*A/N* Hello again. Sorry for the delay, but real life has it's own plans for me. But we're back, with a more action oriented chapter this time around. Enjoy! *A/N*
It had gone remarkably well. The two of them slept soundly together, the only discomfort being the occasional, unavoidable shifting into a more comfortable position, and the two of them would be momentarily shaken from slumber to accommodate for the movement. But aside from these mandatory disturbances, Beast Boy and Raven remained in each other's arms through the entire night.
The solace was penetrated by the shrill, grating beeping of Raven's bedside alarm clock at 7:00. Beast Boy was within reaching distance of the clock, and flung an arm groggily onto the Snooze button. Raven reluctantly separated herself from him and rolled over, brushing the hair from her eyes. She was promptly grabbed around the torso by her bedmate and tugged back into his arms.
"Mmm…And where do you think you're going?" His voice was sleepy, but still maintained a heavy amount of mischief.
"Garfield, as much as I'd like to keep indulging you, you have to get out of here." Raven said sarcastically.
"Oh, come on… just a little longer?"
"No. Out."
Beast Boy curled up into a ball beneath her comforter. "But it's cold out there!" He whined drowsily.
"Garfield, quit it. Robin's coming by soon, and you'd better make damn sure he doesn't see you in here."
Beast Boy clambered out from underneath the covers and flopped down on the floor belly-first. Standing up, he crossed his arms.
"Alright, fine. But we're doing this again." He said, pointing at Raven.
"The longer you stay in here, the lower your chances get." Raven warned.
"Hey, that wasn't a request." Beast Boy replied.
"OUT."
Beast Boy shot her a wink before grinning broadly and slipping out of the door.
Raven shook her head in exasperation and tossed her covers aside. Standing up and stretching, she stepped into the bathroom, flicking the light on and squinting as her eyes adjusted.
After a quick hot shower to wake her up and wash away her bed-head, she dried herself off and slipped on a dull grey bathrobe. As she began to brush her teeth, a single, jarring thought pierced her clouded mind.
(That has to happen again.)
Actually pausing for a moment to let that phrase sink in, she resumed brushing.
(Why should it happen again? I'll tell you why, because it was amazing. It was harmless and relaxing, it's a good way to spend time with him without having to say much of anything, it was warm… Yeah, that's a good way to describe it. Warm. He was warm to the touch, it made her feel warm all over just thinking about it...)
"Everyone up! Everyone out of bed, NOW!"
Raven spat the foam into the sink and hurried to open her door. Robin, fully dressed and oozing urgency, stood in the middle of the hallway.
"What's going on?" Raven called out. Robin didn't turn to face her, instead pounding on Starfire's door impatiently.
"He's been spotted at the Park! I want everyone in the garage ready to go in two minutes!" he barked, less to Raven and more for everyone else to hear.
Raven hastily closed her door and dropped her bathrobe on the spot. Gliding over to her wardrobe, she got herself dressed as quickly as she could, not even bothering to tie her cloak, simply grabbing it and hurrying out the door. On her way out, she nearly ran straight into Cyborg.
"Sorry, Rae." He apologized quickly, as he jogged past her. "Robin, I'm warming her up!" he called over his shoulder. Starfire appeared at Raven's side.
"I trust you are well this morning?" she said, placing a hand on her shoulder.
"What? I-oh… right. Yeah, I'm fine." Raven took a moment to recognize her concern; she was still worried about Raven's outburst yesterday.
Robin snapped his fingers briskly. "Girls, no dawdling. Let's go!"
Starfire complied and soared out of sight, Raven pulling on her cloak and began to tie it. Robin moved to follow the Tamaranian, but suddenly stopped and turned to Raven.
"Raven…"
"I know. You don't have to worry about me."
Robin stared at her gravely. "I really hope you're right, Raven. Like I said, I don't want to have to be the bad guy."
He turned and dashed down the hall. Raven finished tying her cloak and pulled her hood up.
"Let's go, Rae!"
Beast Boy hurried past the sorceress. Raven took one more moment to allow herself a deep, refreshing breath.
"You can do this."
"Please, don't! I have a wife!"
A jogger had been shoved onto the ground by a masked assailant. Backpedaling away from his aggressor, his attempt to stand up was thwarted by a single kick to the ribs. Yelping in pain, he hit the ground again, and he was yanked up by the collar.
Weatherman, while hiding from the Titans the previous day, had managed to scrape together a makeshift costume for himself. He wore a blank, plain mask over his face. Originally white, he had carefully painted the left side a royal blue, and the right a scarlet red, separated by a longitudinal black line down the middle. He wore a long, dark gray rain slicker with the hood pulled up, khaki work pants, and heavy footed brown boots. He left his hands uncovered, of course.
"Is that right? Any kids?" he inquired, tilting his head to one side.
"Yes! Two!" The jogger spat out frantically.
"Hope you told them all you loved them this morning." Weatherman said, with a twinge of mock sadness in his voice. He seized the jogger's head and gave a groan of pleasure as he froze him solid, his scream silenced abruptly. Stepping back a pace, he admired his latest creation.
"Unique position." He remarked.
"Alright, you sick bastard! Get on the ground and spread your legs!" Weatherman turned leisurely to find a police officer aiming his gun straight at him.
"Dinner and a movie first, chump." He replied, placing a hand on his hip.
"You've got till three, or I'll shoot! Now get on the ground!"
"This is it."
"One!"
"Is he gonna do it, folks?"
"Two!"
"Can he stop this madman?!" Weatherman exclaimed melodramatically, clutching his heart.
"THREE!" The officer squeezed the trigger, and was flung to the ground as the gun's chamber exploded.
"Cheap junk, ain't it? All it takes is a little heat, and POW!" Weatherman said disdainfully, before crystallizing the downed officer.
Looking about himself, he realized that all the civilians around him had either fled, or had been turned into ice. Weatherman puffed out his chest proudly and nodded.
"Now that's quality craftsmanship!" He then swung around and began sauntering rhythmically towards the nearby lake.
"I got my mind made up, and I can't let go! I'm killing every second 'till it saves my soul!"
He stopped his singing as the shriek of braking tires filled the air. Turning to the sound as though it were music to his ears, he practically cheered with glee at the sight of the T-Car, which had screeched to a halt in the street.
"Is that him?" Cyborg demanded, pointing to the grey hooded figure waving jovially at them.
"Well, he's the only non-popsicle around." Beast Boy replied. "And he's waving at us."
"What is the plan of action?"
"Starfire, we need you to work on thawing out his victims before it's too late. The rest of you, we're taking down Scissors once and for all. Formation Lambda. Titans! GO!"
The five teens exploded from the vehicle, Robin exiting through the top with Starfire, kicking off of the car and landing on Beast Boy's back, now a green stallion, Cyborg following and Raven bringing up the rear. Starfire landed next to the nearest frozen person and began to defrost her.
Weatherman took a moment to study the formation, then took off towards the lake. Reaching the shore in a matter of seconds, he leapt onto the surface, which froze solid for him.
"Looks like he's not going to fight us directly. We're already at a disadvantage. We have to chase him off of the water."
Cyborg aimed his arm-cannon at Weatherman, now skating towards the center of the lake. Biting his lip and closing his eye to gain perfect accuracy, he let a shot fly, the blue energy whistling through the air. A column of ice erupted from beneath the water in front of Weatherman and blocked the shot.
"Now that's unfair." Cyborg murmured to himself.
Robin front flipped off of Beast Boy's back, drew his staff, and turned to Raven.
"Raven, think you can bring him over here?"
Raven's eyes began to glow white as she held out her hands.
"Azarath, Metrion, ZINTHOS!"
Weatherman gave a confused grunt as he was hoisted backwards by Raven's magic, but soon realized what was going on and reacted quickly. Aiming a hand upward, four ice crystals, long and sharp like daggers, materialized. Managing to grab them, he twisted himself around in midair so he was facing Raven head on. She released her grip as he plummeted towards them, arms outstretched.
"Watch it, he's armed!" Robin yelled, catching a glimpse of the crystal daggers glinting in the sun. Raven ducked out of the way just in time as Weatherman careened past her, one of his daggers grazing her cheek.
Before he had the chance to right himself, Weatherman was spun about in place by Cyborg.
"Good to meet ya." He said, before punching Weatherman square in the face. The arsonist fell to the ground from the force of the blow, tiny white lights dancing in his field of vision and dropping his daggers, which melted instantly.
"Name's Cyborg. I'll be your butt-kicker for this morning." He grabbed Weatherman by the scruff of his collar and hurled him one-handed into a tree. He slammed into the tree horizontally, bouncing off of the trunk and landing in the dirt below face-first.
"Nice outfit, by the way. Very avant-garde." Cyborg readied his cannon, but never had the chance to fire it, because his cybernetic eye became overloaded with static. Weatherman had his right hand held out in front of him, even as he lay on the dirt.
"You talk big, don't you?" he chuckled darkly. "You machines are all the same, you work fine until you overheat."
Clapping a hand over his eye, Cyborg groaned and stumbled backwards. Weatherman stood himself up and cracked his back, Robin aiming a swipe at him with his staff, which he ducked. Robin threw another, which he dodged by simply taking a step backward. Robin made a downward thrust with his weapon, and found his weapon stomped upon and held in place. Weatherman grabbed the hero's shoulders and slammed his skull into his, knocking him backwards, and ended the combo with a back-fist slug to Robin's left temple.
Weatherman's next adversary pounced on him, quite literally. Beast Boy morphed into a green lion and lunged toward his prey, jaw wide open. Weatherman, reacting unusually quickly, created a mitt of solid ice around his left arm, and Beast Boy's jaw sank into this frigid armor. Pressing his right foot against the tree behind him, Weatherman pushed against the weight of the feline with all his strength. When he saw his chance, he seized Beast Boy's mane with his right hand.
"Bad kitty."
The dry fur burst into flames in a matter of seconds. Beast Boy switched back into his human form, alight with fire, and frantically flung himself onto the ground, attempting to snuff it out. Raven instantly pulled an orb of water out of the lake and tossed it towards the burning Beast Boy. Dousing him, the fire died instantly.
All of this tree-side mayhem occurred in just a few seconds, so Cyborg was still struggling with his overheated circuitry and Robin's vision was still clouded after his skull was nearly split open. Robin swung his staff blindly in Weatherman's direction, who somersaulted out of the way, going forward and ending up at Raven's feet. Tackling the sorceress, she ended up pinned to the ground on her back, Weatherman kneeling on her legs and pressing down on her arms, their faces inches apart.
"You really are beautiful…" he murmured, his two-colored mask unable to hide the hunger in his voice and putting an invasive hand on her cheek.
"Sorry. You're not my type." Raven replied, her eyes glowing and surrounding her captor's head in black energy. Back flipping him over her head, he landed with a heavy thud behind her.
Before she could stand up again, Weatherman, with alarming speed, righted himself first and seized her wrists, pulling her up and spinning her about so she was facing away from him. Tightly coiling his left arm around her abdomen and clapping his right over her mouth, he had effectively trapped her in place.
"LET HER GO!" Beast Boy, smoke rising from his body and some of the material of his suit burned away, rose furiously and began advancing towards him.
"Ah ah ah…" Weatherman formed a long, thin, dangerously sharp icicle with his left hand, and aimed the point directly at Raven's neck. "You have to learn to share your toys."
Beast Boy stopped moving, but clenched his fists together and grinded his teeth.
"Let…her…GO!" he practically screamed.
Raven could see what was happening. His pupils were dilating, the hair on his body was bristling, his teeth grew more pointed.
"Garfield, NO!" she attempted to yell, but since her mouth was covered, it came out as "Gmmmph, MMM!"
Weatherman ignored both of these cries. He took the icicle from Raven's neck and began to gently run it down her abdomen, starting at her bosom and traveling down towards her navel, the point stroking the tight black material beneath her cloak.
"You're so soft. You're like my own little doll…"
Beast Boy let out an audible snarl. "I'M GONNA KILL YOU!" he roared.
A sudden burst of bright green light sent Weatherman onto the ground. Starfire, now finished saving the frozen civilians, reappeared several feet in the air, eyes aglow and starbolts in hand, pegged Weatherman with one of her projectiles.
"Take your filthy hands off of my friend!" she exclaimed.
Weatherman, outnumbered, scrambled to his feet and dashed towards the lake, Starfire giving chase, along with the now operational Cyborg and Robin.
Beast Boy, quaking with fury, moved to follow, but was stopped by a black force.
Raven had trapped him in place. "Garfield, stop."
"Lemme go, Raven!" he protested.
"No."
"Raven, he tried-!"
"I know! But at this rate, you'll tear anyone to pieces to get at him! Don't you remember what you told me yesterday? You can fight against the anger inside of you, Garfield. We can't let our instincts control us!"
"GUYS! A little help over here, please?!" Cyborg bellowed.
Beast Boy locked eyes with Raven.
"Let's go."
The two hastily joined their teammates. Weatherman had perched himself on a high column of ice he created, Starfire tossing as many starbolts as she could at him, only to have them all blocked by a few quickly made ice walls.
"We have to blow it." Robin said. "Only Starfire can reach him where he is now."
"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Cyborg said with a grin.
"Let's do it." Robin replied. He lobbed one of his bombs into the air, and Cyborg shot it mid-fall with his blaster. The ensuing explosion shattered the entire lower portion of the column, sending Weatherman tumbling off of his perch as the column fell.
"Sonic boom, baby!" Cyborg cheered, high fiving Robin.
Weatherman attempted to create another platform, but tried too late and smacked the frozen surface of the lake. Sliding forward a small distance, the Titans surrounded him.
"We can go about this two ways, Anton. Either you come quietly, or we make you come quietly." Robin warned.
"So please, do us a favor and pick Option 2." Beast Boy added.
Weatherman coughed raggedly, and pushed himself up.
"Son of a… you broke my rib." He sat on his knees and clutched at his chest, doubling over when the adrenaline wore off and the pain came full blast.
"We'll do worse if you don't come quietly." Robin replied.
Still doubled over, Weatherman began laughing weakly.
"Wait… you guys actually think that you win?"
His laugh became stronger as he looked up and around at the Titans.
"So you want to take this to the next level, then. Fine by me."
A low rumbling filled the air. The ice around the Titans began to crack and splinter. Shards began flying through the air, zooming past the Titans and forming a small cloud around Weatherman. The shards grew larger by the moment, and soon formed a cloud so thick that the arsonist couldn't be seen anymore.
"Cyborg, shoot him." Robin ordered. Cyborg aimed his blaster towards the center of the cloud and fired a single shot, the projectile seemingly being ripped to pieces by the small storm around Weatherman.
"That's not good." Raven said.
The whirling cloud began to shape itself into what looked like a crude humanoid shape, and all at once, the movement stopped and the ice became solid. What used to be Anton Scissors was now an eight-foot tall, faceless automaton sculpted entirely from ice, with oversized fists and a smooth, featureless surface. Looming dangerously over the five teens, the golem knocked them all flying with a single swing of its fist.
Robin stood up quickly. "Remember what Dr. Scissors said. We have to get him away from the water."
The golem ponderously began advancing towards the teens, the rest of them now scrambling to their feet.
"Unless anyone knows where a nearby desert is, I think we're in trouble." Beast Boy snapped.
"So what should we do?" Starfire asked.
The golem, now off of the water and standing several feet away from the Titans, slammed it's fists together menacingly and let out an unearthly growl.
"Run."
*A/N* SCISSORS SMASH! And now, Weatherman has turned himself into a monstrosity to fight the Titans. And Beast Boy is falling prey to the very thing he tried to protect Raven from. Can he defeat both his foe and himself? *A/N*