Hello boys and girls and welcome to chapter twenty-four. Wow over a year of this story, 24 chapters and still going, loyal fans whom always review, and enough grammar mistakes to kill my English teacher. But this has been really fun and my writing has improved, though the grammar sill needs help. Sadly this story will soon be at an end. Exam time has come and gone so now I have a whole summer to get heat stroke a couple of times, thrown in a pool, hang out with the guys and finish this story. Plus after this arch it goes back to single chapters right up until the very end. But I can reminisce about all the good times after this is all over, for now let the good times roll. So before I get onto the story thank you Mr. D 91, Valda, Mortal Guardian, Das Ubermann and Neko Saphira, your reviews really help. All right then, onwards and upwards, chapter twenty-four of The New Teen Titans.
Chapter 24: Sibling Rivalry: Part 2
That same aura that filled the room after a lose once again crowded the Titans as they all stood in the war room, all but one. Though they hadn't lost at all, they beat the villains quite soundly, but that one missing Titan was the cause of their woe. "We don't need this right now," Rave shouted out as he slammed a fist through the solid steel table. "We're so close to finding Slade and our parents."
"Are you saying we need to pick who's more important?" Black Bird said with tears building in her eyes, "my brother or my parents."
The anger drained from Rave in a second upon hearing the anger and frustration in her voice, "Of course not," he said, rubbing her back in an attempt to calm her. She usually never spoke to him above a whisper let alone yell at him and it was enough to snap him out of his angry trance, "This is just a really bad time."
"This is all that Scientist's fault," Android said from where she stood near the door, ready to leave if any word of Beast Lad arose. "The Order has to have something to do with this."
"I agree," Rave said as he stood and clenched his gloved hands into fists. His expression changed from one of action to one of regret quickly though as he unclenched his hands slightly, "someone will have to stay back to watch the city though."
"Me, Alakazam and Mystic can stay," Black Bird said as she instantly perked up and spoke quickly causing the rooms attention to shift to her.
Rave decided to break the silence that followed with a quick, "Alright," before flying off with the robotic teen closely behind him.
"Why'd you draft us into babysitting the city?" Alakazam asked, her irritation obvious in her voice, "I wouldn't mind beating up the guy that did this to Beast Lad.
"He has nothing to do with what's going on with my brother," Black Bird said as she left the war room and headed off towards her bedroom with the confused duo behind her.
"Then why did you just let them go off like that?" Alakazam asked as she followed Black Bird into her room and flopped down on her bed in a huff, Mystic following after with his cloak sweeping the ground.
"I can't afford any distractions," Black Bird said as she flipped through a few books on her shelves. This earned her a simultaneous eyebrow raise from both people in the room.
"Then why didn't you just have us go too?" Alakazam asked without missing a beat.
Finally Black Bird gave up and threw her arms up in a huff, turning on her heels she faced the two and said, "Because I need you to lend me your magical strength, if I plan on defeating The Beast."
"How do you plan on doing that?" Alakazam asked quietly as all her annoyance left the room.
Black Bird paused from where she was putting a book back on her shelf and before putting it back into its place she whispered, "by becoming The Beast."
It wasn't long until the group found themselves in the main room with the curtains thrown over the windows plunging the room in darkness. In salt on the ground was a circle with a smaller circle drawn inside it forming a rim around the outside. In this rim was ancient text of some kind and inside the circle was a three-sided star. In each triangular ray sat one of the magical Titans in the lotus position. "Explain how this is going to work again?" Alakazam asked as she looked around and felt very awkward in her current state.
"My Father turned into a monster out of need," Black Bird began to explain, her eyes still closed. "If he hadn't changed my mom could have died. Beast Lad did the same, only he thought he would die because of his phobia. But there is a big difference between my dad and my brother, my brother, just like me, is a quarter demon. He's no longer himself, he is a monster, a demon whose bent on survival and power."
"Beast Lad?" the blue teen questioned as her voice squeaked to show her scepticism.
"We all have a Beast deep inside of us, my family's monsters are just a bit more intense then others," Black Bird said, opening an eye. She closed the eye before continuing with a sigh, "sadly my brain wont let me release my Beast because I don't have anything to trick it with like getting hit by chemicals. Plus I'm not really connected to my animal self. That's where you guys come in. I plane on using your energies to reach a Zen level and release my Beast."
"How will that help you fight Beast Lad," the magic teen asked, as she was full of questions today.
"Mothers in Azarath have the ability to take their children's powers from them as a way of keeping them in check. My mom does it to me all the time and when Beast Lad scratched me I felt it happen to him, I took some of his power. If I become the Beast I can not only track him down but steal all of his dark powers from him and that should be enough to shock him out of his beast form." Black Bird explained all the while trying to remain focus on what she was doing, "but please, no more questions."
"All right, but just one more," Alakazam said holding up a finger to indicate one. Black Bird didn't say no so Alakazam took it as a yes and asked her question, "why am I here?"
"Do not underestimate your powers," said a deep voice before Black Bird could respond. The attention of the room shifted to Mystic who still sat unmoving as he responded with his eyes close. "The power that runs through your blood has not dulled with age. Only your family's confidence in it has."
Both the girls were stunned by this sudden metaphoric wave from the gigantic Titan and finally Alakazam nodded as she crossed her legs and closed her eyes tight, "What are we waiting for? Lets get this spell underway."
Meanwhile, hundreds of miles away, Android and Rave were in a Star City penitentiary grilling the scientific super villain with everything they had. "I told you all that liquid was just by-product from a failed experiment. Water with food colouring in it would have affected him more."
"Well whatever it was it turned our friend into a giant four-eyed monster," Android said as she slammed her hand into the table of the interrogation room. The Scientist visible grimaced at this as he gulped quite loudly.
"There is no way that liquid would do that," the elderly man said in a very meek tone as he tried to sink lower into his seat.
"Android," Rave said with some force calling Android away from the villain towards the corner of the room. "This guy wasn't good enough to get any information about The Order and I don't think he knows anything about Beast Lad."
"But…" Android began as she glanced back at the cowardly villain.
"We should head back and just try looking for Beast Lad with the others," Rave said as he moved towards the door and opened it for Android. She reluctantly left the room and Rave closed the door behind her. "Now," he said as the Scientist stiffened in his seat as soon as Rave sat down across from him, "remind me, what were you building for The Order?"
"Told you this wasn't going to work," Alakazam said in a huff as she blew a stray piece of white hair out of her face. It had been at least three hours since the three teens had sat and began focusing their energies but so far nothing whatsoever had happened.
"This doesn't make sense," Black Bird said as she reached for the large tomb she had found the spell inside. "This should work," she said flipping rapidly through the pages, desperately trying to find out why her spell had failed.
"Something is blocking our energies." Black Bird's hand stopped in the middle of flipping a page to look over at the largest Titan. He relented opened his eyes for the first time since the spell began and repeated himself, "Our energies are not entering you because something is blocking them. A stress upon your mind which is constantly begging you to do something is blocking the path."
Black Bird was about to respond just as the doors to the main room opened welcoming Android and Rave back into the tower. "He didn't know any…what's going on here?" Rave said as he raised an eyebrow at the cleared out living room and magical symbols.
Black Bird looked at Rave with a shy smile that was always present when she looked at the boy but that smile dropped as she went paler then a ghost. "You're kidding me right?" she said hopefully as she looked back at her magical friends, both of which were shaking their heads in a slow no. Turning away from Rave for a moment Black Bird took one deep breath and upon exhaling stood from her place on the ground and began walking towards Rave.
"Uh Black Bird?" Rave said as his team-mate advanced on him. He never got an answer as his lips were captured in an explosives kiss. At first he didn't respond as Black Bird kissed him standing on her tiptoes with her hands wrapped around his neck but soon he gave in and slowly closed his eyes, wrapping his own arms around her waist. The kiss was actually quick but to the participants it went on forever and when Black Bird broke away it felt like time had suddenly started again.
"I really like you Rave," she said he eyes opened just a little to see the shocked expression on Rave's face.
"She is open," Mystic said from the circle and suddenly a purple energy surrounded his body as a blue one surrounded Alakazam's. Rave didn't even notice until the energy shot from the teens on the floor into the teen in his arms, the colour of Alakazam's skin being ripped away with her energy. Black Bird exploded with white energy that sent Rave tumbling backwards. Putting an arm up to his eyes in an attempted to block out the large white light that seemed to be coming from everywhere. Black Bird bent over in pain as white light surrounded her and shot from her eyes and mouth.
Looking up she whispered "I've done it," then her eyes snapped shut and the light disappeared along with a sound similar to an implosion. The room was dead quiet as the room all stared at where Black Bird lay with her head against the ground and her mouth slightly agar. From his gap in her mouth a strange black mist seeped out. Suddenly two large leathery wings made of the black mist burst from her back. The mist continued to run down to her chest where it didn't changed her body but rather covered it. Forming an exoskeleton of black magic mist. It widened over her chest past her shoulders widening the upper part and making her stomach appear very narrow to spite it actually going past her crouch. Extending to her arms it lengthened both sections and at the end her hands grew much longer with long fingers that had jagged sharp tips. Though under the mist not even her finger tips reached the base of these hands. The same happened to her legs as they grew very long under her and her feet became large bird-like feet with large talons at the end of two toes in front and one in the back. Finally the mist covered her face turning it into a blank ball of mist. Her eyes shot opened under the mist and glowed a blood red as right above them, floating in the mist, two balls of red appeared like beady red eyes.
"Black Bird?" Rave said as he slowly moved to a knelling position and reached out to the black magic monster that had taken the place of his friend.
Almost too fast to comprehend Black Bird stood and extended her wings to their full length one hitting Rave and the other connected with the side of Mystic's face sending both boys flying backwards. The Beast looked around for a moment and just under the mist if you squinted you could still see Black Bird's small body. Arching her back she let out a defining wail that sounded like the screams of a hundred women at an unbelievable disable. The windows shattered as the Titans all covered their ears. Turing its head towards the window The Beast kicked off from the ground and jettisoned out the window.
Rave quickly stood and ran towards the shattered window with the rest of the team right behind him just in time to watch his friend fly over the harbour, propelled by giant wings. Coming up behind Rave Alakazam grimaced and said with a nervous smile, "Maybe this wasn't a good idea."