Sorry I haven't updated. I'm falling in and out of writer's block. But mostly falling out. Hehe. O well…
I wud like to, once again, dedicate this to Mina, cuzza ur review. So THANKS again. (sorry, but this is probably gonna be the last chapter with ur review being worked into it. so as a almost, sorta, farewell gift, here: tosses a reeeeeeaaalllly biiiggg (w/e kinda cookie u like) cookie don't worry bout rationing, there's plenty more where that came from wink, wink hehe, im soo retarded. Anyway, enuff stalling. ON WITH THE STORY!
Chapter 9: Encounter
And in that moment, I decide that my hair is as dry as I can get it to be at the moment, and so I fly back up to the rooftop with Starfire in tow.
And all the simplicity in the world has been restored and all is well again.
I will hold myself with equanimity.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX
Steam rolled out in smoky, white puffs, cascading down in the heavenly foam of a waterfall of ghosts. They surged down like the tumbling rocks of a gently sheer and steep mountain. They poured out from the threshold of the door of Robin's personal bathroom. The door lay open; a portal into the steamy sauna the young hero had the fortune to hold for his own.
And so with an unnatural and demonic sweep of my cloak, I leave him the most pure and simplest of notes reading:
Meet me on the roof.
On the purest, most simplest of white sheets of paper.
And with another flounce of my sapphire swathe, I turn tail and out the door, making sure to conceal the boy's privacy with a twist of the tiny knob on the lock of the control pad.
And that was that.
I would rather walk, so I traipse up the flight of stairs by foot, watching the blue cloth of my boots rather than shuffling through my mind for the 'right words'.
'Right words' were instantly forgotten at—and in the midst of—the scene and lay discarded like the old toy after a new one has been purchased. Discarded and forgotten, rubbish the moment something of new interest has been targeted. And so goes the story of life.
But I don't want to think right now. I need a clear mind for the undertaking ahead of me.
And so the contemplation subsides to annoying, but bearable murmurs.
Finally, in blank mindedness, I reach the door at the pinnacle of the building. I open the door labeled 'ROOF' and let it swing shut behind me; the greased hinges silently sliding shut.
I walk to the periphery of the roof, allowing a fraction of the tip of my foot to stick off hazardously. I let the cool breeze relieve my stressed body, allowing the gentle caress to ease the hood of my cloak free of my head and ruffle the indigo threads of my hair. I feel my cloak lift free of my leotard in the wind and then lightly settle back down again. I watch as even the cuffs of my leotard sleeves succumb to the delicate zephyr and dance to the silent melody of the whistling puff of air.
The sunset is slowly fading away; that celestial painter of the heavens splashing away with the crimsons and violets, mahoganies and ceruleans, allowing them to slowly mesh into the deep cobalt and heliotropes of ebony.
Thus the perfect time arrives and my apology has begun its pomp descent onto those that I seek forgiveness from—namely Robin.
And so the very Boy Wonder himself appears at the corner of my eye.
A wind, stronger than the previous, sweeps through his spiked mane, disheveling the pointed hair.
After a moment's pause, he walks to the edge of the roof where I am standing.
He faces the edge of the roof to stare at the glowing city below him.
I open my mouth to speak, but I am silenced by the sudden beeping of our synchronized communicators.
Robin pulls his own yellow piece of machinery and flips it open. Still staring at the piece of machinery, he steps closer to me, and knowing what he means, I wrap us in my ebony magic and we sink into the floor of the roof.
I reappear on the full carpeting of the main room where the other Titans have already assembled.
Robin's eager voice shoots out, "What's the situation, Cyborg?"
"Plasmus, Fourth Street!"
"Alright, Titans, GO!" And we all make our way out the door. As customary, Starfire carries Robin in her hands, Beast Boy, in the form of a pterodactyl, carries Cyborg atop his back, and I fly without any load other than my own weight. We take our path across the bay to the city in peril.
We make our way to Fourth Street, and Plasmus falls into sight instantly.
The volume of the screams of the frightened civilians increased as we drew closer to the scene. We arrived to the sight of Plasmus trying to drink the water from an exposed sewage pipe.
A single explosion disc makes its way to the sludge covered pipe, detonating on impact and sending the purple creature reeling backwards. The surprised monster stares first at its now empty hands and then to the Titans.
The irritated creature stretches one of its slushy arms at us, fingers balled into a fist.
"Titans, go!" And with that, the five of us dive our separate ways to dodge the oncoming punches.
Robin starts from one side of the huge creature, shooting his grappling hook onto a nearby building, then swinging down at the monster; steel-toed boots collide with purple mire. The kick is administered, and Robin releases the grappling hook, and then back flipping as to avoid a nearing punch. An extended arm tries to knock his feet out from underneath him, but he jumps and crashes down on the mauve-colored limb. A plasma-crab is formed and comes, pummeling, towards the colorful hero.
Cyborg's blue sonic cannon deftly crushes the crab-like creature, before relenting to attack Plasmus' main body. Plasmus creates a hole so the assault goes right through to the other side. Unwilling to give up, Cyborg shoots again, aiming at the head of the unlawful villain. Bull's eye.
"Boo yah!" But before Cyborg can truly cheer, a muck-covered Robin is hurled at him and the two collide.
Starfire shoots her starbolts from behind, successfully hurting the unsuspecting Plasmus. Starfire continues her volley of starbolts, progressively forcing him backwards and finally to the ground once more. The monstrous criminal gets up and turns around to swat at her, but I create a wall between Plasmus' arm and Starfire.
I take control of a close by lamppost, swinging at the monster. He simply sucks the metal up and spits it back out at the two of us, but Starfire catches it and, swinging it above her head first, throws it straight at Plasmus' face.
The impact causes him to fall backwards, where Beast Boy flies down from the skies, now in the form of a T-Rex. He stomps on Plasmus, before forming into a sparrow and flying out of the way of an approaching blow from the creature.
I take hold of a large truck and shove it roughly against Plasmus' body repeatedly. I throw it at his face, but he catches it and throws it back at me. I take control of it again, and use it to pull the monster's legs out from underneath him. Then, I drop the truck flat on his face, where it lands successfully. But he sucks it up into his form, his acid breaking it into pieces. He then violently spits the pieces back at me. I dodge a few, but a number of them crash against me, sending me backwards, first, into a metal lamppost, then, into a glass building, where several shards slice my skin. On wobbly legs, I rise again.
Cyborg runs up to the mucky villain, clutching Plasmus' leg and, being able to lift him, flings him against the hard, concrete pavement. But Plasmus kicks his leg into the air in mid-fall, causing Cyborg to go flying head-first into the brick exterior of Pizza Place. The force shakes the whole building, and several loosened bricks rain down hard on Cyborg.
Robin, however, is back up, and Starfire takes Robin in her hands once more, before dropping him onto Plasmus' back. Robin takes out his bo-staff and blows down strongly against the creature. Plasmus administers a blow to his head, causing Robin to fall to the ground. I encase him in my aura and put him safely onto the ground. I retrieve Robin's bo-staff and aggressively beat the monster, before dropping it in Robin's grip once again. I fly around Plasmus' face to distract him while Cyborg shoots continually at his unsteady legs.
Trying to reach back and punch me, Plasmus knocks an unnoticing Starfire to the pavement below. Beast Boy catches her in the form of a pterodactyl. Then, he goes and, forming into a stegosaurus, lands once again on top of Plasmus. Starfire pours her barrage of green starbolts at Plasmus' legs once he gets up, causing him to fall again. Beast Boy returns, swinging and thrashing about. Beast Boy's tail strikes Plasmus again and again. However, Plasmus grabs the swinging extension and hurls Beast Boy rigidly into the wall of a building, grabs him again, and throws him at Starfire, who catches him but falls to the ground below from impact. Leaving a dent in the ground, Starfire falls unconscious, but Beast Boy shakily gets up again, pulling Starfire out of harm's way.
Cyborg's cannon shoots out in every direction, making sure to avoid his friends. Several shots land on target, causing the tiring opponent to stumble backwards and land unceremoniously on his back. Robin, about to be buried underneath Plasmus, jumps up and out of the way, and throws a number of freeze-discs at the falling Plasmus. He freezes in mid-fall and the ice shatters when he lands, spraying shards all around.
I hurriedly drop the mailbox I was about to throw, to create a dome of magic above the team, myself, and several innocent bystanders. The ice pieces bounce off, and I allow the magic to diminish before retaking the mailbox and ramming it rigorously against the fallen Plasmus.
Wanting to finally end the battle, I take control of an enormous piece of debris, a reduced piece of wall, no doubt. I pull the enveloped debris over my head and then forcefully and vigorously hurtle the heavy concrete at the weakened opponent, instantly rendering the boy inside unconscious. No longer awake, the gooey purple muck diminishes and the unconscious boy falls into view.
Using my magic and Star's inhuman strength, we firmly wrap the comatose boy in a steadfast segment of metal railing.
The police force arrives at the scene of crime and drags the unawake boy into the back of their sturdy van. We watch as the containment vehicle drives down the road and out of sight. And we realized that the bumpy road isn't the only thing that had become worn out.
We stared at the mess before us.
Our favorite pizza place had several destroyed tables and umbrellas, and one of the Z's was lying on the ground, slumped over.
Cook's Electronics was battered, with a wide hole gaping open at us. That's probably where the piece of wall came from.
The sidewalk had numerous pits and many a wall had been ripped from the building it was a part of. The once-clean and even tar of the road was uplifted and slightly curled and rolled at the edge where it had been yanked out of the ground. The sewage pipe Plasmus had been trying to drink out of lay open, gushing filthy water out onto the pavement. The roof of one unfortunate building was caved in—the work of Plasmus. Dented lampposts lay wilted over, and some were severed completely.
More cars and trucks than we could count lay sadly staring at us. Some were flipped over in various positions, some were dented and broken, some were missing pieces such as a muffler, a tire or a windowpane. The vast majority of the vehicles had cracked and shattered windows. One of the cars had even blown up—luckily, no one had been inside.
A few people were trapped in a cage of torn metal fencing and some were still inside the building with the caved in roof. But the most of our worries came from the hulking water tower that lay precariously on extremely weak legs. One metal beam had been severed from the ground, leaving only three to support the heavy water container.
Robin sighed, and ruffled his hair between his fingers. We all looked at him, knowing, even though we were all tired, what he was about to say.
"Titans, let's help clean up. Search for anyone in danger and help them, then let's worry about the water tower. Titans," he sighed again, "Go."
And we all split up to check each building for people. Beast Boy went to the people trapped in between the fencing. Too tired to even morph, Beast Boy used his own hands to dislodge the framework from the ground. The relieved civilians ran out of danger's path when the metal was removed. Sighing, Beast Boy went to check the closest building.
Starfire went into Cook's and brought out one or two scared people, telling them to wait for the ambulance that had been called up to arrive. With bags under her eyes, she moved on to the next building.
Cyborg went to Pizza Place and got several worried citizens out of the building, tossing some umbrellas to the side.
Robin ran into a nearby house, pushing the inhabitants outside. Fire had been leaping in the fireplace, and the house seemed ready to explode, which it did a few moments later.
I went into the building with the caved roof. At first, I thought the place was empty. But then I heard faint sobbing, and I called out.
"Hello? Is anyone in here?" I paused and strained my ears, not even breathing so as to hear for any voices. I walked farther into the building, picking my way between debris. There were numerous segments of ceiling beams and columns lying desolately and dead. I picked up the pace. If there wasn't much holding this place up, it was sure to collapse soon.
"Hello? Hello, is anyone inside? Hello?" I walked around a destroyed set of stairs to a tiny room. The room was so small and scrunched up, littered with dirt, dust, and broken pieces of various things.
"Please, if you are inside, answer me. Hello? Is someone there?" A feeble support column shuddered and then cracked at the base before crumbling and falling to the ground in pathetic pieces. There was no light other than the faint traces of illumination from holes in the ceiling or the few tiny windows. Most were cracked or blocked by some sort of debris. I reached another staircase. However, this one was useable, but only enough for a small child. I tried anyway. I placed a foot on the first step. The entire frame shook, but held. However, another ceiling beam fell to the floor, and the force caused the stairs to finally fall apart in a heap on the floor.
A tiny gasp emitted from the top of the stairs, and I knew there must be a child up there. So I summoned whatever energy I could and levitated to the top landing. All the rooms were sealed shut. But what caught my attention was that they had been boarded shut by the owner of the place, not the fighting. All the rooms were boarded except for two. The first one, however, had all windows boarded up, and a large hole in the center of the floor.
That left the final room. The second room was dim, but bright compared to the rest of the building. I picked my way through more debris. The room was empty except for a small bed in one corner of the room. There was a pile of rubble scattered around the bed. But what I noticed was that there was a massive mound of heavy debris atop the bed. I made my way over to it. Conjuring up as much strength as I could, I pulled the first piece off. Then the next, and the one after. The pile then moved, and I then realized something.
There was a small child underneath.
With a sudden burst of adrenaline, I started pulling off the layers of rubble and wreckage.
"Hello? Can you hear me? Hello?" I don't think the child could breathe very well, let alone speak. So I doubled my efforts to heave the mountain of dirt off. Finally, the vast majority of the ruins were pulled off, and I could tell it was a little girl. She clutched a tiny cloth doll to her chest, and her eyes were wide open and teary. Even though I got much of the mess off of the girl, she wouldn't survive much longer at this rate.
So I sighed a deep breath, and tried to focus myself. Drawing up as much energy as I possibly could, I spoke in a soft tone, "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos" My eyes took on their white glow, and I encircled the heap of dirt and lifted it off of the frail girl. Her tiny form began moving, her small body rising up and down in huge gulps of breath. The girl began crying, and I collapsed onto the bed next to the girl. She threw herself at me, and that motherly instinct took over. I pulled her close to my body—she was so small and fragile compared to me. I heaved her up into my arms and stood up. I melted into the ground and reappeared outside the building.
The others had already fixed the broken legs of the water tower, and were helping the ambulance workers push in the few severely injured people.
When I reappeared outside, Robin ran over to me.
"Raven!" he ran over to me, as I collapsed to my knees. The little girl, too, collapsed, weak from her close encounter with death.
"I'm fine, take the little girl. I'm just really tired." And he complied. He lifted the petite form into his strong arms and carried her to the ambulance. I watched as he handed the small girl into the hands of one of the ambulatory workers.
And then everything went black.
Sorry this chapter stunk so much. This was probably my worst chapter. Uggh! Now I hate myself. The next chapter should be better.