I've read author's notes that say "I only asked for 5 reviews, and I got 28!"
That didn't happen.
I would like to thank those 4 people that DID review, though, and now I would like to respond.
To FelynxTiger-haha, I am evil, aren't I? Don't worry, there's no cliffies like that for a while :). And thank you, I'm glad that you like it. Hope you like this too.
To Mariabelle-glad I can keep performing. Don't worry, this story is gonna be long.
To Chico Magnifico-wow! As far as I'm concerned, you're a fairly famous author around here, and when I saw that you had taken the time to review my humble story it made me very happy :). But yeah, too bad about the government, eh? You'll have even more reason to dislike them soon…
To Gingerstorm 101-thanks. Too bad that you don't like bb/rae, but I can't stop writing it!
Well, that's about it. Hope you like to read this chapter as much as I liked to write it.
Enjoy…
"You want Emily?" Raven asked, dumbstruck. Her hand went protectively over her stomach.
"Yes," said the other man. "Your daughter is a threat to global security. She is too dangerous to exist."
"Too dangerous to… are you insane?" Beast Boy gasped angrily. "She's an unborn child, not a bomb!"
"Actually… that's exactly what she is, more or less. A bomb that can destroy the very threads of existence."
Raven looked stunned. "Wh-what do you mean?" she asked softly, eyes wide in sudden fear. Beast Boy understood why; had Emily somehow inherited Raven's genocidal destiny? If so, how did these dudes know about it?
"Think about it," the taller of the two men said, beginning to pace in front of them among the shrapnel from the front door. "One of you has demon blood in her veins, one of the most powerful and dangerous substances known to history. And the other has an incredibly unstable genetic code. Now alone, these are both fine, for Raven's exceptionally strong DNA kept her demon powers in check. But the combination of the two of you could create a child that, once born, will unwittingly unleash all of the forces of Chaos itself, ripping reality into pieces within seconds. She will never be able to control her own power."
"The government cannot afford to juggle the fate of all life on the minor chance that she turns out stable," said the other man. "She cannot be allowed to live."
"You're going to condemn our daughter because of something she MIGHT do?" Beast Boy shouted. He made a step towards one of them, but a sudden gunshot turned the changeling's coffee mug into a fine powder.
"Please don't move," pleaded the shorter man. "It would be a shame if you, as a former Teen Titans member, were to get killed."
"Snipers," Beast Boy hissed under his breath. "Dang it…"
"And because of your impressive national service record," the tall man said, "we are willing to make a deal. If Raven comes with us, we will keep her in comfortable confinement, dispose of the child, and let you two be on your way with no harm to either of you. Agreed?"
Raven was so mad she was shaking. The glass in the men's sunglasses cracked with a loud snap, and the TV exploded in a cloud of smoke and sparks. The pendant around Raven's neck was glowing so much that it showed clearly through her nightshirt and bathrobe. Some of the soldiers' impassive expressions were beginning to falter, especially when the barrels of their guns began to bend all on their own with loud screeching noises.
Beast Boy could sense that if this kept up Raven would blast a crater the size of Utah into the west coast, with them at the center, so he gently put his hands on her shoulders and whispered almost silently into her ear.
"Calm down, Rachael, we're never giving up Emily to sickos like these. Letting your powers loose could hurt her, though. And we don't need you getting shot."
Raven took a deep breath and slowly the shaking room settled down, floating objects clumsily sinking down to their previous spots. The TV gave a loud cough, but the fire flickered out.
"Can we… um… discuss your offer?" Beast Boy asked, trying to keep his voice as level as possible, hands still grasping Raven's shoulders. He mentally sighed in relief as he spoke steady and strong.
The men gave a sharp nod at the same time, which was almost funny.
"Alone." Beast Boy emphasized the word, glancing at the human perimeter that lined the walls. The men glanced at each other before nodding again, this time a little less convincingly. But the soldiers did file out of the kitchen, and Beast Boy and Raven went as far from the group of agents as they possibly could.
"What do we do?" Raven asked, almost panicky. Beast Boy motioned for her to calm down. On some level he noticed that this was off, Raven was always the cool, collected one in a crisis. But he supposed that the fairly newfound emotions and the threat to her child were pushing her over the edge.
"We need to think of something quick!" he whispered urgently back. "We're surrounded by snipers and foot soldiers and helicopters!"
"Wishing now that you had let Cyborg install a security system?" Raven hissed. Beast Boy winced. He hadn't thought it necessary.
"Too late for that," he muttered. "I think we need to surprise them. I'll break the window, then you set a shield quick and we make a run for it, sound like a plan?"
"It seems like they would be prepared for something like that, doesn't it?"
"Perhaps, but we don't have time to work out a perfect plan. Wild abandon has always worked for me, hasn't it?"
Raven smiled bitterly. "I'm not all that wild, actually."
"That's not true," Beast Boy said, also smiling a tiny bit. He kissed her on the lips.
"Good luck," they whispered simultaneously to each other. Then Beast Boy squared himself in front of the big bay window, and Raven stretched her hands out in the direction of the agents, prepared to cast a shield.
"Ready…" muttered Beast Boy.
"Hey, that's long enough," one of the suited men said, beginning to walk toward the kitchen.
"Set…"
"What are you…?" the man saw their positions and began to draw a large pistol from inside of his jacket. The stomping of soldiers' boots became evident in the living room.
"GO!" Beast Boy shouted, transforming into an elephant as Raven cast a massive black sphere, encasing the two. The kitchen wall crumbled like moldy cracker, and they rushed out into the back yard. .50 caliber shots bounced off the spell with ear splitting cracks. Beast Boy changed back into a human, and Raven decreased the shield size.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"So far," Raven nodded. Her eyes widened suddenly and she shouted, "GET DOWN!"
Beast Boy threw himself to the ground and put a protective arm over his wife as several grenades exploded beside them, sending the couple rolling backwards as the shield reflected the force of the attack.
Smoke had infiltrated their bubble, and Beast Boy coughed, helping Raven to her feet.
"We gotta go!" he shouted over the noise. It sounded like a tank was being driven down the street towards them.
"One more thing!" Raven turned and lifted her left arm, keeping her right one maintaining their protection.
"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" she screamed, and a second later what felt like a hydrogen bomb detonated behind them, sending Beast Boy, Raven and the spell flying through the air and over their back fence, onto a different street.
"What did you do?" Beast Boy asked once they had landed.
"Blew up the house. I thought that might slow them down," Raven said, panting slightly.
"Wow… excellent," muttered Beast Boy. Raven shot him a look, and they both began to run away from the wreckage of their home.
(…)
For a second there was stillness, then the ash and rubble moved as living figures tried to get out from underneath it. Many were soldiers; two were men in white suits, which weren't all that white anymore. Dead, charred bodies littered the ground, along with shot casings. The lawn was on fire, and the thick scent of smoke hung in the air. The two men dusted themselves off the best they could, and walked through the remaining features of the house (a few blackened stone walls) to the back yard.
The massive tree that had once stood there was on its side, the trunk completely snapped, and bits of the house littered the area. Various burned books, a sink, and what looked to be half a pool table lay strewn about. There were no real marks in the fence, but a long gouge in the ground leading up to it made it obvious that the demon child and the shapeshifter had left over top of it, along with their magical protection.
"That did not go as planned," muttered the taller man, professional nature momentarily forgotten.
"Come on, we're not done yet," said the other, jogging towards the M1 Abram tank now sitting in the street beside them. "We still have a chance."
(…)
They ran for what seemed to be a long time, but Raven didn't dare let the shield down, just in case. She did make it invisible, though, after they had bumped into their 6th set of trashcans running around in the dark.
"Do you think we lost them?" asked Beast Boy, panting heavily, but still running.
"Dunno…" Raven gasped, clutching a stitch in her side. She was also getting woozy from keeping the spell up for so long. "They're the government, aren't they? They could be in the bottoms of our shoes."
Beast Boy cast a suspicious glance at his Nikes, but left them alone.
Raven coughed and suddenly lost her balance, tumbling towards the earth. Beast Boy swooped down and snatched her up before she hit the ground and into his arms, bridal style. He was still running the same speed as before, if not even faster.
"Sorry," whispered an out of breath Raven, brushing her hair out of her face and struggling to keep the shield up.
"Don't be. You focus on the fancy, complex, hard-to-do magic, and I can do the running part."
Raven couldn't help but smile. She gripped her pendant and a bit of the fear it had absorbed coursed back into her, which she used to power the spell. She was really out of practice, actually; shields used to be nothing at all. Maybe it was Emily's new presence that was throwing her powers out of whack.
They ran longer, houses flying by faster and faster. Beast Boy eventually transformed into a stallion, Raven sitting on his back as he flew down the streets. He began to wonder if they had actually escaped when he felt the rumbling.
People stared out their windows at the strange sight, jaws hanging open, papers dropping from loose fingers. A green stallion with a purple haired woman riding on it being chased full sprint down the avenue by a tank and several Hummers. Machine guns rattled from the roofs and doors, but the lethal shots bounced off a seemingly invisible wall.
Green and purple? Could that be Beast Boy and Raven? They lived around here. But why was the army chasing them? The Titans were the good guys, weren't they?
(…)
It was hard to even breathe inside the cramped confines of the tank, but one of the men in white managed to twist into a position from which he could see out the small window.
"There they are!" he shouted to his men upon seeing their targets again. "Fire!"
Fire they did, but the bullets had no effect. And they didn't dare use missiles in a suburban neighborhood. The man twisted again and managed to activate the microphone clipped to his ear.
"Fire weapon 2256-PNC-R," he instructed.
A panel popped up with a hiss on the surface of the tank, and a sleek black claw exploded out of it towards the fleeing superheroes in a puff of hydraulic steam. It sliced right through the invisible shield and wrapped around Raven, clamping tightly. Her agonized scream could be heard even above the tank's massive motors, and the purple haired maiden slumped forward on the rushing horse.
And the shield was gone.
(…)
A tank? They send a freaking TANK after an unborn child? Beast Boy thought in incredulous disgust as he kept running, making sure Raven was still balanced on his back. His muscles were knotting up and burning like wildfire; he had never run this fast or this hard before.
Suddenly a loud metallic snap and a scream pierced the air, and Beast Boy's eyes widened. He would have yelled, could he have spoken.
Rachael! She's hit!
He felt her fall into his neck, and he raised his head to give her a better angle. What could have broken through her spell? Was the shield down now? Was she okay?
"I'm fine, Garfield, just keep running," gasped Raven, as if she was in great pain. "They fired a claw at me that's inscribed with runes. I'm not sure how they knew how to make it work, but I can't cast magic anymore."
Beast boy swore in his head. No shield meant that those bullets wouldn't bounce off anymore.
Soon the soldiers figured that out, too.
Beast Boy forced himself to run even faster, legs practically spending more time off the ground than on it. Bullets chattered from the mounted guns and kicked up the dirt around his feet. It was only a matter of time before they would get a lock and score a hit.
He saw a darker spot on the street rapidly approaching, and got a crazy idea. Putting on an extra burst of speed he gathered up as much momentum as he could, then transformed back into a human, catching Raven as they both flew through the air.
"Hold on!" shouted Beast Boy. Gunfire exploded around them, and Beast Boy landed gracefully beside the manhole cover. In one fluid movement he kicked it away and slid inside, disappearing into the darkness below.
(…)
The man in white's composure almost cracked in excitement as he saw the stallion transform back into a man. His momentum carried him through the air, and he pulled his wife close as he neared the ground.
There was nowhere to go now. His men fired all the guns they had, and the area around the changeling was soon almost lost in a swirl of dust and smoke. Through it he saw the green man perform some kind of kick and jump maneuver…
Then he was gone. Disappeared.
The man blinked rapidly and looked twice. He was really gone, just vanished into thin air!
The tank and Hummers skidded to a halt, blocking off the street and several front yards, and bewildered soldiers clambered out to see what had happened. The men in suits fought their way out of the Abram first and rushed over to witness the site where, just a moment ago, their target had been standing. When they saw what had happened, they groaned.
The manhole cover was gone. Their targets had escaped into the sewers. By the time a proper squad could be gathered, they would be long gone.
They had escaped this time. Next time wouldn't be so easy. There were only so many places he could hide.
That's it for this chapter! Review to find out what happens next! I'm going to ask for 5 again. Please!
Read
Review
Tell your friends
Repeat