A/N: The long-awaited chapter three! Yay! Well, here it is. Hope you like it. The quote is about dreams turning out to not be so great, if you can't really get it (although you probably DO get it). And since no one commented on my use of third-person, I shall continue with my usage of it. Also, please inform me if you think my OCs are turning into Mary-Sues and Gary-Stus. (btw, I have no clue if I should have taken out the, erm, questionable homosexual content. But I left it in; I originally wrote it there and nothing else would be so completely fitting as it is. Sorry if it's not to your taste, and please try to stomach it.)
Disclaimer: I only own Terry, Diable, Helena, and Alexis. And that little fly that will soon become many flies which I will use to take over the world! Muhahahahahahahah! cough I even stole that beast …
My Personal Hell
Chapter Three: Nighttime Visions
"I was deprived of a young girl's dream by the cruel force from the blue. Instead of a night full of romance supreme all I got was a runny nose and Asiatic flu."
- 'It's Raining on Prom Night', Grease
Slade watched. The border of the city – well, just inside the border of the city, was completely empty. The only place with human activity in Jump was the center. Of course, those citizens had no idea that the outskirts of the City were empty. Life went on there as it normally does, children late for school, people rushing to work. Little did they know that in a few short hours their precious city would be a ghost town. And the Titans would have lost – and, in a way, so would have Batman.
Slade had faced Batman before, but the so called 'Dark Knight' had always come out on top. Soon Slade was just fighting to beat Batman, not because the vigilante had stopped his plans. Once he got away – when he moved to Jump, he had seen Robin, the Bat's student. It was a perfect opportunity to show up Bats – by making his charge, who had been trained to protect humanity, kill the prominent figures of it. But that had backfired. Horribly. All because of his petty little friends. So Slade had moved to his backup plan: beat them. Bad.
Slade's four apprentices – Terrance, Diable, Alexis, and Helena – were, supposedly, stronger then the Titans. Slade didn't know for sure, but they seemed strong enough.
Terrance, who had been trained from age eight, could match Slade's skill for almost four hours, the last time he'd been clocked. The dark magician and the boy wonder weren't that different, Slade mused as he watched them wrestle, both very evenly matched. Their pasts were almost the same, which surprised the mercenary. Terrance had been raised doing magic at a carnival, but had been kicked out when his parents were arrested and killed by the police on a homicide charge, which it was found out later that they were innocent of. He had wandered around the streets, a sad, lost little boy doing small magics for spare change. That was when Slade had found him. He had taken in the boy, fed him, clothed him, trained him – and more importantly, helped him get revenge, thusly earning the boy's unwavering loyalty.
Diable Slade had found after he'd been kicked out of his apartment for being a meta-human. He'd moved there from France, where he'd stayed at several arts schools. The boy was a trained actor, which helped in Slade's purposes and heists. When needed, the boy could lie, cheat, and even seduce, if necessary. He never muddled his speech, making everything sound rehearsed. His accent always made him seem more innocent, too, which Slade found odd, but he never complained at the stroke of luck. He'd accepted the boy with open arms, introducing him to others of his kind. The boy was elated to find other 'freaks' like himself, but became jealous when he'd heard about the Titans. He thought the Titans were bigger freaks then he was – at least he looked human – but yet, they were accepted so much more readily then he was. He thought it wasn't fair that they were so readily accepted by the society that had rejected him. His emotions, partly jealousy and partly anger, fueled his fires even further.
Then there was Alexis. The meta-human had been given her abilities by Wayne Industries in an attempt – and failure – to make a Superman clone that was completely devoid of personality. The only ability she'd gotten was super-strength, like another had only gotten flight. But she was, in theory, at least three-times stronger then Superman. Slade had never gotten a chance to test out that theory. She'd had her strength since she was five, but hadn't been out in the real world until she was fourteen. That was when Slade had found out about her. He'd gone down to the testing labs in the dead of night and brought her back to his base of operations. She hated the laboratory, and was grateful for the rescue, but hadn't wanted to stick around. She'd thought otherwise after Diable had saved her from the scientist who'd come back to claim her. The two were smitten, as much they denied it, Slade thought with a wiry smile.
The final joiner of their group – excluding the addition of Beast Boy – was the telekinetic named Helena. Slade was, as much as he hated to admit it, slightly uncomfortable around her. He knew barely anything about her past. He knew just enough to sooth his suspicions, but he was still cautious around the girl. He knew, for a fact, that the girl wasn't entirely human – but he was sure that she wasn't demon either, unlike Raven. The girl could read minds, for fuck's sake. All that Slade really knew about her was that he'd met her in a dingy club and she'd healed Terrance's wounds after a particularly gruesome battle. Her brains, and mind-reading talents, had come in handy in many tight spots, and Slade knew he relied on them much more then he should.
The changeling, however, was a completely new concept to Slade. He knew beast Boy was fun-loving by nature, but there was a deeper darkness about him – something, Slade knew, that could be explored, and possibly harnessed for his purposes. Slade sighed, knowing he could never bring himself to do so. In time, just like all the others, he would come to like the boy. It always happened. He never strived for it, he never had, it just happened. No matter what he did, no matter what he wanted, after time he couldn't see his apprentices as merely tools. After time, he saw them as family. Our own little dysfunctional family, Slade thought, chuckling as he remembered the note he'd written to Beast Boy.
He knew quite a bit about the shape-shifter. First off, he knew Beast Boy's actual name was Garfield Logan. He had been born to Mark and Mary Logan, Mark being a genetic scientist and president of Logan Estate genetic Research Facilities. It was because of him that his son had gained his animal morphing abilities. Earlier, Slade thought that Beast Boy's abilities were limited to existing animals. Slade knew now that they still were, but Beast Boy could now mix different parts of the animals together to create new ones. Slade smiled, thinking of the possibilities. The sky was the limit – no, Slade chided himself; Beast Boy could turn into alien animals as well. So there really was no limit in what Slade could do with his new apprentice's powers.
Slade stood suddenly. "World domination!" he yelled to the non-existent crowd, and he could almost hear their silent cheering. "Random destruction!" he imagined the cheering intensifying. "Universal control!" the cheering would be so loud that his ear drums would ring. "Death to the Justice League!" the cheering made the chairs shake and the keyboard rattle on its stand.
To the average onlooker, Slade would've seemed insane, and the nearest asylum would have been contacted immediately. But to others who knew Slade on a more personal level, they would've known that this was normal for the malevolent criminal mastermind. He was simply shouting out the possibilities to figure out which choice was the best. That way he would know what to plan, had to counter counter-attacks, and how to trap his prey where it needed to be trapped. It just took one moment of lack of sanity for the mastermind to start a new endeavor.
But right now, Slade had to concentrate on this plan.
He settled down in front of the monitor cat-style, and one wouldn't have been surprised to see him pull a bowl of popcorn out of nowhere and begin eating the tasty treat. Of course, the fact that the Titans were locked in a semi-epic battle didn't help. But if they only knew what Slade had planned …. Then they would be shaking in their spandex booties. Noticeably
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Starfire flew towards where the young girl had been headed. She knew it was a desolate part of town, referred to by many as the 'ghetto'. Normally it was quiet, but she had expected some noise – not the eerie, crackling silence that greeted her. The land seemed almost dead. The only noise, aside form the slight crackling in the air, was Cyborg's heavy footsteps, muffled slightly by the dust on the ground. Starfire flew down next to him, landing softly, her delicate feet resting slightly on the ground for a moment each as she skipped along next to the cybernetic human. They walked in silence for a while before Starfire spoke.
"I am worried," she stated simply.
"About what Star?" Cyborg asked, turning to look at the redhead.
Starfire paused before continuing. "About friend Robin. Ever since Terra revealed herself to be a traitor, he has been keeping to himself more often – and now that Beast Boy has disappeared …" she let her sentence hang, but Cyborg caught her meaning.
"Don't worry, Star, everything's going to be alright. You'll see …" Cyborg comforted the alien, murmuring soft words of solace in her ears.
"Yes," Starfire said after a minute, "I suppose that every cloud has a silver linen. "
"That's silver lining, Star –" Cyborg stopped abruptly, Starfire nearly bumping into him. "Holy shit," Cyborg murmured, as Starfire gasped.
The entire ghetto before them was in flames. Completely and utterly burning, in the deepest sense of the word. It was covered with towering walls of fire. Most of the buildings were covered with flames or completely burnt down, but the few that weren't were teetering dangerously on their foundations. The ground was covered with smoldering corpses, sometimes piled high, sometime ripped into pieces. Some were merely bones, lying on the ground – charred skulls, burnt spines, snapped fibulas.
Starfire was completely shocked – she felt like someone had thrown a brick wall in her face. She stood there, unable to move, in a trance as she watched the flames dance around the destruction they had wrought. When she spoke, she stuttered. "Sh-should we n-not be l-looking for the g-g-girl?" she asked, her voice little more then a fearful squeak.
When Cyborg replied, his voice was not at all the same loud, exuberant friendly tone one would recognize, but instead a quiet, hushed voice that, all in all, gave one more reason to be afraid then his normal aggressive tone. "Y-yeah, Star, I think that we should get moving."
The pair walked forward, keeping their eyes peeled, looking for the female criminal who was running from them. The came across a small shelter that had, at one point, house several homeless people – now completely burned. "What kind of heartless life form could do such a thoughtless, mean thing?" asked Starfire, but her eyes widened in realization after a moment. "Slade," she hissed, her eyes narrowing at the thought of the man who had almost taken Robin – her Robin – away from the Titans for good. "We shall find his new henchmen and take them to prison, even if it takes –" her dramatic monologue-esq speech was cut short by her communicator beeping. Cyborg couldn't stifle his snigger.
Starfire brought the communicator up to her face. "What is it?" she asked.
The person who had contacted her – Raven – had one hand outstretched, obviously containing something – or someone – with her powers. "Have you caught the girl yet?" she asked.
"Not yet," Starfire said. She paused a moment, then; "how is friend Robin?"
"He's fighting one of Slade's henchmen – he's almost like a clone of Robin, or something, they're so evenly matched." It wasn't a surprise, really, that Raven had noticed the similarities. She had always been the most intelligent of the team.
Starfire hesitated before shutting off the communicator, wanting to see her love once again before the end of the battle. But she knew it was best if she continued her search for the girl. "Alright, then, friend Raven, I must continue our search. Please take care of friend Robin." Of course, in her mind Robin was much more then merely 'friend'. Soon she would start then Tamaranean courting rituals – in the fall, the season before Tamaranean mating season began. Then she a Robin could be together as lovers – recognized as so on both Tamaran and Earth.
"Star?" Cyborg asked, knocking the alien out of her reverie. "C'mon, we have to get going."
Starfire nodded before following Cyborg down a street towards a teetering, burning, abandoned building.
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He watched the Titan from the corner of his eye as he rose himself off the ground. Deeming that he wasn't about to attack a fallen opponent, he slowly, but surely, began to raise himself off the ground. For a mere moment, he took his eyes off the boy wonder. But that mere moment was enough time for Robin to attack. He lashed out, sending the dark magician rolling. He continued turning until he bumped into the alley's nearest wall.
"Ugh," he groaned, using the wall to get unsteadily to his feet. This time when Robin attacked him, he was ready. The boy wonder's fist landed in his palm with a soft thump, and in an instant he had the fighter pinned against the wall between his arms. The only noise was their harsh breathing, coming in short pants, almost in a rhythm. Their chest rose as one, inflating to encompass their shallow breaths. Terrance allowed himself a small smile as the boy wonder continued his panting after he had stopped.
Terry's arms trembled slightly under their burden, but he didn't fall. He wasn't weak – and even if he was, he sure as hell wasn't going to show Robin that he was. He looked up, meeting the boy wonder's hidden gaze. In it he saw a mixture of defeat, pain, fear, courage, and hope. It was odd, really, how such a large amount of emotions could be mixed. One would think that, seeing as these emotions were all different from each other, one couldn't combine these emotions. But the way you could feel these emotions by looking at Robin's mask, by seeing the way his hands shook, it was displayed perfectly. It was perfect, the mixture of beautiful emotions combining into an even more beautiful one. He was beautiful, with his strands of hair sweeping into his face, his arms curled back against his frame …
Terry, unconsciously, leaned towards the boy wonder, the lights his red-orange eyes gave off dimming as he closed them. Robin froze as his lips made the lightest of contact. The magician could feel the fighter's hot breath on his lips, lingering long after the original gust of air was gone. Suddenly, the touch was deepened, their mouths meeting in one sudden, magical moment. Robin was too shocked to do anything as Terry's tongue ran along his lips, coaxing him into response. Tentatively, he wrapped his arms around the villain's neck, finding the taller boy's had his done up in a pony-tail. Holding the top of the hair in one hand, he used the other to remove the elastic that held it in place. The scrunchie dropped, unnoticeable on the dirty ground because of its dark color. Delicately, the boy wonder threaded a gloved hand through Terry's dyed blue hair. Terry did likewise, causing him to fall on top of Robin, crushing their bodies together.
Robin could feel Terry's erratic breathing, coming in short, deprived pants like his. When Terry's tongue was run over his lips again, Robin parted them, only to be overcome by a new wave of sensations. A battle much like the one they had been fighting not even two minutes ago began; a battle for dominance. Like the earlier fight, they were evenly matched, taking turns overpowering each other before being forced into submission by their opponent. Terry's felt a feeling of accomplishment welling up inside him. He had done it. He has kissed his crush. He knew it was very school-girl-ish of him, but he felt prideful also because he was kissing the Titans leader, Robin (who was, coincidentally, on America's Top Thirty Bachelors list – obviously those on the show's staff had conveniently forgotten that Starfire existed), one of the most eligible men on the planet – not to mention that he was handsome. And, once given the right incentive, a very good kisser.
Terry allowed his hands to slide along the boy wonder's chest, messaging the sore muscles. He nibbled on Robin's bottom lip, drawing moans of pleasure from the male beneath him. One of Robin's hands, the one not threaded through Terry's hair, slide down the magician's back to rest around his waist, where it proceeded to pull him as close as humanly possible. The kiss was deepened, and Robin tried not to let himself fall into Terry's arms, didn't want to feel himself relax completely into the other boy's grasp. When Terry broke the kiss and pulled away, he wasn't prepared to hold himself upright, and slid to the ground.
"Helena!" Terry yelled, shocked to see her standing at the alleyway's entrance. He looked around, searching for something. "What happened? Did you beat Raven?"
Helena nodded, smirking. The smug expression fitted her face nicely, Terry noted. "Right now, she's a bit … busy. But we should get moving. Slade's expecting us back. And I'm sure he'd love to hear about how you've been molesting superheroes," she added, grinning at the shocked form of Robin.
Terry huffed indignantly, but kept silent. With one last look at Robin, he followed Helena back to Slade's headquarters, ready to accept the fact that Robin wouldn't ever think of him again, and definitely not of that kiss.
If only the same could be said for me, Terry thought, somewhat sardonically.
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The pair of them huddled in the corner of the teetering building, cowering from the fire. The girl leant back against the boy whose arms were wrapped protectively around her. There were pale trails of clean, tear-stained flesh against her soot-streaked face. The boy was staring at the fire out of the window. The long braids his hair was in dripped on onto his sweat-soaked shoulders. His eyes seemed dull in comparison to the girl's, whose were bright in wild, uncontrolled fear. The only hint that showed she was at all comfortable was the content smile on her lips as she leant into the boy's frame. In fact, one might have guessed that the boy was using his arms as he would chains to keep the girl from up and running away.
He was uncertain. He had survived a fire before, but it hadn't been this hot. In fact, of all the things he'd leant from being a pyro, it was that everything has a limit. He knew this from watching a fire burn itself out. Fire was one of the most powerful elements, and the elements overpower all: it's a fact of life. A river dries up; a mountain fall apart; a windstorm blows away; a fire burns out. Nothing changes.
Except the strong heat.
A small, violent shudder, followed by an incoherent sob, made him look down. The girl had her face buried in his chest, shielding it from the flames. Her small voice was muffled by his shirt. "When's it gonna end?"
The boy made soothing hushing noises, but the girl refused to quiet down. The flames crackled loudly around them. The heat must be unbearable for her, Diable though, looking down at the small girl. They sat for a while in silence.
After a while, Alexis spoke. "Diable?" she asked quietly.
He looked up. "Yeah?"
Alexis snuggled closer to the pyro. "Tell me a story," she ordered.
Diable raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you a bit old for that?" he asked. Alexis pouted. He sighed, "fine." He wracked his brain for a usable idea. "Okay then. Once upon a time, in a beautiful kingdom far away, there was a strong, powerful warrior king –"
"Named Superman?" Alexis asked with childlike excitement.
Diable scowled at the interruption. "No, named Ashley," he said sarcastically, which caused her to pout again. "Fine," he groaned in exasperation, "named Superman. And he had an evil advisor –"
"Who wanted to take over his kingdom, enslave all of its people, and kill him, and knew he should do so by means of a crudely-made clone?" Alexis offered hopefully.
"… do you want me to tell the damn story or not?" Diable intoned monotonously. He got no reply, so he continued. "So. He wanted to do … what you said," he finished lamely. Alexis giggled. "So one night, while the king was sleeping in his great bedchamber, he snuck in and stole a lock of the king's hair. Then he went into his – erm – secret underground laboratory, and he went to work on cloning the king. Now, the clone turned out to be –"
Diable didn't have time to finish his sentence, as at that moment the door burst open, revealing a scantily clad female floating about a foot above the floor. "Hello!" she called, hoping for a response. Diable and Alexis remained silent, but she spotted them anyway. She took one look at Alexis' tear-stained cheeks and Diable's frayed braid, and decided they needed her help. She flew over to them, and offered her hand. "My name is Starfire, I am here to help you. Please, allow me to assist you."
Alexis nodded eagerly and took Starfire's hand. Diable, however, did not budge. So this was Starfire, the alien of the Teen Titans, possibly the largest freak on the planet. The meta-human decided her hated her more in person. Look at her! How can anyone not see that she's a freak? Diable thought angrily. He didn't move, instead opting to glare at her.
Starfire was taken aback. Normally, people loved her. But, she knew he needed saving, so she lifted him up and, before anyone could object – flew them outside onto the safe, not burning ground. Laying them down gently, she addressed the girl. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah. But the building was coming down, and we got trapped, and then our parents … we didn't see them," Alexis said, struggling to come up with a half-believable lie. She looked at Diable, willing him to help her in some way.
Diable took one look at Starfire, and raised an outstretched hand so that his palm was facing the alien. He murmured two words.
"Die, bitch."
A single fireball left his palm.
Starfire screamed.
-------------
Boom.
The noise echoed desolately through the abandoned harbor. The water in the bay rippled like applause through an audience, eventually dissipating at the city's shoreline. The blonde girl smirked as the tower sank into the ground. Another loud rumble followed.
"I don't think your going to be expecting what Slade has in store for you, Titans." The girl spoke to herself, sounded more insane then she looked. Her tousled, unkempt blonde hair blew back and forth in the wind, at times covering her sky blue eyes. One might have thought that a bad thing, them being the pretty color that they were. But, in fact, it was better to not look at them.
The pain they held was unbearable, and the misty look gave a glassy tone to her eyes, powerfully happy memories shining through the hurt. But, firstly, fore-mostly, and most prominently was the look of insanity. Hers eyes twitched like a rabbit's nose. A wide-eyed gleeful look was plastered there permanently, too. All in all, not good material for a painting.
Boom.
Another loud boom. She wondered how long it would take for the Titans to realize that their precious tower was under attack.
Mercifully, the girl allowed the tower to stay with several floors above ground level. Of course, in a few minutes that was all going to change. With a grunt, she returned to the work at hand. With another boom the tower broke through another layer of rock. The tower continued its downward venture, until it was finally consumed by the ground.
"Hope you like your gift, Titans," the girl sneered, as she floated over to the island on a stray platform of rock. She picked her way through the rubble to the small door on what used to be the Titans' roof, which was no ground level.
She inserted a small key in the lock, and the door opened with an inaudible click. The girl made her way to the main room of the tower, and sat down. She reached under the couch for where the remote was usually hidden, and turned on the television to the new channel.
A reporter wearing a ridiculously short blue skirt and a matching blue blazer filled the screen. "Reports are flowing in from all over Jump City of strange happenings, such as the massive fire in the ghetto area of the city. According to bystanders, the Titans were on the cases immediately, but apparently this new group might be a bit more then they can handle. There hasn't been word from them all day. And, in the same area of news, the Titans' 'Beast Boy' went missing four days ago. Might this have any possible connections to the betrayal of the sixth Titan, Terra, who recently began working for the Titans' arch nemesis, Slade? In other news, some people say that the Justice League is –"
The girl sneered, clicking off the television. Didn't the reporters have anything more useful to report on then Superheroes? Seriously – wait a minute …
Beast Boy was missing?
…
… Could he have been? …. Nah, couldn't have …
Could it?
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The sky was a beautiful shade of magenta. The sun was setting on the horizon, and bright golden stars were flecked throughout the sky. The trees made hissing noises as the wind blew throughout their branches. Small woodland creature hopped down there path and through the trees, crying their many mournful cries.
Ah, it was a beautiful night.
His footsteps cracked many sticks as he made his way down the path. He wasn't exactly sure what he was looking for, but what ever it was, he knew that it was special. Or at least, special enough for him to be looking for it in the dead of night.
The sun had set quickly, plunging the forest into complete darkness. It rather suited the forest's new mood, as the small creatures had made themselves scarce to make way for the larger, more powerful beings. A long, mournful cry pierced the night peace, coming from far off in the distance.
Without warning, another cry answered, but from much closer. And this new cry was much more vicious. He stopped, not wanting to go towards the sound of the cry. He curled up in a dark area, waiting – for what, he wasn't sure.
The moonlight shone down directly on him, illuminating a dirty, torn tunic, and a ragged pair of pants. His skin was also covered in dirt, and his hair was coated in the stuff. When he shook his head, a waterfall of dirt came cascading down around him. He sat in the silence of the night, waiting …
…
…
…
… for what? That was made apparent soon enough.
A large black shadow blocked out the moon, and hot, thick breath passed over his face. Coming in short pants, the breath came from a very large mouth that was surrounded by two long, elephantine tusks. Small, beady eyes observed him, sparkling with intelligence. It backed up, giving him breathing space. When he saw what had been standing over him, he was in awe. It was like a large bear with think, shaggy fur and had two long, elegant curving tusks that protruded from its bottom lip. Its paws were massive, almost as big as his head. It stared at him, deep in though. Eventually, it turned around, headed for its own destination.
"Wait!" he called in alarm, leaping up to run after it. "Wait! Don't go! Stop!" he ordered.
The beast paused, looking at him strangely, as if asking, 'what do you want?'
He paused, shuffling, and looked down at his feet. He needed help, and it was obvious that the beast was on his side, so … "I was wondering if you could help me," he stated in a small voice.
The beast smiled, and stood up on its hind legs. He nearly fell over – and would have, if the beast hadn't enveloped him in a massive bear hug. It cried out joyfully, smiling contently.
"Yes, I like you too," he managed to choke out. "Now please put me down?"
The beast obliged, and the two padded off into the moonlight.
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Wintergreen carried the boy to the infirmary, placing him on a plain hospital bed. He then made his way through the halls to the main computer room.
With a beep, the screen flick on. Slade appeared from the other end of the link.
"Wintergreen," Slade addressed the other man. "Has he woken yet?"
"No sir," Wintergreen replied dutifully.
"Well when he does, send him here," Slade ordered.
"Of course, sir. But why?"
"Things aren't going as well as planned, Wintergreen," Slade answered tiredly.
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With beady eyes, the beast watched as the boy ate soundly, smacking his lips loudly on the fruit. It grunted darkly, as if trying to rid itself of thought it rather wouldn't have. It probably didn't think that the boy should be wasting his time down here, in the dark, where they could very easily be attack by … something. Anything. It didn't know. But something was telling it to get out of there.
A hushed rustling in the bushes caused the boy to look up. "Wosh' 'att?" he tried to ask around his mouthful, swallowing thickly in apprehension.
The beast grunted, its beady eyes glaring into the dark.
Get. Out.
The beast shifted onto all fours, ready to jump into action like a spring-loaded monstrosity. It hissed, its dark eyes gleaming in the half-light of the moon.
"Why're you looking like that?" the boy asked cautiously, edging further away from the beast, wary of it long, curved tusks, and large, sharp claws.
Go. Get out!
"Uh, hello?" the beast heard the boy's voice over the rustling, but quickly resettled its focus.
Leave!
"Why're you doing that?"
Get out, now!
"Hel-lo!"
Get! Out!
"Are you listening?"
GET OUT!
"Dude!"
GET OUT NOW!
Rustling.
GET OUT!
"Hello?"
NOW!
Bam!
The beast shot forward like a spring-loaded rocket, grabbing the boy and darting through the woods. He was flying, flying, flying into the air and out of control, the shaggy beast lunging and leaping through the rickety trail the wood provided. But it was far to slow, as a series of gunshot could be heard emanating from not far off. There was a final one, louder this time, and the beast stumbled, letting out a pained yowl. It fell to the ground, letting out low, laborious breaths.
"You're … dying," he observed in a manner that was strangely calmer then he normally would have used. "And … there isn't anything I can do?"
A cough, sharp and sickening, laid waste to the dead silence of the forest. He felt like crying, and there was a lump in his throat that wouldn't go away. "I … I'm sorry." Another cough, this time sounding very much like the beast was muttering, 'you're joking, right?' "I really am." A skeptical look. "I … wish there was something I could do to help."
You could wake up.
"What?" Beast Boy asked the silent forest.
Wake up.
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Beast Boy's limbs re-animated themselves languidly, scarcely responding to his mental commands. His arms barely reached higher, then his waist, and his feet were never more then two inches from the ground. As tired as he was, he tried to keep up with Wintergreen, whose brisk trot was taking them through the winding tunnels of Slade's fortress at a moderate pace.
Eventually, Beast Boy found himself in a vaguely familiar chamber. Slade was before, looking at the many monitor placed before him. The pictures were shadowed, and Beast Boy could barely make out that there were moving figures on it.
Minutes passed. Time ticked away, and with each passing iota of time, And strange sensation, continually crept over Beast Boy, sending shivers down his back, raising the hair on his arms. When Slade finally turned around to address Beast Boy, the shivers had been there for what seemed like ages.
"Apprentice," Slade addressed him coldly, his eyes calculating, "I hope you are up for the task I am about to give to you." He waited, his eyes, glimmering in cold delight as his apprentice nodded. "I order you to go to the warehouse near in the harbor – number thirty-eight – and wait there for Helena and Diable to arrive. Then I want all three of you to return to the base there – they will know where to find it – and I want you to remain in the monitoring room until you receive further instructions. They know to wait for you at the harbor, and when you arrive, relay my commands to them."
Beast Boy nodded. Slade dismissed him.
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Nobody noticed the green raven that flitted throughout the crowd, ducking and diving in the throng of people. Except for a few strangely observant passer-bys.
"I can't believe that little bastard killed Gizmo," the girl stated to her tall companion, who grunted in response.
"You're right" the girl replied after a minute, unaware that her companion hadn't said anything inteligible, "We need to get revenge."
There was a pause in which both member of the group observed the grren bird, before the girl began to drink her coffee. "Gizmo always this the coffee at this place was crap," she muttered fondly.
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A/N: Good gosh, that took forever. I apologize deeply. My inspiration was lost, and I am in the process of attempting to rekindle it. I know I take long to update, so I try to make the chapters worth the wait. This chapter IS NOT BETA-D. If anyone would like that position, please contact me via my e-mail, which I believe is in my profile.
