Hooray, chapter two! Okay, I was totally freaked out last night, because my computer almost crashed (we thought it actually had for a while), and I was like… "Oh no, I just started another story and everyone will hate me because my dad will never get around to actually fixing the computer and I'll never get to update again!" Yeah, it was kinda sucky, but then it turned out that the computer was just being dumb, so it's okay now.
Anyway…wow, 88 hits. Is that a lot? Well, it's a lot more than three, and that's how many reviews I got, but hey. I guess 88 reviews on the first chapter is kind of a lot to ask for.
Okay, this chapter goes back to before the whole BB vs. Slade thing, and explains catches up to it. It's pretty much just what the other Titans did the whole time, so you still don't know what'll happen to Beast Boy. Sorry. Oh, and I still don't own Teen Titans, sadly.
Finally, review responses.
lovex3spell – That opening scene is one of my favorite parts of the whole story, and I'm glad someone else liked it, too. You'll find out about Raven in this chapter, but Beast Boy…well, you'll have to wait a little more. Thanks for the great (and the first) review!
Ryan L. Spradling – Wow, that was possibly the shortest review I have ever gotten. It was also exactly what my sister said when she read this chapter.
Sharon – Thanks, both for the compliments on the story and the typing. And thanks for the review—they give me more reasons to wake myself up at seven in the morning and type. : )
There we go…now on to chapter two!
Silver Wing
Chapter Two: Searching
"Dude! I can't believe you beat me again! That was like, the tenth time!"
"Eleventh," Cyborg corrected, and the normally green Titan's face turned red.
"I guess chess just isn't your game, Beast Boy," Robin said, shrugging.
"Well, it has to be easier if half of your brain's a computer," Beast Boy argued.
"I am unsurprised that you lost, Beast Boy." Starfire studied the rather large pile of discarded white pieces. "How can any king triumph if he only has two knights in his army?"
"It's just a game, Starfire," Raven pointed out, not looking up from her book. "They aren't really declaring war on each other."
"Oh."
Cyborg was already setting up the pieces for another game. "Ready for me to kick your butt for the twelfth time, BB?" he asked cockily.
"Maybe if you didn't use the computer part of your head it'd be a fair game," Beast Boy protested.
"He'd probably still beat you," Raven muttered.
"Hey, it's not my fault the pieces are so confusing," Beast Boy complained. "Maybe you-"
He was cut off by a flashing red light and a siren. All attention snapped to the large screen in the living room, and the blinking symbol.
Twenty minutes later, the Titans were standing outside of the T-car in an old, crumbling, and obviously abandoned area of Jump City. They were staring down two paths of destruction—it appeared that twin tornadoes has swept through, demolishing every tree, building, and light post along the way, but the Titans knew that another criminal had either broken out of prison, or decided that they wanted to wreck havoc for some reason unknown to them.
A light drizzle had started, and storm clouds were forming in the distance. Robin regarded both paths.
"We'll have to split up and search," Robin decided, turning to his team. "Whatever did this can't be in two places at once."
"But two whatevers could," Beast Boy muttered.
"They could," Robin agreed, frowning. "I'll go right with Cyborg and Starfire. Raven and Beast Boy, you take the left. If you find anything, or run into trouble, call us. We'll get there as soon as we can. Good luck, and be careful."
"You too," Raven said with a nod, and she and Beast Boy turned and headed down the left path, Beast Boy as a bloodhound, nose already to the ground.
The other three Titans began to pick their way through the rubble of the right path. Whoever or whatever had come through here had been merciless—buildings had been reduced to debris, and roads were simply chunks of asphalt. Nothing in the path had been spared.
The rain became harder and more persistent as the search wore on. A very wet Starfire floated a few feet above Robin and Cyborg's heads, illuminating the darkening journey with a starbolt held in her hand. The titans began to realize that the destruction was gradually less devastating, but that had little to do with the path's maker. The undamaged buildings were dramatically more decayed, and had obviously been abandoned for a very, very long time. Mostly, there was just less to destroy.
"I do not believe we will find anything," Starfire said after more than an hour of searching. "Perhaps this is just 'a chase of a wild goose'? We have found nothing to reveal the perpetrator's identity, and I am beginning to believe that he is no longer here."
"Maybe this thing came this way first, then backtracked and went the other way," Cyborg suggested.
"A decoy," Robin murmured. "To split us up, maybe. But…why?"
He pulled out his communicator to call Raven, but the second he opened it, Beast Boy's face appeared on his screen.
"Hey, Robin?" Beast Boy said nervously. "You know how you said to call if we ran into trouble? Well, we found some."
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For the first part of the search, Raven and Beast Boy were silent, Raven because she was Raven and Beast Boy because he was a dog, sniffing the ground for a scent to follow.
After a while, the rain had definitely washed away any hopes of picking up a scent, not that he'd had much luck before anyway, so Beast Boy returned to his normal form and walked beside Raven, scanning the ground with human eyes. Occasionally Raven would use her powers to wave aside a large stone or piece of debris, but she was silent. Raven seemed especially brooding today, and Beast Boy wondered if it was because of the storm. Whatever the reason, he waited almost twenty minutes before trying to initiate a conversation, which was unbearably hard for him.
"So, Raven," Beast Boy said finally. "What do you think we're looking for, anyway?"
"I have no idea," Raven responded, not even looking at him.
"Oh…okay." Beast Boy frowned. "Uhm…read any good books lately?"
"None that you would like."
Beast Boy was getting desperate now. "Do you like chess?"
Raven didn't answer, because she had frozen in her tracks, and was staring at something that Beast Boy couldn't see. He followed her gaze to the shadows on the front steps of an abandoned and run down library, and gasped as a figure emerged.
It was Slade. He looked the same as he always had, but in one hand he held a gigantic sword, so big both Titans were surprised that Slade could even wield it.
"Call Robin," Raven ordered urgently, and Beast Boy obeyed immediately, pulling out his communicator and contacting their leader. Raven kept her focus on Slade, and his sword, as he slowly descended the steps.
"Well, well Raven," he said quietly. "I'm rather disappointed. Just you…and your little green friend. I had hoped for more of a challenge. Oh well."
With her black energy, Raven sent half of a two-by-four hurtling in Slade's direction, but he effortlessly sliced in half, sending both pieces to the ground.
Beast Boy was now a grizzly bear beside her. Raven sent a few more pieces of debris at Slade, but they all had the same effect as the wood. Beast Boy tried a more physical approach—charging directly at Slade, but was forced to veer off and change to a bird at the last second to avoid being impaled.
Slade suddenly lunged, no longer just on the defensive, and with a few threatening swings Raven was back against a wall. He pulled his sword back, ready to hew her in half…
…and Beast Boy, as a ram, tackled him in the side at full force, throwing off his aim and knocking them both to the ground. Instead of looking like a victim of a magic act gone awry, Raven only received a shallow cut across the stomach.
However, in the confusion, Raven briefly lost track of both her friend and her enemy for a moment. She heard Beast Boy shout her name, but not soon enough to avoid a blow from the flat side of Slade's sword that knocked her out instantly.
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"…just hurry up and get to Raven, okay? I don't know how much longer I can distract him."
Beast Boy's face flickered off, and Robin snapped his communicator shut.
"He's hurt," Robin said finally.
"And so is Raven," Cyborg pointed out. "But at least she's not off fighting Slade…"
"We better get moving again," Robin said, turning and continuing down the path. He knew that Beast Boy was injured, and fighting Slade by himself somewhere, but there was nothing they could do about it now, except hope that he could last until they could find him.
By the time they found Raven, the storm had reached its full ferocity. She was unconscious, and a little blood was trickling from a shallow cut across her stomach. Robin gently shook her shoulder, and she groaned quietly, and opened her eyes.
"Robin," she said, as he helped her to sit up carefully. "Where's Beast Boy?"
"We do not know," Starfire said solemnly. "Are you all right, friend Raven."
"I'm fine," Raven said, touching the back of her head tenderly. There was a very large bump there, but it was nothing she couldn't easily heal herself. "But Beast Boy's hurt," she continued. "Badly. We have to find him soon."
"Do you know where he went?" Robin asked as he helped Raven to her feet. She wobbled only a little, and was soon walking briskly down the path she and Beast Boy had been following.
"This way."
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Inside of a skeletal house the Titans found Beast Boy's communicator and an awful lot of blood. After that, he was easier to track—a trail of blood led them directly to a building that had collapsed off of the destroyed path. The Titans were immediately moving rocks with care—Raven with her powers and the other three manually.
Robin spotted the gloved hand first. "Beast Boy!" he shouted, and all four Titans focused on the specific area where they thought their friend was buried. Robin reached to shake the still, and terribly crushed and mangled, arm, but Raven moved another rock, just above the elbow, and he froze.
All four Titans stepped in closer and stared at the grizzly object. All were silent for a few moments, dread growing inside of them. Finally, Robin forced himself to speak.
"Find him," he managed to choke out. Without a word, the four Titans spread out to search for their friend, leaving his severed green arm behind.
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That last line creeps me out every time I read it. See, I actually have this terrible fear of amputations and getting my arm cut off (don't bother trying to understand why, I'm just weird), so I felt really brave writing this. And mean, too, but mostly brave. I usually have to leave the room when people on shows get their limbs cut off and stuff--shivers.
Okay, so now I've established that I'm actually proud of myself for being so mean to Beast Boy. But I do that to all of my favorite characters, because…well, I don't really know why I torture my favorite people. Once again, I'm weird.
I hope people don't hate me now…review anyway, please. I swear, I'll get back to Beast Boy next chapter.
Child of a Pineapple