245. Break the Circle part 5
Sailing through the cold December night, Terra never batted an eye. Something in the pulse of golden power through her vessels kept her alive….more alive than ever she afforded herself to be otherwise.
She kept her hands outstretched like a warped crucifix and ever-plunged the rock platform westward, westward, westward. Her eyes were glued to the horizon beneath a pair of blue-tinted goggles. Her hair whipped like a golden cape. A hidden heat somewhere had kept her from shivering. Her breaths were calm, like a wakeful sleep in and of themselves. She refused to be any more or less excited. She just….drifted.
Supergirl was awake too. But not so much through exhilaration as it was through restlessness. She was sitting by this time—kneeling, really—with her alien blue eyes trained on the horizon but at a loss to see whatever it was her earthen friend could see. She twisted and toyed with the wraparound red material of her cape and slowly sighed with the wintry tide.
Jinx had succumbed to sleep. Or at least half so. She half-sat, half-curled in the middle of the flying platform earth with her shoulder rested softly against Pulsade's shoulder.
Pulsade….who was awake. Through devices that only the British assassin secretly knew, she kept herself from falling into slumber. She stared against the biting wind and persisted in supplying her bright beacon through the clouds that lit Terra's path towards the horizon. The platinum-blonde glanced aside at the snoozing sorceress, blinked, and shifted Jinx some so that the pink witch could rest more comfortably against her side…but without saying a word.
"Nnnngh…."
Supergirl took a deep breath. She 'stood up' more on the flying, hurtling rock and leaned towards Terra. "Do you need to--?"
"No." Terra sharply uttered.
"………," Supergirl squinted her eyes at her. "You don't even know what I was going to ask."
Terra nodded without looking. "I don't need rest. In my last days with the Titans, I used to spend forty-eight solid hours in the sky."
"Ah. Well, sorry I ever doubted you," Supergirl managed a coy smirk. "Is that concentration that Raven taught you?"
"………….," Terra inhaled. "No. Slade."
Supergirl winced. "Oh….s-sorry….."
"What's the point to be sorry about? It's history, right?"
"……………"
Silence.
Cold, biting winds.
Terra took a deep breath. She tossed her blonde hair with a jerk of her head, and again spoke without taking her goggled eyes off of the horizon. "I've been….thinking, Kara."
"Hmmmm? About what?"
"Red Aviary."
"……….yeah?"
"I think I know who he is."
"Who?"
"The father of my child."
Supergirl's lips parted. "Slade?"
Terra slowly nodded.
"B-But…..heh….Terra, honestly," Supergirl turned her head aside and smiled. "How's that possible?"
"I think….I-I can feel it….," Terra murmured. "In much of the same way Jordan could sense me when he saved me…..I-I think I sense Slade. For reasons other than the fact that he's the biological f-father of my missing child. I have this…..biting sense that he's back. That he's alive. And that he's spreading his existence by wiping out the existence of others. It seems like……the th-thing he would do…."
"Terra, Slade's dead. Jordan killed him."
"Didn't I die too?"
"………….."
Terra took a shuddering breath. "I should have perished when I saved the Titan's City from the volcano, but instead I turned to stone. Jordan should have been killed off by Dagger. But like you since told me, he chopped his arm off where the deadly implant was and lived. And now Slade—another piece of the circle—is just as miraculously….horrifically alive. I'm almost sure of it."
Supergirl ran a hand through her hair. Shuddering. At a loss for words.
Terra's eyebrows raised inside her goggles as she said: "And you know what? It doesn't scare me."
Supergirl looked up at Terra, her head leaning to the side. "Really?"
Terra nodded. A gentle…painful smile. "Everything in this circle…..is painful. Tragic, yes. But it persists. I'm certain that the most Slade will get from this romp of terror—if Red Aviary is indeed him—will be nothing more than an endless reboot of absurdity. Don't you get it, Kara? Things in this world…they spin madly. They keep going in circles and we're forced to dizzily twirl with it."
"Sounds like to Hell to me."
"Perhaps. But a Hell with….second chances….," Terra said. More like a whisper. "Or so….I-I hope."
"………," Supergirl swallowed. "Doesn't sound like a healthy revolution to me, Terra."
She nodded. "But it gives me something to hope for….to smile for." A crooked grin against the wind. "Like…a silly little sugar high."
"And that is?"
"If anyone breaks this circle….I don't think it'll be Slade," Terra said. "He's just one freak….and I have….." A shudder. A quivering voice that nearly shook her hands free of the rock-guiding glow. "……..I-I have so many friends. So many people wh-who…..love me after all."
"……….," Supergirl nodded. She stood up straight, wobbled on the rock, and rested a gentle hand on the earth maiden's shoulder. "That you do, Terra."
"…….I have a better chance of breaking this stupid circle than Slade does."
"Or whoever Red Aviary is."
"Slade."
"Heh….all right. I hear ya."
"And since it'll be us changing things….," Terra uttered. "I think we can…..make a difference. We can shape things the way we want them and….maybe……m-maybe we can make a new pattern. A pattern where bad things don't shape the way the world ticks….now with Red Aviary gone for good."
"That's something we all hope for, Terra. Just….," Supergirl leaned her head to the side. "….trust your friends as much as you trust your enthusiasm. I like hearing you get all gung-ho and jazz, but I don't want you going in over your head. Especially since there are so many Titans worrying over your pretty little head."
"Hehehehehe," Terra smiled. "I wonder if Noir will be so warming when he finds out that the two of us have decided to 'abandon our post'…."
"And picked up a couple of rambunctious lasses to boot."
Supergirl frowned at Pulsade. "Hey! Butt out of the conversation!"
"Sorry, dove," Pulsade shrugged, illuminating the way. "Small rock."
"You just do as you're told!"
"Kara….," Terra murmured. Biting her lip. "D-Don't be so hard on them…."
Supergirl flashed Terra a look. "I don't care if they're helping us or not! They once wanted to make you a furniture accessory!"
"All in good intentions…"
"Still! I don't trust them! And I think you should know better than to---"
"When Red Aviary is done with…will they still be bad people?"
"……………..," Supergirl folded her arms, pouted, and glared off towards the blurring horizon. "I swear, you're such a….a….liberal!"
"Off with her bloody head…," Pulsade droned.
"Oh hush."
"Nnnngh…," Jinx sleepily stirred against Pulsade. A Cheshire grin on her unconscious face. "More of that chimney-sweeper accent, Leslie, it makes me gigggggle…."
"Ahem….," Pulsade cleared her throat, a little red around the ears. "Another time, Jean….."
"Chim-Chimmeny! Ch-Chim-Chimmeny! Chim-Chim—"
"Another time!"
"Heeeee…..," Jinx drifted off again.
Supergirl hid her face in her hand. "I think I'm going to be sick……."
When Supergirl wasn't looking, Terra finally tore her goggled gaze off the horizon. She tilted her golden head down.
In the meantime, Pulsade was glancing over her shoulder.
The two blondes shared a moment. A visual moment of knowledge. Understanding. Hauntingly familiar.
Terra took a deep breath.
Pulsade silently nodded, and gazed ahead towards the wintry night she was illuminating.
Terra re-fixed her own gaze and murmured: "The future's changing, Kara. Nothing's ever truly set in stone…"
"Heheh….uh huh."
"You would………understand……if I d-did all I could to manifest my destiny, right?"
"Of course I would."
"And the Titans' too?"
Supergirl looked over at her. Squinting curiously. "How's that?"
"I want the Titans to be….safe," Terra hesitantly said.
Supergirl smiled. "Right. And once we show up, they sure as Kela will be. Hehehe….even Beast Boy," she nudged Terra in the ribs and winked. "Won't that be a sight to see?"
"Y-Yeah….," Terra nodded. Again glancing at Pulsade before ironing her vision to the horizon as they flew. "B-Beast Boy……."
T-T-T-T-T-T-
Z-Z-ZAAAAAAP!
ZAAAAP!
"Nnnnnghhh!" Changeling snarled as he leapt, flipped across Cyborg's laboratory, and materialized as an emerald wolf…..sliding across the cold metal floor.
Simon Stone's two skeletal androids spun to face him, repositioning their sonic canons and flickering laser-pointer 'eyes'.
Cl-Clak!
CLAK!
Twin lasers pinpointed Garfield's position.
The green canine snarled, flexed his furred limbs, and bolted towards the two androids.
They fired—ZAAAAP!
Z-ZAAAP!
ZAAAAAAAAAP!
Bolts of converging sonic blasts and laser turret fire shot and traced all around the fleeting beast.
Changeling hopped around the fire, ran circles and figure-eights, and eventually jumped and landed in a strafing slide that brought his panting, hairy figure to the right flank of the androids.
Whurrrr!
The turrets atop their 'heads' pivoted and aimed at him.
As one, they both fired: ZAAAAAAAP!
The dog growled, leapt, contacted the wall, morphed into a kangaroo, kicked off with his legs, and vaulted over the heated fire to plummet thunderously towards the two skeletal robots.
One jumped to the side.
The other raised both sonic cannons and locked on the descending green mammal…..until that green mammal quadrupled in size and mass.
CRUNNNNCHH! An emerald hippopotamus smashed through the metal body of one robot, grumbled, and stood up in elf form.
'Remarkable bravery, Mr. Logan,' Simon Stone's voice said over the speakers of Cyborg's laboratory. 'But ultimately futile.'
Whurrrrrr-Chtung!
The head turret of the remaining robot spun, aimed, and fired.
ZAAAAAAP!
Garfield spun.
SVVVVHHH!
"Augh!" he winced and clenched his shoulder as the hot laser stream ripped through his white tank top and burned a strip of skin to brown.
Bleeding, Changeling tensed his muscles and leapt in a snarl towards the skeletal contraption.
THW-THWOOSH!
SM-SMACK! Changeling pinned the robot to the floor in bear form, snarling.
Whurrr-Whurrr!
The robot readjusted its joints and shoved its center of gravity up into Beast Boy's body like a giant fist punching up beneath a trampoline tarp.
The green bear gasped as it flailed violently in the air and landed hard against a wall.
SM-SMACK!
The animal slumped down in cat mode and stroked is skull wincingly with a shaking paw.
'You cannot get out of the Tower. And as long as you are stuck inside such a building, the access codes at my disposal give me complete control over the security measures you so feebly attempted to shut down.'
Whurrrrrrrrrr-Cl-Clink!
The robot angled its limbs till it rested on all fours.
It then pivoted around and crab-walked swiftly towards the changeling with the speed and mercilessness of a giant wolf spider.
'Do not think that I am entirely responsible for the swiftness with which I must eliminate you, Beast Boy……'
The green cat eyed the scurrying robot, morphed into a snake, and slithered away as the skeletal automaton rushed over and attempted trampling the changeling with its titanium limbs.
CL-CLANK! CLANK! CLANGGG!
'……I am actually rooting for you, boy. You and the Titans show tenacity. I am certain you can meet even the challenges that I provide you.'
Changeling morphed from snake to road runner to elf and planted himself against the far side of the room.
Panting.
Clutching his burnt shoulder and warily watching the android from afar.
"If y-you're rooting for me, dude….," the elf murmured back to the speakers.
Swallowing.
Regaining strength
"Why don't you friggin' help me out here? What's your deal, man? I thought you were good!"
'There is no more 'good and evil' where I am concerned. Just positives and negatives. Affirmations and rejections. Ones and zeroes. I am that which I am instructed to do. Feelings and emotions and desires are nothing but rattling detritus in between the strong and capable spheres of my digital being. I must eliminate you, Beast Boy. And even if I don't, someone else will.'
WHURRR-CL-CLANK!
The robot stood up.
It raised both sonic cannons, joined them together like a double-barreled shotgun, and aimed directly at the green elf across the room.
With a bright blue glow and a loud whining noise…..the weapons started to charge.
Beast Boy looked around.
He glanced to his right and saw a wall panel of solid metal.
He spliced his arms into that of a giant sloth, gripped the panels, and ripped them mightily out of their frame.
"Nnnnnngh!"
CRKK-CRAKKK!
He held the metal plates before him like an enormous shield and braced himself against the blue glow.
He panted, swallowed and uttered loudly: "How's Dagger doing this to you, Simon? How's he making you do this stuff? How's he forcing you to hurt your own friends….and family?"
'That is irrelevant.'
"Like heck it is!" Changeling cackled. The blue light intensified as the robot braced itself and reached maximum charge across from him. "It was on November Fourth, wasn't it? After all, Dagger hacked into Phaser Labs shortly before it blew up!"
'An instrument of deception afforded him through William B. Fox.'
"Who?"
'And the same thing that stole my nephew from me. Though I was powerless to do anything……'
"What did Dagger do to Cyborg?" Changeling shouted. "What does he want?"
'Shhhh……Beast Boy. The force you fight is intensely strong now. Stop struggling. Prepare for the permanent hibernation ahead.'
"…grfff….," Changeling's eyes thinned as he hissed; "Oh I don't think so….."
Wriiiiiiiiiii!
And the android finally fired.
ZAAAAA-AAAAAA-AAAAAAAAPPPP!
FLASSSSSSH!
"Nnnnnnghhh-nnnghhh!"
Changeling struggled, his meaty, spliced arms quivering as he struggled…struggled…..struggled to hold the titanium plate up against the relentless barrage of sonic destruction.
Blue energy splashed hotly against his 'shield'.
Trails of aquamarine chaos billowed around.
Changeling morphed his feet into the thick trunks of an elephant for good measure, but even then the pressing force was pushing him….inching him back.
His meaty toes grinded into the floor, scratching thick….ashen trails.
A screeching, grating noise of thinly sliced metal ruptured in his pointy ears till he bled. "Nnnnghaaaugh!"
And the robot kept firing…firing…firing.
ZAAAA-AAAAAAAP!
'Give up, Logan.'
Changeling panted.
Sweating.
'Allow the destruction to consume you.'
Changeling twitched.
His green eyes thinned.
The metal in his blood-tight sloth-hands started to bend….and buckle.
'There may yet be the chance that my nephew will live through this. I could not bare to tell Victor that you suffered the whole way through your extermination.'
"L-L-Let me…grff…g-guess!" Garfield grunted loudly, struggling with the shield. "B-Before you blow him to bits too?"
'Snkkkt—No. He will join the collective once Dagger's initial plans are complete. Victor—by my side—shall serve the future governor of this realm once the Titans are gone.'
Garfield gasped.
His face frozen in a sweaty sheen.
His green eyes wide.
'Together……my nephew and I……will-snnkktk—be perfect and efficient………and whole……forever.'
Something flickered through the panicking mind of Beast Boy.
A maddening collage that consisted of Raven's hooded shadows, Starfire's red eyebrows, and Terra's glazed eyes.
And on the side of it a smoking swordsman puffed into oblivion, an Atlantean drowned, and the ever-echoing scream of the Boy Wonder ricocheted down the tubes and pinballed the elf's heart into quaking fury.
"RAAAAAAUGH!"
He flexed his arms.
The metal shield buckled….broke….and shattered.
CRAAAAAAAAK!
FLASSSSSSSSSH!
With the metal plates gone, Garfield's half of the room exploded in brilliant blue chaos.
The combined sonic cannons from the android engulfed everything in sonic destruction.
Laboratory equipment, metal loading stations, and computer consoles shattered, warped, and melted.
And through the mess came charging a mountainous shape.
A huge, green triceratops.
Stampeding.
Roaring.
Whurrrrr! The skeletal robot barely had time to twitch—
CHTUNKKKK!
Changeling's dinosaur horn ripped through the robot's center.
He reared his spiked head, snarled, and tossed the robot up into the air.
SWOOOSH! The android flew up. CL-CLANK! It struck the ceiling. THWOOOSH! Battered, it plummeted back down.
Changeling spun.
The triceratops turned into a gorilla with a wave of its shrinking tail, grabbed the falling android in two meaty hands, snapped it in two—CRKKKK!—and flung both halves at a nearby metal closet.
CRUNCHHH!
The closet shattered open.
The robot sparked to deathly silence.
The gorilla stood panting….panting….panting….
Fuming.
'Snkkkt—Well done, Garfield. But there is hardly a legitimate reason for celebrating.'
As if on cue, the gorilla's eyes widened.
He shrunk into a green elf and stared—mouth gaping—into the closet he had just forced open.
"D-Dude….no way….."
The bloody, mud-strewn body of Dr. Abrams rested inside the utility closet.
There the corpse dangled amidst many of Cyborg's backup limbs.
The skull was split in two as if by a giant bone cleaver.
The labcoat—stained in brown and red—still hung from the pale, limp shoulders.
'Dagger has already eliminated anyone and everyone who stands in the way of protecting the Titans.'
"……….," Garfield was breathless.
'Now………,' Stone's voice crackled. '……all that remain……are the Titans themselves……'
Bleep! D'ling! Bleep-Bleep-Beeeeeeeep!
"……….!.!.!.!" Garfield spun.
He looked…..
The far-off computer consoles were blinking.
Large text read: 'Laboratory banks overloading. Critical limit exceeded.'
'Exhale, Mr. Logan. The less oxygen inside you, the less you'll burn on the inside.'
Changeling took a breath, spun around, and made a mad dash for the hallway. "Nnnnngh!" Right as….
PHWOOOOOMB!
T-T-T-T-T-T-
In another district of the City.
In a lone street….
Where the asphalt had caved into the sewers and the urban underbelly burned with brilliant, green flames from the catacombs up.
Silence…….
…………
A pink-sleeved, amber wrist clutched ahold of solid street-level.
Digging fingers into the concrete, Starfire pulled herself up out of the burning sewer.
She grunted and strained with the effort…a great deal of her strength sapped.
Dry green blood trailed from her nose.
Bruises and welts formed on her skin, but other than that no major injuries.
None even from the fiery tanker explosion….although her pink shirt and jeans suffered a good dozen scorch marks and tatters.
She summoned some alien strength, floated, and plopped herself down a yard away and lay on solid street.
She stared up at the sky.
Panting.
Catching her breath.
"………………"
Her emerald eyes narrowed.
The heavens above……
They were bathed red………
"Nnngh…X'hal…..," the Tamaranian murmured. "I have seen this sky before……"
Silence.
A cold breeze.
A shudder.
"R-Robin…..," she murmured.
A beat.
A strong, warrioress frown.
"I will not let the monsters who took you take my living friends!"
But before she could so much as sit up….
CRNNNCHHH!
A hole 'punched' up in the middle of the street.
Followed by an electronic, pained growl.
Starfire gasped and looked over, propping herself up.
"Nnnnngh!" Metallo pulled his skeletal, smoking body up.
He still smoked and smoldered all over from burning patches….splotches of ignited petroleum.
He emitted a wheezing sound, as if he still had the lungs necessary to choke on burning fumes.
"M'vort selekeley thriul!" Starfire hissed. "Will you not expire?"
Whurrrr!
Metallo's glaring skull spun one-hundred-eighty degrees and stared at her.
Starfire jumped.
"Hssssssssssss…..nnngh…..I think I'm going to coat my skull with the paint of your creamed organs….," he stood up and pivoted around to match the direction his head was aimed in. "….I've been thrashed one too many times, and I'm not about to let some space whore add to the list of—"
Z-ZAAAAAAAAP!
A pair of green eye blasts slammed into his chest.
"NNNGH!" he backed up, wincing. He slid up against a lamppost—CLANK!—bending it.
"Watch your tongue, heartless puppet!" Starfire stood up and charged a pair of starbolts.
She practically grinded sparks out of her teeth in her seething sneer at the maniacal golem.
"The only elation I have for your not being destroyed is the possibility of extracting information of your nefarious purpose!"
"Oh….but of course…," Metallo's jaw tightened in a 'smile'.
He tilted his head southward.
He gazed momentarily at Titan's Tower….
Starfire's lips pursed.
She too tried to look--
But he charged at her with a sudden grunting cry.
"Nnnngh! Let's see how good of an interrogator you are!"
SWOOOOSH! He lunged and grabbed for her.
Starfire gasped and shot herself up skyward.
He hugged an arm-ful of air.
The Tamaranian flew several stories up along the scaling skyscrapers, loaded starbolts, and unleashed a flurry down at him. "Haah! Haaugh! Raaah!"
FL-FL-FLASH!
Metallo tightened his feet's 'grip' to the shattered street. He tilted his torso back and blurred his arms, swiftly back-handing and deflecting the starbolts away. FL-FL-FLASH!
Starfire ducked, side-hovered, and twirled to dodge the returning energy pulses. She snarled and summoned a huge green ball of wrath over her head.
But then Metallo chuckled electronically, 'blew' a skull-toothed kiss, and opened two metal compartments in his upper back.
Cl-Chtink! Cl-Chtunk!
Out of the panels, loaded mini-missiles appeared on wire-frame supports.
They blew steam and chimed as they trained on the Tamaranian girl.
"Go long, champ! Hahahahahaha!"
Beep-Beep-Beep!
PFTOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!
Two missiles fired and soared straight at Starfire, homing in on her signature.
She gasped, flew backwards, and launched her half-charged starbolt at them.
FL-FLASH! The green pulse merely bounced off their hard surfaces.
They zeroed in on Starfire, whizzing.
The alien girl gritted her teeth, spun around, and soared straight up the building face. SWOOOOOOOSH!
PFTOOOOOOOOOO-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!
The two rockets trailed after her.
The billowing hot exhaust melted the window frames of plate after plate of crystal clear glass they soared past in pursuing the girl up the many stories of a skyscraper face.
Starfire flew up to the top edge of the building, twirled around, kicked her feet into the roof's ledge, and vaulted off with a boost so as to soar outward across the street.
PFTOOOOOSSHHH! The twin rockets twirled, ballet danced in mid-air, and arced around to follow her fleeting figure.
Starfire panted.
Sweating.
She urged herself faster faster in flight.
But sooner than naught, she was zooming straight towards the building face of the skyscraper straight across the way.
"Ha ha ha ha ha ha!" Metallo shouted from below.
Starfire looked ahead.
She saw a solid window of glass….and the twentieth story of an office complex looming.
She bit her lip, took a deep breath, and crossed her arms before her face.
Plunging in…..
T-T-T-T-T-T-
CRAASSSSSH!
Glass shards shattered everywhere.
SWOOOOSH!
Starfire bulleted straight into an office meeting room.
She soared over a table and towards the door on the far side.
PFTOOOOOOOOOOOSH!
The missiles followed closely behind.
WHAM!
Starfire plunged through the door and zoomed down the shadowed, abandoned hallway.
The walls and ceiling flared up a bright yellow from the rocket exhaust of the twin rockets at her heels.
In claustrophobic, break-neck fashion….Starfire zoomed left and right, zipped around corners, orbited cubicles, and sloped down a stairwell or two in her attempt to dodge the rockets.
They burned after her.
Gaining proximity.
Inch by inch with each flaring turn.
Fw-Fw-Fw-Fw-Fw-Fw-Fw-FWOOOSH!
PFTOOOOOOOOSSSSSSH!
Starfire finally came to a long, pale tunnel with a dead end.
A dead end at an elevator.
She gasped….but then strengthened herself with a teeth-gritting snarl as she charged her eyes a hot green and unleashed two optic blasts at the doors.
ZAAAAAAAAAAP!
POW!
The elevator doors blew apart.
An empty shaft with dangling cables….
SWOOOOOOOSH!
Starfire flew into the shaft.
She impacted the wall of the shaft with her legs.
Her body's velocity flew centripetally into her lower half.
"Nnnngh!" scrunched up against the wall, she uncoiled, flipped, aimed herself down, and bulleted down the shaft earth-ward in a pulse of green.
FL-FLASH!
PFTOOOOOOOSSSH!
The rockets zoomed down the thin shaft without wasting a millisecond.
They grinded against the walls in the imperfect descent, causing sparks to rain down alongside their flaring plunge.
And as Starfire flew down…down…down…she gasped again.
For she saw the elevator car blocking the entirety of the shaft beneath her….about five stories above street level.
She took a deep breath and flung a starbolt down at the base of the car's cables. FL-FLASH!
TWNNNG!
The cables snapped.
The elevator car hurdled thunderously down to the bottom floor beneath the streaking, vertically plunging Tamaranian.
And in the meantime, the loose, heavy wires slapped and danced about the rest of the shaft wildly….springing up towards Starfire like a lashing cobra as the elevator weights on the other end of the pulley-like system took over.
SW-SWPPP!
SWPPP!
Starfire held her breath, concentrated…..and spiraled at the right time to dodge the whip of the cables.
Barely…..
SWPPP!
A lock of red hair was severed from her bangs. Srrnk-k!
She gasped.
PFTOOOOOOOSH!
Behind her the missiles kept on their solid course…..
So when the rising cable ends whipped their way across the elevator shaft, one rocket didn't 'think' to swerve out of the way and—
CL-CLANK! It was struck hard into the wall where it cracked, ruptured, twirled, and---
POWWWW!
It exploded.
A wall of flame and plasma vomited down the elevator shaft after Starfire and the exploding rocket's 'sibling'.
PHWOOOOMB!
Starfire looked back over her shoulder in mid-flight, panting.
The fire and the last missile ate…ate…..ate hotly at her heels.
She stared ahead…..downward.
CLANGGGG!
The elevator car slammed to a stop on the bottom floor.
Still blocking the Tamaranian's one and only exit.
"Nnnnnngh!" she charged two of her fists with green energy and punched them down ahead of her.
Thrusting her flying form downward heatedly.
"NNNNNGH!"
CRACKKKKKK!
Starfire burst through the top of the elevator car.
Quick as a cat, she arced and—
SNKKKKT!
Burst through the doors and into the lobby.
PFTOOOOOOOOOOSH!
The last rocket darted after her through the fresh holes she made.
PHWOOOOOOOOMBBB!
The wall of flame followed last, exploding out of the elevator shaft's 'orifice' and flooding blazingly into the lobby.
And everything followed right at Starfire's heels as she zoomed speedily, desperately towards the glass entrance of the bottom floor…..
T-T-T-T-T-T-
"Heh heh heh heh heh…," Metallo was still laughing.
He leaned his metal hands on his twice-as-metal hips and 'cracked' his neck.
"Ahhh…..," he mused. "Right then. About time I check on Stone's little monkey in the Tower…."
SHATTTTTTERRRRR!
Starfire came burning out of the front glass fixtures of the building's lobby.
"……?" Metallo spun around and stared
PFTOOOOOOSH!
The rocket soared after Starfire….its last rocket thrusts sputtering.
"NNNNGG!" the alien girl soared directly at the android.
Metallo hissed and reared his fist to punch her Tamaranian skull in.
But at the last second, Starfire dipped her body down and belly-slid across the concrete of the sidewalk, brushing beneath Metallo through his legs.
"What----?" he twitched. "Ah Hell…."
PFTOOOOOO-OOOOOOSSSSSSH!
The rocket plunged straight into his body.
He grunted and palmed his titanium fists on either side of the missile, catching it breathtakingly like a football in the curve of his chest. "Nnnngh!"
Starfire then planted her strong fingers into the sidewalk concrete and blindly donkey-kicked Metallo in the small of his back with her feet.
TH-THUD!
"YAAAAAAAUGH!" he flailed with the sparking missile in grasp directly into the glass lobby of the building….
……just as the flame wall from the elevator shaft exploded outward.
PHWOOOOOOOOMB!
As his titanium body was helplessly consumed in pure fire….the twitching rocket inside his grip ate the heat and sparks and chose the opportune time to also ignite.
KABOOOOOM!
The entire front face of the building shattered into millions of glass shards as the bottom lobby cooked into melting steel and ash.
The whole office complex groaned and quivered.
Starfire took a deep breath, jumped up to her feet, and ran straight forward with whatever energy she had left.
CRKKkkkKkkk-Nnnnkkkttt!
The building wobbled.
Cracked.
Groaned…..and kicked up dust as it started to collapse.
"Nnnnnngh!" Starfire grunted, running.
SWOOOOOOOOOOOOOSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSH!
The twenty-plus-story building fell from its foundation over, tilted, and collapsed over the remainder of the smoking, derelict City Street.
Starfire dove forward with a burst of flight at the last second as the burning, twisted skeleton of a structure fell gigantically upon her fleeting figure.
CRASSSSSSSSSSSSSSH!
And dust and ash filled the nearby block….giving the red night a hazy madness.
T-T-T-T-T-T-
In Phaser Labs, the collapse of an entire skyscraper barely resonated a vibration.
The basement laboratory was seemingly barren.
However….on a distant computer console….
Simon Stone sat.
Cross-legged.
As if in holographic meditation.
His flickering figure strobed and pulsed as if foreign code was shooting violently across his digital muscles.
He tried to relax his eyes shut.
Focusing on electronic streams filtering in and out of him.
"……………………"
A voice crackled into the speakers of the basement.
Cold….yet icily ravenous.
'Stone. What is the progress?'
"……………………"
Simon's holographic eyes opened.
He spoke in monotone to the air:
"Garfield Logan is still alive, Dagger. He is versatile. My devices alone cannot handle him."
'Just as well. Is he still strong?'
"Hard to say. I estimate that he has a good fight in him left."
'Still, I do not want to take any chances. Withdraw from the security system of the Tower. I still have a plan to weaken the pray towards Red Aviary's liking. If this doesn't wipe out Slade, at least it will begin the next phase of our operation.'
"This soon, Dagger?"
'Yes, Stone. Red Aviary has already consumed Raven.'
"……………"
'Beast Boy is the finest choice for next. Everything is burning deeper and deeper into the center of this City. Just as it needs to.'
"Is Mr. Fox ready?"
'Yes. Hand over the security codes now.'
"Already done."
'You've done well, Stone. You may have once served the Andersons and Slade before his embrace of the Spectrum……but your efficiency is now complete with me.'
"………………"
'Stone?'
"Yes, Dagger?"
'Keep a vigil at Phaser Labs. Though Beast Boy shall soon perish, the last of our opposition has yet to show themselves.'
"Understood."
As Stone phased out, Dagger's electronic voice spoke aside…..as if to someone other than Stone.
'Okay Jones. Send him in. The forces and I shall take our places. It is now time.'
"…………"
T-T-T-T-T-T-
The hallway outside of Cyborg's laboratory was smoking.
Hazy.
Smelling of ash and burnt metal.
And burnt flesh.
"……….."
Silence.
"…………..grfff……"
A figure crawled out from the smoking center.
He shook charred ashes off of his limbs and dragged himself on all fours till he was at a cleaner…cooler part of the hallway.
He panted….pressing his sweating, damp body to the metal surfaces.
For some reason, the sprinkler system of the Tower hadn't gone off.
But although heat and fire sparkled far behind the changeling, his part of the interior hallway felt cool.
Almost inviting.
But he couldn't stay put for long…..
"Nnngh…grff….," Garfield Logan shook, wobbled, and sat up on one knee. He winced…stood up….and dizzily leaned back and forth before rubbing a hand across his skull, exhaling and creeping forward. "J-Jeez…..this can't b-be happening…."
He limped…limped….limped down the cold hallway of haze.
Huffing.
Puffing.
A sick look splashed across his green face.
"If I-I'm going through s-so much crap here in the Tower……wh-what bout the rest of the City?"
He gulped.
He looked up.
"The guys….."
Silence……..
He ran a hand through his hair.
He shuddered.
"Cyborg…..how did Dagger and your Uncle screw you up?"
An exhale.
He bit his stiff lip.
"Starfire….Raven…….I-I let you down………"
"You never let me down, Beast Boy."
The changeling gasped.
His eyes were wide.
That voice……!
He looked up.
He squinted his green optics.
Down the hallway—at the intersection—a thin, shadowed figure stood in the settling haze.
Feminine.
Soft….but strong.
Hands on her hips.
"You were the best friend I ever had. And……you still are……"
"……………," his lips parted.
He slowly…nervously hobbled forward.
The shadow of the figure remained resolute.
The haze began to part.
And Beast Boy saw features.
Colors.
Designs…..and familiarities.
A hot breath escaped his lips…turning cold and disbelieving in the air.
Until the disbelief further dissolved into utter numbness.
And shock.
"…..T-….T-Terra….?"
"……..," she smiled.
The haze cleared away, and there she stood.
In the black t-shirt and yellow short-shorts of olde.
The 'T' emblem across her chest.
The goggles on her forehead.
The yellow gloves.
But most of all……….
Those pearl blue eyes.
The golden hair like silk flying…floating….breezing in the air from a heated draft settling through the tunnel and disappearing…settling without the haze.
"I'm back, Beast Boy…," she softly said.
A proud, friendly smile.
Loving eyes rounded.
Moist.
"T-Terra….?"
He whimpered.
His whole body shivering all over.
The pain from the scratches and welts and burns fading away…..
"I could have picked a better time…I know…," she cooed. "But please understand…."
She took a deep breath as her genuine smile turned painful.
She said: "—I've been through a lot. A l-lot of trouble…..to get here…."
Beast Boy's eyes watered.
His lips quivered as he stepped up to her.
Hands curling in the air. Falling…numb.
"T-T-Terra….you're….you're…."
"Shhhh…..Garfield…," she leaned forward and cupped a gloved hand around his cheek. "I'm here….."
"………," he stared at her…past her.
Hollow eyes.
Hollow eyes that welled up.
A silver tear or two trickled down his cheeks.
He reached out till his arms haloed around her shoulders.
And he simply 'hovered' there.
…………..
Until she fell forward and hugged him.
"Mmmmf…..," Terra shuddered against his chest. "I-I'm so sorry, Beast Boy. But I'm here….I'm here to stay….."
"Terra…I-I…..I-I'm so confused…."
"I love you."
He gasped sharply.
The breath sucked out of him.
She sniffed and repeated, eyes clenched shut as she leaned her head over his shoulder.
"I love you, Garfield……"
He teared more.
He hugged her in a death grip and buried his face in her neck.
"I love you too, Terra. Oh God….I love you…."
They hugged.
They rocked.
Alone in the hazy hallway…..
He shuddered.
He breathily spoke….hiccupping in between.
"I-I never gave up believing. I swear. I thought I had lost you….and n-nobody let me search for you. B-B-But I never g-gave up believing that you were out there. An-And that you would come back. Oh Terra….Terra….I-I hate that you had to suffer. Please forgive me…..I-I would h-h-have done anything…."
"And you have, Garfield….," she hushedly whispered in his pointy ear. "You've done all you could."
"I-I'm so confused, Terra….," Garfield shook and convulsed in her rocking hug. "Everyone is in trouble. Cyborg's vanished. Imposters are taking over the City…and everything around this blasted Tower is trying to end my life. I-I'm so terribly confused and scared. P-Please…..P-Please tell me you're in one piece….th-that this isn't a dream…."
"It isn't a dream, Garfield," she spoke.
Her eyes opened as she gazed over his shoulder.
"I'm here…."
"I would gladly do anything for you, Terra. I-I would die for you….."
"……..," Terra 'smiled'.
Suddenly…
Her blue eyes glazed over with a smooth, amber-brown.
"I know, Beast Boy….."
She coldly hummed.
Slppslllsppslsppp……
Silently, a brown tentacle emerged from her rib cage.
The muddy limb snaked and wormed and squirmed around Beast Boy's blind side till it loomed just above his shoulder and—Chiiiing!---formed a sharp blade at its end.
She turned her head and cooed in his ear.
"I know you would do anything……for me….."
Like a scorpion tale, the muddy tentacle raised its glistening blade and coiled to make the fatal stab into the back of his neck where her breath curled the ends of his soft green hairs….