FarCry
Part Six
"I'm not a bad guy." Jinx said defensively.
She stood in the circle of Titans in the center of the common room. Her slender arms were crossed over her chest, her hips turned to the side. The grey interior of the room was matching their mood, Jinx could tell from their narrowed eyes and cocked heads that they weren't buying it.
"Yeah, right." BB replied.
Celine waved her hand to quiet him. "You'll have to forgive us… we're just a little overly cautious about bad guys that want to do good."
"My word may not be worth much, but I'll give it to you. I'm hoping we can help each other."
"Help each other how?" Aqualad asked.
"You want to get back someone precious to you… I want to save someone precious to me."
Robin crossed his arms over his chest. The movement shifted his pony tail to fall over his back. Jinx had been stunned with the physical changes she had seen in the Titans, especially Robin and Beast Boy, or BB as they were referred to him, but what could she expect after not seeing them for four years?
"We're listening." Robin finally said.
"A few years ago, I infiltrated the HIVE to get to Blood, because I knew he was working for Washu. Blood and Washu have been working together for years, much longer than you're aware of. Washu made him some promise and Blood is doing whatever Washu wants to get it."
"What does Blood want?" Cyborg asked.
"Don't know… but I do know what Washu wants."
"To bring about the end of the world. We already know that part. Tell us something we don't know." Robin demanded.
"The reason I infiltrated the HIVE is because… Washu has my brother and I want him back. I did everything Blood said so I could get close to him… but eventually he caught on… but only after I found out Washu's location… and that's why Blood attacked me, so I wouldn't tell you about Washu… Washu has my brother: he has Raven." Jinx replied.
Robin stepped forward. "Do you know how to get to them? To where Raven is?"
Jinx nodded. "There's a path to Washu's hideout located not far from the bromide cave where you found me… I was on my way there when Brother Blood caught up with me."
"Take us there!"
Jinx shook her head in the negative. "I can't."
"Why not?"
"The way is a portal with a time trigger… it opens every six days to the Wahan Cave where Washu is hiding. I could have opened it tonight, but it's closed now and I won't be able to open it for another six days…"
Celine turned to Robin. "If she can't open the way for six days…"
Cyborg turned to Robin as well. "We've got to protect Jinx for six days…"
Jinx shook her head. "You don't have to protect me."
Robin disagreed. "Yes we do… you're our way to saving Raven."
…
Beat, Beat Heartbeat.
After her heartbeat, the first thing she became aware of was her skin. It was on fire. The marks of Scath were flaring against her body, her forehead, her arms, her chest and legs, every inch of her body burned with the consequences of her prodigy.
My face… someone is touching my face… Their fingertips… are cold… it hurts…
Her mind was awoken. After years of disconnection; the sensation of touch; of warmth, of pain were all the same. What should have been calming was on fire; the feel of touch was torture; all she could feel was the pain of existing.
She should have felt drowsy but she didn't. The return of consciousness was immediate. That was why she felt the full effect. The sting in her cheeks opened her eyes wide.
Raven's eyes opened, the light flooded into her huge irises but she didn't blink. The room became clear to her, the shapes didn't blur on anything, but the concentration sight required made the close up and threatening much more difficult to discern.
Everything about her looked grey and brown. But the earthy feel was nothing close to calming, because she had felt the full treachery of the land. Raven's eyes focused and she saw her face. She looked older; the roundness of her face was changed for sharp plains. Her eyes were the same color; behind them she could see the hint of mischief had been replaced with a glare of deviousness.
"Wake-y, wake-y… eggs and bac-y." Terra's smile was sinister, her tone was patronizing and the gleam in her eyes was evil.
Raven furrowed her brow, sinking her eyelids into a dangerous glare. She could tell from the position of her body that the sting in her cheek had come courtesy of a backhand slap from the leering blue eyed harpy standing over her.
"Terra." Raven sneered.
"Good morning Raven… did you have a good sleep?"
Her body moved by reflex, her hand tried to rise to purge her energy, but the tap on her soul kept the dark energy twirling inside her. Though her heartbeat had calmed, the blood was pounding in her veins and in her ears. Her fingers slowly traced up her stomach to her chest, the drum of her heartbeat pushing and sinking the pads of her fingers for a few seconds before she moved those fingers up again until she encountered what she knew she'd find.
Terra was bold because she wasn't stupid, she was protected. Raven found the chain was still clamped around her neck… but something was different… time had made everything different. Raven wasn't laying on the ground, she was on a bed, more like a cot in the center of a room she didn't recognize.
She could feel from the slow flexing and retracting of her fingers that time had past, a lot of it.
Four years to be exact.
Beat Beat Heartbeat.
Stay calm… your heart… you need to stay focused… Azarath… Metrion… Zinthos…
But her heartbeat drummed on, the furious beat forced sweat from her face, her muscles clenching. The strong front was no match for the inevitability her body was submitting to. Her breathing came fast and uncontrolled and as much as she wanted to hide it, her face showed her terror. She was twenty years old and in the strong hold of an enemy that she… and sadly her friends hadn't been able to stop…
And with the portal whirling and opening, letting in three new occupants, Raven knew it was too late to stop any of it.
…
When Jinx said she didn't need the Titans to protect her, she meant it. The half demon had collected an assortment of hexes and spells that could protect the entire tower if she was given enough time and quiet to create them.
Celine and Cyborg watched Jinx press her look-over-me hexes along the base of the tower, the girl was frowning.
"They aren't as strong as I wish they were. This is an incomplete hex skill for me…"
"They'll be good enough. We want to keep off of Blood's radar for as long as possible." Cyborg replied.
"These will only be good for three days… In the meantime, I'll make more."
"But you said they exhaust you. Will you be alright?" Celine asked.
"I'll be better than if Blood catches me…" Jinx replied.
"We won't let that happen Jinx. You can trust me." Cyborg said.
Celine nodded. "Maybe I can help you." The trio entered the tower. Behind them the hexes were taking effect. Titans' Tower was locked under the protection of Jinx's spell: while their friends could access the tower, those with evil intents wouldn't be able to find it.
Jinx had been at the tower for three days: though the second and most of the third day she spent asleep. The half-demon used nearly all of her energy to create a series of hexes and curses that would protect the tower… but she needed Raven's books and scrolls to do it. Robin hadn't liked the idea one bit, to ease his mind Celine and Cyborg, and sometimes BB, stayed with the girl as she generated hexes and stargazing in Raven's room.
When Jinx made it clear to Robin that she had some knowledge of what was happening with Raven and Washu, he demanded she tell him everything she knew.
"Telling you everything would be impossible… there's a lot of things I don't still understand and possibly even more that I don't know." Jinx admitted.
"Just tell me what you do know and we'll work from there." Robin said.
Robin, Jinx, Cyborg and Celine sat behind the closed door of Cyborg's room.
"Washu is a servant to the demon king Doomgaze… Doomgaze has invested a great deal of interest in the return of Trigon and has enlisted his own minions and minions of Trigon to bring about Trigon's return."
"Do you know what they're doing and why it's taking so long?" Cyborg asked.
Jinx frowned and turned her head away.
"Jinx, you have to tell us! Is Raven okay? Did they hurt her?" Robin asked.
"No, not hurt… not yet, I don't think."
"You don't think?" Celine asked.
"I don't think because I don't know… I know their plan for her… but I can't be sure if they've enacted it yet…"
"What have they done to her?" Robin asked.
Jinx shook her head in the negative. "I won't tell you… if it hasn't happened yet, there won't be a reason for you to know… if it has happened… you'll be very much aware of it."
"That's not good enough, Jinx!" Robin yelled, standing from his chair.
"It's not my place to tell you, but if I can, I'll stop it."
"Why do you care what happens to Raven?"
"Because the fate of her life and my brother's are tightly connected. If I can save my brother, you can save Raven…"
"Your brother… is Tetris?" Celine asked.
Jinx nodded. "He's being controlled by Washu and has been for years… but I think there is something here, maybe in Raven's books, that can save him."
"We'll help in anyway we can, but saving Raven takes priority." Cyborg replied.
"I understand."
"This doesn't mean we trust you or that all the history between us is destroyed." Robin said. "If you give us any indication that you're going to double cross us---"
"I don't blame you for not trusting me. I haven't given you any reason to yet except my word… but I can let my actions speak louder."
Robin had reluctantly given Jinx access to Raven's books. He didn't like the idea of her in Raven's room, in their home, because in all the time he had known Jinx, Jinx's handle had always been to hurt or embarrass Raven. It didn't come to him easily that if she could act well enough to fool Brother Blood for years that she couldn't act well enough to fool them for six days. He didn't want to trust her, but if there was any chance she could get them to Raven, Robin was going to take that risk. He entrusted Cyborg and Celine to keep Jinx in sight.
Cyborg was the more constant of a presence; however Jinx and Celine were quickly becoming friends.
"Any experience with hexes?" Jinx asked. The two older girls walked slowly through the corridors, leading back towards the bedroom they were sharing.
On the first day Jinx had walked amongst the Titans, she had walked with Celine past the medic hall and seen Sakura sleeping. Jinx had seemed hesitant and more than slightly upset to see Sakura laying as she was. Speedy watched Jinx watch Sakura. Jinx waved a hand over Sakura's chest and frowned with what she found.
"Do you know something?" Speedy asked.
"This has the stench of Washu's power all over it." Jinx replied.
"Can you…"
Jinx shook her head in the negative. "I don't have that kind of power… Time is the only remedy."
It was one of the reasons Jinx was staying with Celine, was because Sakura wasn't waking up. The other reason was because someone had to watch Jinx and Celine had the only unoccupied bed in the tower. Celine had been able to pull information from Jinx, some of which she was ready to give and other had to be pulled and prodded. Most of the information revolved around Brother Blood.
"Not so much curses," Celine began, answering Jinx's question, "Runes, but they weren't successful."
Jinx nodded. "I remember you… you were Red Hawk."
"I was wondering if you'd recognize me." Celine admitted as she stood over her desk, looking down at the severed halves of her Fire Fly cannon, the weapon that had severed it also lying on the desk.
"It's hard to forget a beating like that." Jinx admitted.
"I took one more than I gave one." Celine replied.
"You almost beat me." Jinx replied.
"But I didn't."
Those years ago, when Red Hawk had entered the eye of the HIVE academy, Jinx was already the star pupil of the headmaster. Red Hawk had wanted to stand exactly where Jinx had, and managed to push her way until she stood toe to toe with Jinx… and Brother Blood had taken great interest to see them fight. Just like Celine wanted him to, but the consequence of getting Blood in her hand was being taken down a peg in his eyes when after nearly two hours of battling, Jinx managed to withstand their collision and Red Hawk hadn't. So Jinx moved closer and something gave Brother Blood the warning to keep an eye on Red Hawk, that eye found her out and drove her away without getting what she had come for.
But with Brother Blood's star pupil sharing secrets and plans with the Titans, Celine might be able to get all the information she needed to finally defeat Blood.
Jinx looked across Celine's side, she was too short to look over Celine's shoulder, and saw the severed weapon and the sword that had severed it. "We had the same plan… But Blood was too smart."
"We'll see about that."
…
Robin went to bed, unable to calm his heartbeat. Something was burning him inside, something close to a fear that he hadn't felt in years. He had been uneasy, yes, for the last few days with Jinx being the person holding his chances to getting Raven back, but this was something more than distrust and nervousness… it was terror and it wasn't coming from him.
Raven?
…
Slade watched Raven struggle pathetically against her bonds. Washu stood beside him and Tetris beside him, the full demon watched Raven squirm as well. The half demon under Washu's influence did not see anything.
"Why do you struggle? There is no place for you to go, no place for you to hide… no one to rescue you from your fate. Why not accept what you've known all along? You're going to destroy the world… its written all over your---"
"Stop it! I won't! You can't do this!"
"You're right Raven. We can't do anything… all the world's destruction lies within you… The marks of Scath indicate every element of your destiny: your power, your fertility, your readiness." Slade replied.
"Come on. Do it… I want to see you break Raven." Terra's older face bore years of hatred focused on the helpless mystic. She had waited for this, she waited for the moment when all of her efforts would come together and break Raven the way she deserved.
"Break her?" Washu asked, looking between the restrained Raven and the manipulated Tetris. "This is the beginning of the grand opportunity. Any daughter you would have bared would be the portal of Trigon... But this child is special. She will fuel Doomgaze and Trigon both for their wars... her creation alone will spark the great power to annihilate the time of mortals."
"What if it's a boy?" Terra asked, flicking her eyes to Tetris.
"Facilitated transfers are precise and always females." Washu replied.
Raven shook her head refusing the hear them talk above her as if she had no chance to stop them. Her mind was attacked; the initial reprieve she had experienced when she regained consciousness was snatched away as Washu made his preparations for bringing about the end of the world.
…
Celine left Cyborg to watch Jinx as the girl genius went to meet with Robin. The Titans' leader had become something more than fidgety since the moment Jinx had revealed that she knew something.
It frustrated them both that she didn't reveal everything. Jinx' knowledge held the future of many things: Raven, Celine's future with the Titans, the future of the world… and Jinx was holding it tightly under look and key.
But something else was bothering Robin, something Celine didn't have the audacity to believe she could comprehend. He walked around the tower in pain, a feeling in his stomach that told him something was wrong. Something with Raven and something he could do nothing about.
Starfire had admitted her worry about Robin and Celine knew she had every justification. The beautiful alien princess watched her best friend pace back and forth, back and forth in the evidence room. He had been pacing for hours, marching past the bulletin board that had been littered for years with testaments of Slade's atrocities, expect now none of them were recent. All of Slade's activities were in the past when Robin had the capacity to stand against him, but now, in the constant burn and howl of the present, Robin couldn't bare to look back because it only added to that sick feeling he felt in the hollow of his stomach.
Starfire watched her friend move, racked with the beginning of fever and dog piled under four years of failures and dead ends. It had taken all of Robin's abilities as a leader to hold their team together, what was left of their team anyways. They weren't the same people any more.
Starfire had seen the future once… and it had looked nothing like this.
BB was handsome, there were new players in their lot, villains were in power and Robin was still Robin: he didn't have the capacity to change, not yet and everyday, every moment of his young life; it was eating away at him.
Star hadn't the authority or the capacity to ease his troubled mind. She loved him, as a brother in arms, as a friend, but nothing more. She had gotten over the heartache of giving him away. She and Robin both knew the pain of loss, but while Starfire could let go, letting go was not an option for her friend and through that narrow divide, Starfire didn't have the capacity to help him.
Celine entered the room, standing beside Star, their shoulders nearly square as they watched the masked hero pace and fight fever.
"Robin, are you alright?" Celine asked.
Robin ignored her, rubbing his head were he stood. He couldn't explain the pain that was running through him, had been running through him for the last few hours. It had started out something so simple as an increased heartbeat, but eventually the pound and drum in his chest was overcast by a tight pain in his head and a panic that made his throat dry. He couldn't explain it. He hadn't felt this terrible in years.
But he had to pull it together… We're so close… we've almost got her back… just a few more days… a few more days…
"Celine, has Jinx put up the hexes for the next few days?" Robin asked.
"No, not yet."
"Take her out to… put them up… Tell Cyborg to check the… network for any sign of Brother Blood."
"Right."
That had been the battle plan and that was the alignment of players in Titans' Tower… when the world ended.
…
Raven watched in horror as Washu turned to Tetris.
She had seen that brutal magic before. The blow struck Tetris in the chest, dead center, directly in his heart. And in the moment that the black coil connected an energy emerged. Tetris' body shook as the dark pink sphere of his life force was pulled from him, his body becoming stiff when the final waves of his spirit were pulled forth.
Washu and the other high members of the Slade Syndicate didn't bother to watch the half-demon's drained body crash to the floor. His gold crown splintered and fell off his head. The gold frame rolled away, over the spill of his dark pink hair. Raven didn't notice either, as Washu approached baring that dark energy.
Raven's eyes widened in panic as Washu hovered over her, his dark eyes and evil power manipulating the energy he had stolen from Tetris. Raven tried to look away, tried to struggle free from her bonds but she couldn't. Her power was conquered.
"This is the energy sire… from this power your daughter will be born…One year from her birth… she will be as you are and on the anniversary of the day you were born… the portal will be torn from her."
Raven's breathing was jagged, her chest rose and fell meeting the crash and drum of her heartbeat. She tried to summon some part of herself, some dark and terrible part, dangerous, furious, anything she didn't care, as long as it was strong. She couldn't let this happen.
"I will have destroyed you long before then…" But the tears were in her eyes and her body refused to let her mind stop the terrible thing it was programmed to do. She heard it in her voice… she couldn't stop it…
And Slade knew it. "How can you hope to protect your daughter when you can't defend yourself?"
Terra watched the tears flow down Raven's cheeks as Washu and Slade continued to torture the mystic with the inevitability of her destiny. The dark power Washu had stolen was no contrast to the beautiful thing he had hunted from Robin, but what Tetris' energy meant satisfied Terra immensely.
Does it hurt Raven? Does it pain you to know that there's something stronger than you? Something better than you? How long before you remember that this is from what I did to you? Because I'll remember every day…
"Today, you're going to be a demon bride. We'll tie you to the portal and forever link you as the wife to the gates of Hell and eternity" Washu declared.
"No, you can't…"
Slade shook his head in amusement. "Of course I can dear girl. Have you ever known me not to get exactly what I want?"
Raven's eyes narrow and for a second she could feel her dark energy growing. The quick stab of pain in her head dropped sweat into her eyes and down her cheeks like tears. "You will get exactly what you have coming to you."
Slade nodded. "So it seems."
And then the words stopped.
Washu stepped forward again, once more and leaned over Raven. He raised the energy before their eyes, before lowering his hand over her stomach. The energy coiled and flexed as if it were a living breathing thing. The power responded to Raven's energy.
Most women couldn't resist a Transient for more than five seconds…
Raven lasted thirty.
…
"Endari Ende Mortix."
The thin slips of paper stiffed with each of the cursed words. Celine watched, as the wind pulled her hair into her face. She raised a single slender hand to block the delicate red strands from falling into her vision. Jinx flung the hexes forward as if they were an ace and king of spades in a hand of blackjack. The papers cut through the air, stiff and guided to stick to the panels on either side of the door to Titans' tower.
"They'll last another three days… just long enough before I can open the Wahan passage. I hope I'm not too late."
"Too late for what Jinx?"
"I can't say."
"You can and I wish you would. You know something Jinx, you know a lot more than just where Raven is and what's happening to her… what you know… we need to know."
Jinx shook her head in the negative. "Knowing what I know will not give you any peace of mind, Celine. Trust me."
"I want to Jinx, but you have to give us something… do you see the way this is tearing Robin apart? Even if it's only three more days… we can't go on knowing that there is more to know."
"Did you know that in the language of my home world both Celine and Robin mean the same thing?" Jinx asked, ready to change the subject.
"No, I didn't." Celine replied, prepared to play along.
Jinx nodded. Celine frowned when Jinx didn't give anymore.
"Are you going to tell me what it means?" Celine finally asked.
"Slated for destruction!"
…
Beat, Beat Heartbeat
Beat, Beat Heartbeat
Beat, Beat Heartbeat
Beat, Beat Heartbeat
Beat, Beat Heartbeat
…
Celine moved just fast enough to push Jinx out of the way and clear herself from danger as Brother Blood dropped his weight into the earth. The land cracked and shattered beneath the force of his kick. Jinx's eyes widened at the pothole Blood's foot created, blanching at the thought that the strike was meant for her head.
Celine pulled Jinx to her feet, keeping her body between Jinx's and Blood's. As silly as it seemed to her to do, Celine balled her fists and took an offensive martial arts stance. Jinx's eyes widened: there's no way she's considering…
"Jinx, get inside the tower!" Celine demanded, not looking back at the shorter fighter.
"Are you insane? You can't beat Blood!" Jinx replied, not ready to abandon her friend.
"I don't need to beat him. I just need to keep you safe. Get inside!"
"No! There's no way I can---"
Brother Blood interrupted their argument with a spinning strike. Celine pushed Jinx backwards, raising an arm to block Blood's next shot.
"Get inside Jinx! Tell Cyborg to initiate the Tower Lockdown: Code 0-1."
Celine pivoted herself to defend against Blood's attack, but the superior fighter found an opening and delivered a brutal kick to her midsection. The long haired woman staggered back, dropping into a crouch. She held her bruised middle with one arm, the other keeping her from falling flat to the ground.
"Jinx! Go! Initiate the lock down! I'll be fine, but if you get hurt we lose Raven! I'll risk getting a beating, but I will not risk losing this opportunity!"
"And neither will I!" Blood leapt forward and delivered a straight jab that knocked Celine the final distance to the ground. When her back struck the ground, she was relieved to hear the door to the tower open and shut and at the same time able to hear Brother Blood's footsteps approach her.
Jinx is in the tower… Vic will initiate the lockdown… All I've got to do now… is survive…
Celine pulled herself to her feet. She staggered, she wasn't meant for hand to hand combat. But life was doing things you're not good at. Her fists readied again, her high heeled boots sunk into the soil.
Blood looked her up and down, that smile of absolute knowledge was pulled against his features… and when Celine recognized that look, she realized that Brother Blood hadn't come after Jinx…
He was after her… her life… to destroy her… just as he had Red Hawk…
And she had given it to him. Celine frowned. Blood had outsmarted her again.
Brother Blood seemed proud of himself as he stared the Titan genius up and down. Somewhere, in the discovery of not one, not two, not three, but four spies in his mitts, Brother Blood had gone mad. Though domination through manipulation was still his main objective, destroying the four traitors, one by one, was a satisfaction he would not deny himself.
Blood's impatience won out and the skilled martial artist sprung forward. Celine dropped just low enough to absorb most of the blow with her crossed arms. Her feet moved as Blood did, letting her wrists and forearms take the extent of his attacks. The way Blood moved was menacing, he wasn't trying to beat her; he was trying to tear her down, inch by inch, blow by blow.
Brother Blood was simply a better fighter than Celine. It didn't take long to beat her. Celine struggled as Blood wrenched her arm behind her back. She could feel his leer as his face leaned in.
"You're the second half in my first of many… do you know what it feels like to trust those closest to you, those who you gave your absolute all to… only to have them use your skills, your knowledge, your abilities against you?" Blood's voice made Celine sick. The answer to his question burned in her throat. She knew that he already knew the answer: he knew that the question would send fire inside her and that was what he wanted. He wanted to destroy her when she was burning the way he was.
He might have gotten her to burn… but he couldn't beat her… not if Cyborg had anything to say about it.
Blood's eyes opened wide when he heard the battle cry of his number one nemesis. Both Celine and Blood looked up in time to see Cyborg descend upon them with an arm thrown back to deliver a hammering punch. Blood smiled and tossed Celine aside, giving him enough time and leverage to prepare a block. Cyborg's massive arm crashed against Brother Blood's defenses. The cybernetic hero knew it had to hurt Blood to take that shot, but the leer on Blood's face showed pleasure not pain.
The stare down kept Celine's attention even as Jinx helped her to her feet. She wanted to yell at Jinx to get back into the tower, to stand back with the others, but somehow she knew, from the way Cyborg glared at his nemesis and the way Blood leered at all three of them, that Jinx was supposed to be there. Jinx pressed something into Celine's palm, not looking Celine in the eye as she did.
"You might want this." She said softly, her eyes trained on Brother Blood.
Celine looked down at it, clenching the weapon tightly in her hand. She took a step out of Jinx's space and held Red Hawk's sword firmly at her side.
"Once again, three of my most talented students are standing before me… but this time, they're showing their true faces… Is that what it takes? Showing up at your home? Because you're all obviously willing to put on masks in mine!"
Cyborg trained his sonic cannon, the massive weapon charging as the air passed. "We aren't your students. We're the good guys."
Blood took a stance. "No matter what you want to say, the truth is the truth. All three of you were my students; you came to me to become a part of me…" His eyes shifted to Jinx. "My best," his eye shifted to Celine "My most brilliant" then finally back to Cyborg "and my favorite, the one who had the most potential. Cyborg, you came to me and I gave you the best of what I had."
Blood dashed forward. Cyborg unleashed a frenzy of sonic shots, but Blood moved swiftly between them. Cyborg watched with great focus as Blood leaped into the air for an attack. He smiled coolly when Jinx delivered a drop kick that knocked Blood off balance. The expert gymnastic tumbled and recovered, setting her feet to stand side by side with Cyborg. Blood pulled himself up; his insanity was beginning to morph his features.
"Jinx! You were just a sniveling little girl before I nursed all your powers! And this is how you repay me?"
Jinx and Cyborg stood tall side by side.
"With all your power, Brother Blood, you never saw everything we could do… your best offered us nothing!" Cyborg replied.
"NOTHING! You called the ability to rule the world nothing?"
"Brother Blood, you couldn't even control your school." Jinx replied.
"You will pay for your insolence! All of you will pay!"
Celine turned her head just in time to witness the approach. They were all coming, all of them… every single student in the HIVE academy. The red haired genius took a step backwards before realizing that that move didn't put her anymore out of danger. She had the wrong weapon, her back was to Brother Blood and the HIVE academy was approaching…
Brother Blood stood up fully, dusting off his arms. "Now look… here come all my good children to teach all the bad ones a lesson."
"Jinx." Cyborg said firmly. The pink haired demon nodded. "Right." Cyborg sprung forward and Jinx tumbled backwards. The ensuing fight between Blood and Cyborg would have been one Celine would have liked to watch, but the path of Jinx, meeting the HIVE academy was one that demanded her attention.
Jinx's back flips and flip flops threw her body between Celine's and the incoming HIVE academy. Her eyes took on their terrible pink glow. With a swing of her hand, echo waves were purged and dashed through the air. The pink energy bolts cut down the approaching fighters, but more and more replaced the fallen and all of Jinx's spins and slashes couldn't keep them away.
Side by side Celine and Jinx readied their feet for the combat that was coming.
Cyborg ducked under Blood's attack and delivered a fierce uppercut, knocking the HIVE Headmaster into the door of Titans' tower. Cyborg ran forward with an arm drawn back when he heard the pitiful cry. He turned his head just in time to see a charge from Mammoth lay out Jinx as a hook from Private Hive knocked Celine to the ground. The whole of the HIVE academy circled the two fallen girls.
Immediately he turned and prepared to charge, but Brother Blood had other ideas. He snuck in behind the cybernetic hero and delivered a wrenching jab just under Cyborg's arm, his fingers furrowing deeply and severing connections. Cyborg's eyes widened in shock just as he dropped to the ground in surprise.
"How did you?"
"I might as well have built you for everything I know about you… and with everything I know I will tear you apart!"
Blood dashed forward to capitalize. A green energy bolt knocked him away. Cyborg lifted his head and saw the Titans' descend into the fray. Robin unleashing a blizzard of exploding disks as a massive tidal wave slammed into the backline of HIVE students. Tameranian powerhouses cleared the way, allowing a green gorilla to pull Celine and Jinx to safety.
Celine clenched her weapon firmly and the same moment Jinx stood up as well. The two didn't even look back as they joined Cyborg in taking down Blood. Beast Boy and Starfire both watched for the two join the fight before the green eyed pair turned to the battle taking the attention of the rest of the Titans.
Two distinct battles waged on. The odds were the same in both, three against one, while good outmatched evil in the smaller circle, the greater Titans force were greatly outnumbered. But not out matched.
HIVE students fell left and right as eye beams, bo-staffs and drop kicks flew through the air with years of trained accuracy. There was something to this fight, something more intense then any of them could claim. This fight was one step closer to the thing they all wanted: winning this fight would destroy the second to last thing standing in the way of them getting Raven back.
Starfire grabbed Robin's arm and spun him in a powerful circle, his long legs lashed out in a tornado, catching Gizmo, See-more, Private Hive and Mammoth in the completed circle, taking down the last standing in the HIVE academy's army…
Behind them, Jinx, Celine and Cyborg moved to take away the General of that army. Jinx parried Blood's strike, catching his leg under her arm. Cyborg dove in, his massive sonic blast crashed into Blood, hurling him to the ground. The master mentalist crumbled, landing on his back. His body was beaten; his insanity had crumbled his skills.
Celine's blade against his neck called his defeat. Cyborg moved forward and so did Jinx. The three stared down at their antithesis.
"Your game is through, Brother Blood."
"And not a minute too soon." Celine said.
Beast Boy approached, keeping his green eyes trained on his best friends. "You did it."
Celine nodded. "I'll communicate with Bumble Bee to give a message to Colonel Fletcher… Blood has been secured… this is my resignation state."
Beast Boy smiled wildly. "Then you can stay with the Titans for good."
Celine nodded. "That's the plan."
"Then we need to get this guy to the AGU."
Beast Boy snapped his fingers. "I can contact Mento, I'm sure he's strong enough to resist Brother Blood's mind control."
Celine pulled Red Hawk's sword back from the defeated Brother Blood. For the first time in years, Celine smiled, genuinely smiled. This moment took nearly six years of my life to achieve.
It took one moment to take away. Celine turned her head to confirm Beast Boy's plan and the second her weapon was no longer an imminent threat on Brother Blood, he capitalized. The surprise gave him advantage. Brother Blood leapt forward from the ground, the speed of his jump kick smashed a dent into Cyborg's chest plate. The mechanical crime fighter stumbled back in surprise as Jinx and Celine gasped in shock. That shock allowed Blood to move freely, turning a spin kick that connected with Celine's head, knocking her to the ground. As she fell the distance to the earth, she could hear Jinx scream and the roar of a green beast. Red Hawk's sword clamored to the ground beside her head, the runes to stop Bad Blood failing once again.
…
"So he got away again?" Bumble Bee asked as she looked down at her best friend. BB was still holding an ice pack to the genius' cheek as Celine held another one against her chin.
Bumble Bee had arrived a few hours after Cyborg's transmission. Blood had gotten away, but not before imposing some last traces of his villainous will. The medic room was congested: Robin, Cyborg, BB, Celine, and Bumble Bee crowded around the hospital bed that held Jinx.
Diagnostic machines bleeped and hissed, all the outputs suggested life with injury. What most of them had seen was a testament to that. While BB had morphed, Brother Blood had delivered a psychic wave that crashed into Jinx's mind. Beast Boy's Beast Within had chased Blood away, but the damage had been done.
Cyborg frowned as the outputs ran inconclusive. "Blood got in there… probably trying to erase all she knows."
"Or just to do damage. He was insane." Celine replied, pushing the ice pack away from her cheek.
"We've got to get her to recover."
BB tightly gripped the ice pack in his hands, careful not to explode it. "In three days the way opens."
Robin nodded. "We will not miss our window… Celine, do what you can for her."
Celine tightened her features and nodded.
"No," Cyborg interjected. The open eyes in the room turned to look at him. He was obviously concerned for Jinx. "I'll handle Jinx. You guys just make sure we're ready."
Celine didn't argue, so Robin and Beast Boy didn't either. Bumble Bee went with the Titans' leader to catch up with as much as she could.
That night Beast Boy had a sneaking suspicion that if he didn't check on Celine, that he'd never believe again that she was okay. If he was honest with himself, Celine meant more to him than just his best friend. She always had. There was something about her that made Beast Boy feel like he was needed, not just important, not just wanted, but that there was someone in the universe who trusted him to stand beside them.
It never ceased to amaze him how strong and vulnerable Celine was and had been for years. She didn't cry, she didn't break, she let all the Titans lean on her and never dared to make them responsible for her well-being. It was selfish and it was the one thing Beast Boy both admired and disliked about her. Beast Boy was there for her to lean on, but she never had. When the world crashed down on the Titans, Celine was willing to stand and take the brunt of the blows. Beast Boy couldn't be sure if it was his fault or hers that she never shared that burden.
Beast Boy reached Celine's secondary work station and found that the door was open. Only one light was on even though it was well into midnight and the moon was missing. The only light source she was relying on was the glow of one of her computers. Her scouter was over her eye and her tool kit was opened and spread out around.
Every since the first Blood attack, Celine had been repairing her Firefly. Her fight that afternoon had only proved to her how dependant she was on it; that she couldn't defend herself with her fists or her sword gave her haste to repair her primary weapon.
Beast Boy watched her silently. She was more focused than he had ever remembered seeing her. Usually she noticed the second he entered the room, even when he was as small as a fly. But she didn't see him, didn't see anything…
And that was why there was someone there to see Celine cry.
She twisted the screws tightly with the screw driver in her left hand as the right held the barrel of the severed weapon. A trail of sweat fell into her eye and the moment she let it bother her, her left hand slipped, twisting her wrist, causing her to drop the screw driver. She looked ready to curse, her fingers flexed in frustration before she reached forward and retrieved the tool. She didn't try to finish the job, it seemed to Beast Boy that a current ran through her that took away all her will. She pushed her still fractured weapon off her lap, dropped the screwdriver then dropped her face into her hands.
It took Beast Boy a few seconds to realize what he was seeing. He had never seen her cry before, she had told him that she didn't cry and he had believed her. From the pitiful sight it made, he knew she wasn't emotionally prepared for it.
She was the smarted woman in the world… but she was still a woman, she was fragile, she was hurt… and she needed him.
"Celine." His voice was almost a whisper, he wasn't sure if it carried to her ears until her head shoot up from her hands. Her face at that moment was terrified and in pain. Beast stepped forward and the older girl frantically wiped her face with her hands. The tears smeared along her features. It only made her look more vulnerable.
"Oh, Beast Boy… do you need something?"
Beast Boy shook his head and knelt in front of her.
"I'm not going to ask you if you're okay… it's the only thing that you lie to me about."
"What?" Celine whispered.
"Even if you won't tell me what's wrong… I can still help… It's okay to cry, Celine."
Celine rubbed her cheek with the material of her sleeve. "I'm not crying."
She tried to look into his eyes, to tell him not to worry about her. But the moment she saw those green eyes, she couldn't lie to him. It had been years since she met Beast Boy and even then she knew that there was much more to his intelligence than he was ever going to communicate. He was sensitive; it was one of the reasons why she always had to protect him, because fragility like that was something to be cherished, because it came with innocence. But he didn't want her to protect him, he wanted her to trust him not to break…
Sometime ago Celine realized she could deny him nothing.
"Celine, talk to me."
"This is all my fault…" Celine finally said. "I was stupid. I let my guard down and he got away… and Jinx is hurt and who knows what damage he's caused? I'm supposed to be the smarted woman in the world and all I do is make mistakes."
Beast Boy put a hand on her shoulder. "That's not true."
"Yes it is! I've measured the last few years in failure… my father was right."
Beast Boy grabbed her shoulders and made her look up at him. From the floor he was taller than her, instead of eye to eye as they had become over the last few years. His voice was strong, though his eyes seemed ready to break. They looked the way Celine felt inside and it burned her even more to know that she had caused that look. Even as those eyes shook, Beast Boy remained strong, he was willing to be strong enough for both of them. "Don't say that! Your father doesn't know anything about you."
"Yes, he does. He's the first to make me see there's a limit to my genius and I've proved it! I can pull a treacherous…" Celine groaned when she couldn't think of a good enough curse word. "from a stone prison… I can make super computers, build bridges, I can do a million insignificant things… but when it really matters I can't help my best friends. All I do is cause more problems…"
Beast Boy honestly didn't know what to say. How have we let this happen? Everyday she gives it all she's got… and she asks absolutely nothing back… and that's what we give her… Celine's tears came rushing down her checks. Beast Boy hushed her, cupping her face in his hands. The tears trailed over his thumbs and for the first time in a long time he didn't see the go-to super genius that they all relied on, he saw a twenty one year old Titan who was terrified of not being good enough, when she had done more for them then she'd ever know.
As gently as he could, Beast Boy pressed Celine's face into his shoulder and let her cry. He rubbed her back, rubbed her hair, waited for her to calm down. Eventually the tears stopped, but Beast Boy didn't let her go. He picked her up, cradling the tall girl in his arms and took her out of her control room and carried her down the hall to her bedroom. He laid her down gently and she didn't resist. She turned her head to the side and Beast Boy saw something so tragic that it hurt him to breath.
He watched her close her eyes, watched her fall asleep before wiping the last tear from her eye. He left her to sleep and went to find Cyborg.
He found the Titan sitting over Jinx's bed the way Speedy did with Sakura, the way Beast Boy had done just moments before with Celine. His face was straight with a frown, his human eye looked heavy with worry or something equally complicated.
Beast Boy stepped forward and didn't think about what to say and what he saw. He just needed Cyborg to know the truth.
"Celine needs you." He said simply.
"Can it wait?" Cyborg asked.
"It's waited long enough." Beast Boy sighed deeply. "I know you're worried about Jinx and Raven, but you've got to see how this is breaking Celine's heart that she can't help."
Cyborg seemed to immediately know what BB wanted him to know, but he didn't act the way Beast Boy hoped. Cyborg didn't so much as turn in his chair. "She'll be fine BB. She's way stronger than you'll ever know."
"Strong or not she still needs someone to lean on! She really needs you right now."
"No, she doesn't. She's tough."
Beast Boy marched to the other side of Jinx's bed. Cyborg's eyes rose from Jinx's prone form to his seething best friend. "She just cried herself to sleep! Come on Cy! She's your girlfriend! You're supposed to take care of her!"
Cyborg's brow furrowed as if Beast Boy had said the most ridiculous thing he'd heard in a long time. Cyborg looked Beast Boy dead in the eye and told him something Beast Boy wasn't prepared for. "BB, Celine and I haven't been dating for four years… not since the night before everything happened."
It struck him like a kick in the head. Except all the pain was in his chest. "You mean she's been alone all this time and suffering with no one to turn to?"
Cyborg didn't answer, but Beast Boy didn't stay in the room long enough to hear it if he had one. His feet were dragging as he left the medic room and took the route to his bedroom. How didn't I know? They're my best friends…The door to the stairs swung open, but Beast Boy had no memory of the sensation of touch, the touch and the strength needed to open that door. He felt no sensation outside his body, all he could feel was the regret running through him.
How can I blame her for not trusting us with her feelings… when we… when I didn't even notice something so important… she loved him and for four years she's had to work with him, work on everything with the pain of loss in her face and still she did her best to stay strong for us… and because I was so blind… she had to keep pretending…
Beast Boy's door opened and slid closed behind him. That terrible burn was generating an ache in his stomach and spreading through him. I'm a terrible friend for not being there for her… what else have I missed? How hurt is Robin? Starfire? Speedy? They're my friends, my family…
His back straightened, an image like a movie in slow motion tunneled through his mind. Images: Robin and Raven, Starfire, Blackfire and Aqualad, Celine, Cyborg, Speedy and Sakura, D'ucel, Bumble Bee… and himself… His family.
He was a super hero, he was supposed to protect them all, protect anyone who needed his help… Being young is no longer an excuse… I've got to become a man… I've got to change so I never let them down again…
While Beast Boy became a new man, Cyborg sat and waited over Jinx, hoping beyond hope that her memory was not damaged, that she still had all the information and emotions that he and the others were counting on. He took her pale hand in his and waited the way he had seen Speedy do for years.
Jinx stayed unconscious for three days… on the second day, the world ended.
…
Beat, Beat Heartbeat
She didn't breath. She refused the beat, beat heartbeat in her chest. The sweat rolled into her eyes and in a moment of weakness she blinked and Tetris' demon seed sunk in. Her scream echoed the flex and rage of her energy. The display was terrifying: the full breadth of Raven's demonic heritage spiraled around them in a fury that pained Terra's eyes to see. The blonde girl stepped back in fear. Washu and Slade did not. Tendrils of her energy snake out, twisting as it shot from her body. The rays of energy radiated from her charka, one snaked and dove, smashing into Terra. The blue eyed girl was frozen in shock as her body was hurled across the room. She slammed ruthlessly into the stone, her head snapping back. Her eyes took a feral glow, turning the blonde girl's expression from surprise to hate.
Four eyes erupted into a furious red glare. The room flashed dark and light as Raven's energy spiraled and clouded the room. Her life energy pulsed and pulsed, sending tremors through the walls. A sickness conquered her body and for a horrible moment Raven knew what death was. The energy sunk back into her, the finally traces of the life energy of Laseri, the sire of Doomgaze seeped into her. Her eyes closed: the innocence of her body just a memory.
There beneath the watching eyes of a satisfied Slade Syndicate, Raven did something she hadn't done in four years… She slipped into Nevermore.
Beat, Beat Heartbeat
End of Part Six