Resolutions
Chapter 3
"Beast Boy," Robin said, calmly, as the other Titans surrounded him. "Stop and think for a..."
Beast Boy screamed, an incoherent wail of rage and loneliness. His body swelled up, sprouting scales, spikes, a long tail, six clawed feet, and a huge, four-eyed head with a mouth full of jagged, irregular teeth. This was no creature that had ever existed... it was rage, given form.
The beast bellowed, its tail swinging out impossibly fast, sweeping into Kid Flash before he could dodge. As Jinx ran to check on him, Starfire and Cyborg tried to restrain it, but the creature effortlessly shrugged them off. Its paralyzing tongue whipped out at Raven, knocking her out of the sky. Undaunted, Robin through one of his cryo-discs, but the beast shattered it as if it didn't exist and bounded off towards the city.
"Damn," Robin muttered. "Someone! Go after him! Kid Flash?"
"Out cold," Jinx reported. "So is Cyborg. And Raven's paralyzed."
"Lucky me," the violet-haired Titan mumbled through frozen lips.
"Starfire!" Robin shouted. "You'll have to go after him while we tend to everyone else!"
"No." Starfire stated flatly. "Beast Boy has claimed the right of vengeance. I will NOT stand in the way."
"You can't be serious!" the Boy Wonder said in astonishment.
"I have never been more serious. On Tamaran, to stand in the way of vengeance is forbidden; in fact, to do so is so contrary to our way that no one would even think of doing so."
Damn, Robin thought. I've known her for so long that I keep forgetting just how alien she really is.
"Look, Star," he said, "I'd love to debate this with you, but now is NOT the time. Right now, Beast Boy's dangerous, and uncontrolled, and he could hurt people if someone doesn't stop him! As the leader of the Titans, I am ORDERING you to go after him."
"Very well," the Tamaranian replied, flying off in the changeling's general direction.
I shall do as you wish, Robin, Starfire said to herself. I shall indeed follow him. I shall make certain he does not harm innocent bystanders.
But I shall not prevent him from taking his vengeance.
Tara awoke in bed, her memories hazy. Daddy was smiling down at her. "Thank goodness you're all right," he said, a relieved expression on his face.
"What happened?" Tara said weakly. "Did I have... another one of my episodes?"
Her father nodded. "What's the last thing you remember?" he asked.
"That green kid was bothering me again," she said. "Then everything's a blank."
"The doctors said you shouldn't be having these lapses for much longer. Provided you've been taking your pills. You HAVE been taking your pills, haven't you?"
"I forgot them this morning," admitted the slender blonde.
"You need to take them EVERY morning, or else you'll keep having your episodes. Please." He smiled again. "Do it for Daddy?"
"Okay, Daddy," Tara said, giving him a peck on the cheek.
"That's a good gir-" Slade was cut off by a beep from his watch. "I'm sorry, dear. I have an urgent matter to take care of. Mind Mr. Wintergreen while, I'm gone, dear," he said as he left.
Great, Tara thought, I'm stuck with the fossil tonight. She sighed. I wonder if there's at least something good on TV.
Somewhere on the outskirts of Jump City, Beast Boy finally ran out of gas.
Not all his forms were equal. The larger the form, the faster it drained Beast Boy's vitality. And this was close to the largest form he had ever taken. Even rage couldn't carry him so far.
And so, within seconds he'd deflated to his puny human self. Exhausted, he collapsed in a nearby alley. Unable to go on for a while, he was forced to listen to the rational center of his brain.
He'd blown it. He'd injured his friends, he'd run off with no plan, and he'd done it in a way that left him weak, vulnerable, and open.
Yet another brilliant performance from Beast Boy.
Beast Boy often asked himself why he never thought things out before doing them. In some of his more "down" moments, he wondered if it wasn't because he really WAS as stupid as everyone thought.
"Nice one, Beast Boy" he mumbled to himself. "Now what?"
"Excellent question, Mr. Logan," came a voice from just outside the alley. A huge man in armor entered, clearly in full knowledge that only one person would be walking out of the alley... and that it would be himself.
"Slade," spat Beast Boy. "Or are you just another robot? What's the matter... don't like getting blood on your own hands?"
"I assure you, Mr. Logan," Slade said, "I fully intend to carry out your demise personally."
Beast Boy released a bitter, ironic chuckle. "That's a coincidence. I was gonna do the exact same thing to you."
"You. Intend to kill. Me." Slade echoed Beast Boy's chuckle. "I'll let you in on a little secret, boy. Even Robin doesn't know this." He bent down so that his face was literally inches from Beast Boy's. "It really doesn't matter what you try to do to me. I have killed at least one member of every single species on Earth with my bare hands."
He stepped back. "So that this isn't COMPLETELY a waste of my skills, I'll be sporting. I'll let you recover enough so that you can at least give me a LITTLE bit of a challenge."
"Yeah... you're a regular saint, aren't you." said Beast Boy, panting. "What's your problem, anyway? Why can't you just leave us alone?" He glared at the masked man. "Why did you have to kill HER?"
"I'm not the one who killed her, Beast Boy." Slade said. "That body was dead the moment she was petrified. I simply disposed of it."
"You bastard. You're not even the least bit sorry."
"I have nothing to be sorry for. You, on the other hand... "He clenched his fists angrily. "You and your Titans... you have no idea what you've taken from me."
"Oh, what's that... did we prevent you from getting the "Jerk of the Year" award for 2003 or something?"
"YOU HAVE NO IDEA!" screamed the enraged villain. His temper lost, Beast Boy was barely able to avoid Slade's fist. It struck the brick wall next to him, leaving a miniature impact crater. A second's hesitation and Beast Boy's skull would have been pulped.
"You have no idea," he repeated. "I was a father once, Beast Boy. A father of three. My own mistakes took two of my children away from me. But you... you and your so-called 'hero' friends... YOU took the third. I WON'T let it happen again!"
"Hey," Beast Boy protested, "What happened to letting me recover?"
"You've had enough time," spat Slade. "Now, you're going to die."
His fist again aimed at Beast Boy, but met air. Beast Boy was now a gerbil scurrying between his feet and headed out of the alley.
"Clever," Slade said. "You've become just the right size to be stepped on. And I'd heard you were the stupid one."
Slade aimed his boot and brought it down. At the last second, Beast Boy took the form of a fly and flitted out of the way. As Slade switched tactics and attempted to swat him, Beast Boy changed once again, this time taking the shape of a spitting cobra. Wrapping himself around the villain's head, he hocked a toxic loogie directly into his good eye.
Slade hissed in pain as Beast Boy let go and reverted to human form to catch his breath. Multiple quick changes were almost as taxing as larger forms, and while normally three in a row wouldn't have been enough to wind him, in his weakened state it was causing a serious drain.
"Bravo, boy," Slade said, blinking away the venom. "You've actually managed to impress me. But you still have no hope of winning today."
"Maybe not," hissed Beast Boy. "Maybe I don't have what it takes to put you in the dirt once and for all. Maybe you'll kill me. But, damn it... I owe you pain, and before you finish with me, I'm gonna pay you in full."
With a screech, Beast Boy, now a large green baboon, tackled the criminal and clamped his jaws around his arm. His fangs had no chance of breaching the Kevlar-weave suit, but the sheer force of his jaws succeeded in dislocating the limb. Slade attempted to pry his head off with his free arm, and finally dislodged him with a head-butt. Beast Boy rolled back, again reverting to his human form. In from of him, Slade stood, his arm hanging uselessly.
Yes! He thought. I've hurt him! His hopes of a possible triumph were dashed when Slade simply popped his arm back into its socket.
"This has ceased being diverting," he said, pulling his sword from his scabbard. "I believe I'll end this now."
His sword whistled through the air. Beast Boy attempted to dodge as a swallow, but the blade clipped his wings, sending him into a spiral. He hit the ground and reverted, his bisected feathers translating into a ripped sleeve. Slade's boot followed, connecting heavily with Beast Boy's solar plexus. Agony flared within his chest as he collapsed.
"That pain you feel right now would be your fourth, fifth, and sixth ribs. You might as well give up, Beast Boy," Slade said. "If you do, I'll make it quick."
"Go to hell," Beast Boy spat back.
"Hell is no doubt my ultimate destination," the criminal responded, "but since you clearly are inadequate to the task of sending me there... I believe I'll send you instead."
He had raised his sword and was about to bring it down, and sever Beast Boy's head in the process, when...
"I believe he said he was NOT interested!" A bolt of green energy struck Slade's sword-hand, knocking his weapon away. More bolts struck him in the chest, arms, and abdomen, driving him back.
Slade looked upward at the golden-skinned girl diving at him. "It'll take more than that to stop me, girl," he said. "You have no hope of defeating me alone."
Starfire smiled. "I did not come alone," she stated.
A powerful blast of sonic energy struck Slade in the stomach, followed by a telekinetically-thrown garbage can to the shoulder and a hex-bolt to the face.
"Boo-yah! That got his attention!"
"Long time no see, Slade," remarked Robin, flanked on the left by Cyborg and Raven, and on the left by Jinx and Kid Flash, as he armed an explosive Birdarang. "You ready to end this?"
"End this?" Slade said. "My boy... you have no idea how ready I am."
To be continued