Teen Titans

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Chapter 12- Keep Holding On

The sickeningly sour odor of rotting flesh and blood thickly filled the hallways of the abandoned asylum. Beast Boy sprinted down a corridor with Bohusk and Cyborg only steps behind. A wicked smirk had imbedded itself onto Jhonen's face with a maniacle and sinister gleam in his now blood red eyes. The green changeling skidded to a hault as the horrid smell intensified, the air suddenly turning cold. He didnt have but seconds to think before he and his companions were greeted by 5 figures hidden in the shadows, each with glowing yellow eyes with a tinge of did not speak, but moved with a purpose.

"Thriller aint got nothin' on this shit." Jhonen chuckled before sprinting toward a corpse, easily slicing it's head off with the blade pertruthing out of his left wrist. The now decapitated body staggered a few feet before standing straight again, reaching down to pick up it's severed head. The three Titan boys stood disgusted and disturbed as it twisted it back on like the screw cap on a bottle.

"That is sick and wrong!" Cyborg said, reading his sonic cannon for attack. He blasted a few zombies into the far wall while Bohusk fought hand to hand with 3 others. Beast Boy took a running start and morphed. His mind didn't tell the body what to transform into, he only wished it was something strong and merciless...

Sleep was something each of the Titans knew they needed, but refused to let it take over easily. Starfire slept soundly in her bed, with Carrie curled up next to her. Falcon and Raven were wrapped protectively in eachother's arms, they had passed out due to emotional and mental strain. AJ has fought exhaustion for more than 12 hours, refusing to rest until this gruesome nightmare was over. Finally, her body's needs became too much and finally succumed to sleep, her petite form draped over an arm chair with Joy only feet away, in a dreamland of her own. Robin was the only Titan awake, refusing to let the women sleep without some form of protection. Slade had infultrated thier home once, it wasn't going to happen again. His fatigued eyes struggled to stay open. Even after several cups of coffee, he was still drowzy. But his body refused to listen to him as it shut down, his eye lids closing heavily. He was awoken a few minutes later by a few low and pained moans. Raven was awake and trying to sit up in her bed, unlocking the death grip she had on her twin's waist. Fresh tears had began to roll down her face. Richard wasn't sure if they were still from trauma or pain. With a gental hand, he helped her to sit on the edge of her bed, keeping his arm around her, to insure her protection. He noticed that every time her legs would move, she would wince... reminding them both of what had happened just hours before. When she was in a comfortable possition, she sighed and looked to the floor, wiping away her tears.

"I'm fine, you can let go now Robin." her voice was low and timid. The usually cold, hard and emotionless Rachel Roth seemed to break away, leaving behind a very freightened and scared little girl...something the boy wonder thought was impossible. Robin moved his arms after making sure Raven could support herself. "They're going to kill him, arent they?" Robin nodded slowly. "Good." she spat, feeling her red cloaked emotion straining against the confines of her steel cage, locked deep within Nevermore.

"He deserves everything the guys can dish out and then some." Robin replied. "Hell, if I wasn't soo worried about something happening to you girls, i'd be out there with them." Raven looked up at his last words.

"Then go. I know you want revenge for what he did to Kori." Although Raven ment every word she spoke, she couldn't help but have different intentions. She convinced herself that if she had to cry and grieve for the loss of her innocence, she would do it without an audiance.

"You're right, Rae. But I dont want to leave the 6 of you here alone."

"Dont worry about us, we can handle ourselves."

Robin wasn't sure if he believed Raven, but the drive to kill Slade was stronger than his judgemental skills. He nodded once to his friend and moved over to the sleeping Tameranian. Robin skimmed his fingers over her silky crimson locks before planting a kiss on her forehead. He turned and smiled appreciatively to Rachel and dashed out of the room.

"So, Bird Boy finally decided to carry out his vendetta?" asked Vanessa. Raven turned to see her identical match looking at her through half lidded eyes. Falcon stood and moved to the other side of the bed, sitting beside her sister.

"Are you ok? Well, besides the obvious?" Rachel nodded. "I managed to repair the damage Slade did to you. I wanted to perform an energy transfer spell, but my powers were too far drained for that." Vanessa felt guilty that she couldn't do more. Her sister had given up the only thing that could never be replaced just to spare Falcon.

"That's perfectly fine, Nessa. You've already done more than enough." Even though she didn't agree, Falcon nodded her head. She stood and walked to the medicine chest sitting on the counter. Seconds later, she walked back to Rachel and handed her 2 small red pills and a cup of water.

"Something to help with the pain." Rachel smiled in thanks, allowing the medicine into her mouth.

Garfield felt his humanity slip away as his body changed. Thick fur replaced green skin, claws replacing fingers and a heart stopping growl replaced his voice. Cyborg and Bohusk glanced to thier right to see the beast charging in for a frontal assault, easily taking out 4 of the creatures; ripping them to shreads. Adrenaline and blood lust drowned out any logical thinking...however, he was brought back to his senses as well as his human form when one of the creatures pulled the trigger of a 22 caliber magnum. Beast Boy screamed loudly as the bullet imbedded itself in his thigh. Seeing that he needed medical attention quickly, Cyborg forced the approaching zombies back a few feet with his cannon, allowing for Jhonen to pick up the injured boy and rush him into the nearest room. Victor locked and stood against the door in hopes of keeping their new 'friends' out. Gar grit his teeth while Jhon examined his wound, having reverted back to his normal self seconds before.

"The bullet barely missed yer bone, but the muscles and tendons werent soo lucky."

"Here." Cy called as he opened a storage compartment in his armor. He tossed the hazel eyed boy a first aid kit while still having a firm stand against the door. He could hear the zombies become less and less respondive as time passed. He almost jumped out of his metal skin when a knock came at the door.

"Hey guys! It's me!" came a familiar voice. Cyborg cautiously opened the door to see his spikey haired leader standing with his hands on his hips and a pile of defeated zombies behind him.

"You killed all them yourself?" Vic asked incredously. Richard smirked, letting himself inside. The first thing he saw was the emerald changeling sitting against the wall with Bohusk busily cleaning the bullet wound in his leg. Robin crouched down to get a better look at Beast Boy's injury. After he assessed the damage, he produced a small leather packet from his utility belt. Inside was a miniature scalpel, forceps, syringe with a tiny bottle, and stitching needle. After numbing the area, Robin began to cut away the dead skin, making his work space a little cleaner. Then, he carefully began to fish the bullet out of the sensitive tissues.

"Thanks, dude." Gar breathed as the final stitch was imbedded into his skin. Robin nodded and put his tools away.

Carrie awoke with a deep yawn, stretching carefully as to not hurt her broken wings. AJ and Joy had placed splints along the inside of her wings to keep them straight as they heal. She didn't remember when she had fallen asleep, but was grateful for what little rest she got.

"Friend, are you of the alright?" Bee turned her head to see Starfire's blazing green eyes staring at her with concern.

"I'm ok, Star...my wings hurt, but that's not anything I can't deal with." She grabbed her comunicator (after Cyborg fixed it) off the nightstand and flipped it open. 24 missed calls and many emergency pages popped up on the tiny screen. Each one from Titan's East. Carrie breathed deeply as she stepped outside the room, deciding it was time her team was told what happened. 15 minutes later, Bee reentered the Med Bay with a not soo pleased look.

"Did you tell them?" Kori asked and Bee nodded.
"To say the least they're furious. I had to almost threaten Garth and Roy not to go looking for Slade themselves...Swift and the speed twins were talking soo fast I couldn't understand half of what they were saying."

"I bet so." Falcon chidded from her position across the room. Seconds later, her comunicator rang it's familiar melody. Flipping it open, she saw Cyborg's distraught face.

"You gals ok?" he asked, clearly out of breath.

"Yeah, we're fine...where are you?"

"The old abandoned asylum on the outskirts of Jump. Grass stain took a bullet to the thigh from one of Slade's goons, but Robin patched him up nicely."

"Is he ok?" Raven asked, concern and worry laced her voice. Victor nodded.

"Yup, he's fine. Although he'll be walking with a limp for a few days." he finished with a chuckle. The Roth twins smiled at his attempt at comic relief.

"I'll contact yall again when we finish the job." The girls nodded and watched the screen go black.

Maiden- Yeah, not alot going on in this chapter, but it's only building up to the suspence that's guarenteed to come!