Sorry for another long delay, I've been having a rather... interesting summer, and let's keep it at that. Now, onwards!
Chapter 13: Close Calls
"RRRAHHHH!" Robin yelled a battle cry as he swooped downwards, bo-staff in hand. A loud clang of metal resounded as it met the concrete floor.
"Losing your touch, eh, Robin?" A taunting girl's voice laughed, coming from above.
"Bumblebee, snap out of it. This isn't who you really are!"
"How would you know? You don't know anything."
"..."
"See, no reply needed. Now stand still so I can blast you." She powered up her B-Guns, the weapons shining yellow with the energy. Robin narrowed his eyes, and held ready.
"Hah!" Bumblebee yelled out, releasing the stored energy upon the boy wonder. Robin smirked, and spun off to the side, still clutching his staff. Bumblebee mumbled something about annoyances before speeding towards the team leader, her wings flapping hard. Without realizing what she had dove herself into, Bumblebee prepared to punch Robin, and to minimize herself. But she didn't know that the staff he bore had already made it's counterattack, and strung her right in the face.
She stopped, surprise filling up her features. That, and now her head felt really hot and touchy from the blow.
"What the hell did you do that for?" Bumblebee snarled, her brown eyes reflecting danger and pure uncontrolled anger.
"Welcome back, B."
"Huh?"
And so Robin quickly explained what had gone on before, and Bumblebee nodded in understanding.
"So, if I was fighting Starfire, where is she?"
It finally hit Robin that he hadn't seen any of his team at all since he started fighting the Titans East. He felt like a total jerk now, completely irresponsible and inconsiderate of his fellow team mates.
"Uhh..."
"You don't know."
Robin bit his lower cheek and nodded.
"Well, since everyone seems to be alright, and I don't sense any fights going on, it's safe to say they went on home."
"?"
"Oh right, you wouldn't think that because you're the team leader. Knowing that I probably led you away from the others and got separated, they didn't know where you were, and head on home."
"But without me?"
"Something bad must of happened, idiot. I wonder if..." She got cut off as a spinning whirlwind came upon them, coming to a halt just inches away from the pair. It was the Spanish duo, talking very fast and pointing in every direction.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa there! Try again slowly." Bumblebee said, making her hands gesture the meaning of slow by dropping them down slightly. The pair looked at her, and then at Robin. Mas then widened his eyes, and started rapidly speaking again.
"What is it? I don't understand that language..." He murmured, and Mas calmed down. Then Mas got an idea, and pulled out his communicator.
"Of course! That was too obvious." But Mas wasn't done, and continued. Using his own as an example, he tore off the back and pointed at it.
"Whoa, don't break it! Only Cyborg could repair such a thing, and I don't think he has the time..." Mas sighed, exasperated. Robin seemed to notice, and then thought about what he just said. Cyborg... of course!
"Okay, I get it, where did Cyborg go?"
Mas imitated a growling tiger, emitting off a puny squeak as he did so. Bumblebee raised her eyebrow questioningly. Then Mas acted like a horse, then mouse, and finally cat.
"Beast Boy. That's who you're referring to, correct?"
Mas nodded. And then grabbed Menos, and started speeding around the place.
"So, they got in the T-Car and left. How convenient." Mas stopped, and realized that he had forgotten one last thing. He fell to the ground dramatically, and acted unconscious. Not a breath could be seen or heard. Menos blinked at his brother. What a moron..
"We have to get back to the tower. That's where they all are. But first, I think we should round up Speedy and any others."
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Cyborg, deciding not to decline the determined girl's request, went to get a box of painkillers. What did she think she'd be able to do, anyway? In her current condition she could only make things worse... But he knew that she was willing to try, even at the expense of herself. He never knew she valued their friendship so much...
He came back with the box a minute later, noticing the scene ahead of him hadn't changed. Raven was still clutching the railing, staring hard into Beast Boy's unconscious face, something stirring beneath her eyes. Cyborg studied her for a moment. A sparkle appeared under one eye. Was that a tear?
"Raven, I've got them." He announced his arrival, noting how hastily she wiped away the trickle that had just gone down her cheek. Guess she's hoping I didn't notice. Oh well, I'll play along with it.
"Thanks, Cyborg, I appreciate it." She replied coolly, and took the box from his strong grip, and popped open the top.
"Glad I could help out a friend." Cyborg said calmly, sitting down beside the bed. He had done all he could do. He had tried all his latest technological gizmos, and none had worked. It was up to Raven to cure Beast Boy now.
She got into a meditating position, levitated off the ground, and began chanting her mantra softly. She then moved her right hand over to Beast Boy's face, and softly let it touch his skin. She shivered at the touch. She looked at Cyborg once, and gave a reassuring nod that she knew what she was doing. Cyborg didn't do anything, he just watched the Azarathian hover off the ground, black energy crackling in a ring below her.
"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos. Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos." She repeated it over and over, her voice calm and her feelings compressed. If she messed up now, Beast Boy was doomed. Feeling her conscience drift, she empowered the incantation ever more, saying it louder and louder with each turn. And then.. darkness. She couldn't feel a thing, and just hovered in black space...
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Beast Boy was scared. No, scratch that, terrified. He had no idea where he was, or even how he got there. All he could recall was strangling a helpless Aqualad before everything became dark. But the place certainly wasn't the docks. He couldn't hear, see, or smell the saltwater anywhere nearby. All that was before him was a large expanse of trees, and it almost seemed never-ending by how the light betrayed it.
"I've got to get out of here, I've got to get out..." He kept telling himself, encouraging himself onwards through the maze of forest that surrounded him. "Raven needs me..." He walked on for quite a while, nothing being out of the ordinary from a normal forest. But he knew that this wasn't a normal forest. It had a weird feeling to it, and something was missing...
The birds weren't calling. They weren't singing to each other for companionship, as mating season (as he last remembered) had begun. And that struck him odd, for being in a luscious, everlasting area. He heard a growl rise from behind him, and turned to meet the challenge.
It was a wolf. Not just a wolf, but the biggest one he had ever seen. It challenged him unmercifully, saliva slithering down its sharp jaws. And though it was shaped like a gray wolf, it wasn't the color for which it was named. It was completely shaded in different kinds of green.
"Don't mess with me, you don't know who you're up against..." Beast Boy clenched his fists, and began to transform.
Or he thought he was. When he looked down at himself, he was still normal. Still human. Well, as normal as a human he could get. He widened his eyes in fear. A hungry predator was about to lunge at him, and he had no chance to defend himself.
Awww crap...
He prepared himself for the worst. If he couldn't fight beast to beast, he'd have to do it the hard way. Beast Boy slightly bowed to the creature, knowing that pride was an essential to any creature. The wolf tipped his head down, amused that his prey was going by the honor code. And then it lunged.
Beast Boy, knowing all the tactics that animals would do in a situation like this, was prepared for the assault. He dived below just as the wolf was about to bear down upon him, and kicked its unprotected belly. As it fell it cried out in pain. It's prey wasn't as stupid as it seemed. It got back on its feet and howled, angry by already revealing its weakness. Beast Boy just smirked. He had learned that move from Robin, during training practice a long time ago. It was one of the toughest spars he had been in, he gruesomely remembered. That was the first time he had sparred Robin, and he had got his butt whipped.
The wolf jumped again, ferocious now that its honor had just been slaughtered. Beast Boy back flipped and then jumped up just as the wolf touched the ground. He brought out his foot in a frontal assault. His shoe slammed into his target's face, and jumped back.
It was stunned. Not only had its weakness been exposed, his pride and battle scarred face was ruined. And blood seemed to be trickling from its muzzle. Beast Boy smiled as yet another memory of a sparring lesson came out. This time it was with Starfire, the alien princess. He was in wolf form, growling at the red haired girl as she hovered above him, just out of reach. She decided to land on the floor a few yards away. He sprinted forwards, prepared to fling his large body upon her. She merely laughed, and did a backspin in the air, before bringing down her foot heavily on his face. When he reverted back to a human, he was nauseous. Blood was flowing freely from his nose, and his eyes were spinning. Starfire gasped.
"Friend! I am ever so sorry! I had never meant to hurt you so!" He remembered how she treated to him immediately, cleaning off the excess blood from his face. "I fear it is broken... I cannot fix it!"
"No need to worry, Starfire, Raven will heal it, I'm sure. Welcome to the team."
"I thank you for this kind welcome! But tell me, who is this, "Raven" of whom you speak of?"
Beast Boy laughed. That was the day she had arrived on Earth, when she was found by Robin. He was her test, and everyone had come to view the fight, except for Raven, who was not interested in it. She just said that she'll meet the new member in the tower.
He came back to the fight at hand with the wolf. Though it was obviously weakened, it would never give up until death. Or a serious beating that would scar it for life. Beast Boy was going to perform the latter of the two. Nothing was worth killing. Was it?
It gave a howl of anger, and flashed with unbelievable speed around him. It went to dive onto his back, when Beast Boy just sidestepped out of the way and kicked the thing in the rear. How odd, how this battle seemed to resemble that of with his friends... Of course, that manuever was what Cyborg had done to him, on one of their first spars against each other ever. Beast Boy was only allowed to pick one creature to turn into, and he decided to be a wolf. He didn't know why, but he always chose the wolf for fighting. Maybe it represented his personality traits in a fight. Or it was his favorite animal. Nevertheless...
The wolf gave another cry of dismay at how easily his prey was taunting him, beating him. How could something that reeked of puniness be so... strong? And wise? It decided to give one last frontal attack, and sped straight towards the green human. Beast Boy tensed, already knowing his next move. But how was he going to pull it off? The wolf panted as it sprinted towards him, tongue lolling out from between his sharp teeth. The blood had stained his fur red, and now there were streaks of where it had drizzled down. This was going to be its last move, and both of them somehow knew it. Just as it had almost succeeded in ramming into Beast Boy, the green human jumped up, and sprang back down, and lashed out his right hand onto its spinning tail. It screeched as Beast Boy stopped its speed rush to a dead halt. Then, with inhuman strength, Beast Boy flung it into the air, spun it above him, and brought it down with a large crash.
He knew that move very well, as it had been performed on him many times. Well, not quite the same as the original, but close enough, given notice that he didn't have her powers. Yes, Raven had done that move on him. Except, she did it solely focusing with her mind. She just gave him the grim, set look everytime, as he either complained how he got his butt kicked, or how it hurt. All she did was stare at him, a complete monotone. It usually was creepy, and he'd stop his tantrums fast. And hitchhike his way back to his room.
That's exactly what the wolf did now, hightailing it back to its den, tail shuffled between its legs. Beast Boy just sighed as he watched it go. He knew that wasn't going to be the last time he was attacked. And without his powers, how would he be able to do it? He could always resort to doing what his friends did on normal occasions against him, but he doubted that he remembered them all. How would he manage an aerial attack? Could he?
I can, and I will. And with that, he strolled onwards through the forest, feeling relieved with the soft rain that began to fall.
Author's Note:
Yay, I wrote another chapter! And it was fun doing it too! Maybe I should get back into the writing business... Anyway, please review, I'd love it ever so much!