Author's Note: My apologies for the incredible lateness of this...between work, a bout of writer's block, and the fact that this is the longest chapter I've ever written, it took obscenely long to get this done. Bleh.
Clash of the Titans by CidGregor
Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans.
Chapter 16
The dragon's mouth opened wide, and a jet of flame spewed downward, roasting the spot where the Teen Titans had been standing an instant earlier. The fivesome scattered and regrouped in a loose ring around the dragon, hoping to box the villain in, but Malchior simply spread his massive wings and took to the air. Starfire, Beast Boy, and Terra followed; Beast Boy raked bird of prey talons across the demon-dragon's scaly armor, Starfire pummeled him with star-bolts, and Terra fired jagged rocks toward his eyes and his less-armored belly. But the damage was miniscule; Malchior didn't seem affected at all. He breathed jets of fire in Terra's direction, but she was darting around on her rock platform too fast. Beast Boy, too, was flying too quickly for Malchior's attack to hit with the impressive speed of a bird of prey. But Starfire…
Malchior sneered; the girl was still weakened. Her flight speed was much lower than normal; the perfect target.
Another jet of red flames shot toward Starfire, and again, she just barely managed to dodge the brunt of the assault, but now the flames lanced across her wounded shoulder again, which only made the pain worse. She drifted down to the ground, clutching it painfully.
Robin ran to her, still keeping half an eye on the battle above him. "Star, please, don't force yourself into this fight," he told her. "You aren't fully recovered…"
"I…am…fine," she insisted, but had to bite back the cry of pain that threatened to escape as Robin touched her shoulder.
"This is a bad burn, Star," Robin said, looking at it more closely. "Don't lie to me. You're faster than that; you should've been able to dodge that attack. Star, please, I don't want you putting yourself in danger recklessly like this!"
"And I do not wish to stand aside and watch while this evil creature harms my friends!" Starfire countered.
"Star, how do you expect to fight with a wound like this?"
"I will manage…" she said through gritted teeth. She shook Robin's hand away from her shoulder and charged on foot back toward the battle, too wounded to fly properly. Praying he was not making the wrong choice in allowing her to continue, Robin too rejoined the fight.
Beast Boy, meanwhile, had matched Malchior's size with his T-Rex morph and was snapping at him with foot-long teeth, trying to sink them into a weak spot in the dragon's armored scales. But if such a spot existed, Malchior hid it well. The T-Rex's teeth only clamped down on rock-hard skin wherever they landed.
Malchior suddenly snapped back at Beast Boy, aiming for his head and belching fire. The great green dinosaur twisted and dodged, swinging his tail around at the same time. It struck Malchior across the snout and twisted the snakelike neck around in a complete one-eighty, so that the dragon's flames washed across his own back for a moment before he could stop them. The smell of burnt flesh rose from the wound, but it was not anything serious enough to weaken the monster.
Cyborg fired his hand out from its wrist socket, trailing a thick cable along with it. It wrapped around Malchior's neck a few times and pulled tight, doing the double-duty of choking Malchior, distracting him; and securing itself tightly enough so that Cyborg could reel the cable in and bring himself up onto the dragon's neck. Dangling from the cable arm, Cyborg twisted his body so that he was facing the dragon's charred wound. The half-robot's shoulders opened up, revealing a half-dozen rockets, three in each shoulder, which launched in unison and spiraled into the wounded spot in Malchior's hide. The dragon roared in furious pain and shook off Cyborg and his cable; the half-metal titan fired the thrusters in his feet to ease his landing beside Robin.
"If we can keep hammering that spot, we might be able to cause him some serious damage," the Boy Wonder observed. Unfortunately, Malchior had realized the same thing, and taken to the air again, keeping his back to the sky.
"We gotta bring him back down to the ground if we're going to do any more damage," Cyborg said. "Any ideas?"
His question was answered by a rock digging itself out of the ground at Cyborg's feet and sharpening itself into a harsh point. Guided by the pale gold hue of Terra's power, the hastily-crafted spear fired at Malchior; not at his head or his belly, but at the inside of his left wing. The projectile pierced straight through the soft flesh and tore out through the other side, leaving a ragged hole and a screeching dragon behind it.
"Whoa! Nice job, Terra!" Beast Boy cheered.
"Terra's got the right idea!" Robin called out. "Everyone, aim for the wings!"
Robin hurled razor-sharp birdarangs, Cyborg unloaded his sonic cannon, Starfire let loose her star-bolts with her good arm, and Terra launched a barrage of jagged rocks; all aimed at Malchior's exposed wings. Malchior twisted and dodged as best he could, but his size was his disadvantage now; he was too big a target to avoid all the projectiles. Before long his wings were so damaged, they could no longer keep him in the air. He crashed unglamorously to the ground, snarling at the Teen Titans.
"We've got him down on the ground! Everybody, give him all you've got!" Robin ordered.
But Malchior refused to go down so easily. As Terra began to fly toward the dragon and the rest of the team charged him on foot, Malchior reared his head back, opened his mouth wide, and breathed an incredibly massive wave of fire down on them. Terra, being in the air, was the only one who managed to steer clear of the attack; the others were facing a wall of death rushing at them, impossible to dodge.
Terra, safe and sound, let out a stifled cry. "NOOOOOO!"
The fire engulfed them completely, scorching everything in its path until it was charred black. Car tires melted, street lights turned red-hot…even the asphalt of the street turned soft and gooey. And from Terra's vantage point, her friends had been roasted alive.
"No…NO!" she screamed. "Star! Robin! Cyborg!"
She drifted down to the roof of a nearby building, where her rock platform touched down, and she fell to her knees, sobbing.
"…Beast Boy…no…"
Malchior twisted his snakelike head and sneered at Terra. "NOW DO YOU UNDERSTAND? I RULE OVER ALL OF YOU! I AM THE ONE WHO WILL USHER IN A NEW ERA FOR THIS PLANET, ONE FREE OF YOU VILE MORTALS! NOW, GIRL…TIME FOR YOU TO JOIN YOUR FRIENDS IN DEATH!"
Malchior inhaled for one more burst of flames, but Terra did nothing. There was nothing she could do. Malchior had won…her friends were gone…Beast Boy was gone…
Beast Boy…All of a sudden, the blaze in Malchior's throat was not the only fire building…another was burning white-hot in Terra's heart.
"You…monster…you're just…just like Slade…"
Terra stood up, staring Malchior down.
"You took away from me everything I cared about!" Terra shouted at him. "The titans…they were the most wonderful people I've ever known…and Beast Boy…he was the greatest friend I ever had…and you took him away from me!"
Her hands began to radiate with golden fire, and the ground beneath them began to rumble and quake.
"YOU HEAR ME, MALCHIOR? HE WAS THE ONLY ONE WHO EVER CARED ABOUT ME! HE WAS THE ONLY ONE WHO EVER LOVED ME! AND DAMMIT, I LOVED HIM TOO! YOU HEAR ME? I LOVED HIM, AND YOU KILLED HIM!"
"THEN ALLOW ME TO REUNITE YOU!"
Flames erupted from Malchior's jaws just as Terra threw her own hands forward; half the street ripped out of the ground almost effortlessly and planted itself between Terra and the deadly fire. The flames met the shield of rock and concrete, which, guided by Terra pushed against the assault. The two attackers forced their power against one another, each trying to overwhelm the other. But Malchior's burning flame could not repel Terra's rock wall, nor could Terra force back Malchior's flames.
The two incredible powers fought one another desperately for what seemed an eternity, until slowly, inevitably, one side began to weaken…the flames of Malchior's breath were drawing closer…licking around Terra's shield…forcing it back.
"C-can't…hold it…" she muttered to no one. "Beast Boy…I'm sorry…I wasn't strong enough…to stop him…"
And in the next moment, three things happened all at once.
Terra collapsed, her whole body utterly exhausted.
The shield of rock fell away, leaving nothing standing between her and a firey oblivion.
And a strong, nimble blur of green slammed into Terra from the side and threw her clear of the rushing flames milliseconds before they would have engulfed her.
Terra landed with hardly a sound and rolled almost to the edge of the roof, panting. "Wh…what…who…?"
She looked up, and her heart leapt into her throat. She was staring into the eyes of a lime green cheetah, its fur singed black in a few places, and even worse burns in still more spots. But there was no mistaking the beady black eyes that stared back at her.
Beast Boy. He was alive.
The changeling morphed into his elf form, and the burns on his body seemed to grow more pronounced; the material of his costume had peeled away in a few spots, revealing blackened flesh beneath. He was hurt…but it was a small price, Terra thought, to know that he was still there.
"You…you're not dead…" she whispered.
"Yeah…we don't die so easy," Beast Boy said, half-grinning.
Terra gasped. "The others? You mean they're okay too?"
"We're all alive. I don't know about 'okay,' though…"
"What…what do you mean…?"
"Cyborg was able to shield his human parts with the metal ones, but the flames screwed with a lot of his systems. I dodged most of it taking cover behind Cy…"
"What about Robin and Starfire?"
Beast Boy hesitated. "They're not doing so hot."
Terra's heart fell again. "Are they…?"
"Robin…he's such an idiot…he threw himself over Starfire…tried to shield her…she got away with a couple light burns, nothing too serious…but Robin…"
"No…" Terra whispered.
"His costume is flame resistant…but not completely…he still got some pretty bad burns…Star's not taking it so well…dammit…if there was ever a time we needed Raven's healing power, it's now."
Terra's eyes suddenly focused on something behind Beast Boy. "Watch out!" she shouted, yanking him toward her and rolling off the roof just as another wave of fire rushed at them. The two fell arm in arm for a moment before Terra guided in a rock slab to catch them. But her power was at its end; not two seconds after it caught them, Terra's influence over it faded, and it plummeted from the air.
Beast Boy quickly became a pterodactyl and grabbed Terra by the shoulders, but the wounds across his body made it difficult to do anything more than glide. Their descent slowed, but not enough…
At the last moment he changed back to his normal form and twisted their bodies around so that Terra was lying across his chest, and the changeling took the brunt of the impact. They slammed into the ground, hard; and that was the last that the green titan could take; he was out cold before they had even skidded to a stop.
Terra dragged herself to her feet, shaking. This was it, she knew…Beast Boy couldn't save her this time…she was going to die, right here and now, by Malchior's flames…she was going to die before she ever got to tell Beast Boy how much she cared about him…before she ever got to feel his lips on hers…
Vaguely, she was aware of the dragon standing over her. She turned her eyes up to meet Malchior's…tired, defeated…but proud.
Malchior was not impressed. "TELL ME, TERRA…WHY DO YOU CONTINUE TO DEFY ME, EVEN NOW, WHEN YOU ARE SECONDS FROM DEATH? MY POWER IS FAR GREATER THAN ANYTHING YOU HAVE EVER KNOWN!"
"Some…some power," Terra mocked him breathlessly. "I seem…to recall we turned your wings…into Swiss cheese without breaking a sweat."
Malchior's four furious eyes stared down the earth maiden. "YOU, GIRL…YOU HAVE IRKED ME AS MUCH AS RAVEN HAS, IF NOT MORE SO…FOR THAT, I PROMISE I WILL MAKE YOU SUFFER A THOUSAND…"
Malchior suddenly froze mid-speech. His whole body, in fact, seemed so seize up. For a full five seconds he remained frozen like that, not a single muscle moving.
"…A thousand what?" Terra shouted, her voice echoing in the silent, abandoned street. "What's wrong, can't think of a good comeback? Come on! You want to kill me, then KILL ME!"
But Malchior did not; instead he gave an almighty lurch, reared up on his hind legs and gripped his belly with his front ones like he had a stomachache. He choked out a roar and thrashed his massive tail aimlessly, leveling nearby abandoned buildings in seconds.
"NO…N-NO, NOT AGAIN…CURSE YOU, WITCH, YOU WILL OBEY MY WILL…I AM…YOU ARE…AAAAAHHHHH!"
Malchior pitched forward and hit the ground with a resounding crash, his back to the sky; and out of the blackened wound Cyborg had punched into the dragon's hide, a great black beam of light shot into the sky. And at the head of the beam was a familiar purple-haired figure…
"Ra…Raven?" Terra stuttered. It certainly looked like Raven…but it was Raven as Terra had never seen her before. Her clock and leotard were no longer blue and black, respectively; both were now a bright, radiant white. And the aura about her…it was not the same harsh, unemotional one Terra had grown so used to. It was so much more calm…collected…peaceful, even. Was this the same Raven?
"YOU INSUFFERABLE DEMON GIRL! HOW DID YOU ESCAPE ME?"
The white-clad Raven stared down at Malchior, eyes flaring black. "Easy. I flew."
"I WILL NOT BE MOCKED BY YOU, WITCH!"
"But you will be beaten into a bloody pulp by me, you body-stealing psycho!" Raven shot back. "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!"
A furious fight between Raven and Malchior erupted, the dragon's flames clashing with Raven's telekinetic energy. Terra watched it all from a distance, still incredibly weak, but still able to stand and watch in utter fascination. This was Raven as Terra had never, ever seen before. The power she unleashed was incredible. But it wasn't enough. The core of Raven's raw power was in her demon side, the side that she was battling against now…and losing to.
Terra knew it could not be safe to stand there, helpless. With a great effort, she hoisted Beast Boy up over one shoulder and dragged him away from the battle. Now if only she could find the others…if they were still hanging on…
She found them around the next corner, and let out a yelp of horror; Beast Boy hadn't been kidding. Cyborg looked an utter mess; most of his circuitry had been fried, and the metal titan barely seemed able to stand. Starfire's wounded shoulder was now accompanied by a slash of burnt skin across her lower leg. And Robin…
"My God, Robin…" Terra whispered.
Robin was out cold, his chest slowly rising and falling. His costume was no longer red and green and yellow; the whole outfit had been charred black. His skin beneath was mostly okay, protected by the costume's flame resistance, but was now flushed bright red all over and hot to the touch. His face, however, had taken a glancing blow from the flames, leaving a mark of red between his eyes…
Terra blinked in surprise as she registered that fact. His EYES?
It was true. The material of Robin's eyemask had peeled away and burned off from the same flames that left the mark on his face, leaving his eyes exposed, though still closed.
Starfire, gripping her shoulder with one hand, laid her other hand on Robin's forehead, her eyes red and puffy; Terra could tell she'd been crying.
"Robin…" the Tamaranian whispered. "Why did you do this? Why did you save me at such a great cost to yourself?"
Robin did not respond; he remained still, leaving Starfire that much more worried for him.
A second later, Cyborg noticed Terra. "Oh, man…BB…" he said, seeing the condition of the titan slung over Terra's shoulder.
"Raven…she broke out," Terra informed him. "She fighting Malchior and losing…isn't there anything we can do to help her?"
Cyborg shook his head grimly. "When we're all wounded like this? Not a damn thing, Terra…not a damn thing."
Just behind Terra, Raven and Malchior crashed into view, still battling it out. Terra spun toward them just in time to see the dragon look past Raven, and directly at her…or more specifically…her and the rest of the wounded team.
Terra realized with a blank stare what was coming next.
"Oh, sh…"
With a sudden burst of speed, Malchior forced Raven aside and dashed straight past her. In one fell swoop of his clawed front leg, he pressed down over the titans, trapping them.
Terra heard Raven utter a loud gasp. "NO! How many times do I have to tell you to leave my friends out of this, Malchior? This is between you and me! Stop hiding behind them, you coward!"
"I AM NO COWARD, RAVEN, I AM…AN OPPORTUNIST," Malchior responded. "I USE WHATEVER RESOURCES MAKE THEMSELVES AVAILABLE TO ME. YOUR FRIENDS ARE SIMPLY ONE SUCH RESOURCE…AND A VALUABLE ONE, AND THAT."
"Let them go!" Raven commanded.
"YOU ARE IN NO POSITION TO ORDER ME AROUND, GIRL. IT IS YOU WHO WILL LISTEN TO MY COMMANDS, UNLESS YOU WANT ME TO CRUSH YOUR FRIENDS RIGHT HERE AND NOW!"
Terra tried to gain enough breath to tell Raven not to listen to Malchior, but she couldn't, not with the clawed leg pinning her down so tightly…and she doubted it would do any good anyway.
She was right. After a moment's hesitation, Raven's body slumped in midair. "What…what do you want?" she muttered.
"I AM TIRED OF YOU RESISTING ME, RAVEN…FROM NOW ON, YOU WILL PLEDGE YOUR LOYALTY TO ME, AND NEVER AGAIN SEEK TO REGAIN YOUR PRECIOUS SENSE OF CONTROL."
"Fine…whatever you say…just don't hurt my friends…"
"I'M NOT SURE I BELIEVE YOU."
Raven stared. "What? What are you talking about?"
"PROVE YOUR NEW LOYALTIES, RAVEN. LET'S TRY A LITTLE EXPERIMENT, SHALL WE?"
Malchior made a quick flick of his claws, and suddenly Terra found herself flung out from beneath the dragon's claws, while the rest remained under its pressure.
"IF YOU ARE TRULY LOYAL TO ME NOW, THEN ATTACK, AND DEFEAT YOUR FORMER FRIEND FOR ME."
Raven's eyes flared. "No! I won't hurt any of them!"
"DO IT! OR I WILL CRUSH THE REST OF YOUR FRIENDS TO DEATH HERE AND NOW!"
Raven clenched her fists and locked eyes with Terra, the conflict in here eyes clear. It was painful for the earth maiden to watch…painful, and confusing. Terra was so sure that Raven hated her…why should she be so reluctant to attack the earth maiden now? Surely she would want revenge for all of Terra's wrongs…wouldn't she?
"ATTACK!"
Raven's eyes squeezed shut. Slowly, haltingly, she raised one hand, and pointed it at the blonde girl.
"A-Azarath…"
Terra's shoulders slumped. Yes…Terra thought. That's exactly what she wants…
"Met…Metrion…"
And then Raven paused. A sudden calm came over her. Her eyes opened, and locked with Terra's once again as she whispered the last word.
"Zinthos…"
A flash of black lanced toward Terra; in all reality it should have hit the earth maiden instantaneously…but to Terra, it was moving in slow motion…she tried to move out of the way, but she, too, could only move as though she were stuck in molasses.
'Terra…listen to me very carefully…'Terra would have recoiled, if she'd been able to move properly. Raven?
'Yes…listen to me, Terra…I know things seem hopeless…but I have a plan…and I need your help to make sure it succeeds.'
M-my help? Terra thought.
'Malchior has accumulated massive amounts of power since his return…aside from his own, he has Starfire's energy, and that of my demon side. Once he gets the rest of mine, he will have all the power he needs to raise the other four Titans, and with those five monsters at his command, he will be able to ruin this world…unless we put a stop to him.'
But how? Terra wondered. How can we stop that kind of power?
'You must go into my room and get my magic mirror.'
Your what? Terra asked, confused.
'Don't worry…you'll understand everything when you wake up.'
Huh? When I wake up?
'In order to save our friends, I have no choice but to go along with Malchior…but I am not going entirely. Part of me will be a lot closer than you think.'
You aren't making any sense! Terra yelled in her thoughts, frustrated.
'I told you, you'll understand everything…soon. Listen, Terra…I won't lie to you…if I had a choice, I wouldn't be doing this with you right now…I still haven't forgotten everything that happened the last time I trusted you.'
Terra winced at the implications of that statement.
'But right now, I have no choice. You're the only one who can do this now…you're the only one who can save the world.'
Save…the world? N-no…there's no way I could do that…what happens if I screw it up? Terra asked in a panic. What happens if Malchior wins, and we all die?
'Then the rest of the world won't be far behind,' Raven repeated the words she'd told Beast Boy the night before. 'It's all on you, Terra. All my hopes go with you.'
What…what are you saying…?
'I'm saying…' Raven's voice hesitated. 'I'm saying…that I'm putting my trust in you, Terra. You hear me? I…I'm trusting you…one more time…and I'm begging you…please…please don't make me regret it again…'
Terra was utterly speechless. She…trusts me…?
'Remember…you'll understand everything when you wake up…for now…I'm sorry…but this is going to hurt.'
And then suddenly time returned to its normal flow. Raven's blast of energy struck Terra, hurling her backward and driving her hard into the ground. And with Malchior's laugh ringing in her ears as she finally blacked out, the last thing Terra was aware of was one ominous, chilling thought:
The weight of the world was now resting on her shoulders…
END ACT TWO