242. Break the Circle part 2
"Is it a headache? I-I'm pretty sure that it's a headache."
"N-No, Vic. Er….I m-mean yes….that is…..nnngh…," Raven sighed and rubbed her temple. "I'm not entirely sure what it is…."
The two sat in the T-Car II on the side of the road. The mountainous highway was barren. They had been parked under the reddening night sky by the trees for a good ten minutes and still no cars or pedestrians had passed by.
Everything was cold, still, and dead.
Even the wind had lessened its leaf-licking touch.
Raven hugged herself in the passenger seat besides the half-lowered. Cold air floated in and assaulted her. She was tense. Shivering. But she refused to have the window rolled back up. "I feel like….l-like everything that has happened to us since November Fourth has been a lull. A….A-A break in the storm. I at first thought the danger of Dagger was going to keep on raging, consuming. In a way it has, and yet in a way it hasn't. The calmness disturbs me. It disturbs me s-so much that….th-that I'm looking in many far-off places for answers."
"Like looking for Robin?" 'Cyborg' suggested.
"………," she glared over at him. "Don't start…."
He shrugged. "Just throwing in my own two cents, cutie!"
"Keep your mental pocket change to yourself."
"Heh heh heh….," he pointed a finger. "I think it's something you ate."
"Huh?"
"Remember that one time Starfire talked you into eating strawberry yogurt for the first time? And it was right before bed? And something inside of you didn't agree with the sweets? You tossed and turned and threw up twice before having a terrible migraine that convinced you and the rest of us that some demonic invasion from the Infernal Dimension of Rorekon or something was near!"
"……..," Raven took a deep breath and glared off. The corners of her pale cheeks were red. "That was……a long time ago."
"Hah hah hah!" 'Cyborg' slapped his knee. "Man! You do remember!"
"Horrifically, yes….," she murmured. She glanced at him through the corners of her violet optics. "I'm….surprised you remember that."
"Hey! I've got a photographic memory! I'm entitled to use it."
"Right……."
"…………………have you been eating yogurt, Rae?"
"No, Vic, I haven't," she uttered sternly.
He bit his lip and rested on the wheel. "My bad. Sorry for intruding, ma'am….."
Raven sighed. Her eyes closed. "I'm sorry, Vic…"
"Nothing to be sorry fo—"
"You have had every reason to spy on me."
"……..I have?"
"It's just my…..paranoid self getting the better of me," Raven said. "All of this is." She waved. "Not just the headache. But doing things behind your back. Obsessing over Robin. Forcing Tempest through his friend Lindsay to meet with me…..all of that stuff. I think that….I-I think that with the way things have been—no—with the way I have been….allowing myself to experience more emotions and whatnot…..it has blinded me…."
'Cyborg' bit his lip for some reason.
"Or at least….I need to expect such 'blindness'. And I start to distrust myself, my feelings, and—as a result—my friends and surroundings. Things have been too….calm for me. Serene. A gray and melancholy serenity in this war-torn land of ours, yes, but a peace nonetheless. I wish I could just…..be happy, Vic. But….I suppose that doesn't come easy. I must always….ALWAYS have a nemesis. An enemy to fear. It is a part of me, my existence, and who I am. I'm wrong to have…..overreacted and taken it all out on you…."
"D-Does that mean there's still hope for you and I?" he simpered.
"……….," she bit her lip. "I….don't know….Vic…."
He nodded, a gentle exhale. "I should have known better than to have pried…."
"No……No, prying is good," Raven said. "Your 'prying' has…..turned out to make me a better person."
He gazed at her straight-on. "Do you really think so?"
"…….y-yes, Vic….I think so."
He smiled.
She frowned. "In spite of your greater, asinine mistakes."
He winced. "Well…g-guess I get partial credit at least. Heh heh heh…."
"One thing I don't doubt is what I must do…," Raven said. She pointed along the highway. "I must find out about Robin. I must run into Noir….and find out what answers lie in Gotham City."
"Best way to put your 'paranoia' to rest, huh?"
"I suppose…."
"Well alright!" 'Cyborg' started the engine once more and moved them back onto the hallway and along the mountainous, forest-lined path. "Gotham-ho!…….whew….boy did that sound dirty! Ha!"
Raven's lips curved ever so slightly.
Vrmmmmmmm!
"………….," the dark girl gazed out the window. She positioned her eyes against the cold air. She stared at the red sky.
Silence….save the engine of the T-Car II transporting them along.
"…………..," Raven's violet orbs narrowed.
The sky was an obvious red hue.
"……………..," she turned and glanced at 'Cyborg'. "Sailor's delight."
"Hmmmm?"
She motioned with her head out the window. "The sky…."
'Cyborg' glanced up through the windshield. "Heh…..imagine that."
"…………strange sensation, isn't it?"
"Eh…," the android Titan shrugged. "I suppose."
"………………..," Raven thought to herself. She gazed out at the passing trees. She stroked a finger across her lips. She blinked. She gazed back at him, squinting. "How did you know it was strawberry yogurt……?"
"Pardon?"
"The stuff I ate that one night…..the stuff that made me throw up," Raven explained. "I never told you that it was strawberry yogurt. Or a yogurt of any kind…."
"Oh…heh…simple," 'Cyborg' smiled. "Remember those 'health reports' Robin would anally make us fill out in the old days?"
"…………..yeah….."
"I read it in that."
"………………….you read the health reports?"
He shrugged, human and cybernetic eye on the road. "From time to time."
"………………….," Raven stared at him from aside. She slowly….gently pulled her blue hood up and over her fair head.
Vrmmmmmmm-mmmmmmmm!
T-T-T-T-T-T-
ZAAA-AAA-AAAAP!
ZAAAAAAP!
Two solid streams of gold energy exploded towards the Tamaranian girl.
Hopping up to her feet, Starfire crossed her pink-sleeved arms before her chest and absorbed the stream of fire straight on.
FWOMBB!
She gritted her teeth as the burning force shoved her back…back…back across the apartment courtyard. Her feet skidded backwards across the playground set and her shoes started to smoke from the intense friction. Smoldering burn marks splotched across her jeans. She was hardly dressed for this brawl. Hardly prepared.
Metallo, however, was in the natural 'flesh'.
ZAAAAAAAAAAP!
His skeleton jaw clenched tighter. 'Smiling'. A pair of white, electronic eyes strobed as he channeled and channeled and channeled the laser rifle energy.
Starfire grunted and groaned, pushing back against the force. She sweated and her eyes flickered a desperate, heated emerald.
Eventually, she was shoved back so that her legs impacted the slope of a kiddy slide.
TH-THWOMP!
"Augh!" she was fiercely shoved back like a lever.
"HA!" Metallo focused an extra powerful pulse of laser energy.
POW!
Starfire's twirling body was slammed across the courtyard. She flew fiercely back against a tetherball pole. CL-CLANGGG! The vertical metal beam dented and bent over her figure. She slumped against it, rubbing her head and groaning.
"Nnnngh…."
STOMP!
The Tamaranian looked up.
Metallo loomed before her. Both arms raised at an angle. The laser rifles smoking….hissing….
"Well hello there, little girl….would you like some candy?"
She frowned at him. "Nefarious painmongerer!" She struggled to stand up, failing. "Nnngh….I-I was most certain the Titans and Superman had disassembled you months ago in the state called Kansas!"
"Ohhhhh!" the metal skeleton leaned his skull to the side and toyed with a nonexistent ear. "So it WAS Kansas! Ha ha! Cheerio to that bit of info! I'm learning more and more about my sexily mysterious past by the second!"
Starfire tried getting up again—
GRIP!
She wheezed as his metal fingers locked around her throat.
He leaned in, hissing: "You know, I hear that Tamaranians are a lot more…..durable than the average bear. That means your torture can last allll the longer. I plan to get many….many more secrets from you."
She gasped as he spun and breathlessly flung her across the courtyard.
Starfire's body slammed against a planted tree, pinballed off and tumbled over a see-saw. She rolled across a sand box and came to a dusty stop.
"Nnnnngh…."
Thwump! Metallo stomped slowly towards her one leg at a time. Menacing. His titanium feet formed cracks in the exposed concrete of the courtyard.
"You know…..I am always getting the dirty jobs. Always the ones that nobody wants to do. But this time, things are different. Heheheheheh…..I think I'm going to rather enjoy this!"
She weakly sat up, hands glowing. "Someone wicked must have resurrected you from your deconstructed state! Who?"
"Doesn't matter," Metallo shrugged and electronically uttered in a playful tone: "Once I am through with you, Miss, it'd might as well be the Tooth Fairy for all I'm concerned."
She stood up. "I do not find your nefarious attempt at humor amusing!" Her wrists tightened with two strobes of hot green aimed straight towards him. "Where is Beast Boy? What have you done with Garfield?"
"Oh, worry not about that green piece of filth," Metallo waved a finger. "He'll be a burnt little turd soon enough! Ha ha ha!"
Starfire gasped.
"And as for you….," he charged at her.
She clenched her teeth. Eyes glowing a hot green, she launched starbolt after starbolt at him. FLASH! FL-FL-FLASH!
Metallo dodged the first shot, deflected the last two with a swinging backhand, and rushed at her shoulder-first.
She drifted backwards, furiously flinging a mad string of green orbs.
FL-FL-FL-FL-FL-FL-FLASH!
They all bounced off his smooth, angled shoulder. "RrrrrrRRRRRRRRGH!"
WHAM!
"Ooof!" Starfire flew back from the contact.
GRIP!
Metallo clutched her by the ankle.
"Hahahaha!" he laughed electronically and spun around, flinging her in a circular fashion like a ragdoll. "Dr. Jace, I could SO make love to you right about now! Up…up…and AWAY!"
FWOOOOOSH! The psychotic android let go of Starfire.
She flew straight through a swingset, snapping the bars apart.
CR-CRKKK!
She stumbled across the ground. She tried achingly to sit up, but she was tangled in the swings' chains. "Nnnngh….Mmmf!"
"Funny thing, 'life'….," Metallo marched towards her. "Your dreary life, at least. You spend a whole month crying like a heart-bleeding bitch with your friends about things that will never come back to you. And now….even more precious things are going bye-bye. I often wonder silly dreams fuel the pointless synapses of you alien bimbos' brains…"
Starfire fought to free herself of her restraints and frowned upat him. "I assure you, Metallo….you have made a most terrible mistake to your livelihood by choosing to attack this City!"
"And yet here we are!" Metallo energetically gestured. "First Contact!" He pointed towards her. "Your alien heart…." He clenched his fist and finished with a horrifically hoarse hiss. "….the finger of death." And he charged at her, limb sparkling and tensing to punch her skull clear off her vertebrae. "Rrrrrrrrrghh!"
Stomp-Stomp-Stomp-Stomp-Stomp!
She gasped, fought, struggled, wriggled.
Stomp-Stomp-Stomp-Stomp-STOMP!
She let out a cry, pulled at the chains, and snapped them apart with her alien strength. Her wrists charged up as she hovered to her feet—
WHAM!
Metallo's wrist slammed into her gut.
Starfire flew across the courtyard, slammed into an apartment building's outer wall, and slumped to the ground.
ZAAAAAAAAAAP!
Starfire barely had a chance to gasp when a well-timed laser stream impacted the buildingside above her……and rained down a solid current of bricks.
CL-CL-CL-CL-CLUMP!
The Tamaranian was buried.
A flickering green glow started to dim inside the imploded 'igloo' of mortar.
"Hrmmmm….," Metallo dusted himself off. Again, his skeletal jaw tightened. "She died as she lived….one brick short of a load…."
The green light faded….
T-T-T-T-T-T-
Inside Titan's Tower…..
Inside a dark, empty elevator shaft.
Slate gray blast doors stretched across a closed frame.
There were faint, vibrating noises emanating from the other side.
Like the reverberations of a tiny tremor traveling up the entire building's spine.
…………..
CLANG!
The metal shield dented inward from the other side.
…………..
CLANG! CL-CLANG!
Two more dents. The thick shielding warped and wobbled.
…………
CRAAAAAACCCCKKKKK!
The shield shattered.
Slate gray shrapnel splashed into the long, vertical shaft as a big green triceratops dove out of the Main Room.
ZAAAP!
Z-ZAP!
ZAAA-AAAAAP!
Laser turret fire shimmered after the plummeting, dinosaur changeling.
The heated energy blasts soared after the plummeting animorph.
Singed and smoking on a few patches of skin, the three-horned beast merely groaned and fell…fell….fell down the long shaft.
A halo of shrapnel flew down like dragonfly streaks darting in and around him.
In mid-air, the flailing dinosaur shrunk and turned into a weary, breathless elf.
His tank top tattered and burned from laser fire in a few spots, Garfield stretched his nimble arms out and angled himself aerodymaically with the length of the shaft left for him to fall down. The artificial wind whipped at his emerald bangs and kicked at the fabric of his clothes. He gritted his teeth, flexed his wrists, and sprouted fans of jade feathers outward in columns spiraling about his upper limbs. He spliced his forearms into wings, angled them, glided, and slowed his descent just long enough to swoop down, out, and straight towards a pair of metal elevator doors just as a slate gray shield started to close like the mouth of a garbage compactor.
FW-FWOOSH!
"Grrrff!" Changeling clenched beastly teeth and morphed his feet into velociraptor heels at the point of impact.
T-T-T-T-T-T-
CLANGGGG!
The elevator doors gave way.
Garfield. dove feet-first through the gap as the shrapnel flew down past him in the shaft.
The changeling rolled in pure elf form across the cold metal floor and came to a breathless stop against a wall of the corridor.
SCHLUMP!
The thick metal shield closed over the shattered elevator doors behind him.
"………………," he panted and looked up. Shaking….struggling for breath. "Guess this is what I get for not redecorating…."
Cl-Clik!
"………?" the metamorph turned and glanced over his shoulder.
Three panels in the wall opened up and rotating turrets slid out. They started to rotate, spinning their barrels and heating up.
Wriiiiiiii!
The changeling's green eyes thinned. He clenched his teeth, hopped up to his feet, and blurred down the hallway on scampering legs.
The spinning barrels launched orbs of bouncing, hot energy everywhere.
Z-z-Z-z-Z-z-Z-z-Z-z-Z-zap!
The hot, air-scorching orbs ricocheted off the walls like a flock of tightly-sprung pinballs of death and collectively bounced their way towards him.
Fl-Fl-Fl-Fl-Fl-Fl-Fl-Fl-Flash!
The beastly boy panted. Running down the hallway. Skidding and sliding around corners. Streaking, ducking, and dodging every burning orb that bounced after him.
"N-Not the exercise I had in mind tonight!"
He stumbled around a corner, skidded, regained his balance, and dove down a stairwell just as a frothy swarm of spheres ricocheted off the metal floor where he just was. Fl-Fl-Flash!
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Th-Th-Th-Th-THWUMP!
Garfield tumbled down two flights of stairs and ended clumsily with his back to a wall.
"……………………."
He took a deep breath.
Sweating all over.
Singed in a few places.
Bruised in many more.
He winced and rubbed a red-and-blue welt on his upper shoulder.
"Okay….okay….okay…..," he panted. Coaching to himself.
His green eyes trailed the dark corners of the stairwell. His body twitched and shivered uneasily at the haunting sounds of distant explosions and laser shots seeking him throughout the bowels of the huge, suddenly foreboding Titans' Tower.
"……okay….," he swallowed. "Keep it together, Garfield. Raven and Cyborg drove off somewhere….Starfire's skedaddled to the City with some stranger…..and now you're here in the Tower—sealed off and alone—and for some godawful reason, Cyborg's security program hates you."
Distant rumblings.
More laser impact sounds.
Constant….ambient reverberations.
It hauntingly reminded him of security camera feeds Robin and the Titans had once shown of when Slade's android army invaded the Tower en masse during Terra's betrayal……
"It's gotta be a glitch. Nothing more. Just….," he swallowed. Gulped. Shuddered….. "A really….really….nasty glitch….."
He ran a nervous hand across his green brow. Sweating. His eyes searching the nearest 'ceiling' of the stairwell.
"If you c-can just make it to Cyborg's laboratory….a-and reprogram the stuff from there…..th-then maybe you won't end up quite so toasty….."
WHURRRRRR-CHTUNK!
"……….," he blinked. "Then again……" He gazed up.
A panel in the wall had unfolded, and a vapor vomiting torch had extended outward. It flickered a tiny candle light and aimed itself frothingly at the changeling with a heartless whur.
Garfield immediately gasped: "Dude!"
A flamethrower……
FWOOOOOMB!
Plasma burned its way against the metal floor of the incline.
The changeling had already leapt out in the form of a jackrabbit. A few ends of his hairs smoldered and smoked. The rabbit flipped in mid-air….
T-T-T-T-T-T-
….and landed—sliding—in the hallway below.
Panting, changeling glanced up at the stairwell. He eyed the flames with wide green optics…..and gulfed.
"Torches…..th-that's so not Cyborg's style….."
Whurrr!
Whurr!
Whurrrrr-Cl-Clank!
"……?" the Titan turned to look.
Several cannons popped out of the wall and aimed at him.
'Zzzzt! All systems. Annihilate intruder!'
"DEFINITELY not his style!" Changeling spun around.
Z-Z-Z-Z-ZAP!
Z-ZAP!
Hot pulses of gold flew at the heels of the metamorph.
He dove in the air, turned into a cheetah, and landed on four blurring paws.
He swiftly burned a path around a curve in the hallway, where even more spinning cannons whirred to life and launched ricocheting balls of fire at his fleeting figure.
The spotted, emerald cat dashed left and right.
Glazed-over eyes concentrated on the path ahead as the legs sprang and sprinted and rocketed the temporary mammal along.
"There is….something really….w-wrong with…..this picture….," the metamorph breathed while sprinting. "….my friends….gone and….not talking….to me. The Tower…..the flames….everything…."
He scampered around a corner.
Sliding.
WHURRRRR-CHTUNG!
TW-TWNNNG!
Turrets lowered down from the ceiling.
They graced torches that flared and exploded billowing flame at the hapless changeling.
FWOOOOOOMBBBB!
A wall of plasma encompassed the entire width and breadth of the hallway.
The metal floors and walls began to hiss and boil with the shimmering fire.
'Gasping', the predatory cat skidded to a stop, morphed back into elf form, and scampered back in the direction from which he came—
SCHLUMP!
A blast shield rose up and slammed shut in front of Garfield.
He gasped and barely avoided slamming into the slate gray metal.
"D-Damn!"
PHWOOOOMB!
The cooking wall of plasma surged straight towards him.
Pulsing amber and hot orange.
He spun, panted. Green eyes wide, he glanced aside.
One of the Tower's trash chutes….
"Nnnngh!" Changeling spliced his forearm into a gorilla fist and slammed the small door open.
CRACK!
With the chute shattered apart, he dove, morphed into a turtle in mid-air, and slid down the tiny passageway.
SPLOOOOOOSSSSH!
Fire and ashes consumed the hallway and vomited down the chute after him.
T-T-T-T-T-T-
SWISSSSSSSSSSH!
The hapless turtle slid, tumbled, spiraled down the metal chute.
An orange flow intensified gradually behind him.
Tongues of flame rushed afoot of the fiery plume surging behind the fleeing reptile.
As the chute angled outward a few degrees, the changeling morphed himself into a penguin and used his smooth belly to slide himself gracefully down…down….down to the mouth of the chute. His tail feathers curled at the ends from the fiery 'breath' surging down right behind him.
And then……
T-T-T-T-T-T-
The garbage receptical….
SWOOOOOSH!
The penguin shot out and skipped belly-first across the heaps of garbage in the first floor's dumpster.
On one strong bounce, the penguin flapped its wings…only to turn into a bat that lifted up into the air with its very own velocity…
And morphed into an elf once reaching a high enough altitude beneath the ceiling.
Thwoosh-Plant!
The changeling landed agilely. Hardly a breath later, he ran from the rumbling, roaring sounds bellowing from the chute. He rushed to the door and tried to force it open from the inside.
No luck…
"Nnnnngh!" Garfield hissed and slammed his weight against the door in frustration. "I swear to Lucas! Why do we even bother having junk storage rooms in our Tower when we can't even open the—" He stopped. His wide, emerald eyes fell on something.
Or somethings.
Propane. Propane tanks. And lots of them innocently resting around the lengths of the room.
Innocently….in that they didn't expect the descending tongues of flame to suddenly seep down there so unnaturally.
"Oh no….."
Beathless, the elf turned and gazed at the chute.
PHWOOOOOOOOOMBBBB!
The fires spat out of the thin corridors and splashed across the room in a huge plume.
Changeling scrunched back in the middle of the propane tanks and instinctively shielded his upper body. Yelling: "NO!"
BLAAAAAM!
T-T-T-T-T-T-
Outside the feet of the looming Tower….
Six officers laid on the ground. Most near unconsciousness. All of them groaning and struggling to recover from the reptilian blows dealt them.
The leader of the troupe was inching himself across the pavement—chest first—to where a shotgun lie. He panted, shook, and struggled the whole way. Finally, he stretched a hand out and touched the hilt of the cherished weapon……
STOMP!
A scaley foot clamped down over the center of the shotgun.
The officer winced. He looked up.
The foot connected to an ankle, then a brown pant leg, than a buff chest, a gray, scaley torso, and finally the grotesque sneer of Killer Croc.
"Hresssssh…..," he licked at his steel-pointed teeth and leaned over. "….it's a lil dangerous playin' with those boomsticks, boyyyy…." He drooled in bloodlust. "How's about I do you the favor of biting your hands off? Hresssh-heheheheh…."
The officer winced.
Killer Croc tensed and tightened his legs to spring down on the helpless cop—
Pow! Th-Th-Thwish!
A black cable shot forth and wrapped around Croc's torso from behind, binding his meaty arms to his sides.
"Hresssh! What in tarnation?.!"
Zzzzzt-Zzt! The cord wrapped around him started to spark.
He gasped, squirmed, struggled, just as—
ZZZZZZZZZ-ZZZZZZ-ZZZZZZTTTT! The taser cable glowed a bright blue as it charged up waves of electricity and pumped them mercilessly into Killer Croc's body.
"AAAA-AAAAA-AAAAAAAUGH!"
ZZZZZZTTTTT!
Even the officers winced at the convulsing sight of Croc.
But soon, the glow stopped.
A twitching, smoking Killer Croc stumbled, about to fall to the ground.
TWNGGG!
The cord yanked back fiercely from behind him.
He shrieked as he was pulled back by the cord to the edge of the rock bluffs.
And there the Messenger stood on the other end of the taser cord. His sweatjacket and gray pants were gone, and instead his uniform from the Area 51 infiltration was back. A solid black jumpsuit of spandex with a green belt and yellow-and-green shoulder pads. He gripped the handle of the taser tightly and glared at the enemy he had entangled.
"Sorry about that. Did you miss me?"
"Hresssh….you…..," the reptilian man sneered.
"I would go all 'Stever Irwin' on your ass, but I seriously doubt you deserve that."
"I've been wanting to bite off yer pretty little head ever since you screwed thingsss up in Vegas—"ZZZZZZZZTTTT!" "DAAAAAAAAAH!" Killer Crock convulsed and shook from more electrical charges. He fell to his knees, panting. Smoking.
The Messenger smirked. "You're a long way from the Nile, pal. Treat the locals with respect."
Killer Croc merely sneered at him. He dipped his head down, opened his jaws, and bit down on the cord encircling him.
The Messenger rushed to charge the taser weapon again, but he was too late.
SNAP!
Zzzzttt! Croc braved the momentary spark of heated energy dancing against his teeth as he bit the cord in two. He stood up, shrugged the cords off his body, and charged over at the asian teen with a growl. "HRRRRRESSSSHA!"
Standing in his black, green-and-yellow uniform…the Messenger yawned. As Killer Croc dove at him, he reached a hand gently over to his bulky watch and clicked it.
ZAAAT!
The reptilian mutant's eyes bulged. He flailed stupidly in mid-air as he found himself flying straight through empty space and plunging down over the rock bluffs below. Th-Thwomp! Whack! Whump-Whump-Whump! THWOMP! He collapsed onto the sandy beach surrounding the island, laced with rocky crags. "Nnnngh…."
All the cops were getting up at this point. They limped and leaned on each other for support.
ZAAAAT!
They gasped and looked over.
The Messenger was kneeling on one outcropping of rock. He smirked down at the grounded reptile and uttered: "You do a good missile impression, smartstuff! Now do us both a favor and explode!"
"M-Mister, who are you?" one cop uttered.
The uniformed Messenger glanced over at the six men. He smirked and gestured his hand playfully in a 'meditative' fold of the fingers. "I am awake…….."
"………."
"………."
"………."
"Hehehehe!" the Messenger giggled. "I always wanted to say that…."
The officers blinked. "Uhm…."
From below: "Hressshaa!"
The Messenger glanced down at the beach and waved a hand at the cops. "Head back into the Town. On the double!"
"What? Why?"
"Believe me. Even all seven of us combined can only hope to distract that scaly oaf. I'm in an even lesser mood than you guys about losing a brave life to a Southern chainsaw-mouth with legs."
"………."
"Gentlemen, you must trust me," the Messenger emphasized with a sincere face. "The Titans are at the focal point of a crazy debacle underfoot. And the only thing that can truly save superheroes now are more superheroes. Go back to Town. Rejoin your squad. They will be needing you….all of you……soon enough…."
There was an iciness to the Messenger's words that was convincing. The cops hesitantly glanced at each other, mentally agreed, and rushed back to the squad cars.
"We'll spread the word!"
"First Smith, then the rest of the department!"
"Don't lose your head, kid!"
"Heh…..," the Messenger smirked and glanced down at the beach below the bluffs. "I'm afraid I did that a long…long time ago."
The shadowy figure of Killer Croc painfully stood up and stumbled across the sand.
The Messenger's face grew tight….serious. As the squad cars drove down the land ridge behind him, the asian teen flexed his muscles…and leapt down from the bluffs.
T-T-T-T-T-T-
"Nnnngh…hr-hressh….," Killer Croc rubbed his head while he limped down the sandy square between towering rocks.
He heard a rush of wind.
He tilted his head up.
Blinking.
SWOOOOSH-THWAP!
The Messenger's feet slammed down onto the mutant's shoulders.
PLOW! Croc was slammed down into the sand. White powder flew in the cold, December air and fell down again to the beach.
The Messenger flipped off the man's scaly body and landed nimbly in the sand a few paces away. He angled his body into a crane-like fighting position. "Allrighty, Mr. Jones. How about a little asian whoopass for your tease?"
Killer Croc plucked his face out of the sand, shook the powder off, and stumbled to his feet. "Nnnrghh…..y-you are nothing…."
The Messenger smirked. "Well, this 'nothing' just wiped the seashore's butt with your face."
"……….."
"Want a round two?"
"More like hearty seconds," Killer Croc licked his lips and dashed at the Messenger. "HRESSHAA!"
The uniformed youngster twirled to the side.
Croc's grabbing arms barely missed him.
The Messenger jumped up with a reverse kick planted into Croc's rib cage.
Croc stumbled left from the impact.
The Messenger bounced off his ribs, flew towards a rock bluff, kicked against it with two feet, backflipped, arced through the air, and came back down at Killer Croc with a sailing drop kick.
The Southern mutant stupidly turned his head to look—
WH-WHAM! The Messenger's foot flew across Croc's cheek.
Croc stumbled back.
The Messenger landed in the sand before him and again flew his limbs into a graceful fighting stance. "Still hungry?"
"You're stupid."
"Yeah, well your face is stupid!" the Messenger beamed. "Hehe…your turn, oh Kindergartener Excelsior!"
"HRESSSSSSSSHAAAA!" Croc flew meatedly at the Messenger.
"……..," the asian teen blinked. "Hmmm."
WHAM!
The Messenger was knocked back so that he landed in a ravine of rock bluffs. He tumbled head over heels across the sand, wincing.
"HRESSSSSSH!"
Stomp-Stomp-Stomp!
Croc thundered into the ravine, his sharp fist raised and ready to slash down at the youngster.
The Messenger shook out of it, tensed his body, and simply…..laid there.
THWOOOOOOSH! Croc's fist came down, along with the rest of his weight following it.
ZAAAT!
The Messenger vanished.
PLOW! Sand flew up from a crater where the crouching Croc's fist impacted. "Aaaugh!"
ZAAT! The Messenger reappeared above the mutant. He landed with a kick planted against the back of Croc's skull and kicked off.
THWOMP!
Croc flew belly first into the sand.
The Messenger gripped onto a rock crag, kicked off, and gracefully flew in a backwards drop kick with his arms outstretched.
Croc looked up. He rolled over and brought two hands up, gripping the Messenger's thighs before he could make contact.
"Augh!"
"HRESSSHA!" SLAM! The asian teen was brought down hard into the earth.
The Messenger winced. He felt his ankle twisting as Croc gripped it, stood up, and prepared to bite down on his foot.
The Messenger grunted and kicked up a fountain of sand with his other foot, sending the powder directly into the reptile's eyes.
Fwoosh!
"AAAUGH!"
The Messenger gritted his teeth and shoved his other foot straight forward into the square of Croc's face.
THWAP!
Croc stumbled back.
The Messenger hopped to his feet, took a breath, and charged to slam his fist across the freak's skull--
WHAM! Croc's foot rose up and knocked the petite teleporter back.
"Nnngh!" the Messenger collapsed backwards. He barely stood on his feet.
"HREESSSSSH!" Killer Croc flexed his muscles and slammed two fists on opposite sides of his body into the craggy faces of the rock bluffs.
WHAM!
RUMMMMBLE!
The entire ravine shook from the mighty mutant's slamming fists. Pieces of rock and stone rattled off the faces and tumbled down into the thin divide.
The Messenger gasped and helplessly shielded his upper body with his forearms as he was showered with pebbles, rocks, and even a boulder or two--
THWOOOOSH-WHAM! Killer Croc flew in a jump kick through the descending debris of rock. Stone shrapnel exploded out of the mouth of the ravine, along with the Messenger's body. The asian teen flew across the sand, stumbled, and slid in a half-crouch….a bit bruised and cut.
"Okay…..," he panted. "This is sooooo not suave of me….."
STOMP!
Croc leapt out of the ravine. With his energy and fervor renewed, he marched threateningly towards the black uniformed youngster. His warped jaw curved and he hissed: "What's the matter, kid? Run out of jokes?"
The Messenger's almond eyes thinned. "The only joke here is what's standing before me…."
"Ohhhhh…hresssha…..well done. Is that supposed to be an insult?"
"No….," the Messenger winked. "This is…."
ZAAATAA! The green teleportation energy that normally vanished the asian teen and made him reappear elsewhere was suddenly flaring up behind his back. The green energy acted as propulsion, shoving the Messenger ten feet across the sand in less than a second and a half so that when he froze in a backhand flying kung-fu style into Croc's chest---
WHAM!
--Croc slid back.
"NNNGH!"
Without a second breath, the Messenger again flared—ZAAATAA!—and froze in a second move, two palms slammed flat into the reptile's chest.
WHUMP!
Croc wheezed for air.
The combo attack was added with three more flaring streaks. ZAATA! SMACK! ZAAAATA! WH-WHACK! ZAATA! SLAM! The last impact was an uppercut that—in spite of the Messenger's small size—sent Croc flying up at least six feet before falling back down in a spray of sand.
THWOMPP!
Frozen in the position of his last move, a green-trailing Messenger cleared his throat and insulted: "A-Ahem…..'you're a poopy head'. Hehehehehe!"
"HRESSSHA!" Killer Croc jumped up in and instant and bounded towards him. "Why you—"
The Messenger held his breath.
ZAAATA! He flew 'across' Killer Croc in a forward, lunging punch.
Croc jolted as if hit a half-second later in delay.
The Messenger tensed his body.
ZAATA! He propelled himself with green flairs into a flipping, reverse bicycle kick that struck Killer Croc square atop the back of his skull and sent him plunging down into the sand. WHAM!
"Mmmmmmf!"
As the green trails faded, the Messenger got into another fighting pose and smirked. "All righty. Want to insert a coin, or are you done for, happy cheeks?"
"NRAAAUGH!" Croc stood up, bruised muscles flexing. "You are NOTHING to me!"
"Ya know, in spite of everything…..I would feel a little more scared of Dagger if he wasn't so into hiring rednecks."
STOMP!-STOMP-STOMP!-STOMP!-STOMP! "HRESSSHA!"
The Messenger sighed. :"Case in point." And he flared into Croc just as Croc charged into him.
Fists flying.
ZAATA!
SWOOSH!
T-T-T-T-T-T-
Vrrrrrrrrrrrrm!
"…………," Raven stared out of the passenger window of the T-Car II. Her hood danced lightly atop her crown. A blue aura seemed to hug her in sharp contrast with the redness settling outside. The dark girl took a deep, meditative breath….
And closed her eyes.
Silence.
"………………."
"Rae? A-Are you….Are you crying?"
"How….H-How could you possibly….possibly be in one p-piece?"
"M-Miracles happen, cutie. Like…..like those tears for instance…."
"…………"
"Raven….are you sure that—?"
"Let me cry, Cyborg…..l-let me cry….There's nothing I can fear from him….at this moment…….so pl-please….L-Let me cry…..after this whole day….please….just l-l-let me cry….."
"I'm here, Raven. Do whatever you want. Do whatever y-you want. I won't ever leave you again…."
"………….," Raven opened her eyes.
Violet pools reflected the trees on either side of the elevated highway.
Rushing….drifting past them.
The lanes were abandoned.
The asphalt was as clear and naked as the night.
Pale against red.
Grey and crimson.
And that haunting stillness…….persisting.
"………………" Her violets narrowed…..
"We all lost Robin. We all lost Terra. We all practically lost every god damn thing that's been innocent to us in this City! I am not and will not lose you! No matter what you say! And you can shove me all you want and you can yell at me all you want but tough shit, Raven!"
"Cyborg, I—"
"—need me!"
"……………."
"And I need you too. But you need me, Raven. That doesn't make you weak. Just admit it for once and be strong in some way that you've never given yourself the pleasure of being so before!"
"Cy-Cyborg…..It won't work. It'll never work!"
"Show. Me."
"………….."
Raven bit her lip.
She swallowed.
She slowly….gently….turned her soft, hooded head aside.
'Cyborg' was driving at the wheel. Calm as could be. He stared at the road…but at the sight of her, glanced aside…….smiled…..and winked.
"………………," Raven gently nodded her head back.
Silence.
She gazed ahead.
Down the open road.
Her eyes were round.
Her irises somewhat dilated.
Goosebumps formed on her pale skin.
She attempted to hide her wrists beneath the blue folds of her robe as….
She shuddered.
"………………."
"…………………have you ever written a poem about me, Raven?"
"………No."
"………….."
"Sometimes….S-Sometimes I hate you so much, Victor…."
"I know, Rae. I know."
"You sh-show me that I failed in something in this world. You show me that I've given in. Given in to emotions. Given in to intimacy. Given in to being a….human being….."
"Mmmmhmmm…."
"And I've never felt more safe…..in such chaos…."
Raven took a deep breath.
When 'Cyborg' wasn't looking, she hugged herself.
She remained still as the vehicle bore its cold way through the wilderness.
Alone under the red night.