Chap. 23

To The Death?

"Finally." Rorek breathed, as he finally relaxed his body. The field was in place; none of those fools could enter now. It was a pity to have to sacrifice the services of beings like the HIVE Five, but it was a task that he would have had to do anyway. "After all, why should I share the land that I earn through my magic to pathetic thieves like them?" Rorek asked to no one, as he turned back to his task. Besides they would have a few moments to escape. Rorek was actually strong enough to absorb the magic of the dragon without the resulting shockwave. It was Raven's power that would cause the shockwave and destroy so much and so many. True irony. He thought, as he walked towards the book.

All he had to do was finish the spell, and ultimate power would be his at last. Only a few words were left to say, and the journeys of so many centuries would be over. Rorek walked over to the smaller field and with a wave of his hand, dissipated it. The book lay next to Raven's bier, its spine up in the, the insider open to that all-important spell. A smile creased Rorek's face as he bent down to clasp his destiny in his hands once again.

Yet as he reached down, Rorek saw his destiny run from his hands yet again. Quite literally in fact, as the book began to move away from the wizard. "What in seven hells?" Rorek swore, as he grabbed out for the spell book in frustration. Yet the book once again dodged in his grasp and began to run from him. But Rorek was nothing if not resourceful. Knowing that he could not dare using powerful magic against the tome, Rorek instead worked to slow its momentum. Muttering the words under his breath, Rorek pointed at the book and a gust of wind blew from his exposed fingertip. The book flew over, flipping back onto its spine, still open to the page containing the spell. Behind it, the creature that had tried to escape came to a halt, and then turned to face Rorek, anger in it's gleaming eyes. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised." Rorek said, as the green rat regained his human form.

"Oh you will be." Beast Boy said, as he stared at the wizard with blazing eyes. "I doubt it, shapeshifter." Rorek said with utter arrogance. "I don't know how you stayed in here, but it will be the biggest mistake you ever made." With that, Rorek let loose with a blast of magic at the young shapeshifter. But Beast Boy leapt to the side, morphing into a lemur and grasping along the buildings girders. Angrily, Rorek continued to fire, as explosions littered the lemur's path. But Beast Boy dodged each one, as he leapt from girder to girder. Suddenly, he leapt across the room from his perch, right at Rorek. Before Rorek could set up a protective spell, the lemur had morphed into a bull, and slammed into Rorek at high-speed. The wizard was hurled back, into the wall of the warehouse with a tremendous thud.

"To answer your first question," Beast Boy said as he returned to normal and began to walk over to his fallen foe. "there was a little hole in one of the support beams. Not big enough for most people to get into, but easy for a bug." Reaching Rorek, Beast Boy pulled Rorek up to his feet. "You are going to pay for what you did to her." Beast Boy snarled. "You…. Really care… for her… don't you?" Rorek wheezed out. "I'd die for her." Was the answer. "You know…. I've heard that phrase…. Before, but I never believed it from anyone." Rorek said. "It's impressive… to hear it from someone who actually means it." "I don't care what you think. All I want is to get Raven to a place where you can't hurt her anymore, where no one ever will again."

"What a coincidence." Rorek said, as he suddenly dug his arms into Beast Boy's side. "So do I." The wizard sneered, as he directed the full force of his magic into Beast Boy's body. The green Titan howled in pain as the magic threw him back and across. He landed on the ground hard, his body smoking from the magic. Beast Boy tried to turn over, to get to his feet, but then he was hit by another blast of magic. But this one was different. Instead of going through him, Beast Boy felt it beat at him like a giant stone fist. "You made a good try, little fool." Rorek said, as he walked over, keeping up the attack with each step. "But no one will stop me form my destiny. Especially not you." With that, Rorek raised up his hand, drew up the magic, and slammed it down. There was an audible crack, as Beast Boy felt something break inside him, and then there was blackness……

"Finally." Rorek breathed, as he turned from his fallen foe. Reaching down, he picked up the book and held it upwards. He paused a moment, soaking up the moment, then said the last few words of the spell. Around him, the spires and totems glowed brighter and brighter, until the light was almost blinding. On the bier, Raven could see the light, but could not close her eyes against it. It stabbed into her open eyes, as it was also drawn into the book. For a second, it glowed with the power, and then it shot down into its master. An inhuman shadow seemed to pass over Rorek, as his body absorbed the magic. The wizard began to grow, to change as his body soaked up the magic of Malichor. His boots exploded, as his feet, now scaly and clawed, burst their way out. His chest armor popped off, as two giant wings grew from his back. His face lengthed and narrowed, becoming more like that of a serpent. Finally, the changes stopped; Rorek stood, seven feet tall, a full dragon-man. Dropping the book, Rorek looked at his new body in wonder, then began to laugh, a deep-throated laugh that came from the belly of a true snake. "THIS is power!" he laughed aloud. "Now then, time to add a bird to my little menagerie."

But when Rorek turned, he was not met by a view of Raven. Instead, a huge green fist slammed into his face. As he staggered back, Rorek shook off the impact and looked out at what had dared to strike him. What he saw was a huge man-beast, totally green and equal to him in height. "I did not realize you had this kind of trick." He said, as the thing that was once Beast Boy let out a growl. "Did you really think that this would avail you? I am a master wizard now. You are only an animal." But as Rorek finished those words, the creature smiled. Suddenly, it raised up it's right hand and Rorek's eyes widened. He has the book! He thought in horror, as the Man-Beast began to move back, the book still in hand. "Give that to me you fool." Rorek snapped, though he was beginning to feel fear. Suddenly, the Man-Beast reared back……..

Outside, the force field remained impenetrable. Even the HIVE was dedicated to destroying it, yet could not add any real power. As Robin looked around, praying for any kind of a miracle, he suddenly heard a familiar voice from up above. Looking up, he saw Starfire and the BRAT-Mobile descend. As they landed, Star and the BRATS immediately asked what was going on. Robin gave as quick an explanation as he could, and they moved to try their hands at breaking the field. But it turned out to be unnecessary. Suddenly, there was a cry of pain from inside the warehouse. The group of heroes and villains whirled around to see the field begin to bulge and twist. Suddenly, it stretched upwards, as an eruption of magic spread through the roof of the building and began to push against the fabric of the field like a finger pushing against plastic wrap. Finally, the wrap burst, as the magic blasted into the heavens. For a second, the skies turned bright green. As the group watched, the clouds began to twist and change, as a strange snake-like face was formed. But as the last of the magic spilled into the heavens, the face vanished back into the clouds, and the sky resumed its normal hue.

"What in the hell was that?" Mammoth asked. "Success." Sara answered. "He did it. Somehow, he did it." "I knew it." Starfire said happily, as she clasped Robin's arm. "But what happens now?" See-More interrupted, as the rest of the HIVE Five came to stand behind him. But before any of the young villains could move, there was a flash of blue light, a breath of cold air, and the five of them were trapped inside a huge block of ice. "Dumb question." Polar quipped, as he rubbed his hands together. "Pretty good. Looks like they'll still have plenty of bad luck without me." Jinx said, as she walked over to her former teammates. "You guys though, are gonna have to get used it." "We're gonna do what now?" Whimpernel asked in confusion, but when he saw Cyborg walk over to the young witch and embrace her with a kiss, he simply threw up his hands and muttered, "Here we go again. Who's giving up their room?"

But before that question could be answered, a gasp was heard from Neuron. They whipped around to see Raven walking out of the building. On her shoulder, leaned the unconscious, beaten and bloody form of Beast Boy, his head bent down his chest, lulling from side to side. "Oh shit." Brett cursed as they ran over to meet the empath. Cyborg was the first to reach her; gently, she laid Beast Boy into his awaiting arms. "What happened in there?" He asked urgently, as he laid Beast Boy down on the ground. Holding his arm over his friend, Cyborg activated his medical scanner, and as the blue shone down from his arm, Cyborg looked over his friend with growing concern. The others tried to comfort Raven and find out what had happened. "H-he was fighting Rorek, and getting b-beat up." Raven said with a jittery tone in her voice, as she clutched her now bloodstained cape. "Rorek u-used the spell on himself and merged with the d-dragon, but B-Beast Boy got the book b-before he got to me, and….." "He destroyed it." Brett finished, as he looked at the injured Titan. "And without the book to stabilize him, Rorek got torn apart by the magic. And without Rorek, the paralysis spell broke." Raven nodded, then turned back to Beast Boy. "Was he awake before?" Cyborg asked suddenly. "N-No he threw the book into one of the fires and passed out." Raven answered. "Then this is worse then I thought." "What's wrong?" Robin fearfully asked. "His ribs are broken, and two of them are puncturing his lungs. They're filling up fast. If we don't get him fixed up soon, he's going to choke to death on his own blood."

As if to verify his friend's words, Beast Boy suddenly gave a violent cough, that spat blood out of his mouth. As he laid his head back down, Cyborg turned to Raven and asked, "Is there anyway you can heal him?" Raven just shook her head. Holding her hand over Beast Boy's chest, she tried use her powers, but all that happened was a flurry of black sparks. Brett and Sara tried as well, but met with the same results. "We've got to get him to a hospital." Bartman said, concern etched on his face. "Where's the closet one?" "Jump City General, half a mile away to the east." Cyborg answered, as he checked his computer read-out. "Give him to me, I'll get him there in time." Neuron said, holding his arms out. Bartman nodded, and walking over to Cyborg, helped lift Beast Boy into the speedster's arms. "We'll meet you there. Go!" Bartman ordered. Neuron simply turned around and ran. As he sped off into the distance, most of the others began to climb into the BRAT-Mobile, while Polar pushed the HIVE ice-block onto an ice-slide to take them to jail. Brett watched his young friend speed off, and then took a look at Raven. The empath was standing on the street, watching the smoke rise in the distance from Neuron's speed. Brett walked over to his daughter and gently laid his hand on her shoulder. As she turned to face him, he said, "He'll be ok." Raven didn't respond, but she did walk into the car. Brett stayed and looked for a moment, and if anyone had seen his face at that moment, they would have wondered how much he actually believed his words.