32 Productions Presents…
A HIVE Team StoryThe HIVE Team In…
"Black Cats and Goblins"
Chapter Four
Titan H.Q.: Main Room
Starfire's possessed body was taking a pounding. The souls had gone for a body with intense physical strength, but Starfire's body had always lacked one very important thing. Invulnerability. Strong as she was, she could be taken down by a normal human if they moved fast enough. Trying to take down six people…only ONE of them being a normal human…that was out of the question. Of course, that didn't mean they wouldn't try. It was irrelevant anyway. If the body died, they'd move on to someone else. Maybe the shape shifter. They doubted they could properly possess Cyborg. She threw Changeling's wolf creature form aside as he tried to bite her. Turning, Starfire prepared to blast him into nothing when something sharp struck her in the back. She cried out and reached behind her. The birdarang came out easily. She sank to the ground in a heap. Changeling stood up, cautiously.
Changeling: …did we win?
Starfire: Oh…wh…what is happening…? I…I am damaged?
Starfire looked at the bloodstained birdarang in her hand and looked up toward Robin, tears in her green eyes.
Starfire: Robin…did…did you do this to me? Why?
Robin: Starfire…I…
Raven: Don't be a fool. Souls don't just disappear. She's faking it.
Starfire: Faking what? I do not understand…
Robin frowned.
Robin: Starfire wouldn't whine about it. She'd get even.
Starfire's eyes glowed red again.
Starfire: Very well. Perhaps a more…complex strategy is required. You want her back? Have her.
Starfire cried out as the souls left her body. They quickly leapt into Terra who fell to the floor. Starfire groaned and looked at the bloody birdarang in her hand.
Starfire: …this had better be some form of party game or I shall break your limbs, Robin. Cute you may be, but none get away with such actions.
Cyborg: Actually there's a very good explanation for this.
Starfire: Which is…?
Terra opened her eyes. They were glowing red.
Terra: We're underground, aren't we? How very interesting.
Starfire: …this is not a party game, is it?
Raven: Calm down…if you bring this place down, you'll have no bodies to leap to and I've already bound you to this plane of existence. You'll cease to exist.
Terra: We're willing to bet that this body can survive…can yours?
Cyborg raised a hand.
Cyborg: I can.
Raven: I could put up a barrier.
Shade snorted.
Raven: He can slip out.
Terra sweatdropped.
Terra: Er…okay…uh…well…ah, I know.
Terra turned and slammed her fist into Changeling's gut. He coughed and gagged, falling over in agony.
Terra: Some of us were fairly intelligent. Some of us know a thing or two about geology. If this girl had any idea…
Terra's body shifted slightly, becoming a smoother thicker rock.
Terra: She'd have altered her body as well as what was around her. Speaking off…
Terra reached upward. The ceiling cracked as chunks of rock came down, but quickly repairing the top so that there wasn't a cave in. Cyborg aimed his sonic cannon but Changeling stopped him.
Changeling: You can't!
Raven: Don't be a baby! Robin had no problem attacking Starfire when she was possessed!
Starfire: Is that a fact?
Starfire gave Robin a dirty look. Oh how he was going to get it. Terra crafted the rocks she took down into a giant battle suit. She raised her massive hand and the fingers grew into talons.
Terra: Now…scream for us…we want to hear you scream the way you made us scream.
Robin: …Raven, when this is over we're cleaning out your room.
Raven: Nobody goes into my room but me! …and Shade!
Afterlife
Shimmer pulled herself free from the wave of souls and collapsed on the stone surface, exhausted It wasn't until she sat back up that she realized what had happened to her in the stream. Her body was a mess. Chunks of her body were missing, making her look like ragged swiss cheese. To say this freaked her out would be an understatement.
Shimmer: Omigod, Omigod, Omigod…I'm gonna die…I'm gonna di…wait…I'm already dead.
That opened up new applications in this case. The way she saw it, there were two possibilities. She could very well be 'immortal' and is incapable of dying again. On the other hand…she could cease to exist. That was a terrible thought. That belief seemed to be confirmed as the holes started to widen.
Shimmer: No! Oh no…what am I going to do?! I can't go out like this! Will I even be remembered if I disappear?
Shimmer stood up, her face tight with determination. Okay, so maybe she was going to disappear. So help her, before that happened she would fix the problem here and save her friends and brother. The source of the problem seemed to be coming from an orb floating in the middle of the room. It pulsated with a glow similar to the one that had overtaken all those souls. She ran toward it as fast as her slowly disappearing legs could move her. As she got closer she could feel the impulses wash over her. Why should she destroy this orb? The living had caused this suffering. In fact, it was because of them that she was fading away…no…no, that wasn't true. It was because of the ORB that she was fading away! She grabbed the orb and screamed as her hands began to burn. With her last ounce of strength, she threw the orb to the stone floor, shattering it. The resulting explosion swallowed her up.
Outside Cemetery: Back Entrance
They tore at her costume, bony nails digging into her skin and making her bleed. Even though it was stupid at this point, she frantically held onto her mask. Over the dull moaning of her attackers, Red X could hear Gizmo and Mammoth shouting her name.
Red X: Oh Dad…I hope you're proud of me. I died fighting. I…huh?
Red X's melodramatic thoughts were cut off as the undead lost their 'un'. The collapsed in a rotting heap. Suddenly aware that she was covered in corpses, Red X freaked and started trying to throw them all off her. Mammoth tossed some off her and she climbed out, shivering and feeling sick.
Gizmo: You okay?
Red X just gagged. The smell of rot had covered her clothes and she couldn't stand it.
Mammoth: I think the smell is getting to her.
Gizmo: (sarcastic) Gee, really? I thought it was my shoes that was making her dry heave.
Front Entrance
Jinx nudged one of the dead with her foot. No response. Sonic scratched his head, confused.
Sonic: Okay…what just happened?
Jinx: Who knows? Maybe somebody up there likes us.
Jinx smiled to herself. Shimmer had come through for them. Krystal and Blackfire landed near them. Blackfire had her fingers in her ears.
Blackfire: No, stop it. Don't say anymore.
Krystal: What? All I'm saying is that the smell of all those cooked bodies reminded me of a barbeque and now I'm hungry.
Blackfire: I can't hear you. No. Not a word.
Mammoth and Gizmo arrived, Mammoth carrying the ill feeling Red X over his shoulder.
Sonic: Guess your costume wasn't too convincing. Let's get out of here before somebody shoots you.
Mammoth: Too late.
Gizmo shrugged.
Gizmo: Hey, you're dressed as a zombie and it's dark out. Leave me alone.
Titan H.Q.: Main Room
Terra groaned and held her head. She had such a headache. Maybe she should have gone easy on the booze. Looking up, she noticed everyone staring at her.
Terra: What? What's the matter?
Changeling: …look around, baby.
Terra did so. She whistled.
Terra: Wow. Must have been a hell of a party!
The place was trashed. Rocks lined the floor like a gravel road. Starfire poked Terra. Her finger hit a bleeding spot on her head.
Terra: Ow! Hey, that hurt!
Cyborg: Girl, we were just attacked by the souls of everybody that we killed!
Raven: …within the last month or so.
Terra scratched her head.
Terra: We were? Where'd I go?
Everybody sighed.
Robin: They possessed you.
Cyborg: After possessing Starfire.
Starfire snapped her fingers and promptly smacked Robin across the face.
Robin: OW! What the hell!?
Starfire: That is for nearly piercing my third lung.
Everybody stared at Starfire. Shade poked her in the stomach, feeling around. She slapped his hand away.
Raven: …how much room do you HAVE in there?
Starfire: Pardon?
Terra: You're stuffed with organs! How can you possibly have that great a figure?!
Starfire adjusted her nurse's hat, smirking.
Starfire: Do not question that which you cannot possibly hope to understand.
Starfire walked off, haughtily. As soon as the door shut, however, she gripped her aching side where she had been kicked by a kangaroo beast and staggered toward the medical room to bandage herself up.
Starfire: Bitter irony tastes so bitter. The one dressed as a nurse requires medical aid.
Jump City County Hospital: Three Days Later
The girl groaned as her eyes slowly opened. Her throat was dry to the point of being painful. It took a moment to realize where she was. The smell gave it away really. With a shaking hand, she reached over and pressed the call nurse button. After waiting an absurdly long while and pressing the button several more times, a nurse came in. Stocky and middle aged, she looked utterly thrilled to be there…and that's sarcasm in case it doesn't come out that way in writing.
Nurse: (bored) Oh, you're awake. I'll get the doctor.
The girl wanted to ask what she was doing there, but all that escaped her throat was a weak cough. The doctor, who in the girl's opinion looked about as ancient as the pyramids of Egypt, soon entered.
Doctor: Ah, our Jane Doe is finally awake…
The girl's eyes widened. She suddenly realized that she had NO idea what her name actually was. It never occurred to her to think about it before but, knowing that Jane Doe was a name given to females who's names aren't known, she had been prompted to think of it when he called her that. She pointed toward her throat and coughed. Nodding, the doctor went into the bathroom and got her a paper cup full of water. He helped her drink it, not trusting her shaking hands. The pain faded and she coughed one more time.
Girl: Wh…what am I doing here?
Doctor: You were found in the cemetery surrounded by corpses. We were hoping you could tell US what you were doing there.
The girl frowned and shook her head.
Girl: I have no idea. I can't remember a bloody thing about…anythin'.
The doctor noted her accent. English or Australian from the sound of it. The girl was currently noting the same thing.
Doctor: I see…not even your name?
Girl: No…what happened to me? Am I hurt or anythin'? Hit my head or somethin' cliché like that?
The doctor wrote some stuff down on his clipboard.
Doctor: You had no visible injuries and X-rays showed no damage to your bones. Now that you're awake we can give you a KAT scan and take a peek inside that noodle of yours.
Girl: Dandy.
The girl struggled to get up.
Doctor: Hey, hey, hey. You should stay in bed now.
Girl: Sorry, doc. Nature calls and all that.
She managed to get to her feet and made her way to the bathroom. After relieving herself she paused to look in the mirror.
Girl: (muttering) Like meeting somebody for the first time…
The face stared back with a lack of recognition. Red messy hair, bluish…almost purple eyes…she had no idea who she was at all. She sighed and returned to her bed. Her legs ached.
Girl: So doc…I didn't have any identification me? Not even a library card?
The doctor cleared his throat.
Doctor: Young lady, you weren't even found with clothes.
Girl: Say what?! I was lyin' around with a bunch of stiffs without a stitch on me?! What the bleedin' hell?
Doctor: Like I said, we were hoping you'd explain it to us.
Girl: …aint' that a kick in the bum…
Doctor: Well, I'll let you get your rest. If you recall anything, tell me.
Girl: Righto, doc.
The doctor left and the girl leaned back. She struggled to remember something…anything…but nothing came to mind.
Girl: Damn these sheets are itchy…why couldn't they be made of satin or someth…
She paused and looked down at the sheets. They felt…different. They were soft like…satin?!
THE END