Clash of the Titans by CidGregor
Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans.
Chapter 7
Starfire and Beast Boy, as the only remaining Titans who could fly, sped toward Raven as fast as they could, neither of them paying any attention to the huge Earth Titan that stood between them and their falling friend; an error that cost them almost immediately. The Earth Titan bellowed an earthshaking roar and swung one massive hand downward toward the pair. Starfire just barely managed to dodge the swing and slip through under the monster's armpit; Beast Boy, however, wasn't so lucky. The Earth Titan swatted the changeling like a fly, sending his pterodactyl body careening unglamorously in the opposite direction. Beast Boy righted himself quickly enough, but the moment he began to flap his wings he let out a screech of pain. He glided to the ground and de-morphed immediately, clutching his left arm and writhing in agony.
Starfire meanwhile, unaware of the changeling's predicament, reached Raven and caught her limp form well clear of the ground. She turned and began to circle around, noticing Beast Boy's absence, and heard his screech just as she noticed him too heading for the ground rapidly.
"BEAST BOY!" she shouted.
Cyborg and Robin ran to the changeling's side as he made his rough landing and knelt beside him to inspect the damage.
"Looks like that hit popped the bone in your upper arm out of its socket," Cyborg said, sweeping over Beast Boy with the scanner in his forearm. "Damaged some muscle tissue, too…I can pop the bone back in place, but we'll need Raven to heal the muscle tissue…"
"Owowowowowowowowowow…" the changeling moaned.
"Hold on, BB, I'm gonna get the bone back it place…" Cyborg said, placing one hand on Beast Boy's shoulder and the other around his arm. "Brace yourself, this is gonna hurt…"
"C-can't b-be any w-worse than it a-already is, eh-YYYYYEEEEEOOOOOOOWWW!"
Cyborg jerked the changeling's arm in one swift motion, returning the bone to its proper place, which left Beast Boy gasping in pain but otherwise good as new…mostly.
"Try not to use that arm much, BB," Cyborg said. "Don't want you tearing up the muscle any worse than it already is…"
Starfire touched down with Raven in her arms a second later. "Beast Boy is all right?"
"Yeah…but he's going to need some healing from Raven. If he does much more with that arm he'll just cause more muscle damage," Cyborg explained. "Too much of it and not even Raven will be able to heal him; he'll lose the use of his arm for good."
"We can't afford that," Robin said. "Beast Boy, can you get Raven back to the Tower without using that arm too much?"
"Y-yeah, I can do it," Beast Boy said.
"All right. Get her and yourself to safety. We'll try to deal with the Earth Titan."
"But what if she wakes up and Malchior still has control of her?"
"I don't think he does. Raven took back control right before she passed out."
"But be careful just in case, BB," Cyborg added.
"Okay…you can count on me," the changeling said. "You guys be careful too, okay?"
He transformed into a green gorilla and lifted Raven's unconscious form out of Starfire's arms and draped her carefully over the shoulder of his good arm. With a quick nod to his teammates, he ran off toward the Tower.
"Okay, Titans…" Robin said, eyeing the monstrous Earth Titan. "Any ideas on how to beat him?"
The Earth Titan was ignoring the team completely, instead amusing himself by ripping up streets and sidewalks with his bare hands. Abandoned cars were being flung hundreds of feet away, and the faint drone of the citizens of the city screaming and they fled the scene was ringing in the titans' ears.
"Man…look at it…it's as big as the Tower…" Cyborg commented.
"I fear that our usual tactics will prove ineffective against this monster," Starfire said. "It appears to possess a most immense power."
"You said it, girl," Cyborg muttered. "This thing may be too much for us to handle, Rob…I mean…the Greek Gods were afraid of these guys, and they were…well…Gods! How could we even stand a chance?"
"We won't know until we try," Robin said, but even he spoke with less than his usual level of intensity. "Let's start by drawing him out to the quarry before he hurts anyone else. Titans, go!"
Beast Boy arrived at Titan's Tower within half an hour and laid Raven down on the medical bed, wincing with the strain that the effort put on his damaged arm. She stirred slightly as he put the covers over her, but she didn't wake up. Once the dark girl was settled, Beast Boy turned to the window and drew back the curtains. Twilight poured into the room; the sun had almost set. The changeling scanned the cityscape, trying to see the massive silhouette of the Earth Titan. He found it in the general direction of the abandoned quarry, stomping around aimlessly. Streams of blue and green could be seen criss-crossing around the monster from Cyborg and Starfire's attacks, and he could just make out the small flashes of fire from Robin's explosive birdarangs and bomb pellets.
The quarry…
For the fourth time that day, Beast Boy found his thoughts filled with memories of the earth maiden, Terra. The quarry had been the site of her first real battle alongside the Teen Titans…she had handled herself decently well for being a newbie…until her lack of control became plainly evident when she'd accidentally brought a cave-in down on top of the changeling. He'd been perfectly all right, of course, but it had driven Terra away in fear and shame…and when he found her again, her powers were raging in an unhindered tornado.
The moment they'd shared then…when he helped Terra regain control of herself…that was a moment Beast Boy couldn't help but hold especially close to his heart. He had been there for her when she'd needed it desperately. It was the last truly pure memory he had of her…before she ran away from the titans over an unfortunate misunderstanding. Before she sought out Slade and betrayed them all. Before Beast Boy himself turned away from her when she needed him once again. Before she had given herself completely to save him…
Beast Boy shook his head to clear it. Now was not a good time to get lost on memory lane. His friends were battling a monster of insane power, and from the looks of it, as the blue and green lasers and flashes of explosives pummeled the massive Titan, they were not faring well. It seemed utterly immune to their attacks. The changeling wanted to help, but he had no clue how; aside from not wanting to leave Raven unprotected – or unguarded, if that became necessary – he couldn't do anything with his arm the way it was…
The moment that thought passed through his head, however, there was a flash of onyx light; he glanced down and saw his injured arm wrapped in the light. A strange tingling sensation washed over the injured area, and when it passed, the ache and pain was abruptly gone. He glanced at the bed and saw Raven sitting up in it, her hand pointing at him and her eyes, thankfully, back to their normal color.
"You're awake…" Beast Boy said.
"Yeah," Raven said.
"And you're…um…yourself again…right?"
"For the moment," Raven said. "How's your arm?"
"Good," he said, flexing it experimentally. "How'd you know…?"
Raven gave him a half-hearted smirk.
Beast Boy returned it. "Right…mind-reader…well…thanks."
"Don't mention it." The dark girl glanced out the window at the rampaging rock monster. "I'm sorry…I couldn't stop Malchior from completing the summoning."
"It's not your fault," Beast Boy assured her. "But look, we better get back to the others, the can't do much against the Earth Titan alone…"
"No."
Beast Boy stopped mid-sentence, frowning. "What do you mean, 'no?' We aren't going to help them?"
"Even if we did, as things are, we wouldn't make an ounce of difference," Raven snarled, her temper flaring quickly. "We're not much more than a bunch of flies to that monster."
"Okay, okay, no need to bite my head off!"
Raven squeezed her eyes shut and took a deep breath. "I…I'm sorry, Beast Boy…it's just…hard. Malchior isn't in control anymore, but he's still in my head, and he's trying to get back out…summoning the Earth Titan weakened him, but he's slowly regaining strength…I won't be able to hold him at bay forever."
Beast Boy paled. "You mean…he might be able to take over your body again?"
"Not 'might,' Beast Boy…will."
The changeling reflexively took a step back.
"I can keep him at bay for a while…a few hours, maybe," Raven went on. "We need to make it count. We have to stop the Earth Titan, fast."
"But how?" Beast Boy said. "You said yourself we can't fight it…"
"No. We can't…" Raven said, letting out a pained sigh. "But…"
"But what?"
Raven avoided Beast Boy's eyes as she finished.
"But…I know who can."
"You do? Who?"
"Someone who can fight the Earth Titan on his own playing field…beat him at his own game…who can fight fire with fire…or in our case…fight earth with earth."
Beast Boy's brow furrowed in concentration as he tried to interpret Raven's words…it took about a minute before it clicked in his mind, and a massive array of emotions began fighting for control of his expression. It can't be…can it…?
"To fight the Earth Titan…" Raven said, "…we need an 'Earth Titan' of our own…"
"You…you mean…?"
"Yes…we need Terra. And…"
"And what…?" the changeling whispered, at a loss for words.
"And…I know how to get her back."
END ACT ONE