32 Productions Presents…

A HIVE Team Story

The HIVE Team In…

"Reality: You Break it You Buy It"

Chapter Five

Red X's Room

Red X sat up and felt her face. No burns…but there were many scars. Her face felt totally disfigured. In fact, she had a patch over her eye. She could actually feel the scars under her fingers, which meant they must be deep. That meant she was in another reality…again. Sighing, she felt around for her mask, not wanting to turn on the light with her face exposed. When she couldn't find it, she turned on her light, seeing no other option. The light didn't work. Frowning, Red X got out of bed and stumbled over to the curtains, pulling them open. What she saw made her gasp. The city was in ruins. Smoke from dying fires floated lazily in the sky. Boats sailed aimlessly, some with bodies hanging over them. Others had…

Red X: (remembering) …zombies.

It all came back to her as she got dressed and headed for the main room. No one knew how it started. Radiation from outer space? A bio-engineered virus, perhaps? Could it be voodoo? No one could say. What was known without a doubt was that the dead walked. Shortly thereafter, Red X was caught in an explosion from a gas main going off. A car fire ignited it. She was lucky to survive, but her face was forever distorted. Forgoing their differences, the HIVE and Titans banded together in hopes of surviving this nightmare. The tower was the safest place. Since only humans got the…whatever it was, there was no way for them to reach the tower in full force. Occasionally one or two washed up on shore, or a boat with a dozen or so crashed on the rocks, but they were easily taken care of. The power was cut off during the night, save for the refrigeration units and security systems. That's why the lights didn't work. With her face so badly disfigured, Red X didn't need a mask anymore. Nobody had any idea who she was…especially since her father and Gremlin were among the dead…or undead. Their complete fate was unknown. Red X entered the main room and found Raven curled on the couch again. Raven had entered a completely different state of mind when Shade was devoured. Their minds connected, Raven had experience his death in her own mind…worse yet, she experience his resurrection as one of the eternally hungry until Robin shot him. Since then Raven didn't speak. She traded her cloak for one of Shade's coats and had become very timid around other people. Yet when she battled the undead, she was fierce and brutal, tearing their heads clean off with her powers. Shade was just the first one to die. Surprisingly, he died saving Krystal, rather then Raven's life. Raven woke up as Red X opened the refrigerator to get food. Considering how things COULD be, they were living in the lap of luxury. Raven peered over the edge of the couch at her. Red X sighed.

Red X: It's okay, Raven. It's only me.

Raven nodded and approached nervously. No one was sure why she was so jittery near others now. Maybe she was afraid they would attack her for her previous crimes.

Red X: Hungry?

Raven nodded again and waited for her to move out of the way so she could get what she wanted. Red X got an apple from the fridge. Produce was now a rarity and only a fool would let it go to waste. In fact, they had started a green house in the tower, but the seeds were just planted. Since Gizmo died, Cyborg was the soul maker of inventions. Thankfully when reality jumped again (and Red X wouldn't dare even entertain the thought that it wouldn't) everyone who had died would be restored. Gizmo's spider-legs couldn't hold out against all those zombies grabbing and shaking them. He toppled over into their rotten arms. Cyborg, however, had no visible flesh to bite. Not that the zombies couldn't smell what he DID have…but he could easily keep them off him. Red X sat down and bit in, thinking about all who had died. Changeling died during a scavenging operation. He was caught by surprise by a toddler zombie. Somehow or another it had gotten caught in a bunch of dolls, blending into them. It bit his ankle, sealing his fate. They had to kill him, lest there be a shape shifting zombie on the loose. Terra would have made an excellent form of bait to keep them away from the others…but in this world, Raven had managed to cure her, rather then just awaken her like Jinx did in the normal reality. In the ultimate irony, Starfire sacrificed herself to save someone else. No one would have seen it coming. Starfire was one of the most selfish, conceited, and cruel being in the galaxy. The someone else was a small child, roughly six years old named Ashley. Starfire rushed to save her from the salivating jaws of the living dead, only to be swarmed by them. One got in a lucky bite, tearing the soft flesh of her neck. The child was probably dead by now. Everyone else was. It was on a search for survivors that both Inx and Sonic died together. They were searching a house when the window burst open and hundreds of groping hands grasped Sonic and pulled him. Jinx caught his hand and tried to save him, but there were too many. Refusing to let go, Jinx was pulled out as well. Naturally, they managed to kill the lot of them, but they had already been bitten. Jinx called them afterward, holding her bleeding cheek as she described the event. They were apparently going to jump off a building together to prevent them rising again. Before Jinx could even hang up, Sonic turned and attacked her. On a later mission they were found, stumbling around and looking for victims. Both were put out of their misery. Blackfire joined her sister some time later when a horde of zombies managed to find the underground tunnels that led to the tower from the mainland. Security alerted them to the breach and they killed them and sealed the tunnel. Just as they were leaving, a bisected zombie that they had missed fell from the catwalk above, landing on Blackfire and biting her shoulder. Another body for the fire. So now the tower had Robin, herself, Krystal, Cyborg, Terra, Raven, and Mammoth in it. In a flash of light, Krystal arrived, her usual insanity displaying itself.

Krystal: Blackie, I told you I was sorry for waking you up so early. I didn't mean to.

Yes, Krystal was further along on the chain of madness. Since Blackfire's death, she had been talking to both her and her dead brother constantly. While it so far hadn't interfered with her work when they needed to leave the tower, it was very disconcerting to witness. Krystal sighed and pulled a jar of beef jerky. Krystal's eating habits had taken an odd turn also. Most wouldn't think of eating jerky in the morning. Raven nibbled on her cereal bar, her eyes darting between Krystal and Red X. Red X got the impression that the girl felt outnumbered. A look of relief filled her face as Robin entered the room. Since the near destruction of her confidence and personality, Raven had become very dependent on Robin, Terra, and Cyborg. She smiled faintly as Robin ruffled her hair. Red X shook her head. The demonic lion had transformed into a mouse. Only the sight of shambling corpses could make Raven roar again. Robin grabbed a pear from the fridge and walked over to the window.

Robin: Every day I look out this damn window…and every time I wonder what I was hoping to see.

Krystal: A normal city would be nice.

Robin: …yeah…but that won't be happening any time soon.

Terra's Room

Terra's room, which was once Sonic's room, was like Raven's Robins' and Cyborg's. It was barren of anything remotely interesting. A bed, a dresser, four walls, and that was pretty much it. Terra woke up yawning. She looked around. Damn, it was her room. She was kind of hoping to wake up in Mammoth's again. A pang of guilt hit her. It always did. Poor Changeling was dead and there she was, only a month after his death, sleeping with somebody else. She got dressed, slipping on Changeling's gloves. Raven's idea to wear Shade's coat inspired Terra to do something similar. …she took Garfield's death hard. She wouldn't eat. She didn't talk to anyone. Several times she contemplated going to the roof and leaping off. But then she and Mammoth started getting close. He lifted her out of her depression. In truth she was desperate for it. Yet her thoughts always drifted back to Changeling. Would he be angry? She'd like to think he wouldn't be…that he would understand. That, if the roles were reversed, she'd approve of him seeking solace in somebody else's company. Sighing, she headed for the main room to get something to eat. That was pretty much it, really. She didn't love Mammoth…not really. …well maybe. In truth, she wasn't sure HOW she felt. She was almost to the main room when it happened. The power cut off. Terra groaned and waited. …nothing. That was odd. The emergency power should have turned on. The doors around her slid open. Fear struck her hard. She was alone in the dark. No earth to manipulate. It was all down below. Though every movie she ever watched told her not to, she called out, her voice cracking.

Terra: Hello? Guys? Little help?

What was that?! Was that the soft shambling of dead feet? Or just her imagination? A cold hand landed on her shoulder, making her shriek.

Cyborg: Yo, relax girl! It's just me.

Terra: Cy! You jerk, you nearly gave me a heart attack!

Cyborg: Yeah, yeah.

Cyborg turned on his shoulder light. Terra sighed in relief.

Terra: What happened?

Cyborg: No clue…but we gotta get the power on soon.

Terra: Why?

Cyborg: Looks like the midget put in a fail safe on the doors. If the power goes out, the locks release and all the doors open so nobody gets trapped inside.

Terra shrugged.

Terra: So?

Cyborg: That includes the front door. Zombies can wander right on in.

Terra: Yeah, after they swim over.

Outside HIVE Tower

The HIVE had gotten careless. One too many zombies had seen them cross from one point to the other on Terra's rocks. Following them, they simply plunged into the water and kept moving straight. Many got lost, but eventually found others and led themselves to the island the tower was on. It took some effort but eventually they began to pull their waterlogged bodies onto the rocks. It didn't take too long for them to find the door and let themselves in.

Main Room

Red X swore as the dead started coming in. She fired X-rangs from her palms, getting several in the head.

Krystal: This is bad! We can't shut a single door! How are we supposed to keep them out?!

Raven's power ripped zombies apart. She listened to her allies with only half an ear. What they had to say was irrelevant. All that mattered was killing those that took him away. All that concerned her was making sure no one ever had to experience the hellish sensations Shade had in his final moments. Robin flipped open his communicator.

Robin: Cyborg! Get the power back on, NOW!

Cyborg: That's easier said then done! This thing is fried! I don't understand what could have happened…

Robin: …I think I do…but let's not worry about that now. If you can't get the power back on, get to Gizmo's lab. He must have started SOMETHING to get rid of these things.

Cyborg: I'm on it.

Robin: Keep Terra with you. Inside the tower, there isn't much she can do.

Robin slammed his bo-staff into one, crushing its skull. They just kept flowing in.

Red X: Fall back! We're just going to exhaust ourselves!

They started backing out the door and into the halls.

Robin: Raven, force the door closed!

Raven moved her arm and the door came closed with a loud shriek of protesting metal. Krystal bit her finger.

Krystal: I know, I know.

Robin: You know what?

Krystal: About the food. It's all in there with the dead. We can't survive with them in the main room.

Robin grabbed Raven and held her against the wall. Raven's eyes were filled with shock and fear.

Robin: You did this, didn't you?

Raven shook her head.

Robin: Don't lie to me! You destroyed the power generator so that they could get in! You wanted them here so you could kill them all!

Raven bit her lip, tears forming in her eyes.

Raven: I…I…I'm…s…s…so…sorry.

Red X: Sorry?! Did you even think about how many there would be?!

Raven's voice seemingly gave out on her again and she simply shook her head. Krystal whimpered as the pounding on the metal door became louder.

Krystal: I don't know guys…the door's strong and all, but it's pretty messed up from being yanked across in the first place…

Red X: Where the hell is Mammoth?

Mammoth: What?

Everybody jumped.

Robin: JEEZ! Don't DO that!

Krystal: We've got problems. Zombies are all in the main room.

Mammoth: But I'm hungry…

Everybody jumped in front of the door, arms out.

Robin: Don't even think about it!

Gizmo's Lab

Cyborg frowned. The device looked like it was meant to get rid of zombies…seeing as how it was shaped like a gun and nothing else was. It was almost complete. Just a few fine touches and Cyborg had it ready.

Outside Main Room

Cyborg arrived with the doodad in hand.

Krystal: …yeah, I'm not so sure either.

Robin: Raven, open the door.

Red X: Everybody back!

Raven forced the door open and Cyborg fired. The gun created a vortex, sucking everything into it.

Cyborg: I think I might have made a mistake…

Mammoth: No sh…

And in a flash everything was gone.

END PART FIVE