It Ends in Blood
Chapter Ten
"I often reflect on how stupid humans are. Not in every aspect of course. The fact that they are alive and stupid hints at a sort of subtle brilliance. No, I do not call them brain dead or anything else which would explain and excuse their stupidity, but I do call them blind, deaf and dumb. But then I giggle and it takes all the effort I can muster to not laugh and guffaw like a madman. Because the truth is that the blind deaf and dumb are the most pleasant, because being blind, deaf and dumb is not a choice they can make and having that choice taken away from them makes them more human than any person who has all their senses available."
-Agent of the Divine One
Before the story begins there is one reviewer who deserves to have their incredulity answered. And that is wtf. First, there is the fact that Raven watched a movie with Beast Boy. You objected to this because it seemed illogical. And it is.
Consider this though. Raven is scared out of her mind and acting irrationally. And even though there is the miracle of the tower not crumbling given her panic, she is still not thinking straight. So she runs to the door seeking to get as far away from the heads as possible. Beast Boy is there on the other side and instinctively she recognizes him as an anchor when everything seems to be coming apart. The same way she recognized him as an anchor in Spellbound.
Beast Boy may not be smart in the same way as Robin or Cyborg, but he does know that Raven likes the appearance of control and he cares enough about her that he is not going to throw her to the wolves by presenting her in a panic stricken state to the other Titans.
The second major objection is that the Titans went to bed instead of sticking around and mulling over these things. Well there are two things, first is the fact that even the most stubborn of them (Robin) knows he needs sleep and Starfire is more important to him than vengeance. And there is the fact that one person remained. The one who cares about her the most.
So logic is not abandoned my scorn. Just bent. Like things are for fiction and reality alike.
Now that those concerns have been addressed we can move on to what the few remaining readers are here for. Blood. :D
After my encounter with the scuzzbag I had staggered to the nearest motel and grabbed a room for the night with the credit card I managed to swipe from the chick I saved. Sure the company would catch on quickly, but not before I had a chance to sleep off the memories and the buzz from the vodka.
The next morning came with sunshine and an unholy pounding in my head. Wanting to get out of there as soon as possible I clutched my still pounding skull and walked past the desk on my way out to the bustling street of the morning.
"Sir, are you alright?" The clerks genuine concern would have been amusing if it didn't sound like it was being shouted into a megaphone. Wincing I grunted out, "Yeah, just a little too much sauce last night."
"Do you want some water or something?" I cringed involuntarily as once again the concierge's voice range through my head. "No thanks, this is something that is best to work out of my system with a walk." As I laid my hand on the door to push into the light I paused. An employee who is showing this much concern for a person who stayed one night is a rare find indeed.
I opened my eyes and braved the sting of the sunlight to give the employee one last look and muttered out a weak "thanks" before pushing out into the gaudily lit city.
People trudging to work barely awake. Shops with a bare minimum of customers present at 10am in the morning. And the light traffic that comes alongside the first two. But more importantly was the sun. Odd. There were times I remembered sitting on dad's lap where I would smile at the way the sun turned the road into a path of gold. And how...with every second we were getting closer to Heaven. To lasting peace.
Not now. Now the sun mocked me. It reminded me of what could never be again. Each beam calling me me a loser. Weak.
I sunk my fist into a brick wall in my rage. I will not be weak! Adrienne was weak! Adrienne was a fool! I am Cruor!
I took a quick breath of air and glanced blearily at the building I had damaged and then felt my eye lids disappear into my forehead. No way.
McDonalds! I felt my anger roaring to the surface again and just barely managed to suppress the murderous rage I had learned to love. I have got to get this out of my head before...no. No wait. This is the perfect place to have some morning delights! I looked down at my appearance and snorted for a few seconds. There was no way this was going to work with this uniform. No...I'll require something to blend in.
Ah, the fates are wondrous for as I plotted to have my fun an employee came out for a smoke break. And so my morning began to get that much brighter.
BEEP BEEP BEEP. I was used to hearing this noise by now, so I knew it meant one of two things: 1) I had gone Beast and was going to be interrogated by Robin, 2) We had been beat. BADLY. Since I didn't feel kevlar restraints pushing me down into the hospital bed I thought it was safe to say the first one was ruled out. But somehow that didn't make me feel any better. I wonder how Raven is...RAVEN!
I tried to swing my legs over the side and started to panic when they wouldn't move. "Easy Beast Boy, Invidia cut your muscles so you won't be able to walk for a while."
Great. My brightly colored leader may as well have said the Game Station had been declared illegal, There were no tofu or soy products left in the universe and Starfire was cooking all my meals. Now don't get me wrong she's like my sister, but when food doesn't go down and stay down all the time then something is wrong.
"Anything else raining on the parade besides getting creamed by demons?" Normally I wouldn't be so cynical, but when you go down like a ton of concrete on Jupiter it brings your spirits down just as hard. Robin was cool about it though. Dealing with Gotham's most wanted probably helped a lot with that.
"Well, Starfire is still recovering from the puncture wounds in her chest, Cyborg is recharging and should be online by tomorrow, Raven is going to need a full days rest at least from exhaustion and you had the nerves in your legs severed completely above the knees so you can't transform or else it will take longer before you can walk." Robin exhaled slowly through the nose before the last item. "All I have are some bruises so I'll be the one playing medic until Cyborg can take over. And no changing out my uniforms for nurse outfits Beast Boy."
Dang! How did he always know? "Alright, alright. But dude! What am I supposed to do while I'm in here?" I can take staying in the med bay, but after watching the monitors for your own vitals after an hour it gets old you know?
"It'll be fine Beast Boy. I can bring in the Game Station and a television so you won't get too bored, but meals will be pretty lean since I need to get some headway on these demons. Even Slade wasn't this tough."
He was right of course. He usually is, but what can you expect? Batman trained this guy. And even though his biggest contribution to Robin's life was how to look constipated even when your system is working he was still really good at staying on task. There was something else though wasn't there? Oh yeah!
"Hey Robin where did Loki-, uh Lucky-" "Lucifer?" Robin interjected. "Yeah him! Where did he go? Last thing I remembered was him saying something in a weird language and a bright light."
"My guess is a teleportation spell. He brought us all back and helped to suture your nerve endings together. Not the best job, but it should keep things in good shape until Raven can heal you."
Raven. We only had a few seconds of romance before that maniac and his buddies decided to ruin the moment and cripple the whole team in one way or several. Actually....
"Hey Robin, any chance we can get some answers from this guy? I mean the head honcho is his brother right?" Robin nodded curtly, "That's what I was thinking, but I wanted to make sure you didn't set back your recovery a month or more before bringing him back up here." I nodded quickly before Robin turned to leave. "Hey Robin?" Robin stopped and waited patiently for my question. "Can I change out your uniforms for scrubs instead?" Poorly timed you would think, but Robin snorting told me I had done the right thing. "No Beast Boy, but thanks for the effort. I get the feeling you'll be working overtime to keep the team's spirits up."
As Robin left out the door and it slid shut behind him I couldn't help the black thought which dropped into my head. Keeping the spirits of this team above depression and out of hell is going to be a tall order Robin. And even I don't think my best is going to be enough this time.
DAMN IT ALL TO HELL! This was my refrain as I mercilessly beat the punching bag in the Titans gym. Again and again I pictured my image on the punching bag and hit harder each time wanting to hit my self for the numerous shortcomings I was responsible for at the site of my brother's latest fun.
"DAMN IT!" I punched as hard as I could and felt the canvas and sand shoot out ahead of my fist as it shot through the punching bag and onto the floor leaving a fist-sized hole behind. I sunk to my knees with my hands hanging limply and fingers brushing the ground.
Feeling the last of my anger leave me I lay face down on the floor and wept bitterly. "Is this destined to go on forever Lord? Am I to walk through fields of blood for the rest of my life?"
The soft clicking of Robin's boots caught my ear and I quickly wiped away my tears and shot to my feet as he rounded the corner.
His eyes flicked to the now ruined punching bag and rested on me. "Beast Boy's up and asking for you. He has some questions."
"Yes, yes that's all well and good, but my orders come from the highest authority and they are not to discuss anything until all members are present and accounted for."
I turned my gaze to the silent klaxon on the wall while continuing to patronize Robin, "Besides that you're going to get more answers than you could ever want in a few seconds."
Robin started in with his righteous leader mode again, "Now-" BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! Robin glared at me hard, but didn't waste anymore time before rushing to the elevator and ascending to the comm room.
I knew what he would hear. I knew what he would see. I just hoped he was prepared to move forward. "Forever comes after the blood and the fire Robin. And the darker path is made of of both. I pray that you never walk it as long as I have."
Well this chapter was more than a little disappointing, but the real drama will come to boil next time. In the meantime for those who are actually still reading this thank you.