Guess who's back! Sorry I took so long for the update, but there's a lot of details I have to put together to make this chapter perfect. Another thing is that I had to finish my final exams for the spring semester, which I got to say was tough for me to pass. Plus I had to have Parotidectomy surgery a while back so it took me a while to get this chapter up and running. But while I was away, I got three reviews from my peers and 53 hits from the last chapter, and the other authors have a lot of questions in their minds. Well for those of you who want to know, let me give you a few answers. There's going to be a weakness on Alex somewhere in the coming chapters. Heck, I think I gave you guys a little of Alex's weakness in the beginning of the story. Surprised that you didn't notice that. Now about the Titans having weapons, well first, I'm going to give Beast Boy one in the next chapter. As for the others, I'll save until I'm close to the end. And about the Main Marine from the story, he'll make another quick appearance on the next chapter too, I guarantee it. Let us move on to the next chapter of Doomed Titans. With the power cells collected, Alex, Raven, and Cyborg, are heading back to the security checkpoint to start up the lift. But between them and their way out are creatures they never faced before. To make matters worse, Robin and Beast Boy are facing the same monsters and trying to make sure that Starfire doesn't get hurt. Will the team ever get out of Warehousing District alive or are their numbers up? See for yourself.
Chapter Notes
The Cacodemons and Wraiths will make their first appearance on this chapter.
Disclaimer: I don't own the Teen Titans or Doom 3
Chapter Sixteen: Invisible Enemies.
UAC Warehousing District, Storage 09: November 15, 2145, 5:35 P.M.
In storage 09, the same Maintenance worker that Alex met earlier was quivering in a nearby corner, looking away from the door and holding a pistol in his shaky hand. All seems peaceful until he heard some quick scampering steps from behind. He turned around and pointed his pistol at the ripped open door, but there was nothing outside. He thought it was nothing, but he heard the scampering noise again. He looked around the area but didn't see anyone within the place. Feeling a little scared, he slowly walked away from the corner and tried to talk to someone, if there is someone.
Maintenance Worker: "He- Hello? Is someone there?"
He waited for a response, but no one answered. He then thought that this was the kid he saw earlier, trying to trick him or something.
Maintenance Worker: "Hey kiddo! If this is some sort of crazy joke to scare me, it ain't funny."
Suddenly, a plastic barrel got knocked down by itself, which forced the worker to turn and point the pistol at the barrel. He thought that it was nothing but then a set of cardboard boxes got toppled down and again, he heard scampering footsteps. It was then he realized that there was something in the storage room with him, something not human. Quickly he jumped over the barricade he created himself and hid behind the turned over table, waiting for the creature to leave him alone. He waited and waited and waited, yet there was no sound to be heard. Almost immediately, he heard scampering to the left. So he got out of his hiding place, kneeled, and pointed his pistol at that direction. But there was no one in that part of the area, not even a Trite. He then heard scampering from the right; he pointed his pistol, but nothing. On the wall to the right, pointing his pistol, nothing. The ceiling, pistol pointed, nothing. His first thought was that he might be losing his mind, but his second thought said that something is still in the building, watching him. He can sense it, he can tasted it, he can feel it… breathing down… his neck? A sudden orange lightning came up from behind him so he turned around to see what it is only to be face to face with a shadowed creature with firie orange eyes. Before the maintenance worker could scream, let alone fight, the being sliced him diagonally with it's arm like claws, leaving a streak of blood staining on the bottom end of the table.
UAC Warehousing District, Office Operations, Main Office: November 15, 2145, 5:37 P.M.
After walking through hallways, shooting zombies and Z-Secs, and entering one office after another, Alex, Raven, and Cyborg, were in the main office filled with a few file cabinets, two of them slanted, and a terminal that wraps against a nearby left corner with an observation window showing a part of a T-junction. In front of them is a standard AM3 Series Portable Power Plant resting on the right corner that was connecting to the main power plug.
Alex: "Well this is it, the second power generator. Let's get this power cell out of here."
Alex slowly walked to the PPP but Cyborg placed his metal hand on his shoulder, making him stop in an instant. The guardian turned his head sideways to look at the hybrid from behind.
Cyborg: "Mind if I do the honors?"
Alex: "I don't see why not. Go ahead."
Cy smiled and headed to the generator while Alex approached the terminal and leaned on it. He peered to the left and saw a monitor attached on top of the console. He looked at it, knowing that it's on and noticed it was a shipping change schedule. Skimming the report that was written recently and stopped abruptly when the invasion started. One report states: "All supplies that are of no use, like obsolete machinery or chainsaws, will be sent directly to storage in the service tunnels on Communications Transfer." Another report says: "The storage locker combination in the Security Checkpoint of Shipping has been change to 905." But before he had the chance to read the rest to the report, the screen went to complete static and the lights on the ceiling turned off completely. He looked back and saw Cyborg removing the cell out of the PPP, opened the duffle bag he was carrying, put the cell in it, and zipped it back up. He turned on his shoulder flashlight and looked at Alex.
Cyborg: "Um… Were you looking at something?"
Alex: "No, I was just waiting for you. Now that we got all the cells let's get back to the checkpoint and power up the lift generator."
Alex got off the terminal and was heading to the two Titans, but noticed the metal wall with file cabinets behind it opened up, revealing a secret alcove. Al doesn't know why it opened until he saw the cabinets getting toppled over and a zombie came out lumbering to the Titans. Alex's mouth went agape but he quickly took out his double barrel shotgun and aimed it between the Titans.
Alex: "Get down!"
The two teammates followed his order and ducked their heads as Alex fired his weapon at the zombie's head, letting it's brains fly out of it. Both Cyborg and Raven got up and looked at the headless body lying on the cold metal floor.
Raven: "Didn't sense that coming."
Alex lowered his shotgun and sighed in relief.
Alex: "Man that was too close. C'mon guys, let's hurry and get out of this place!"
Alex reloaded his shotgun, cocked it, and lead the way out of there with the two Titans following him. Just when they were about to reach the exit, another compartment door opened up and a zombie came out it, knocking two cabinets down and heading straight to the Titan's guardian. He raised his shotgun again, pulled the trigger, and blew its head up. Putting two more shells into the two slots, the three of them left the main office and into the junction, where the only light illuminating their way were three emergency lights, two attached to the left wall and one above a busted door to the right. They hurried to get back to shipping but were stopped when another compartment opened up and another zombie appeared. Alex fires his shotgun at it, reload, and reach to the exit. But when he was close, a Z-Sec came out of the doorway holding a pistol. It was going to fire when Alex pointed his weapon to the undead's chest and fired. The blast was so hard that it broke through the security armor and into the flesh, leaving it dead on the ground. Once they passed the doorway, they entered the Terminal Office Hallway that have all four open offices, two offices attached from one wall to another, and at the other end, another door. Just as they start walking to the door, two flashes of light came out of the two separate offices and two Maggots came out of them and rushing to the team. Alex fired his shotgun at the first creature while Cyborg fired his cannon at the second. With the two of them dead, all three of them ran to the doorway and entered the Office Operations East Hallway. When they turned the left corner, they were greeted by two Z-Secs holding machine guns. They immediately open fire the same time Raven turned on her black shield to deflect the bullets. Alex removed a grenade from his belt, armed it, and threw it at the undead guards through the hole Raven put in the middle for Alex to toss the weapon. It exploded, causing their body parts to scatter everywhere while all three team members were safe behind Raven's magic made barrier wall. With the explosion over, the black wall disintegrated and the three ran to the exit and they were back at the shipping area, right on the catwalk.
Alex: "All right, now that we have the cells needed we should backtrack to where we started and join up with the others. Since the two doorways at Lift Access are sealed tight, we have to head back down and take the lift back up."
Cyborg: "You're sure it's safe to get down there now?"
Alex: "We took out a bunch of security zombies and a couple of monsters. I'm pretty sure that we can get down there safely."
Alex took only one step on the catwalk. Suddenly, all the hanging ceiling lights fizzled on and off until the lights exploded; letting sparks rain down on the shipping area and leaving the place completely dark. After that short out, the emergency lights were turned on, glowing in a reddish color. A strange dark laughter echoed in Shipping, only this time more louder then before. The team looked around the area to find out where that laughing noise was coming from. But when they looked up, they saw four red clouds appeared above the catwalks and a couple flashes of lightning appeared. In its place were creatures they never see before. These beasts were floating heads with no bodies attached to them. They had six green eyes, razor sharp teeth, fire burning in their mouths, and on top of their heads were exposed brains. The three teammates stared in astonishment at the floating monsters looking at them hungrily. Alex was the first to speak.
Alex: "There's no way my day couldn't get any worse."
As if on cue, four more floating creatures hovered down from the darken corners of the ceiling and joined the others.
Raven: "You have to ask."
Three of the floating monster's mouths glowed brighter and brighter until they opened their mouths and spat out yellow blasts of fire. They had frightened looks on their faces when they saw the huge fireballs hurtling towards them. They immediately jumped out of the way in separate directions and away from the blasts as the fire blasts hit the catwalk and bursts in flames.
UAC Warehousing District, Security Checkpoint: November 15, 2145, 5:40 P.M.
Meanwhile at the Security Checkpoint, the two Titans were waiting patiently for the rest of the team. Beast Boy was sitting on the rolling chair, watching the security monitor while Robin was sitting next to Starfire's side, hoping to see if there was any progress with her. Beast Boy then frantically banged on the monitor a couple of times, starring at the static that was suppose to show the camera view in Shipping.
Beast Boy: "C'mon, c'mon! Work already!"
After trying to get the monitor to work, he slumped back to the chair and sighed.
Beast Boy: "Damn it, what's going on down there?"
BB swirled his chair around and look at Robin.
Beast Boy: "Hey Robin, do you have any idea what are they doing?"
He waited for an answer from the Boy Wonder but he didn't say a word.
Beast Boy: "Hello… Earth to Robin; come in Robin. Can you hear me?"
Robin remained silence for the moment until he spoke without looking at the changeling.
Robin: "Yeah Beast Boy, I can hear you."
Beast Boy: "Then do you think Rae and Cy are going to be all right?"
Robin: "If I know those two, they'll be fine. And with Alex with them, I know that they'll be safe."
The Boy Wonder looked at the monitor on the Health Station and saw the health gauge rise up to 83. He looked at Starfire gave off a small smile.
Robin: "Almost there. Come on Star, you going to make it. You have to make it."
Robin then holds Starfire's hand with his own and held it tightly, hoping for the best. Beast Boy, on the other hand, watched his leader taking good care of the Tamaranean and had a sly smile on his face, realizing what's he up to.
Beast Boy: "Hey Robin, why is it that you want to take care of Star all by yourself and not let me take your place?"
Robin: "I have my reasons."
Beast Boy: "You have your reasons? That's not what I hear."
Robin: "What are you talking about?"
Beast Boy: "Think about it Boy Blunder, there has been some clues between you and Star."
Robin: "Like what?"
Beast Boy: "For instance, you two had your first kiss with Starfire the day you met."
Robin: "She kissed me to learn the English language."
Beast Boy: "What about the time that the two of you were up on the Ferris Wheel alone?"
Robin: "She needed to be with someone."
Beast Boy: "And when the two of you danced at the prom?"
Robin: "Just had to get my mind off that date with Kitten."
Beast Boy: "Don't play dumb Robin. It's obvious that you are in, L O V E, love with Starfire!"
At last, Robin stood up and turned to see Beast Boy's cocky grin, averting his eyes away from Starfire.
Robin: "Now you're going way too far this time Beast Boy! I'll let you know that me and Starfire are just friends. Do you hear me, just friends!"
Beast Boy: "Well what I can tell from here is that you are acting like a regular Romeo."
Robin let head down to the floor as anime veins pop all around him.
Robin: "Beast Boy, I'll give you three seconds to drop the subject at once or else."
Beast Boy: "Or you'll do what, Boy Lover?"
But before Robin would start whooping some green butt, the sound of automatic doors opening was heard. Beast Boy looked at the security office entrance and knows what the sound was.
Beast Boy: "Finally, took them long enough."
The changeling ran to the exit while the Boy Wonder rubbed his temples of his head with his right hand.
Robin: "Oh, when will he ever learn?"
Beast Boy walked out of the office and turned the right corner to where the exit doorway is.
Beast Boy: "About time you showed up. What took you guys-"
But he stopped in mid sentence when he saw no one coming out of the hallway. There was only an open automatic door at the end of the checkpoint hallway that closed by itself after a few seconds. A bit confused, the changeling headed back to the office where Robin was waiting for the others.
Robin: "Well, where are they?"
Beast Boy: "False alarm. There's no one there. Must've been a door malfunction of something."
The Boy Wonder sighed to himself, thinking that they came so early. That's when there was a loud thump coming from outside. The two heard it and direct their heads to the exit, where they saw cardboard boxes toppled over and lying on the floor. The Boy Wonder looked a little concerned then looked at Beast Boy for an explanation.
Robin: "Beast Boy, did the sentry gun detected anything hostel?"
BB headed to the computer console and clicked on the monitor showing the entrance to the Security Checkpoint with the torrent gun swaying left to right. However, there was no sign of any zombies or monsters.
Beast Boy: "There's no sign of anything coming in. The place is quiet as a mouse."
Robin: "Yeah, a little too quiet."
Robin slowly walked out of the office and took out his retractable Bo staff from his utility belt.
Robin: "Beast Boy, protect the office, make sure that no one doesn't get close to Starfire."
Beast Boy looked at his leader a little confused then usual.
Beast Boy: Uh… Rob, what are you doing?"
Robin: "I think someone, or something, has entered here and without getting detected."
Beast Boy: "That's impossible! Alex said that sentry gun out there has friend and foe technology. How can something get through here without being seen by the torrent."
Robin: "I don't know. But there's one way to find out."
He left the office and scanned the area for any movement. It all seams quiet but looks can be quite deceiving. It was then he heard scampering noises coming from the left. He turned and poised his staff, but there was nothing there. He then heard the same sound coming from the right, so he turned to the right, ready to fight, but saw nothing still. He stood out of his stance and twirled his staff with one hand, not leaving his eyes to where the sound came from.
Robin: "Who's hunting who?"
The Boy Wonder waited for something to happen while Beast Boy watched on at the office doorway. He sighed hating to see his leader being so tense since the whole Slade thing started. He looked down on the floor when he spotted droplets of blood landing on the hard surface. He looked up but saw no blood coming down the ceiling or the vents. He looked back down and saw the blood drops moving in a straight line, heading to Robin. He doesn't know why the blood is coming to him from, until he realized what's about to happen. Without giving this a second thought, he yelled to the Boy Wonder.
Beast Boy: "ROBIN, BEHIND YOU!"
Robin heard him as he turned around the same time orange lightning came out of nowhere and a creature materialized in front of him. It extracted it's claw like arm and sliced the diagonally but the claw met Robin's staff as sparks started to fly.
UAC Warehousing District, Shipping: November 15, 2145, 5:44 P.M.
The floating monsters were firing their fireballs out of their mouths. Alex, Raven, and Cyborg were taking cover from a few crates lying around. Alex was looking at his PDA to find out what these things are while Cyborg keeps blasting them with his sonic cannon.
Cyborg: "Man, these things never give up!"
Raven: "Well we have to think of a way on how to stop them or else we will be burned to death."
Alex: "Found it!"
The two Titans looked at Alex as he starred at the little screen showing info on the creatures their facing.
Alex: "It says here that these floating freaks are called Cacodemons. Their firepower is twice more then an Imp's and if those blasts can't get you, then those wide razor sharp jaws will. There's one major weakness about them though. Apparently, they drift around and have a lack of speed. Not to mention that they absorb a lot of punishment."
Raven: "So…"
Al put his PDA away and took out his machine gun.
Alex: "So if all that's true, they're just living balloons. Now what do we do with balloons?"
He came out of his hiding place and aimed it at one of the Cacodemons.
Alex: "We pop them!"
He pulled the trigger and fired bullets at the gliding beast, having holes pierced in its bodiless head and letting it plummeting to the ground disintegrated. Cyborg and Raven agreed and came out of their hiding places fired back. Cyborg blasted two more with his laser cannon, then ducked away from a fire blast that almost knocked him off his feet. Raven maneuvered her glowing hands, encasing two flammable barrels in dark energy and hurtling them to the one of the beings. They exploded and the creature was burned to nothing as ash was flying about. But just as they took them out, four more were summoned by something and teleported out of nowhere. Another Cacodemon fired a huge fireball out of its mouth and it was sailing straight towards Alex. He made a last minute effort and leapt out of the way seconds before the impact. He quickly got up and continued firing at anything that's close to him. But at mid fire, his weapon stopped working. He looked at the monitor on the gun and saw that it labeled all zeros.
Alex: "Shit!"
He quickly looked up and saw one of the Cacodemons floating straight at him with its jaws wide open. But before it could get a chance at having a bite, it got blasted at the right side by a blue laser. He looked to the right and saw Cyborg with his Sonic Cannon in hand. He ran straight to where Cy and Rae are, avoiding fire blasts from front to back. Once he made it to them, Raven activated her shield to protect them all from the firepower they're holding back.
Cyborg: "Is it me or are more of those things keep coming?"
Alex: "Well whoever is sending them here is really pissed off at what we're doing so far."
Raven: "Then we must put an end to this. Hit em' with everything we got."
Alex: "Good luck on that Raven. My gun has run out of clips. Meaning I don't have any weapons to combat these freaks."
Cyborg: "Hold up. You have other weapons, do ya?"
Alex: "Yes but my pistol is ineffective, the grenades aren't meant to thrown that high, and Matilda takes too long to reload. Only my machine gun is suitable enough to take them out."
Raven: "And exactly where are you going to find some clips?"
Alex observed the catwalks and saw all the dead Z-Secs he took care of earlier. He then noticed the weapons and clips scattered around them and smiled.
Alex: "There's some ammo on the catwalks, but with those Cacodemons gliding around it's going to be a little difficult."
He then looked at the two Titans and tells them his plan of his.
Alex: "Think you guys can distract them?"
Cyborg: "No problem."
Alex: "Good. On the count of three Raven, you let down your shield and Cyborg, start shooting. If any of them gets close to me, you know what to do."
Cyborg: "Gotcha…"
Alex: "All right then. 1, 2, 3!"
Raven let down her shield so sudden at the same time Cyborg blasted Cacodemons left and right. With the creatures distracted, Alex quickly took the opportunity and ran to the first dead security zombie he caught his eyes on. He grabbed the zombie's machine gun, took out the clip, and placed it in his weapon slot. He then patted the zombie's body and found three more clips. He removed them and placed them in his back pocket in his pants. Just as he was finished, one of the floating monsters was hovering towards him and was going to bite him. But he spotted it for a quick moment and then pointed his machine gun to fire. Once he pulled the trigger, bullets kept on piercing through its thick head before it died and break up to the ground. After that, he looked at the screen of his weapon and cursed.
Alex: "Damn, it's still not enough. Better find some more."
He looked around and found another dead Z-Sec, only this time two more clips and a machine gun were around it. The Titan's Guardian was racing to them when suddenly two Cacodemons were appeared out of thin air and attacked him with fire blasts.
Heading back to the Security Checkpoint, Robin was on a lock hold on a creature he never seen before. He immediately used his pole to do an upper jab strike to its jaw. The beast stumble backs a few feet and shook the hit while Robin stared at it with his pole ready for anything. The creature on the other hand looked back at the Boy Wonder and roared. This monster looks a little like the Imp but with a few differences. It was slouched low, have glowing yellow eyes, it has claw like arms to slice people in close distances, it can teleport in a series of jaunts, and when it roars, its lower jaw splits apart and open sideways. Beast Boy looked at the creature in pure terror then turned his attention to Robin.
Beast Boy: "What is that thing!"
Robin answered the changeling's question without reverting his eyes at the beast.
Robin: "Don't know, but I have to take it down no matter what."
Beast Boy: "Do you need any help?"
Robin: "NO! I'll take care of this on my own."
Beast Boy: "But-"
Robin: "I already told you to stay there and watch over Starfire. Now get in there and make sure that this creep or any others don't get near her!"
Beast Boy wanted to help Robin out but since this is his order, he has no other choice.
Beast Boy: "O.K. Robin, I'll protect Star no matter what. Just be careful out there."
Robin: "Don't worry; I'll handle this. GO!"
BB nodded and went to Starfire's aid. Back outside Robin and the creature had a stare off that lasted for a few seconds. Finally, Robin started to speak.
Robin: "I don't know what you are, but I won't let you take Starfire away from me. You're going down."
With that said, the beast gave off a loud roar and charged directly to the Boy Wonder. It was going to make a diagonal slash at his waist but Robin blocked it off with his staff and holds it there for a second or two, letting sparks fly out of it. They then let go of the hold as the Imp-like monster made another swing attempt, only for it to be blocked off by Robin's staff. He then pulled the arm-like blade away from him, spins around, then used the staff to hit it directly in the chest. It got pushed back for moment and looked at the Titan leader, making another roar. Quickly, an orange lightning bolt hit it and within seconds, it disappeared without a trace. Robin didn't hesitate to attack; instead, he just stayed in the same spot with his eyes closed, listening. He heard scampering to the left, scampering to the right, scampering everywhere. Until he heard a lightning bolt coming from behind him. Sensing it coming, he jumped up high in the air and over the creature seconds before it was going to stab him in the back. He landed on his feet in front of it as the being turned around and started slicing him left to right. Robin made quick effort and blocking its attacks off with his staff. So far, everything is working fine until he heard another lightning and roaring sound from behind again. He immediately sifted into cartwheel to the right and went into a pose with his staff in hand. But when he looked at the hostile his eyes gave him quite a surprise as he saw another creature that looked exactly the same as the first one. He did a double check and he was in total bewilderment.
Robin: "There's two of you now?"
The two creatures roared at him with their claw like arms itching for first blood. Robin quickly put his staff away and then took out two metal tonfas out, spinning them around and did another pose.
Robin: "You know, you're making my work a lot harder then it is. So let just cut to the chase and end this once and for all."
The two beasts snarled for a moment, then charged in to attack the Boy Wonder. Robin twirled his tonfas around and started attacking them in close range.
Inside the security office, Beast Boy was sitting next to Starfire sleeping peacefully. He was listening in on the battle outside and sighed.
Beast Boy: "Can't believe I'm stuck here taking care of Sleeping Beauty while Prince Charming fends off monster without me. I can't believe this!"
He sighed again.
Beast Boy: "Oh well, guess I have no choice since she's in no condition to fight back."
He then looked at Starfire and gave off a generous smile.
Beast Boy: "Don't worry Star, everything will be O.K. I wish that you have your health and strength back soon so we can stand a chance against them."
He placed his hand on one of Star's leg and rubbed it back and forth. Just when things were getting quiet, the changeling heard a noise from above him. He looked up at the ventilation ducts and kept listening to the banging noise growing more and more louder. He immediately stood up and kept looking at the ducts growing dents in three different locations.
Beast Boy: "What the hell!"
Just before Beast Boy can alert Robin, the bottom sides of the ducts were slashed open and landed on the ground. Out of the ducts came three of the same creatures Robin was attacking. They all looked at the changeling and the Tamaranean and gave out loud roars to each other. Beast Boy just stared at the monsters and was shocked for words.
Beast Boy: "You got to be kidding me?"
Back at Shipping, two of the Titans and Alex was having trouble of their own. Alex was running around from one catwalk to another grabbing clips from each of the dead security zombies while at the same time, blasting any cacodemon that gets near him. Cyborg and Raven were busy with their own problems. The hybrid kept firing his sonic cannon at the floating monsters while Raven levitated a bunch of loose beams on the floor to impenetrate their bodiless heads. But no matter how many to them they take out more keep on teleporting to different areas of Shipping and kept fighting back with fiery blasts out of their mouths. Cyborg was getting fed up with all this while he was taking Cacodemons out with his laser rifle.
Cyborg: "That's it! It's time to bring out the heavy arterially!
He turned off his cannon and used his handheld computer on his arm to activate something he was saving incase of emergencies like this. Suddenly, his shoulder blades opened up, revealing three different holes each and out popped six mini rockets flying straight to the creatures. They all connected and created big time explosions, sending most of them everywhere as they turned to ash. Raven saw it all through her purple eyes and looked at Cyborg for an explanation, not asking the question. The metallic hybrid looked at the telepath and had a cocky smile on his face, knowing what Raven is going to say.
Cyborg: "Robin's not the only one that upgraded his weapons."
Raven shook her head and looked back at the view where she saw a bunch more Cacodemons appearing in many directions.
Raven: "We got incoming, lots of them!"
Cyborg checked what Raven sees and smiles more.
Cyborg: "All right you freakish bags of hot air, come to daddy!"
He then fired multiple missiles out of his shoulder blades and they filled the ceiling into a fireworks spectacular. But what he didn't realize is that he's over doing it as three of the missiles were rocketing straight towards his and the Titan's guardian. Alex was on one of the catwalks grabbing a few more clips and then firing his machine gun at two of the bodiless monsters when he heard a swooshing noise from behind him. He quickly turned around and saw three mini missiles heading straight for him. He immediately ducked as the missiles sailed past him and took out the two balloon creatures. He slowly got up from the blast and looked around to see who's firing rockets. He then saw Cyborg with two opened shoulder blades and six smoking opening holes. This time, Alex was completely irate.
Alex: "What are you trying to do? Kill me?
Cyborg had a blank look all because he almost killed the guardian while Raven looked at the hybrid with a sternful face.
Cyborg: "Uh… My bad?"
Alex shook his head in disbelief and was about to say something to him. But what he didn't notice was that when Cyborg's missiles hit the Cacodemons, the heat was so intense that they completely melted the cable wires what were supporting the walkway structure. They immediately snapped and the left side of the catwalk started to tilt. This incident made Alex fall off the floorboard and was heading to the ground floor until he grabbed the guardrail with his left hand while hanging on to his machine gun on the right. The two Titans were shocked at what they saw and decided to get him out of there before something drastic happens to him.
Raven: "Don't worry Alex, we'll rescue you!"
The two of them left their position and headed straight towards their guardian while taking out Cacodemons the missiles didn't get. Meanwhile, Alex was hanging on for his life, hoping not to fall to his death.
Alex: "Better get here ASAP! I can't hold on for much longer!"
Alex tried his best to hold on, but his fingers were slowly slipping off the guardrail. Just as Raven and Cyborg were at the edge of the damaged catwalk, Alex lost his grip and fell straight to the ground just as the Hybrid was going to offer him a hand. They both looked down hoping they won't see Alex's body splat on the floor. Thankfully, they saw Alex with his back on top of stacks of cardboard boxes, all empty thank goodness. The two of them sighed as they looked at their guardian.
Raven: "Are you O.K.?"
Alex sat back up from the crushed boxes and rubbed his head, then he looked at the two Titans and smiled.
Alex: "I'm fine, guess I had luck on my side."
Just as things were going back to normal, Alex looked above the Titan's heads and saw a bunch more Cacodemons hovering above, about to fire their fireballs all at the same time.
Alex: "BEHIND YOU!"
All the floating creatures fired at once at the team members, but Raven felt it all coming since she's a telepath. So she took the opportunity and turned around to form a bubble shield around her and Cyborg. At the same time, Alex jumped off the crush cardboard boxes and pointed his machine gun at the hoard, giving them a distraction while Raven and Cyborg get to their hiding spots and performed cover fire. Alex then took immediate cover behind a stack of red barrels. He peeked to the right and saw two Cacodemons hovering towards him. So he checked the monitor on his gun to see if it's enough, then nodded as he waited for the right moment to strike back. But once he made another peak, something caught his eye on the side of the barrel that showed a picture of fire. He then saw the written words on it and it says:
Alex: "Flammable Materials?"
He looked away from the two beasts and has his eyes filled with horror, knowing what he's gotten himself into.
Alex: "Ah shit!"
He quickly ran away from the barrels just as the floating creatures spat fire blasts out of their mouths. The blasts hit the barrels and created a huge explosion. Alex felt it as he was sent flying off the ground, smashed right through a window and into the security checkpoint, and smashed right into the wall with his face slammed into the concrete. After a few moments as an ornament, Alex's body automatically peeled off and then landed on the ground. He slowly got up, shook his head, rubbed his forehead with his right hand, and started coughing up a little blood.
Alex: "Whoa… That was-" cough… cough… "one hell of a ride."
He wiped the blood off his mouth and headed to the smashed window and looked up at the catwalk. He then saw Cyborg and Raven battling it out with a hoard of Cacodemons, and they are both surrounded and outnumbered. He shook off what's left of minor headache then got serious.
Alex: "Hang on guys, I'm coming to get ya!"
He held tight to his machine gun and was about to exit the security checkpoint when he spotted a storage locker next to the crater he created. The small screen next to it was labeled, "Emergency Weapons", and a combination below it. He remembered the screen back at Office Operation saying that there's a code for this locker, and luckily, Alex remembered the code very well.
Alex: "Why not? Let's see what's behind door number one."
Alex approach the locker and entered the code, "905". Once the cabinet door opened up, Al stared blankly at the contents on the shelves. There were no ammo, no armor shards, and no med kits. But there are two things on the shelves that made Alex smile so wide.
Alex: "Looks like I hit the jackpot."
Back at the entrance to the warehousing district Robin was doing all he can to stop the strange creature from killing him. He continues twisting his tonfas around, left to right, and blocked off the attacks performed by these two beasts. One of them raised its claw arm up in the air and was going for the Boy Wonder's right shoulder, but Robin swiftly avoided the slash and blocked it off using his left metal tonfa. The two were in a holding pattern for a while, testing their strength and letting sparks come out of their metal like weapons. But one of the monsters had a sneaky idea. A flash of orange lightning came down on it and the creature disappeared in an instant. Invisible, it scattered to the opposite side of Robin and appeared again in the same flash of lightning. It made a shriek and used its left claw arm to split Robin to the waist. The Boy Wonder heard it coming and with instinct, used his right tonfa to block the second creature's attack. Again they were on a holding pattern, hoping to get the better of them and wanting to see fresh blood. Feeling like he's in a tight spot, Robin thought of a way getting out of this mess. With an aggressive expression he pushed two of the creatures away with his tonfas, jump on top of one of the creature's head, jumped off it, somersaulted over the other one, and landed a few feet away from the two. He poised his tonfas and went into a different pose, not letting his eyes away from the beasts.
Robin: "It's going to take more then that to take me down."
The strange beings shrieked and went into another charge, going back to square one.
Inside the Security Checkpoint office, Beast Boy was close to a sleeping Starfire, looking at three of the same creatures Robin's fighting. He looked at each of them, and they all have the look of blood thirst.
Beast Boy: "Now listen guys, I know you look real hungry and all but you don't want to eat me and her. I'm a vegetarian and she eats stuff that can give you bad indigestion.
The creatures just stared at him and shrieked and scream at the two and were ready to pounce. BB was scared to do something until he looks back at Starfire sleeping peacefully on the cardboard boxes with the health station tube clamped to her wrist, making her feel better. Confident, he looked back at the monsters with a serious look on his face.
Beast Boy: "All right then, you freaks want some, then come get some!"
The two pupils in BB's green eyes turned into little silts and within seconds, he transformed into a green striped tiger, roaring at the beasts. Once the battle was drawn, the changeling leapt in the air and pounced on the Imp like creature in the middle. He slashed his claws on it and immediately jumped off it before the being could get a shot. He landed and turned around to see the other two creatures slowly pacing towards him, not making any sudden moves. With the odds against him, Beast Boy changed into a Sasquatch, stood up, and made an even louder roar. The first one leapt at him but the green Sasquatch grabbed him by the head and slammed him far from the ground. The other one made a side dash to its target and was going to leap him there, but the changeling felt it coming when he swiftly avoided the attack. The creature landed and skidded towards the security terminal, then turned around to see the green behemoth, only this time, its head was grabbed by a green hairy hand. It was then that Beast Boy slowly lifted the monster up in the air then snarled at it. He then smashed its body right into the terminal itself; letting sparks flying the systems frying. Once he left the thing for dead, he turned around and looked at its other comrades, screaming and shrieking for both shock and vengeance. The changeling made another roar, morphed into a bull, and charged in to get the both of them.
Back to Shipping, Cyborg and Raven have their hands full, literally. They were firing aurora blasts and blue laser beams at the Cacodemons with all their might. But the more they kill, the more those floating beasts appear through teleportation and coming out of opened areas.
Cyborg: "Damn it, it's no use! These things aren't giving up!"
Raven: "If they're not giving up then we won't either. We have to take them out as quick as we can until they're out of sight."
They kept on attacking the same time the floating monsters keep on appearing. Three of the creatures looked the cables and the support beam holding the catwalk the two Titans were standing on. It was then that they came up with an idea. The two spat out fire blasts at the cables as they snapped and the third one fired a blast and support beam, making the metal melt right below the team's feet. Just as the hybrid and the Goth thought they're going to win, they felt the catwalk wobbled precariously. The two hang on to the guardrail hoping not to fall to their death. But the more they held on, the more the catwalk keeps shaking. They tighten their grip as the catwalk tossed and turned them like they were at a 3D simulation ride. Finally, the last piece of metal on the support beam melted and the catwalk teetered to the left and began to fall. Raven and Cyborg loosed their grip on the rail and plummet down to a stack of both small metal containers and plastic barrels. They were glad all those materials break their fall, but just as they were going to get up, the catwalk itself landed on them and crushing their mid sections and holding them down. They tried their best to get it off them, but it was getting harder and harder pulling out of this mess.
Cyborg: "Man, this thing is too heavy for me to do this alone!"
Raven: "At least your lower areas are made of metal while mine is just flesh. Ouch!"
Cy looked up and saw a hoard of Cacodemons surrounding them, ready to feast. Panicked, he looked at Raven for some additional help.
Cyborg: "Rae, can you get this thing off us like right NOW!"
Raven: "I can try, but it's going to take a lot of power and a lot of concentration to get this off."
Cyborg: "Well you better get your head in the game and do this now before-"
He then look back at the ceiling and now saw a Cacodemon above his face, making him stop talking. It was then coming to picture that all the Cacodemons were gathered around the stuck Titans, waiting for the right moment to feast on their bodies. One of the creatures floated closer to the half-demon and started sniffing on her face. Though Raven was calm from all this, on the inside, she's scared to death with beads of cold sweat running down her face. After smelling her for a few more seconds, the floating monster opened its jaws wide, revealing the fire from within its head. Raven quickly closed her eyes, realizing that this is the end. But before the monster can do something, it was blasted by small shots of pure blue energy. And the funniest thing is that it wasn't coming from Cyborg's sonic cannon. Once the Cacodemon was dead, all the others looked to where the shots came from. That's when they saw Alex pointing a strange looking rifle at them, but that's no ordinary rifle. What he's holding is the Series 3 Plasma Rifle and around his body diagonally was a belt that's loaded with single plasma cells. He was staring at the creatures seriously and held on to his rifle tightly, not hesitating to attack.
Alex: "Get away from them!"
The bodiless beasts grunted and roared and then fired their blasts at the same time. Alex quickly ran and took cover behind a forklift while the huge fireballs were raining down like huge malfunctioning fireworks. The creatures then soared straight to the Titans Guardian, leaving Cyborg and Raven behind. With their opportunity knocking, the hybrid looked at Rae.
Cyborg: "I think now's a good time to use your voodoo Rae."
Raven nodded, closed her eyes, and then opened them. Her eyes glowed white as she concentrated in getting the damaged catwalk off of them. Back to the real action, the swarms of Cacodemons were floating directly towards Alex hiding behind the forklift. He checked the monitor on his plasma rifle to see if it's not on near empty, then waited for the right moment to engage. Once he sees the shadows on the floor, he jumped out of his hiding place and blasted them with blue plasma. He killed off one creature then used his weapon to counter two more of the beasts fire blasts by using his plasma projectiles to connect with their firepower, creating a small explosion. One of the Cacodemons was too close to Alex and was going to bite him with one chomp, but her swiftly turned around, punched it right in the face, and fired his gun to kill it off. When the plasma gun ran on empty, he opened the compartment in the back, removed the empty cartridge, unhooks a fresh one on his belt, and inserted it back into the gun. Once he closed it, he swiveled to the other side and blasted four floating monsters that were getting too close to him. Two more spat out fire blasts from their mouths to where Alex is standing. He felt the hotness and completely ducked, rolled over away from the blast, and went into a crouching position to fire his weapon at the two beasts responsible for the recent cook off. Once the two were dead, three more rose up out of hiding and started the attack. But before they could fire, Alex fired back and stood up from his position. But what the Cacodemons were trying to do it distract him because behind Alex were eight more bodiless beasts with mouths burning with fire. They were ready to roast Alex into fired chicken but just as they were gonna, a huge piece of the catwalk covered in dark energy was sailing to the hoard. They looked but they were too late as the metal structure hit all of them and impale them between the metal and concrete wall and the torn off catwalk itself. The rest of them that were out of harms way looked to who threw the catwalk and found Raven floating in mid air and her eyes were glowing so bright it's hard to tell the difference between night and day. Half of them immediately fired while the other half went back on the attack on Alex. They spat out fire blasts from their mouths, hoping to incinerate the Goth Titan, but she formed a wall shield to protect her from the impact. She then disintegrated the shield and raised her glowing black hands up in the air. It was then that multiple flammable barrels were rising up in the air and were ready to blow something off the face of the UAC map.
Raven: "Azarath, Metrion, ZINTHOS!"
She threw her hands forward the same time as the barrels flew straight at the creature, blowing and killing half of them. The surviving Cacodemons were floating upwards to fight back, but a stream of blue energy blasted one of them. Two of them looked to the right where the blast was taken place and saw Cyborg standing on top of a stack off cardboard boxes with his sonic cannon fully charged and ready for action. The two quickly fired their heavy blasts at the hybrid, but he jumped off the boxes the same time the huge fireballs hit them and landed on top of a moving conveyor belt. He pointed his cannon at the first Cacodemon and fired at it. Once it got killed, he went to the second one. But suddenly, he got caught off guard when one of the creatures came out of nowhere and bites on its right cannon arm. Luckily for the Cy, his armor is made of titanium alloy, meaning that not even a set of razor sharp teeth can remove his arm that easily. Ignoring the first bite, he instinctively fired his cannon and killed the second monster out of the air. He then looked at the third one still chomping on his arm but to no avail. It then looked up at the hybrid's normal eye and red eye and had an anime sweat drop coming down its face.
Cyborg: "Sorry, but too much iron can ruin your diet."
He then used his free left hand to smash its brains though, then turned that arm into a sonic cannon and blew it all up. He quickly jumped off the conveyor belt and stood there proudly at his work, with his body all covered in blood and small pieces of the creature's skin, then went back to work taking care of the rest. Back to Alex, he is shooting Cacodemons left and right with his plasma rifle. He jumped over the conveyor belt Cyborg was on and took out two more floating creature. He quickly pointed his weapon up and took down three more. Another bodiless beast was floating was floating behind Alex and fired an energy blast straight at him. But a black wall come up from the floor and deflected the attack. It was then that the wall transformed into Raven and she levitated a metal crate in mid air. She threw the crate at the creature and made a direct hit. Even though it didn't kill the beast, it only knocked it out of the air. Three more Cacodemons floated downward and were going to attack, but Raven lifted a few more glowing black crates in the air toss them to the beings. Behind her back was Alex shooting the rest of the floating creatures with his plasma gun. Another wave of Cacodemons approached from the west and were joining in on the fun. Suddenly, they were attacked by two waves of blue energy, killing half of them. Suddenly, Cyborg came out of nowhere with two sonic cannons and was blasting anything that was in the air. He then joined Alex and Raven and were all in a circle with their back against each other, firing plasma projectiles, blues beams of energy, and black obsidian crates. But it's still not enough, as more and more Cacodemons appear in every direction by the hundreds, and it's too much for them. With all of them gathered around, they all spat out fire energy blasts at the same time, enough to make a bon fire. Raven immediately formed a black dome around his teammates and all that firepower hit it, not cracking the shield at all. Alex looked around and spotted the lift they used to enter shipping in the first place, even if he only saw white lines creating a background. He then looked up at the swarm of Cacodemons and realized that it's now time to go as he looked at the two Titans for new orders.
Alex: "It's getting awfully crowded here! We should fallback and head to the lift now!"
Raven: "But what about them?"
Cyborg: "Relax Rae, I got it covered. You two go ahead, I'll take care of this situation."
Alex: "Just get to the lift as soon as you can cause this is a last call to all heroes!"
Cyborg nodded and Raven deactivated her shield and both she and Alex ran for their lives to their exit. Cyborg, on the other hand, turned off his cannons and opened his shoulder blades to launch his missiles. But he wasn't targeting the Cacodemons; he was targeting the metal ceiling above their heads. He fired about twenty-five rockets directly to the ceiling and they all exploded and created a vibration over the creatures' heads. With this shoulder blades now closed, Cyborg turned around and ran after Rae and Al who were a few feet away from the lift. The ceiling started to crack and the metal beams holding it started to fall in chunks over the unexpected monsters as they were firing energy blasts out of their mouths and hopefully hit one of the three people on the ground. Few of the beams hit the creatures and flatten them on the floor. Then when all the beams were down, the ceiling made out of steel and stone crumbled and falls to the floor, taking the Cacodemons with it. Both Raven and Alex made it to the lift, but they were missing one more person. They turned around and saw Cyborg running for his life with falling debris coming down killing Cacodemons and destroying the catwalk, conveyor belts, and all the supplies and materials for the entire base. Alex approached the control panel to his right and yelled at the hybrid.
Alex: "C'mon Cyborg, get it in gear!"
Cyborg ran as fast as his metal legs could to get to the elevator shaft the Goth and the guardian are in. Just as he about to reach the exit, I giant concrete and steel slab was plummeting down to him. He looked up at the huge slab and ran even faster then before. Knowing that he won't make it, he takes a desperate move and made a wide inhuman leap to the lift. That leap got him out of real danger as the slab crashed to the ground a millimeter from the hybrid's feet and he entered the lift, but not without spearing Raven by accident. Alex quickly slammed his fist on the panel, cracking and short-circuiting the screen itself. Luckily, the lift access panel understood the command before Alex smashed on it and the lift moved itself back to the top. Cyborg slowly got up and rubbed the human side of his head while Raven got up and looked at him and an anime vain pulsing on her head.
Raven: "Was that really necessary?"
The hybrid looked at the telepath and nervously chuckled, as an anime sweat drop came down his head.
Cyborg: "Uh… I had no other choice."
He fully stood up and looked and Alex, smiling.
Cyborg: "Thanks for the help dude."
Alex: "Don't mention it, but you can thank this little beauty. If it wasn't for it, then you two would've become major ordours."
Cy looked at Alex's new gun he was patting.
Cyborg: "Exactly what is that you're holding?"
Alex looked at the new weapon and stared at it in awe.
Alex: "This is the Series 3 Plasma Gun, one of the most highly advance weapons in the military division. Unlike weapons that can hold bullets and 30 calibers, this puppy can hold fifty rounds of synthetic plasma. It is used as an medium range weapon and its fire power is capable to paralyze an opponent or kill him."
He then looked at Cyborg, suspicious on the hybrid's new upgrades.
Alex: "Still I'm quite surprised that you have more arsenal in your body then I thought. When did you have shoulder rockets and a second sonic cannon?"
Cyborg: "Let's just say I added those in after the Tower was under heavy attack. After something like that I have to make some upgrades on myself to be ready for anything. But now that we're done with our show and tell, you mind telling me why there were so many of them Cacodemons down in shipping!"
Alex: "Hmmm… I don't know Cy, maybe they're trying to make sure that we won't get out of here alive or perhaps they know what we're doing since we need to get out of here. Speaking of which, do you still have them?"
Cyborg looked at him oddly then realized what he meant. He opened the duffle back he carried around his shoulder the whole time during the battle and sighed in relief to see the two power cells still in there and still in good condition. He then looked at Alex, showing him the smile on his face.
Cyborg: "The cells are in there and still intact. I mean after the whole fight down there, I thought these things took a major beating. Guess they're indestructible."
Alex: "Guess so. Let's get the cells to the Security Checkpoint and join with the others. Hopefully it will be smooth sailing from here."
The lift continued to go up further until it made a complete stop on the top floor. But just as the team was about to retrace their steps, the door that will get them out opens and an Imp appeared shrieking and throwing a fireball at them. Raven formed a black circle to deflect the shot while Alex took out his double barrel shotgun and took aim.
Raven: "Do you always hate to be wrong?"
Alex: "Sometimes Raven, I can't help it."
He slowly pulled the trigger and then-
"Bang!"
Back at the Security Checkpoint, Robin was still duking it out against the two Imp-like creatures with his tonfas, but it seems like it isn't working as he tried his best using all his moves to take them down. One of the creatures took deliberate action and used its flesh side of its blade arm to knock the tonfas out of the Boy Wonder's hands. With the weapons out of the picture, the creatures have no time cutting him to pieces. But Robin's lips formed a smirk, letting them know that he has more in store for them. He quickly took out two birdarangs, put them together, and formed his R-Sword, putting it in a classic samurai pose. The two beasts looked at the strange weapon then looked at each other. The immediately looked back at Robin, roared, and charged right in for the final attack. The first one made a right slash high as Robin used his sword to block it off. He pushed it aside as the creature swung his left blade arm for a low slash. But Robin jumped over it and somersaulted backwards a few feet away from the creature. It then roared again and scampered straight to him with both claws up in the air, ready to slice his arms off. A foolish error as Robin bolted up and used his sword to stab it right in the chest. The monster looked down and was shocked at what it sees. But before it could do something about it, Robin moved his sword up to its head and sliced it all the way up, letting blood squirting out of it's open wound. As the first creature disintegrated, the second one looked in shock as it saw a human took one of its comrades down. Robin, all covered in blood, did another fancy pose with his sword and smiled at it evilly.
Robin: "One down, one to go."
Back in the office, Beast Boy was having some fun on his own, fighting off the last two of the Imp-like creatures, while at the same time, protecting Starfire form them. He was in his lion form and roared at the two, then he pounced on them. But before he can kill the two, they were in a flash of lightning and they disappeared in an instant. He landed on where the beasts were and looked around to see where they at. He then heard scampering around him and has no idea where they coming from or where they're going. So just to make sure, he transforms into a Velociraptor and waited for the moment for the creatures to appear. He waited and waited for something to happen when he heard the sound of thunder from the left and knew what it was. The strange being appeared after the lightning disappeared and made an attempt to slice the changeling in two with its claw arms. But the green dinosaur swiftly avoided the throw and used his tail to whip it across the metal shelves, in the opposite direction of Starfire. The impact itself dismantled the shelves with pieces of metal spread all over. The monster got up from floor and was ready for another fight, but Beast Boy charged in as a Ram and rammed it to the wall, letting a pointy part of a broken metal rack pierce it through the waist. Blood starts squirting out of its appendix as it slowly died while Beast Boy changed to his normal and watch as the beast turned into incinerated ash. He smiled at what he did but unaware that the last creature appeared behind him in a flash of lightning. When the green changeling heard the thunder noise he turned around, only to be pounced by the very monster he was supposed to fight.
UAC Warehousing District, Storage Junction 8: November 15, 2145, 5:53 P.M.
Not far from the checkpoint, Alex, Cyborg, and Raven were trying to reach their destination. But there were three Z-Secs down the hallway firing their machine guns at them. The team was hiding behind two big metal crates as sparks and bullets kept flying. Al then took out a grenade from the belt, armed it, and threw it at the middle of the floor around the zombie guards. Once it exploded, the Z-Secs bodies were flying back and forth and lay limp once they landed in three different places. The two Titans and their guardian got out of their hiding places kept running to where their suppose to go.
Cybrog: "O.K., any ideas why these zombies and monsters are trying to back track us from getting to our exit."
Alex: "Don't know, maybe they're scared that we would be trying to reach Communications and protect it until we get reinforcements. Or perhaps maybe…"
Raven: "They won't let us get to the Checkpoint for some reason."
Alex looked to his right and spotted the storage door numbered, "24", then looked back at the long corridor.
Alex: "Either way, we're already at the halfway point. We have to reach the Security Checkpoint with those power cells and head to Communications before they get the chance to destroy it!"
They were about to reach the end of the hallway when they heard a loud roar that made them stop. They all looked around to figure out what was that noise and where it came from.
Raven: "Uh… What was that?"
Alex: "I don't know, but I don't like it one damn bit."
He slowly cocked his shotgun for a little more power and waited for something to come out. They waited for an attack, an ambush, something that was suppose to happen, when they heard scampering noise coming from where Alex is. He slowly raised his shotgun a little and waited for something to come out. Suddenly, an orange lightning bolt appeared in front of him and then a strange creature appeared and roared again with it's lower jaw opening apart and sideways. It immediately swung its claw arm and scratched Alex's armored plate. He tumbled and landed on his ass looking at the creature's glowing yellow eyes. Without hesitation, he positioned his shotgun at the creature and fired at it, not wanting to let it kill him. Once the creature died and disintegrated, Alex slowly got up and shook off the state of shock. But before things can go back to normal, they again heard more scampering noises from behind Cyborg. Upon hearing it, the hybrid turned around and turned on his sonic cannon. He waited for something to happen until he spotted an orange lighting in the middle of the floor. Once the Imp-like monster appeared, Cy fired his cannon before it got a chance to the attack. The creature was destroyed and the place was completely quiet. Cyborg turned off his cannon and sighed while Alex fully got up and rubbed his head. Raven was in the middle of the two trying to figure out what just happened.
Raven: "O.K. What were those things?"
Alex: "Don't know. But I don't want to waste anytime checking them out. Let's hurry to the Checkpoint before the others start having trouble of their own."
The two Titans nodded and then followed Alex going through the district. For minutes on end, they raced down corridors and corners, killing zombies and monsters, hoping to reach the place in time. But just as they think they're going to make it-
Alex: "All right, we're almost there. All we have to do is pass… this…"
They all slowed to a stop when they saw what suppose to be metal debris in the hallway, blocking their way out. They all had sweat drops coming down their heads as Alex looked at the two Titans and sighed.
Alex: "Well, there was a quicker way to get to the Security Checkpoint."
Raven: "Are there any other ways to get there?"
Alex: "Well, unless you want to take the longer routes that need PDA and key cards access. That will take an hour to find something like that."
Cyborg: "Then what about the path we took when we left the checkpoint?"
Alex: "And backtrack and face all those freaks back there? I don't think so."
Raven: "Then how are we suppose to join the others if we don't know where to go next?"
Without warning, a metal wall plating got knocked out and then an Imp came out of the alcove and was about to throw a fireball. Cyborg took the instinctive move, grabbed the Imp's free arm, slammed it to the wall, and fired his sonic cannon at the Imp's head. The other two were surprised by the hybrid's instinctive action as he turned off his cannon headed to the open alcove to take a quick look.
Cyborg: "I think I found a way there. Take a look.
The two ignored what happened a few seconds ago while Alex walked to where Cyborg is and saw a ladder in the hidden passage leading up to a ventilation duct and smirked.
Alex: "Huh… A secret maintenance passage. Never knew something like this was there.
Alex slowly shook his head and slowly climbed up the ladder followed by Raven then Cyborg. Soon, they were all in the maintenance ducts, hoping to get to the checkpoint before it's too late, and unfortunate for them, it was too late.
In the security office of the checkpoint, Beast Boy was struggling to hold with last of the monsters at bay. He was holding creature's claw arms away from him by using his hands to grab its arms, not going too close to the blades. So now it is a test of strength between the changeling and the creature. His eyes were completely in a whole new zone as he stared at its glowing yellow eye in such a serious look.
Beast Boy: "I don't know what you are, but I'll tell you this. I'm not going to let you hurt Starfire!"
He continues to struggle against the beast as it tries to over power him. What the two didn't notice was that Starfire, who was sleeping the whole time; her hand was slowly closing, turning it into a tight fist and glowing an orb of green light.
Back to Robin, he's fighting off the last of the creatures he's facing. He swung his R-Sword left and right to block off the monster's blade arms. One of its attacks made to Robin and got his side. But Robin swiftly avoided it and it only got his costume and not the body itself. He positioned himself for another round and the creature kept slicing and slashing to reach the Boy Wonder. It then used the flesh part of the arm to knock the sword out of his hands just like what happened to the tonfas. Just when he was about to get into a stance, the creature rammed Robin in the gut and he was sent straight to the Portable Power Plant connected to the lift generator. He got hit in the back of the head by it and slumped to the ground unconscious.
Back in the office, Beast Boy was trying valiantly to fend off the creature but it was to no avail as the creature slowly pushed its claw arms closer and closer to Beast Boy's head. But just as the being was about to decapitate the changeling's head, it got shot in the back by a green bolt of light. Then three more hit it to get its attention. The creature removed the claw arms away from BB's neck and turned around to see who fired at it. But when it looked to the other side of the office, a ripped Health Station was sailing right to its head, smashing its face right through the screen. It used its claw arms to pry it out of its head while Beast Boy quickly got out of the way. It was then that more star bolts appeared and hit the creature in many ways. The monster quickly died and left a pile of ash behind. Beast Boy looked at the pile and sighed knowing that it was a close call, but he was wondering where those shots came from. He looked to his right and was shocked at what he saw. There stood Starfire, fully awake and fully healthy removing the metal brace on her wrist with her strength. After doing that, she looked at the changeling and had a serious look on her face.
Starfire: "Where's Robin?"
Of course, Robin's close to them, but he was out like a light. The monster he was fighting was sniffing on his flesh, smelling the fragrance of fresh blood. It roared and then raised its blade arm to slice him diagonally through his body. Suddenly star bolts came from behind and hit the back of the creature. It turned around to see who hit it only to be introduced by a charging green rhino. It speared the monster away from Robin and right through the exit of the checkpoint when the doors opened automatically. It crashed right to the wall and landed on the floor. It was going to come back in for some major payback but heard a beeping noise and looked up. There it saw a torrent gun attached to the ceiling, looking at it thinking it is a threat. The gun fired and filled the beast up with bullet holes, killing it instantly.
Back in the Checkpoint, Beast Boy and Starfire gathered around Robin, trying to wake him up.
Beast Boy: "Robin, are you all right? Wake up, it's us!"
Robin slowly opened his eyes and saw both Beast Boy and Starfire with concerned faces. He looked at Starfire entirely, surprised to see her standing close to him.
Robin: "Starfire? Are you-"
Starfire: "Real? You could say that. I am breathing at your face am I?"
Starfire offered a hand to Robin and he accepted it. Once he got up, he gave Starfire a warm-hearted hug, shocking the Tamaranean and breaking in tears.
Robin: "Oh Starfire, I thought I was going to loose you. I'm glad you're all right."
Starfire: "I'm glad to see you unhurt too Robin. But please tell me, what just happened? One minute I was swarmed inhuman spiders, the next I was sleeping on boxes hooked up to some strange machine."
Robin let go of the hug and looked at her with friendly eyes, wiping the tears out of his face.
Robin: "It's a long story, but all it matters is that your safe and I promise you, from the bottom of my heart, I will protect you no matter what."
Starfire smiled at the thought and was going to say something when they all heard some thumping noises coming from above their heads. They looked up at the ceiling and were concerned about the noise itself.
Starfire: "What's that noise?"
Beast Boy: "Probably more of those things coming to get us. They dropped down from the vents at the office trying to ambush the both of us."
Robin: "Well if that's the case, then let's not keep them waiting."
Robin approached to where his R-Sword is and picked it up while Starfire and Beast Boy headed to the entrance of the security office. Once Robin joined them, they positioned themselves with the sword poised, star bolts charged, and wolf growling. They keep hearing the thumping going closer and closer to one of the openings the creatures made. They waited until they heard nothing. Then without warning something dropped down from the opened shaft and landed on the floor. The three Titans were ready now and were about to charge in, but stopped when they realized that whatever jumped down wasn't a zombie or a monster. Instead, it was Alex who got up, dusted himself, and coughed a few times.
Alex: "Man, who would've thought that the ducts can be so dusty? I tell ya, the things I do to get here."
He turned around and saw three shocked Titans, still in their battle positions. He even looked at Starfire, amazed that the health station did a great job with her alien body.
Alex: "Ah… Starfire, you're still alive. Guess the health station took care of you pretty well."
He turned to look at the health station but instead saw a big rectangle dent on the wall. He then looked at the security terminal all destroyed and then the metal shelves in shambles. He looked back at the team and was confused while Robin, Starfire, and Beast Boy powered down and approached their guardian.
Alex: "Did you guys have a party or what? What happened here?"
Robin: "It's a long and very ugly story. We'll brief you though. Where's Cyborg and Raven?"
Raven: "Above you heads."
The three looked up and saw Raven's face peeking out from the opened duct. She jumped out of it and landed on the floor after the team stepped away. Raven then stepped back as Cyborg jumped out of the duct. He stood up and looked at the others three.
Cyborg: "So, did you miss us?"
Robin: "It's good to see you three again. What took you guys so long?"
Alex: "Let us explain what happened."
A minute later, after Robin grabbed his tonfas and placed them in his utility belt, the team was gathered around the lift outside telling what happened between them. Not far from them, Cyborg was at the advance PPP moving the power cells from out of the duffle bag and into the generator's compartments below.
Beast Boy: "So you're telling us that you were attacked by a bunch of monster balloons?"
Alex: "Actually, they're called Cacodemons. And yes they attacked us, but they were swarming us all over Shipping, like they were waiting for us to come out. It's like they knew where we are or something. Either way, we were able to get out of there with the help of the plasma rifle. Hell, if it wasn't for me, those things would've eaten Rae and Cy alive."
Robin: "Sheesh, that's must've been gruesome. I bet that attack must be connected to the ambush we had."
Alex looked at Robin with an odd look.
Alex: "What ambush?"
Robin: "While we were waiting for you, we were attacked by some strange creatures we never seen before. They were tough looking and they had some special ability.
Raven: "Special ability?"
Beast Boy: "Yeah, they disappeared whenever we got a chance to take them out and run around invisible, like they were confusing us until it was too late."
Upon hearing it, Alex quickly took out his PDA and accesses the monster section for this creature.
Raven: "That's funny, cause while we were heading to the checkpoint, we had that kind of encounter with those things. But they weren't smart since they were close for us to take out."
Robin: "I see, well whatever they are-"
Alex: "They're called Wraiths."
The Titans looked at Alex with his PDA in hand while Alex looked at them.
Alex: "Of course, that's what it's called on my PDA."
He looked back at his PDA and read the rest of the information.
Alex: "It says here that the Wraiths attack distant prey by teleporting in a series of small jaunts, which makes it hard to tell where they will pop up next. And when it's too late, they appear in front of you and slash ruthlessly with its claw like arms."
Robin: "So if what Raven said is true, then our only option is to wait for a Wraith to come to us and when it does, we'll start attacking it before it has the chance attacking us."
Alex: "Well that sounds accurate enough. And this is the only way for us to get further to Gamma."
While they were discussing strategy, Cyborg carefully places the last of the power cells into the PPP's compartment. He then stood up and pushed the "Insert" icon on the screen panel and the compartment doors closed. He watched the screen and saw the power cells charging up and the generator went back up, bringing the lift back to life. Smiling, he looked at the team and gave them the good news.
Cyborg: "Hey, the lift is ready. We should be able to get down now."
The team looked at Cyborg and nodded, they all got up and proceeded to enter the lift. Once they all got in, Alex headed to the panel and was about to push the lift access control that says, "Lower Lift". But before he pushed it, he looked at Starfire, a little concerned about her condition after her experience.
Alex: "Before we go, Starfire, are you sure you're all right? I mean you just woke up after the whole ordeal and we don't know if you ready to go yet. Maybe we should wait for five minutes while you rest."
Starfire: "I'm fine Alex. Incase you forgotten, we Tamaraneans are stronger then we look. It takes more then spider venom to take me down."
Robin: "Star's right, I think she's ready to take on anything now. Besides, if she gets into any trouble, I'll protect her from any danger."
Robin then placed his hand on her shoulder and blushed. Star looked at Robin and blushed as well. Alex couldn't help but to snicker about this.
Alex: "Oh well… If you ready for this then I guess I have no choice. Next stop, Communications Transfer."
He touched the panel screen and the lift slowly lowered itself to the ground floor. The Titans were glad to get out of there in one piece, but what awaits them at Communications Transfer is a mystery.
And that's the end of chapter sixteen, the most toughest, complicated, and most compelling chapter I ever done period. Thankfully I got a long summer break so that means these updates on this story will be a whole lot quicker and, hopefully, the chapter's will be a whole lot shorter. So on the next chapter, Beast Boy gets a weapon of his own, the team gets a ride, and they will face a bunch of chainsaw waving freaks. And no, I'm not talking about Leather Face. Please Review.