcage. Gulping down load of oxygen and wiping sweat from his face
"Just a dream, it was just a dream." He repeated to himself several time in a half convinced manner.
"Are you ok?" A voice entered the room followed by Knives.
"Eh...Dude, why are you here?" BB exclaimed in surprise.
"Oh....ah" Knives stuttered realizing that BB had been left out of the loop on current events. "I was the only one who could treat your injuries." And proved it by showing his hands which still had medical latex glove on them.
BB looked down to quickly examined his body. His uniform had been removed, or shredded and currently was only covered by a white surgical gown with nothing underneath. No bandages, all the skin had been healed completely. However there were a couple of places were he could see light scars. They could only be seen if you were specifically looking for them. Looking in a nearby mirror, he thanked his lucky stars that his gorgeous handsome face remained unblemished by any sort of marks. Other than that all limbs were accounted for and everything was working, including the most important bits. He favorite bits too.
"So that was you?" BB asked.
"Pardon?"
"Nevermind." BB dismissed the question. It just didn't seem the proper question to ask, 'That was you, the angelic figure in the tunnel of light with the kindly gentle face that made me feel safe and secure?' Not to another guy.
There came a rapid series of knock on the door and Cyborg's muffled voice. Knives walked over to a small panel on the wall next to the door and disengaged the electronic lock. The door automatically swished open revealing a blue and green energy beast. Knives jumped behind a computer console and BB yelped as he fell behind the bed. In a flash of light the beast invaded the room and blew out the opposite wall from the door shooting plastic and metal debris everywhere and filling the room with smoke and dust.
"Hey," an irate Knives shouted from his hiding spot, "I just finished healing the patient!"
"Sorry." Cyborg apologized.
"Cyborg and I perceived the sound of a young female in distress." Starfire explained as the two Titans entered the medical room.
"That was the Colonel Sanders Special over there." Knives pointed to BB who had morphed into a chicken and was currently laying his third egg. Realizing the danger had passed, BB returned to his human form and emerged from behind the bed.
"BB, buddy!" Cyborg ran over to his friend and gave him a bear hug.
"Our friend is well again." Starfire helped Knives to his feet. "Thank you healer Knives," she smiled.
"Eh he," he chuckled, embarrassed, "I didn't do much. It was all due to the quality of...of the healing machines." He returned her smile but was unable to look her straight into her eyes.
After popping all the joints in BB's body, with the power of his embrace, Cyborg release the flaccid Beast Boy back unto the bed. BB just groaned and flopped unto the covers.
"Come, we must celebrate our friends healing with great amounts of unhealthy junkfood." Starfire grabbed Knives by the wrist and started to lead him towards the Rec room.
"Well I am hungry." Knives said as he and Starfire disappeared out the door.
"What happened to the love? I'm the injured hungry one here." BB shot from the bed and ran after the other two.
"Don't start without me!" Protested Cyborg as he jogged to join the other three.
................................................................................................
As for Robin, he was inside the evidence room: A large spacious, room which contained countless staked boxes, display pedestals and stasis booths to hold and contain the vast amount of weapons, gadgets, artifacts, and tools, both broken and working types, that had been recovered, stolen, withheld, and claimed from the equally impressive list of villains, criminals, and evil-doers that they had taken down and sealed in prison.
There was enough destructive power contained in that room to supply a whole army. For this reason the whole room contained, by far, the most security safeguards than the rest of the Titans Tower combined. Just to enter the room you needed a a pass-card, eye scan, finger scan, and a special password. In addition every single box, pedestal and booth contained their own anti-tampering device. To top it off there were dozens of micro camera covering every inch of the room.
Robin was standing in a corner cataloging the newest addition to their collection into the evidence database, the shiny metallic box that had been taken from Money. The central battery had already been removed and placed in a booth to contain the radiation leakage. But to occupy his time until he heard work of BBs condition he felt it necessary to examine the strange device and put it away.
During his examination he discovered something unsettling. Having placed the object under an electron microscope, Robin scrutinized the inner working of the box. Robin had examined countless pieces of technology before, enough to know that this particular object was constructed from Human technology. The discover came when he was writing down a serial number he found etched into the metal skin. 'U233-BA-001-00013,' the serial read and right below that, 'Property of H.I.V.E."
................................................................................................ Teen Titans is copyrighted Cartoon Network and DC comics. However, this story is a work of my own imagination. I did however borrow/was inspired by part of other series. Which, in a small way, makes this story a bit of a crossover. The most heavily borrowed from series are 'Red Dwarf' and 'Babylon 5.' Remember, this is fan fiction and written for fun so I can do whatever I want.