It was a well-fought battle.
But ultimately, the Titans were being overwhelmed by sheer numbers and brute force. The three remaining hadn't been able to hold their own, and now Robin, Beastboy, and Raven, lay crouched at the far end of the room, battered and beaten. Still standing, still capable of fighting, but not for much longer. The hard wall was to their backs, and arrayed before them the HIVE Five still stood as impressive and dangerous as ever.
Mammoth smacked his fist rhythmically into his palm, a grim expression on his face as he towered over the Titans like a giant over infants. He was going to enjoy this.
"Let's crush these pipsqueaks."
"Yeehaw!" whooped one Billy Numerous, brandishing a frying pan (dented from repeatedly smacking it upside the head of a number of green animals).
Kid Wykkyd and See-More, both bruised and battered from their own fights, nodded in agreement. Their de Facto leader, Gizmo, rested between them, supported on his own two feet. Most of his equipment was fried, but he had enough tech left to toss together a shoulder-mounted laser and take aim. A bright red beam emerged from it, targeting the dead-center of Robin's forehead. The Boy Wonder grimly held his position, tonfa's upraised, ready to move in an instant.
"Hehehehe... who's the loser now, Titans?"
The shoulder-mounted laser powered up, but before it could fire, a bright bolt of green energy slammed into it and it exploded, nearly taking Gizmo's shoulder with it. As one, both teams turned to the entrance, where a freed Titan's East and a very pissed of Starfire stood. Starfire's eyes were like a pair of emerald suns, burning so intensely they washed the whole room in their light.
Nothing ticked her off more than a threat to her friends.
Bumblebee launched herself into the air, giving the customary war-cry of young heroes. "Titans, go!"
A pair of stingers found their way into her hands, and she twirled them up and over once like a western gunslinger before opening fire, scattering the HIVE Five with a barrage of lightning blasts. A small squad of Billy Numerous' tried to block her advance by forming a human pyramid, but their foundation was swiftly knocked out of place by the twin speedsters, Mas y Menos, and they came tumbling down atop of one another. Mammoth charged forward, fist upraised to crush the twins, but a sudden torrent of water from a broken pipeway halted his charge and sent him flying backwards to slam against the far wall.
"Cludge it! Let's... aaahhh... " grunted Gizmo, clutching at his bald forehead in pain. Self-preservation instincts were battling against Brother Blood's orders to fight to the death. "... get... get out of here! Run!"
Seems self-preservation (meaning cowardice) had won out after all. As one, the HIVE Five broke the control of their Headmaster and turned to run, Kid Wykkyd grabbing up Gizmo and teleporting directly out, while See-More lay down a series of short, rapid bursts to cover the retreat of Billy Numerous and Mammoth, who was still dazed.
Aqualad and Speedy charged after them in pursuit, but were stopped when a green-gloved hand was lifted to intercept them.
"Nah... they're not worth it... let 'em go."
"Yeah," said Bumblebee, slapping her stingers against her sides and locking them into place. "We've had enough fighting today. Those idiots won't get into too much trouble."
"Fightings not over yet," said Raven. "We still have to find Cyborg and Sarasim."
"Who?"
"We'll explain later," said Robin, taking charge. Both teams headed quickly towards the broken doors of the main corridor, and ran or flew full tilt. Cyborg was going to need back-up.
They intended to give it to him.
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Brother Blood's head rotated back and forth on his neck servos, glancing between the battered Cyborg and the exhausted Sarasim. Alone, neither would be a great threat, but together, with no back-up, he was in considerable danger.
Sebastian Blood had never really liked variables. His whole life had been dedicated to eliminating the unknown, eliminating variables. Bringing everything under a single controlling consciousness.
His own.
And whatever didn't obey Blood, he destroyed.
Quickly deciding Sarasim was the less dangerous of the two, and wanting to limit the fight to one-on-one, he thrust out his hand. She had moved quickly, already set to parry an attack, but his aim was not for her, but above her. A blast of crimson energy shot forth from his fingertips, slamming into the shelves of those crates held above the fighters. Weakened from the tremendous blast, the crates scattered, but a good many collapsed downwards, on top of...
"SARASIM!"
Cyborg cried out in denial, but even as he rushed forward, past Blood, he could see he was far too late. The crates of heavy equipment and supplies had completely buried Sarasim, giving the Barbarian Queen barely a chance to scream before she was crushed. Picking up one crate and tossing it aside like it was made of down instead of heavy wood and steel, he quickly uncovered Sarasim.
She lay very, very still... and she was covered in blood. She wasn't breathing.
"... no..." Cyborg whispered, the air seeming to flee from his lungs as the impact of what had happened hit him. Sarasim was gone.
"... Sarasim... no..."
He'd... never even gotten to tell her...
Tears started to leak from his one good eye, his one remaining human eye, and he felt his entire body shudder as he was overwhelmed by his feelings. Behind him, he could sense Brother Blood nearby still, but the crimson cultist wasn't attacking. Not that he cared... right now, he would have gladly died as well, if it could've spared him this pain.
"Tragic," hissed Blood, though his voice suggested he found this scene anything but tragic. He sounded almost gleeful. "But it doesn't have to be like this, Cyborg..."
Cyborg raised his head, tears still streaking down his fleshy cheek as he regarded Blood.
"I can save her... she isn't beyond my powers yet. You can have her back, Cyborg," said Brother Blood, holding out his hand.
Cyborg's decision then was a terrible one. When Brother Blood had offered Cyborg back his humanity at the HIVE Academy (whether or not he could have was irrelevant), Cyborg had been more than able to resist, because while he'd lost his humanity, he'd made peace with the fact many years before he'd gone undercover as Stone.
But Sarasim... he'd known what it was like to lose her once, to think her gone forever. To lose her again...
Cyborg looked up, seeing Brother Blood still standing there, quietly, patiently, holding out his own hand towards him. A symbolic gesture, promising everything he wanted... everything he needed...
Slowly, Cyborg lifted up his hand...
... and smacked Brother Blood's aside as he pushed himself to his feet.
"You... bastard!"
Blood stumbled backwards in shock, his arm very nearly torn from it's socket from the force of Cyborg's backhand. "Cyborg... stop... think about what you're doing... think about Sa..."
"Don't you say her name!"
Cyborg howled in anger, his pain turning to rage, and sparks of white lightning leapt from one part of his body to another. A blue glow has coalesced around his body. To say Brother Blood was shocked was an understatement, but the cool, logical part of his mind had noticed this, and curious about this phenomenon, decided it needed further study. This was... almost... almost exactly what had happened during their last encounter.
The former HIVE Headmaster reached up and flicked a switch on the side of his skull, enabling his prosthetic eye from a normal viewing mode (suitable for a human's brain) into a high-powered analytical mode. What he saw amazed him further.
Cyborg's power levels were skyrocketing upwards, with no visible input. It was like he was plugged into a recharger... but he wasn't.
And his powers levels were still climbing.
75... 85... 90... 100... 110...!
"What... how...?"
Every single piece of his armor was glowing, shining with an inner light, and his one prosthetic eye burned like a fiery ruby. But his other one still outshone it, an in it, if one looked closely, one could see a myriad of emotions struggling for an outlet.
Brother Blood couldn't see. Couldn't understand... the world was facts to him, black and white, as cold and sterile as a machine. He could barely understand emotions as things he could manipulate, or that sense of fury he felt when he was thwarted. He could never comprehend what real, true emotions were like. Especially not this one.
Love.
"Hey Blood!" growled Cyborg, his voice contorted by anger. "You wanted to know what makes me tick, right! Well here's a lesson for you, teach!"
Cyborg charged forward, both of his heavy, powerful mechanical legs pumping, as he reared back his mighty right arm, fingers coiling into a fist that was going to knock Brother Blood's head clean off his shoulders. The crimson cultist quickly threw up a defensive shield to protect himself, confident it would withstand Cyborg's power. After all, it had stopped an ion-amplified blast from his sonic cannon.
However, to his surprise, Cyborg didn't attack with his right fist, but quickly threw out his left in an awkward jab, smashing it hard against the pulsating crimson wall Blood had conjured into being. Sparks flew as power met power, science battled sorcery. And, as Blood watched in horrific fascination, he saw his crimson barrier become engulfed in a myriad of cracks, and then shatter like it was made of glass.
"What!"
-Then- Cyborg made his move, his body still hurled forward. His left fist had been an opening ploy to remove Brother Blood's shield. His right was the finisher, and as Blood watched in stark horror, he saw his fist and arm shift, change, forming the sonic cannon that was already filled with glowing blue energy, and heading straight for him.
"Noooo!"
Cyborg let loose his attack at point-blank range, right at Blood's chestplate, which was so powerful and violent it ripped through the former HIVE Headmaster's durable titanium-steel armor like it was cheese. Rippling waves of sonic energy overtook Blood, drowning out his cry of disbelief and rendering it incoherent, even as he slammed into the far wall. He hit with such force his entire body slammed into the reinforced steel and left a dent in the form of his body. Blood lingered there a moment longer as the blast faded away, before slumping forward.
Cyborg caught him on the way down, grabbing the front of his chestplate and hauling him up to face him. He seemed to want to say something, but Cyborg's jaw worked noiselessly, all of his words lost behind a wail of rage as he slammed his fist down hard against Blood's face, cracking his iron jaw and hurtling him to the floor.
Tears continued to stream from Cyborg's eyes as he sprang after Blood. He reared back his fist, preparing to reduce Brother Blood's skull into scrap.
"Cyborg! No!"
"Don't do it Sparky!"
Two bodies suddenly hit him, one grabbing a hold of his upraised arm, the other his midsection to hold him down. Beastboy and Bumblebee had tackled Cyborg and were straining against the sheer power of his mechanical frame to hold him down.
"Don't do this buddy!" said Beastboy, straining almost comically to hold down Cyborg, when it was clear a flick from his finger could knocked the slight green metamorph aside.
"This isn't who you are!"
Cyborg's position didn't change, his fist remained upraised, but his head swiveled, and he could see there, all of his friends had gathered, and almost as one, they had a look of abject fear on their faces. Not for themselves, but for him.
And though she wasn't standing with them, Cyborg could feel her with them too. She didn't want him to be like this either. She would not have wanted him to become like Blood, even if it meant leaving her death unavenged.
Slowly, with a shudder, Cyborg dropped his arm back down to his side, and lowered his head, eyes shut tightly. Tears continued to stream from his human eye, having never stopped since the moment they'd began. In a way, they showed how truly human he was under all that technology. And how much he'd cared for Sarasim.
The Titans and Titan's East gathered around Cyborg, but no one seemed able to say anything. Any words of comfort seemed insufficient.
That was, however, until Robin, who had moved to check on Sarasim, cried out...
"She's still alive!"
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Author's Notes:
Brother Blood has been defeated, but the story is not yet over. Sarasim is alive, but what fate remains for her, and Cyborg?
Koriand'r Star: I cut short the HIVE Five vs. Titan segment, so I could focus more on Blood and Sarasim. While I hadn't thought of Xinothium, it is a fine idea... but perhaps explored in another story. For now, this will do.
Agent of the Divine One: I live to please my fans... sometimes. Raven and Beastboy I plan to address... my plan is to make them slowly admit they care about each other, but for now, they're still just awkward bit-more-than-friends.
Comet-hime: And who said I had forgotten that idea? It has been delayed, dearie. I am glad you enjoyed her battle, however, as well as the vibro-blades. I had wanted to do those for some time now. No killing though... it's against superhero union rules.
Guardian of Azarath: And it seems you would win your bet... but like any victory, it had a price. What that price is will soon become apparent.
Jimmy the Gothic Egg: I do so enjoy surprising my fans. Hope you'll stick around though, the fun isn't hardly over yet.
HHBGH: Exactly, but of course Blood won't ever learn, that's why he's a villain! Don't worry though, as you can see he's gotten a very thorough slap of reality.
Toddfan: We all have our strong points, no need to be ashamed, beloved Toddfan-chan. I wuv your stories all the same.
Super Chocolate Bear: Robin's wielded tonfas when he battled Wrex in 'Can I Keep Him?' opening, and several times used metal half-staves, or clubs of a similar design. Glad I am everyone seems to be enjoying my take on Brother Blood.
SxStrngSamurai13: Ah I do so enjoy writing fights... and consequently, people tell me they enjoy those parts of my stories the most. Thank you for the feedback.
Blackbird: Heh, what -is- the plural of Numerous? Eh, no matter... and yes, the fight was short, but not quite the outcome you likely expected.
InsanityManifest: I'm honestly surprised more people don't show it, he real is a good character. Sarasim too. What rant before are you referring to?
