Chapter 19: Bonds Pink eyes looked in confusion as a shadow spread in front of her, the green Titan once again morphing into his darker side. Nya-Nya dropped the cowering boy before jumping to the side, as a boulder slammed into the ground just behind Beast Boy. She turned around only to see a boulder flying towards her and with a high jump, managed to shatter the boulder using a mere kick. The cat landed gracefully on her feet, seeing Terra's glowing eyes narrow at her before the ground under the cat shook. Nya-Nya jumped away just as the area under her gave away before turning around, ready to attack. And that's when she saw a black ethereal, raven emerging from the half-demon before it entered her body. The pink feline tried to move but only managed slight twitching before her body refused to obey her anymore. Images of her encounter with Beast Boy flashed in front of her eyes and the half-demon sensed deep feelings within the schoolgirl Tezumi every time she faced the shape-shifter – it was that incredible hate…but it was also accompanied with the need for physical contact. But there was no love – not even crushing…only carnal cravings.
"Let's see what happens when you get physical with his animalistic side," the half-demon said in her demonic voice before Nya-Nya started walking again. And with horror she realized that she was walking towards the giant beast that stood in the center of the hall, its eyes reflecting the bloodlust that was obviously present inside of him. Nya-Nya struggled to get her body back under her control but her body continued to act on her own – to Raven's will. The cat-girl stopped in front of the Beast that was breathing heavily through its nose.
And that's when the pink feline lost her self-confidence. She knew, as long as the half-demon was in possession of her body, she couldn't escape.
The Beast lifted its large arm, claws aimed at her, before Nya-Nya suddenly regained her control as the ethereal raven floated out of her. The girl didn't waste any time, and made a big leap to the side but was not far away enough to escape the claws that tore through her body, sending her crashing into the wall. The feline slowly managed to get up on her knees before the ceiling above her began to crumble, small pieces of it falling around her. The rocks were replaced with raindrops and the pink feline flinched, coming into contact with the liquid. And suddenly her eyes were surrounded by darkness before she suddenly bolted forward. And in pure horror, she realized that she was headed for the charging Beast. But once again, she was controlled by the Empath and the Beast struck the cat again, sending her back where she came from.
The feline's body throbbed with pain and it took her a while before she could get onto her knees. She slowly looked up to see that she was surrounded by the three unusual beings as they bore their hateful stares into her. The gentle raindrops had come down in a sudden downpour now and each raindrop left a small trail of black ink running, being the cat's weakness. Her eyes closed, realizing that she wouldn't have much of a chance against them. She felt her strength slipping as each drop of rain caused another drop of ink to seep out of her. And suddenly, her eyes snapped open when she heard the voice of the half-demon mutter incoherent words. "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos…" But then she heard the half-demon murmur chants in her language.
Her eyes opened wide, seeing an ink star form under her and she realized that this looked very similar to the magic Brushogun used to bring her to life. She had heard the rumors about someone making ink creations using dark magic – beings like her when she was still under his control. So does it mean…that this demon knew how to reverse the spell?
"A-anata wa kono jumon o dono yo ni shitte imasu ka? Ie, watashi wa anata ga watashi o tsuiho sa semasen!" the pink feline cried in panic before she lashed out at the conjurer. "Shine!" she screamed, before a boulder sent her back to the floor. Suddenly she felt as if an invisible force drained her energy like mortals being drained of their blood. Her eyes shifted to the green monster in front of her as it raised its arm for the last time. "Watashi wa…honka no soba ni anata o matteimasu," she murmured before the dangerous claws, tore her body apart, covering the 3 rage-filled teens in ink before the rain began to wash it away and vanish into nothingness upon coming in contact with the star imprinted on the ground.
They stared at the star before it vanished too, as if it had never been there. The green Beast faced the two girls, and Terra took a step back before clenching her fists, trying to stop using her powers. But she realized that the cracks continued to form and she closed her eyes, hoping that things wouldn't spin out of control. But Raven wasn't intimidated of the large creature taking a step forward and a smirk played on her lips. "Are you trying to scare me? Let me show you why it doesn't work," she replied in her demonic voice as she became once again, engulfed in dark magic.
The Beast stopped moving suddenly, before it slowly retreated into the young boy. Beast Boy collapsed onto the ground before a smile played on his lips. "I…did it. You can too," he breathed, the pain from his foot once again setting in. Raven narrowed her eyes before cracking sounds caught her attention. Terra and Beast Boy heard them too and looked towards the ground. The whole floor of the warehouse was filled with cracks of different sizes and length, some of them stretching even up to the ceiling!
Another cracking sound - this time louder. Terra and Raven returned to their usual selves as the ground under them began to cave in. Terra and Raven jumped up, attempting to help Beast Boy up to escape the collapsing building before the ground gave in just when they had reached the shape-shifter.
They fell into a gaping hole, rolling down the pile of rubble that was part of the ground beneath the warehouse until they came to a sudden stop on the rocky ground deep below the building.
Rocks of different sizes dropped from above and Terra and Raven made a shield as a large part of the ceiling dropped towards them.
Their shields shattered upon impact, throwing them back. But the rocks above them didn't cease to crack or shift once in a while as smaller pieces of the walls, ground and ceiling of the warehouse dropped around them.
And they realized…that if they didn't get out now…they will be crushed under the buildings remains.
Beast Boy's whining brought them out of their horrifying thoughts and they saw him sitting on the ground with his foot still bent to an unnatural angle.
Raven and Terra huddled closer to the hurt shape-shifter and Raven's hand glowed with purple energy. She placed her hand gently on his ankle and gasped, realizing that his foot wasn't only dislocated but also broken – probably from the harsh fall.
The shape-shifter cried out upon contact and Terra hoped she could give him some kind of comfort by holding his hand.
He forced a smile, not wanting to look weak in front of the girls.
Raven flinched before the glow of her hand vanished, leaving his foot in that harmed state. "T-Terra, can you…get us out of here?"
The girl nodded before her eyes glowed yellow. But before her object of transport was made, the glow from her eyes faded, leaving the girl gasping for air. "I…can't! My powers-"
The 3 teens turned their eyes to the source of light coming from the hole from way up as more cracks and concrete appeared in their line of vision.
"What about the others? Call them," Terra suggested and Raven took out her communicator…but their eyes lowered in defeat, seeing the sparks flying from the device, realizing that they had no way of contacting the others.
All they could do was wait…and hope that they wouldn't be buried alive.
Meanwhile Robin, Starfire and Cyborg passed the schoolyard after taking a careful look around for either their friends or their enemy. "Ok, where do we look now?" Cyborg asked after they had already searched the amusement park, the pizza parlor and the video game store for their green friend. The leader of the group stopped walking, his back facing them. "I…don't know."
Confused and distraught expressions were directed at him, realizing that luck didn't seem to be on their side.
"But we won't stop until we found them…even if it means that we have to face enemies and friends the same," Robin said with determination, causing the Titans behind him to regain some of their hope as well as worry for possible encounters with a former friend.
Robin pulled out his communicator and once again, tried to reach either Beast Boy or Raven but like before both communicators seemed to be shut off. A frown appeared on his face.
What did Slade want with Beast Boy?
Was it because of his connection to Terra?
So could it be that Terra…still was under Slade's influence – was Slade the reason she refused to come back?
"Robin?"
The Boy Wonder turned to the voice and Starfire faced him with a sad expression.
"I do not wish to believe that Terra wants to hurt Beast Boy," she muttered and then lowered her gaze, not wishing to see the denial in his eyes.
And somehow there wasn't any.
"I don't either…but if it comes to this…then we have no other choice than to fight," Robin said and Starfire felt the hardness in his voice.
She nodded reluctantly before the Titan leader motioned for them to split up as to cover more ground.
The fact that even Raven wasn't reachable on her communicator worried the leader and he realized that they had to speed up their search if they wanted to get to them first.
"Ok…we can't fly, we can't…contact the others, and…we're about to be buried alive. What option…do we have?" Beast Boy groaned, wishing he would at least get back home so he could just sleep the pain off.
"The option to be quiet before the pain gets worse," Raven muttered and Beast Boy looked at her in annoyance.
"Is 'quiet' gonna heal my foot…or my wrist?" Beast Boy said through clenched teeth, said body parts making talking difficult for him.
"No, but you'll be better off if you do," Raven replied and magically, the shape-shifter remained silent.
Cracking sounds caught their attention and they looked up to see the walls shifting once more, dropping small pieces of the wall towards them and they helped the shape-shifter change his position to get out of the way of falling debris.
"Ow, watch it!" the shape-shifter shot Raven an angry look when she dropped him onto the ground.
"Are…you ok?"
Beast Boy and Raven looked into Terra's direction, hearing the genuine worry come from her voice. "Almost as good as new. I don't get what you're so worked up about. It takes more than a few broken bones to bring this guy down," he grinned, pointing to himself before he cried out as he realized too late that he had unconsciously attempted to move his broken hand. "And yet we're God knows how many meters down below," Raven replied as Terra giggled.
"It's…not like you're…better off," the changeling retorted, flinching.
Terra glanced at the half-demon, and realized that even in the dim light, her bruises and scratches were clearly visible.
"What happened?" Terra asked reluctantly and she noticed a small smile on the changeling's face from the corner of her eyes.
"I don't know why…" Raven said and glanced towards the green boy, "but somehow that girl – Nya-Nya – managed to plant a bomb into our tower and I just returned from outside when I saw the others running for the exits…but it was already too late," she said and the changeling shot her an annoyed glance. "Why were you here?" she asked and the blonde-haired girl looked up in surprise.
"I came to look for Beast Boy…and when I was about to leave the 'House of Mirrors'…something hit me from behind. When I came to myself, I was tied up here and I managed to cut myself loose when…this pink girl came crashing in and I thought that she was the one who brought me here and I tried to fight her…but she was stronger than I thought," the ex-titan murmured, her gaze on the ground in front of her.
"Then I guess I was right," Raven said and Terra's gaze lifted in confusion.
"With what?"
"With trusting you," Raven gave small smile at the confused girl.
"I don't…think trust is gonna save us right now," Beast Boy managed to get out before the girls glanced up and they stared in shock, dust being kicked up before large pieces of the walls came tumbling down towards them as the building began collapsing.
The two girls tried desperately to concentrate on their powers but except strain, they couldn't get anything out of themselves. There was a short silence, as realization dawned upon them.
But they faced the changeling with smiles nonetheless before placing a comforting hand on either side of his shoulder.
And for a moment, it was as if all the pain had just vanished with that action.
"It doesn't have to," they replied before they all braced for the impact.
"Let's see what happens when you get physical with his animalistic side," the half-demon said in her demonic voice before Nya-Nya started walking again. And with horror she realized that she was walking towards the giant beast that stood in the center of the hall, its eyes reflecting the bloodlust that was obviously present inside of him. Nya-Nya struggled to get her body back under her control but her body continued to act on her own – to Raven's will. The cat-girl stopped in front of the Beast that was breathing heavily through its nose.
And that's when the pink feline lost her self-confidence. She knew, as long as the half-demon was in possession of her body, she couldn't escape.
The Beast lifted its large arm, claws aimed at her, before Nya-Nya suddenly regained her control as the ethereal raven floated out of her. The girl didn't waste any time, and made a big leap to the side but was not far away enough to escape the claws that tore through her body, sending her crashing into the wall. The feline slowly managed to get up on her knees before the ceiling above her began to crumble, small pieces of it falling around her. The rocks were replaced with raindrops and the pink feline flinched, coming into contact with the liquid. And suddenly her eyes were surrounded by darkness before she suddenly bolted forward. And in pure horror, she realized that she was headed for the charging Beast. But once again, she was controlled by the Empath and the Beast struck the cat again, sending her back where she came from.
The feline's body throbbed with pain and it took her a while before she could get onto her knees. She slowly looked up to see that she was surrounded by the three unusual beings as they bore their hateful stares into her. The gentle raindrops had come down in a sudden downpour now and each raindrop left a small trail of black ink running, being the cat's weakness. Her eyes closed, realizing that she wouldn't have much of a chance against them. She felt her strength slipping as each drop of rain caused another drop of ink to seep out of her. And suddenly, her eyes snapped open when she heard the voice of the half-demon mutter incoherent words. "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos…" But then she heard the half-demon murmur chants in her language.
Her eyes opened wide, seeing an ink star form under her and she realized that this looked very similar to the magic Brushogun used to bring her to life. She had heard the rumors about someone making ink creations using dark magic – beings like her when she was still under his control. So does it mean…that this demon knew how to reverse the spell?
"A-anata wa kono jumon o dono yo ni shitte imasu ka? Ie, watashi wa anata ga watashi o tsuiho sa semasen!" the pink feline cried in panic before she lashed out at the conjurer. "Shine!" she screamed, before a boulder sent her back to the floor. Suddenly she felt as if an invisible force drained her energy like mortals being drained of their blood. Her eyes shifted to the green monster in front of her as it raised its arm for the last time. "Watashi wa…honka no soba ni anata o matteimasu," she murmured before the dangerous claws, tore her body apart, covering the 3 rage-filled teens in ink before the rain began to wash it away and vanish into nothingness upon coming in contact with the star imprinted on the ground.
They stared at the star before it vanished too, as if it had never been there. The green Beast faced the two girls, and Terra took a step back before clenching her fists, trying to stop using her powers. But she realized that the cracks continued to form and she closed her eyes, hoping that things wouldn't spin out of control. But Raven wasn't intimidated of the large creature taking a step forward and a smirk played on her lips. "Are you trying to scare me? Let me show you why it doesn't work," she replied in her demonic voice as she became once again, engulfed in dark magic.
The Beast stopped moving suddenly, before it slowly retreated into the young boy. Beast Boy collapsed onto the ground before a smile played on his lips. "I…did it. You can too," he breathed, the pain from his foot once again setting in. Raven narrowed her eyes before cracking sounds caught her attention. Terra and Beast Boy heard them too and looked towards the ground. The whole floor of the warehouse was filled with cracks of different sizes and length, some of them stretching even up to the ceiling!
Another cracking sound - this time louder. Terra and Raven returned to their usual selves as the ground under them began to cave in. Terra and Raven jumped up, attempting to help Beast Boy up to escape the collapsing building before the ground gave in just when they had reached the shape-shifter.
They fell into a gaping hole, rolling down the pile of rubble that was part of the ground beneath the warehouse until they came to a sudden stop on the rocky ground deep below the building.
Rocks of different sizes dropped from above and Terra and Raven made a shield as a large part of the ceiling dropped towards them.
Their shields shattered upon impact, throwing them back. But the rocks above them didn't cease to crack or shift once in a while as smaller pieces of the walls, ground and ceiling of the warehouse dropped around them.
And they realized…that if they didn't get out now…they will be crushed under the buildings remains.
Beast Boy's whining brought them out of their horrifying thoughts and they saw him sitting on the ground with his foot still bent to an unnatural angle.
Raven and Terra huddled closer to the hurt shape-shifter and Raven's hand glowed with purple energy. She placed her hand gently on his ankle and gasped, realizing that his foot wasn't only dislocated but also broken – probably from the harsh fall.
The shape-shifter cried out upon contact and Terra hoped she could give him some kind of comfort by holding his hand.
He forced a smile, not wanting to look weak in front of the girls.
Raven flinched before the glow of her hand vanished, leaving his foot in that harmed state. "T-Terra, can you…get us out of here?"
The girl nodded before her eyes glowed yellow. But before her object of transport was made, the glow from her eyes faded, leaving the girl gasping for air. "I…can't! My powers-"
The 3 teens turned their eyes to the source of light coming from the hole from way up as more cracks and concrete appeared in their line of vision.
"What about the others? Call them," Terra suggested and Raven took out her communicator…but their eyes lowered in defeat, seeing the sparks flying from the device, realizing that they had no way of contacting the others.
All they could do was wait…and hope that they wouldn't be buried alive.
Meanwhile Robin, Starfire and Cyborg passed the schoolyard after taking a careful look around for either their friends or their enemy. "Ok, where do we look now?" Cyborg asked after they had already searched the amusement park, the pizza parlor and the video game store for their green friend. The leader of the group stopped walking, his back facing them. "I…don't know."
Confused and distraught expressions were directed at him, realizing that luck didn't seem to be on their side.
"But we won't stop until we found them…even if it means that we have to face enemies and friends the same," Robin said with determination, causing the Titans behind him to regain some of their hope as well as worry for possible encounters with a former friend.
Robin pulled out his communicator and once again, tried to reach either Beast Boy or Raven but like before both communicators seemed to be shut off. A frown appeared on his face.
What did Slade want with Beast Boy?
Was it because of his connection to Terra?
So could it be that Terra…still was under Slade's influence – was Slade the reason she refused to come back?
"Robin?"
The Boy Wonder turned to the voice and Starfire faced him with a sad expression.
"I do not wish to believe that Terra wants to hurt Beast Boy," she muttered and then lowered her gaze, not wishing to see the denial in his eyes.
And somehow there wasn't any.
"I don't either…but if it comes to this…then we have no other choice than to fight," Robin said and Starfire felt the hardness in his voice.
She nodded reluctantly before the Titan leader motioned for them to split up as to cover more ground.
The fact that even Raven wasn't reachable on her communicator worried the leader and he realized that they had to speed up their search if they wanted to get to them first.
"Ok…we can't fly, we can't…contact the others, and…we're about to be buried alive. What option…do we have?" Beast Boy groaned, wishing he would at least get back home so he could just sleep the pain off.
"The option to be quiet before the pain gets worse," Raven muttered and Beast Boy looked at her in annoyance.
"Is 'quiet' gonna heal my foot…or my wrist?" Beast Boy said through clenched teeth, said body parts making talking difficult for him.
"No, but you'll be better off if you do," Raven replied and magically, the shape-shifter remained silent.
Cracking sounds caught their attention and they looked up to see the walls shifting once more, dropping small pieces of the wall towards them and they helped the shape-shifter change his position to get out of the way of falling debris.
"Ow, watch it!" the shape-shifter shot Raven an angry look when she dropped him onto the ground.
"Are…you ok?"
Beast Boy and Raven looked into Terra's direction, hearing the genuine worry come from her voice. "Almost as good as new. I don't get what you're so worked up about. It takes more than a few broken bones to bring this guy down," he grinned, pointing to himself before he cried out as he realized too late that he had unconsciously attempted to move his broken hand. "And yet we're God knows how many meters down below," Raven replied as Terra giggled.
"It's…not like you're…better off," the changeling retorted, flinching.
Terra glanced at the half-demon, and realized that even in the dim light, her bruises and scratches were clearly visible.
"What happened?" Terra asked reluctantly and she noticed a small smile on the changeling's face from the corner of her eyes.
"I don't know why…" Raven said and glanced towards the green boy, "but somehow that girl – Nya-Nya – managed to plant a bomb into our tower and I just returned from outside when I saw the others running for the exits…but it was already too late," she said and the changeling shot her an annoyed glance. "Why were you here?" she asked and the blonde-haired girl looked up in surprise.
"I came to look for Beast Boy…and when I was about to leave the 'House of Mirrors'…something hit me from behind. When I came to myself, I was tied up here and I managed to cut myself loose when…this pink girl came crashing in and I thought that she was the one who brought me here and I tried to fight her…but she was stronger than I thought," the ex-titan murmured, her gaze on the ground in front of her.
"Then I guess I was right," Raven said and Terra's gaze lifted in confusion.
"With what?"
"With trusting you," Raven gave small smile at the confused girl.
"I don't…think trust is gonna save us right now," Beast Boy managed to get out before the girls glanced up and they stared in shock, dust being kicked up before large pieces of the walls came tumbling down towards them as the building began collapsing.
The two girls tried desperately to concentrate on their powers but except strain, they couldn't get anything out of themselves. There was a short silence, as realization dawned upon them.
But they faced the changeling with smiles nonetheless before placing a comforting hand on either side of his shoulder.
And for a moment, it was as if all the pain had just vanished with that action.
"It doesn't have to," they replied before they all braced for the impact.