Chapter 42
Beast Boy felt like he wanted to punch something. That was the only upside to having to fight the Hive Five right now—he would soon have the opportunity to do so.
There were so many emotions swirling in his gut that he could barely keep still during the car ride to the Jump City Mall, the Hive's latest target. Without Jinx to lead them their criminal repertoire had diminished to theft and the pretty basic B&E required to carry out said theft.
As they rode in silence, he snuck glances at Raven, who sat beside him in the back seat of the car. He couldn't begin to understand why she had insisted on coming. Even he didn't want to do this right now. He hadn't slept in days; he could feel the exhaustion in every muscle and knew he was running off of pure adrenaline. But the Hive's only advantage was in their numbers, and he wanted to fight with the others. Better safe than sorry.
Raven was a different story. At first her attendance wasn't even up for discussion, but she had fed Robin the same lines he was thinking about the Hive. At that point, Beast Boy, who hadn't made eye contact with her since Robin's interruption, glanced her way. He could see right through her: she just didn't want to be left behind, alone.
So that was how she found herself riding into battle, not even a half hour after being resurrected from the dead.
Beast Boy pulled his eyes away from her, trying to focus on the scenery that flew past outside his window. It did little to distract him from everything he was feeling.
He loved her. He loved her, but at the same time he was so angry with her. She could have told him and he wouldn't of had to go through the last three months. But the bigger problem, the one he could barely even stomach, was that she hadn't really known if she was going to come back. She was ready to die. She was ready to leave him. That was what truly broke his heart.
Cyborg jerked the wheel hard, sending the T-car screeching to the curb outside of one of the mall entrances. Beast Boy tried to refocus, leaping from the car with the rest of the team and stretching his legs as he broke into a sprint.
He passed through the mall doors, into the dimly lit building that was hours away from opening. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched Raven follow slightly behind him. Every time he looked at her there was this barrage of emotions that left him reeling. Instead of trying to make sense of it, he focused on putting one foot in front of the other.
He barely registered when the group in front of him came to a halt. He came sliding into place beside them and surveyed the scene ahead. It was indeed the Hive Five, as Robin had told them, looting everything from jewelers to electronics stores.
After a second the Hive had noticed their presence and put their activity on pause, turning to face the Titans.
"Well if it isn't the Titans," Gizmo sneered. Apparently now that Jinx was gone he had taken over as the leader of their band of thugs. "Word on the street was that you had left town."
"Is that so?" Starfire asked with a smirk. "Perhaps you should not listen so closely to gossip." Beast Boy clenched and unclenched his fists apprehensively, feeling the tension in the air mingle with the tension in his gut.
Gizmo grunted. "Listen brats," he ground out, "we don't have all night to mess with you."
"Agreed," Robin retorted. "So you can turn yourselves over and we can do this the easy way," he started, slowly pulling his staff from his belt and extending it, "or we can do this the hard way. Your choice."
The Hive Five let out a collective laugh, crouching into battle stances. They were almost guaranteed to lose, but you wouldn't be able to tell from their level of confidence.
Robin waited for a beat, then spoke. "Titans, go!"
They all surged forward, Starfire and Robin leading the way. Though they hadn't really discussed it, they all knew which strategy to employ. It was one they had developed after Raven was gone, in order to adjust for their drop in manpower.
Before the Hive even had a chance to spread out, Starfire was above them, raining down starbolts on the group with a vengeance. Without pause, Robin tore through them with his staff, landing blows and tossing smoke bombs. Soon the battleground was a haze. Cyborg ran forward, entering the fray. Beast Boy ran a few steps, then turned back to Raven.
The agreement was that she was going to wait on the sidelines until the battle was over. She was in the white cloak, hood up so that the Hive couldn't tell who she was. Robin had insisted, telling them he didn't want to spread that news just yet. He could still see her face though, and he watched her nervously assessing the cloud of smoke before them.
"Raven," he called out, "just stay there! I'll be back in a minute." Something about leaving her there didn't sit right with him. He clenched his fists. She's a more than capable fighter, he reminded himself. Still, something about the look in her eyes was unsettling.
With a grunt, he turned and disappeared into the cloud of smoke.
Raven watched, frozen in place, as the others sprung forward. Typically, the teams ended up taking each other on one-on-one, but today they were employing an entirely different strategy. The cloud of smoke before her was foreign and daunting.
The agreement was that she would come with the rest of the team but stay out of the battle, which was fine by her. She felt a moment away from panic, all of the thoughts and feelings and questions threatening to overwhelm her. Vaguely, she could hear Beast Boy calling something to her, but she didn't really listen to what he was saying. He turned and disappeared into the smoke. It must not have been very important.
In front of her, a flash of green or blue light would illuminate the hazy battlefield, and one by one members of the Hive would come sliding out of the fray, knocked out. Raven almost had to jump out of the way when an unconscious Mammoth came flying towards her, clearly Starfire's work.
Raven clenched her fists nervously, nails biting into the skin of her palms. She wasn't really sure in the moment what had possessed her to come, but when Beast Boy and Robin had turned to leave her room, the words tumbled out before she thought it through. She wanted to be with her friends, her teammates; she didn't want to be alone. She knew as soon as she was by herself she wouldn't be able to push away everything she was feeling. It would come crashing down on her, and she would drown in it.
Even now she took a deep breath to calm herself, trying painfully hard to stay focused on the action in front of her. The smoke was clearing, and she could make out vague shapes weaving in and around one another, sparring. Her stomach dropped when she saw one emerging towards her.
Adrenaline made her heart pound in her chest. Someone was coming for her, and for once she didn't know what to do. She certainly didn't have her communicator on her to call for help, and deep in her mind, she knew what would happen if she tried to use her powers. The shape in the distance started running towards her.
Before she could panic any further, the person came close enough that she could make out some details. One significant detail, really: he was green. Relief coursed through her, making her knees weak. He was sprinting, waving his arms as he ran. Raven's brows drew together, unsure what he was doing.
Before she could figure it out something made contact with her stomach, knocking the air out of her lungs. The edge of her vision went black as the ground disappeared beneath her feet. Suddenly the hood over her head was gone, her newly-grown hair tumbling out over her shoulders.
She heard a laugh from behind her and felt the vibration of it against her back. Dazedly, she tried to orient herself. As he began to speak, she realized who had her restrained.
"I thought this one was dead," Mammoth sneered. Raven kicked and thrashed for a moment, but he only clutched her tighter in response. He had one of his massive arms secured around her waist, her feet dangling four feet above the ground.
Raven tried to take deep breaths to control her panic, but the effort was futile. Mammoths arms were crushing her; she could only take in short gasps of air. Her eyes were wide and her hands were shaking. Do something, she commanded herself. You have to do something.
Raven stopped breathing entirely, focusing every ounce of energy she had. She was still for a few moments, eyes closed, body limp. This was her only chance. Breathing in as best she could, she lifted her head and channeled the energy she had been accumulating. Slowly, she spoke.
"Azarath... Metrion... Zinthos!" she called out, expelling the energy.
After a few seconds, dread sank like a stone in her gut. The fear that had been threatening to overwhelm her finally took control. She didn't cry, and she didn't speak. There was nothing.
Nothing, she thought in a daze. No burst of black energy had come to save her. Nothing.
Feeling the constriction around her lungs, she suddenly felt faint. "I... I can't breathe," she whispered, words slipping away amongst the commotion around her.
Instead of fighting the feeling, she let it come for her, falling down into darkness.
Fear. Beast Boy had been assaulted by feelings the minute he saw her standing in front of him again, but there was one he hadn't been able to articulate until now. It was fear; fear that all of this wasn't real, that he was going to lose her again.
As he watched Mammoth grab Raven from behind, as he watched her eyes roll back and her body slump in his arms, he realized he had only felt this afraid one other time in his life.
He wasn't about to let anyone else he loved die. Not again.
Charging forward as a cheetah, he closed the distance between them in an instant. There was only one form Beast Boy trusted at a time like this, and with a howl he let him free.
Moving swiftly, the Beast slid around Mammoth and raked a clawed hand across his back. Yowling, he dropped the purple-haired girl and Beast moved to catch her as she fell to the floor. Raven. Every instinct in his body screamed to protect her. Carrying her a distance from his opponent, he set her down gently on the floor.
He turned, ready to annihilate the hulking man before him. Mammoth charged, anger in his eyes from his new injury, and the Beast ran forward to meet him. Claws collided with flesh, and fists with bone as they duked it out. Mammoth may have had him on size, but the Beast was faster, and he had more to lose.
Mammoth brought his fists together above his head, ready to crush his adversary below. Beast Boy smirked; it was almost too easy. With a jab to the stomach and a kick to the ankle, he jumped out of the way just in time as the fists came crashing to the ground. Mammoth was unsteady, thrown off balance by the sudden, unexpected jolt of pain. Beast Boy used that to his advantage, landing a powerful kick to his back as he was still arched over, sending him fully to the ground.
Just to be safe, he let his gaze dart back to Raven. She was still unconscious, but undisturbed.
The grunt from his right made his ear twitch, and was the first indication that his battle wasn't over. Beast Boy's eyes snapped back to his opponent, who by now was not only up, but was flying towards him with his fist drawn back.
Beast Boy spun out of the way to avoid the hit, but the fist still grazed his side, sending him sliding backwards. He paused for a moment, crouched low to the floor. His side pulsed with the pain of a fresh blow. That would leave a bruise tomorrow.
He narrowed his eyes, assessing Mammoth. He was doing pretty well for someone who had already been knocked out once. The Beast snarled, ready for permission to unleash his full power. Beast Boy gladly obliged; he was ready to be done with this fight.
He charged once again with a heightened determination, his fists finding their target and his claws scraping against metal, fabric, and flesh. He landed kicks and jabs gracefully, moving out of the way of Mammoth's blows just in time. With a powerful and perfectly timed uppercut, he finally knocked Mammoth out again, sending him sliding backwards and breaking the glass on a storefront display. He waited a few heartbeats before shifting back into himself, just to make sure the threat was eliminated.
As he slipped back into his human body, his thoughts immediately turned to Raven. He whirled around, spotting her lying on the floor, completely still. He stumbled towards her, but something felt wrong.
His limbs felt like lead, and he moved like he was underwater. Everything felt like it was in slow motion as he fell to his knees. His head spun, exhaustion overtaking him. He fell the rest of the way forward, darkness rising to greet him as his eyes slid shut.
With a panic, he forced them open again. "Raven," he whispered. His will, no matter how strong, didn't do him any good as his vision once again went dark. Before his eyes closed, he could see boots running towards him.