Chapter Fifteen: Survival
Raven was in pain, unbearable pain. She landed on her back when she hit the water. At the height she fell from, the water was like concrete. Her back stung and felt cramped, her legs tingled and were sore. She could scarcely move her arms. As if the pain from her fall wasn't enough, she also was tortured by the twenty-eight degree water.
Raven knew that she had mere minutes of survival time before hypothermia would set in full force and kill her. However, she also had to contend with the crowds of people in the water with her, which clutched at anything that floated, including other people.
Raven first looked around, trying to find the other Titans, when she was pushed under water! Someone had grabbed her, forcing her head below the surface. The cold water stung her face, numbing it. Her struggles did no good. What more, she felt rage inside her, building.
'Don't you dare!' she thought. But it was no good; her rage consumed her, and her powers flung her assailant off her several yards.
She broke the surface, gasping for air. She calmed down, feeling guilty for what she did. Then she realized she could perhaps use her powers. In the darkness, she could probably fly over the crowd without being noticed. But when she tried, she lacked the concentration of force; she was still in too much pain. She decided to use her powers to simply move in the water. Then, she realized she had no idea what direction she faced! Sighing, she picked a direction and "swam" away, unknowingly in the opposite direction of the other Titans.
The Titans were struggling merely with the cold and other people, but it made things no less difficult for them. The icy water left them out of breath. The struggles of the people around them splashed water in their faces, stinging their eyes.
"Raven!" Cyborg cried out. "Raven, where are you?"
His calls were interrupted by something that emerged from the deep; it was a door!
"The doors! They're coming up!" he said.
Indeed, dozens of doors emerged from the water, providing hope for the passengers. They crowded on them, submerging them partially, defeating their purpose. The Titans somehow managed to find two doors for themselves; Starfire and Robin got on one, Terra and Beast Boy the other.
Cyborg had no luck just yet, but it mattered little to him. He had little real flesh, and so his internal heaters could keep him alive. For how long was another matter altogether. He stayed by Beast Boy and Terra.
"Hey, how are you floating?" Terra asked the bionic hero.
"What do you mean?" he replied.
"You're mostly metal, right? So how can you float?"
"I have these devices that use a kind of hydro-magnetic field around me, so that I can float. It also let's me be used as a floatation device."
He noticed he was shivering violently, as was Terra. In fact, all of the Titans were shivering uncontrollably. Then, there was a large splash. Something else emerged from the water. Cyborg made for it, finding it was a rather large piece of wood. He had no idea what it used to be, only that it was big enough to support him. He climbed on top of it.
Other passengers swam toward them. He noticed a young woman close by and helped her onto his makeshift raft.
"It's okay! You're safe now!" he said.
She clutched him, speaking words of thanks in a language he didn't understand. He supposed she must have been one of the third class.
One approached Robin and Starfire, holding something.
"Please!" cried a frantic woman. "Take my baby! Save him!"
Starfire held the crying infant close to her. She muttered comforting words in her own language. Robin held the mother's hand.
"You'll be fine, you're with friends now." he told her.
A few other passengers gathered, merely holding on to the doors the Titans floated on. Terra and Beast Boy tried to give words of solace and comfort to those in the water. Most of them cried, some said prayers. It was enough to make Beast Boy cry.
Raven found herself loosing conciseness as she continued her trek through the freezing waters. It would not be long before her heart would slow down to a few beats per minute. She felt that death was upon her, yet she refused to give up.
Her efforts were rewarded when she noticed a shape in the water, where other people had gathered. She quickly made for it. It turned out to be an overturned lifeboat, one of the collapsibles. A group of men stood precariously on its keel.
She approached the boat with caution, taking care not to capsize it.
"Help me!" she blurted out, her voice hoarse and weak from the cold. She was as the side of the boat and ceased using her powers. She felt a strange calm about her. Then, a pair of strong hands helped her onto the keel.
"You're alright now, miss." someone said.
She could not reply. Her rescuers helped steady her, as her legs felt numb and heavy. A few minutes later, someone in the crowd suggested a prayer be said. A quick poll was taken as to what religion the people were. Raven's mind was still too fogged to give a response.
The crowd agreed on saying 'The Lord's Prayer'. During the first few verses of the prayer, Raven said nothing. Then, on the fourth verse, she joined the crowd, crying uncontrollably as she did so.
Cyborg lost all track of time. He didn't bother with checking his internal clock, being too depressed and cold to care. What he was aware of, was that his power cell was down to about forty percent. He knew his heaters were using a good deal of his energy. He had to conserve it. He looked around, as if seeing things clearly for the first time. He realized that the terrible screaming had stopped. Now, there was only silence.
He looked at the woman next to him. He checked her life signs; there was none! She was dead! He was shocked, and without thinking pushed the woman's body into the water. He started to cry, thinking of Raven. He regretted he didn't have as much time with her in their new found relationship as he would've liked. He noticed Terra and Beast Boy, lying together.
"Terra! Garfield! You awake?"
The two of them stirred. "Yeah, we're okay." the geomancer said.
"Good." Cyborg replied.
Beast Boy looked around and saw the dead, floating bodies around him.
"This is too creepy." he muttered. Tears welled up in his eyes. "Terra?" he said.
"Yes?" she replied.
"What's death like?"
"What do you mean?"
"What was it like when you died?"
"I don't know. That was so long ago, and it happened so fast." She sighed. "I remember a flash of light and being cold and warm at the same time. After that, I woke up in Titans Tower." She glared at him. "Why do you ask?"
"I have a feeling that I'm going to die."
"No, you're not! You're not going to die, not while I'm here!"
"I just have to accept it! Things change and this is how it's going to change for me!"
"Now you listen to me, young man! You will not die! You will get through this, with me! I'm always going to be here with you, do you understand?"
"What difference will it make? You should just let me go, let me die. I'm beat."
Terra smacked him across the face a few times.
"Now listen to me!" she yelled, in tears. "You're not going to die, because I won't let you die! You will stay alive because I say so! I love you too damn much to let you go! Understand? I love you!"
She hugged him as best she could.
"I'm sorry, Terra." Beast Boy said, returning her embrace. "I just...there's so much death around us. Believe me, I'd rather fight the Brotherhood of Evil than be here!"
She smiled at him. "But I do have good news." he added.
"What?" Terra asked.
"I saved a bunch of money on my car insurance by switching to Geico!" he said.
Terra punched him in the arm, giggling. Then, they fell silent, knowing this was not a time for jokes. They simply held each other's hands.
Robin and Starfire also were scarcely awake, their minds numbed by the cold. Despite the chill, Starfire had an inner reserve of strength that kept her more or less awake and aware of all that was happening.
She turned her attention to the baby she held with her arm. Something didn't seem right. She listened for breathing. There was none!
"No!" she cried, tears immediately flowing down her face.
"What is it?" Robin asked. She held the frozen infant to him. He realized what had happened and cried too.
"What should I do?" she said.
Robin looked in front of him and saw the child's mother in front of him. He took the baby from Starfire and placed it in the mother's dead arms.
"They should be together." he said.
He then held her close to him. Through her tears, Starfire looked at the sky. She saw numerous meteors streaking the sky. Robin noticed it too.
"I remember hearing once that every time a meteor crosses the sky, a soul returns to heaven." he said.
"I heard a similar story on Tamaran." she replied.
They watched the display together, as hundreds of meteors swarmed the sky.