When Nightmare Wakes to Dawn
There had to be a detour. It was done as quickly as possible, but what truly mattered was that Red Robin and Wonder Girl were on the Tower's roof.
Thanks to the computer in the communicator, it was easy to confirm Cyborg's words that the Tower was on lockdown. The teen vigilante did not want to doubt his titanium teammate, and even an elaborate prank seemed too farfetched here. The lockdown was only to occur in the event that something major was happening. Any thought or mention of using it for such had been shot down a long time ago.
"What do you think this is about?" Wonder Girl asked, armor-clad fists clenched.
"Cyborg claimed there were monsters. No other details," the masked teen reminded her. He had also sounded panicked, which was something that only took a nightmare scenario to happen. That, or his father changed his mind and paid another visit. One of the other Titans would have informed them about that in the first and only call, though.
"Where did they come from? What do they want? And did someone build this place on top of some ancient burial ground?" the armored blonde asked and you could hear some of the sarcasm. Suffice to say, Wonder Girl hadn't been pleased about the call interrupting their…night. Red Robin found himself agreeing with that because things had certainly come out of left field there at the end.
"We're about to find out," he told her as he approached the rooftop access. Opening up a panel on the side, he held up the communicator screen to a reciprocal lens hidden by the panel. Seconds passed and then the door unlocked.
Wonder Girl was opening it quickly while Red Robin slipped his communicator back into its place in a belt pouch, closing the access panel while pulling out a few birdarangs. He entered first while Wonder Girl closed the door behind them.
It was dark, the only light coming from a sign that glowed the word exit. Pressing a finger to the side of his mask, he turned on night vision mode which put everything in front of him into a single shade of green.
"Be on guard and ready for anything. We don't know what we're facing in here," he murmured softly.
Wonder Girl gave a snort but no snappy remark. Maybe he was stating the obvious here, but the words were more for himself. His idea of a monster happened to be in the shape of people, people who could blend in with everyone around them until they let their disguise fall and reveal the ugly they were hiding.
Cyborg didn't have that same definition as him, so the more obvious choice of something not human roaming this Tower was more plausible.
With careful steps, he led the way, descending further down.
There had only been one time in her life that Raven had hated silence. This was the second time where she could freely admit she hated it now. One by one, the Titans had been picked off by this mysterious group of monsters that had been attacking them throughout the night.
Raven couldn't admit she was afraid, because to do so would be to admit to powerlessness. It was a horrible, terrible feeling, one just as bad as the hated silence that now dominated Cyborg's garage. Only her breathing seemed to make any kind of noise, and each breath was unbearably loud.
In her mind, she continued to replay the most recent of events, of Cyborg leaping in the way and being engulfed into a mouth filled with teeth. She had lain there waiting for death and doing nothing to save herself. It had taken…Beast Boy to remove herself, and now it was only her and…him…
But the shapeshifter wasn't babbling, as she had expected him to be. He had returned to his humanoid form, crouched in front of her with his back to her. The green male was facing what remained of the door and where they had last seen the creature that had eaten Cyborg retreated to.
He was tense, shoulders rising and lowering with each breath taken. Bare arms were held out, balancing the lithe body. From under shaggy green hair, two pointed, almost elfin ears peeked out and perhaps it was an illusion but she could have sworn they were twitching.
The empath wanted to say…something, but could not find any words. So she laid there, her mind going blank. Trying to process everything…she almost shut her eyes but the sheer force of will to keep them open was stronger. They weren't safe. Neither of them were safe.
"I'm not hearing anything." Those words were said so softly that Raven nearly missed them. The tone was not one she ever expected to hear from the shapeshifter. It was a statement of fact, no idiocy or sunshine happiness inflecting any of the words.
She answered with the very words she had been thinking of, though. "We're not safe. We're not safe anywhere."
"They'll be back," Beast Boy agreed. Several seconds passed in that accursed silence. "We need to move."
"Where to?" she demanded. "There's no place here that we can protect ourselves."
"Maybe we don't need to." She gave the boy an incredulous look, one he didn't see because he wasn't looking at her. "The T-car is still on. Cyborg's still alive so long as that thing is running."
"And how do you know that?" Beast Boy didn't know anything, so why would he be so sure of that? Yes, now that it was pointed out to her, the engine was still running, but thanks to Cyborg's engineering skills, you had to really listen for it.
There was a snort. "Do you know how many days I had to hear Cy talk about his 'baby?' 'My baby' this, 'my baby' that. 'I'm thinking of lasers.' 'I want a remote key and not something I'll lose in the couch cushions.' 'My baby is fully automated.' I heard it all and understood less than half of it. But yeah, he told me he was connected to it, like through the internet. Car won't stop or stay on if something happens to him. He's alive. For now."
Hmm. She was going to add the "for now" part but once again he was surprising her. It had to be a horrible night like this to see it. Figures.
While she had been distracted with her inner monologue, Beast Boy looked over his shoulder at her. A single green eye looked her up and down, then looked away. "Are you fine?"
The question broke her from her thoughts. Frowning, she gave the shapeshifter's back a look. "Of course I'm fine."
"Could have fooled me." Was he actually giving her lip? "You don't look like yourself."
Her eyes narrowed. "And what do I look like?"
It was a sharp question that did not immediately bleed out an answer. Frustrated, Raven tried to get a sense of the green moron's feelings and found that they were much calmer than she had anticipated. Normally, Beast Boy's affect was wilder, loud, grating, and worst of all intense. He wore his heart on his sleeve, or lack thereof, for all the world to see. Closing up, keeping to himself, and actually considering an answer was not what she expected of him.
When he did speak up, "You look scared."
She had no idea how offended she should be at that statement.
"I'm not scared," she stated.
Beast Boy mumbled. This only served to stoke anger.
"What was that?" She let a little steel into her voice.
You didn't need to be a body language expert to tell how tense the moron was. "You don't look like you normally do. You really look messed up—"
"Because I was thrown into a wall."
"—and your eyes give it away."
"My eyes? Give what away?"
This time, Beast Boy turned his upper body so that he could look at her better. Raven found herself taken aback by the intensity in his green eyes. It was odd enough a sight but it made her heart almost stop, or perhaps skip.
"Normally you look blank. Really blank. And they say windows are like your eyes and let you see stuff. So it's like you have the blinds down so no one can see inside." Green was hypnotic, and the voice that was usually grinding was spellbinding. "Except right now, it's like those blinds are up and I can see. You look scared."
Those last three words broke the spell. "I'm not scared."
"You are scared," Beast Boy pressed.
"I can't be scared," she growled.
"There's nothing wrong with it," Beast Boy replied. "I'm scared right now. And mad. But scared. We've lost everyone, and it's just the two of us. I still don't like how you kept me from saving Terra, but I'm not about to let the same thing happen to you just because I'm not happy with you. Stop pretending that this isn't getting to you."
"You don't understand, I can't be scared." Right now, Beast Boy didn't sound like his typical dense self, but she couldn't keep her hopes up that he would understand. "It's fine for you. You can be scared all you want, but I can't be."
Unexpectedly, the green changeling put a hand on her shoulder, invading her personal space, but the strength in the grip that was exerted prevented her from acting on the offense. She didn't think he could squeeze that hard with a bony hand like that. "Anybody can be scared. You have to pretend you're all tough right now."
"I'm not pretending." He just didn't get it, did he?
Many described her eyes as dark, but they were only a dark shade of blue. It was hard to tell, especially when she kept her face shadowed most of the time, but they were blue. Those blue eyes made contact with unusually serious green ones, and neither were willing to back down from their side. The first to break contact, that would be the one who would lose this contest, and she wasn't about to lose to someone like Beast Boy.
It didn't matter if her heart was pounding harder than it usually did. It didn't matter that he was so close to her, touching her, challenging her in a way he had never done before, but it did matter because somehow that damn optimism was still in there and he was still acting on it.
Why?
What was there to be optimistic about? Why keep saying stupid things there were not true! She wasn't afraid! She couldn't be afraid! She…she just can't be. Because.
Because to be afraid—
Scraping. A sound that neither made. Eye contact broke for both of them as Beast Boy returned to his defensive stance between her and the approaching threat. It was picking itself up from the floor, the creature that had started the mess, the one with greenish skin, tentacles, and mouths all over its body. It had been crushed into the floor by its large, brown fellow monster, but that hadn't been enough to kill it either.
Red gleamed from its eyes, and that red zeroed in on the two of them. There was a growl, but it came not from this monster, but from the shapeshifter standing guard. That…was surprising, especially since he hadn't changed to any bestial form yet.
"Even if you aren't scared, then maybe try fighting," Beast Boy said, the visible muscles of his body starting to tremble with the promise of transformation. "If you can't, then stay out of my way."
The monster roared from its many mouths. Beast Boy roared as his body leapt into action.
Violence usurped the silence.
The lights weren't working, which explained why it was dark in here, but what was interfering with that was what Red Robin wanted to know. This Tower could arguably be still called brand new, so something like this shouldn't be happening.
Happening it was, though, and so night vision was needed if they wanted a heads up on anything. Unfortunately, night vision was only really useful in close quarters and not for seeing what was a hundred yards ahead. He would barely be able to give a warning by the time anything was on them.
Allegedly, there were monsters roaming these halls. So far neither of the pair had run into any. This better not be an overly elaborate prank. Please don't let it be a prank.
"Any idea on where everyone is?" Wonder Girl whispered.
Red Robin shook his head, then rolled his eyes as the gesture would have been lost. "Cyborg didn't say where they were other than inside the Tower. We might as well try the rec room first and go from there."
It was the best plan he could come up with. Trying to get anyone on the communicators seemed to be asking too much. Cyborg wasn't picking up, neither was Starfire, Raven, Beast Boy, or Kid Flash. He would have been surprised if Miguel could, but the Hispanic teen hadn't been given a device. So this meant going to the most likely place a number of the team would be and trying to track them down from there.
Several moments later, the armored blonde said, "I got a bad feeling about this."
Coming to a stop, the masked teen asked, "Anything specific?"
"Nothing I can put my finger on, but…forget it, let's keep moving."
She was hiding something, but was it important enough to investigate further? No, the monsters needed to come first, wherever and whatever they were.
Since the lights were iffy right now, that might include the elevator, so the stairs were taken until they arrived at the correct floor. From there, it was moving through familiar corridors, but that is where the first real signs of something not right became obvious.
For one, there were marks along the walls that had definitely not been there before. Looked like claws made them. For another, there was an imprint of a boot on the wall too, like someone had kicked right there. The height implied someone tried for a high kick or they were being held up in the air. Next, there were some scorch marks, Starfire's handiwork.
There had been a fight in this hallway. Who had won?
The rec room was straight ahead, so maybe more answers…
The teen vigilante found himself coming to a stop. He sensed Wonder Girl doing the same. Slowly, the two of them looked behind themselves because there had been the sound of something moving against the carpeted floor.
Thanks to night vision, everything was drenched in green, but seeing a tall monster with a crocodile snout and a tail that was dragging against the floor was freaky to see. Now where the hell had that thing come from? How had it gotten this close without either of them knowing?!
More questions for later, now was the time for action. Without a thought, Red Robin threw out a birdarang, watching the throwing projectile while reaching for more with his other hand. As if detecting the incoming attack, the long snout opened wide and slammed down onto the thrown birdarang, crushing the weapon with the might of its jaws.
Alright, time for the explosives.
He was pulling three out, arm bending and flexing in preparation to throw, but Wonder Girl beat him to the literal punch. The armored blonde leapt forward into combat, arm pulled back and muscles bulging with gathering strength. As she drew closer, the armor that sparsely covered her body began acting up.
In seconds, her torso, her arms, her legs, practically everything was being covered in spiky, golden armor. Not something new to the masked teen, but what was new was that the monster hadn't even touched her yet.
Then the armored fist slammed into the snout, crumpling it before the blonde's might. There were odd sounds coming from the monster, muffled by its Wonder Girl decimated mouth. A second fist uppercutted, snapping the head upwards while a knee planted itself into the monster's exposed torso.
A brightly glowing rope snaked out from the armor, and Red Robin had to turn off the night vision because now his vision was being blocked. As his eyes adjusted, he found the dark hallway was bathed in a red light, one that glowed furiously from Wonder Girl's lasso as it wrapped around the monster's neck. Wonder Girl was flipping over the scaly beast, and yanking on the blazing rope had her swinging like a fulcrum into the massive back.
The monster was choking from the strangulation, four-fingered hands reaching up with long, sharp claws to try and slice at the lasso. If anything, that made the mystical rope glow brighter, and there were howls slipping out from the mangled snout.
Above, Wonder Girl raised an arm up then dropped her elbow into the monster's skull, a spike piercing out from the arm gauntlet's end stabbing through scales and bone. The rest of the head caved in, and then the rest of the body collapsed onto the floor with a noticeable lack of blood and anything else.
Red Robin blinked at the sight, trying to process what he had just seen. Had…had Wonder Girl just killed this thing? And why was this mess cleaner than it ought to be…? Wait. Wait. There wasn't a head cavity. There should be one because that's where you would find a brain.
As Wonder Girl wretched her arm back, the masked teen got a good look at the damage. That is, if you could call it damage. It was like…like…there was no structure underneath those scales, were there? It was like cleaving into a statue, but one that looked like it was made of flesh, and only looked that way.
And hold on, the rest of the body was starting to cave in on itself even as the armored blonde stepped off of it. What the hell is going on?
"What did you do to it?" he asked.
"I…I don't know." There was a metallic quality to Wonder Girl's voice. Her head was helmeted which covered her face as well. "I just…it's like…like I know what I'm doing but I've never seen these things before. But every move…feels right."
Now Red Robin glanced at the armor-wearing girl. "Do you think…do you think your armor is involved?"
"Of course it's involved. I just don't know why." Pretty much was asking for that answer, wasn't he? "Don't ask me questions right now."
Even with the helmet, he heard the tone of her voice loud and clear. No questions then, for now, but when everything was said and done and this situation was over, he was going to start learning just what the hell that armor was.
"Let's keep moving. We've got to find the others somewhere," was what he ended up saying, turning back to the direction they were heading and taking the lead.
Beast Boy went into a run, bare feet slapping on the metal floor as he charged at the multi-mouthed monster. He built up speed which he used to enhance the might of the rhino body he shifted into a second before colliding with the creature. The charge did not stop until the monster was rammed into the far wall.
The green rhino became a green kangaroo, one that balanced on its tail while kicking rapidly with the powerful hind legs into the green body of the monstrosity. Another shift and a green gorilla was throwing sledgehammer strength punches one after another while snarling as it did so.
Raven had not seen such an onslaught from the shapeshifter before and it left her…flummoxed. She wasn't stunned, wasn't surprised, just…flummoxed.
She continued to be this way even as the sinister beast attempted to counterattack, swiping with its claws and stretching out its tentacles. Beast Boy vanished into thin air, leaving the creature confused as it pulled itself out of the wall and searched for its attacker. Beast Boy reappeared in the monster's blind spot, taking the form of a donkey that now balanced on its forelegs while kicking viciously with its hindlegs.
This sent the monster flying into the air, and a green cheetah raced under it to get ahead. Twisting the feeling body about, claws screeching into the floor, the cheetah leapt into the air and shifted into a bison, one that collided midair with the creature and sent the pair back down onto the floor.
A green horse reared up and proceeded to dance trampling hooves all over the green creature's body, neighing and whinnying as the equine did so. When tentacles tried to capture the horse, another shift had Beast Boy disappearing once more. As it picked itself up, the monster searched for its attacker to no avail, but soon found the shapeshifter anyway when an elephant landed on top of it.
The echoing boom caused Raven to wince. More booms followed as an elephant trunk wrapped around the monster's torso, picked it up and then slammed it down repeatedly against the floor. After the tenth slam, the creature was tossed up and allowed to fall back down where the trunk was used as a bat to hit it back to the far wall once more.
The green pachyderm shrank back to a homo sapien, one that glared after the battered creature while his shoulders heaved up and down with each breath he took. The red and white fabric of the sleeveless jumpsuit seemed to stretch along his body, and the visible muscle bulged from exertion. Posture was slightly bent, arms and legs spread out from the torso with readiness to move in a split second.
"That all you got?" Beast Boy panted. "I'm right here. Come on."
With shaky, clawed hands, the green monster pushed itself up. The red glow of its eyes flickered, and the tentacles that grew from its back wavered. It all stilled, and then the monster lunged in attack. It was moving fast, honing in on the shapeshifter's location, and long claws swiped out to slash at the green teen.
Said teen vanished from sight, obviously becoming something small and thus easily missed. Beast Boy reappeared several feet away, still breathing deeply but watching the monster's every move. Spotting its prey, the monster lashed out again, missed, had to reorient, then attack again only to miss once more. It began snarling in frustration with each and every miss until Beast Boy simply did not reappear again. The monster whipped its head about, trying to find the shapeshifter and failing to do so.
Wait, there were two protrusions that were sticking out alongside its head and tipped with pincers. On either side of the head's mouth, the pincers dug in and pulled, getting a shriek of surprise from the monster. The tentacles targeted the crab that hid behind the creature's head, but once more Beast Boy slipped away only to reappear a few feet above the monster in the form of a gorilla.
Landing in front of the nightmare made flesh, two leathering fists simultaneously slammed down onto the monster's shoulders. The fists uncurled and hands grasped either side of the beast's head, then the primate head headbutted the unnatural creature's. Back went the gorilla head until it threw itself forward once more. Skull bashed against skull, and bone could only take so much punishment.
Pulling leathery hands back, the primate Beast Boy punched a fist at the monster he had been overwhelming, but having the upperhand could only past so long. The nightmarish beast turned its body then counterstruck by biting down on the large gorilla fist that had almost hit it. Beast Boy gave a primal snarl, then threw his other fist only for that one to be caught on one of the mouths that decorated the creature's torso.
The shapeshift struggled, trying to get free. The monster's tentacles acted to prevent that, wrapping around anything they could grab, primarily the arms and the upper body with one tentacle latching onto the thick gorilla neck. Beast Boy's struggles were slowing, and Raven continued to watch.
Why hadn't she done anything yet? Why was she still sitting there?
In answer, her eyes lit up, black glowing from her optical organs. Around the tentacles, her power encased them and attempted to pull them off her green teammate. To her frustration, the tentacles did not move, not even when she concentrated harder. This wasn't making any sense!
Abruptly, Beast Boy turned his head, stretched open his mouth, then bit down on the tentacle that was gripping his neck. Teeth dug into the flesh ungently, and the shapeshifter gave jerks of his head while the monster shrieked in pain. The jaw exerted greater and greater pressure; bone could take some damage, but flesh and tissue did not have the same endurance.
The tentacle ripped and Beast Boy spat out the portion that remained in his mouth. Snarling, he gave heft of his arms to raise the monster up and over his head then slammed it down onto the floor. When the creature's mouths did not open, Beast Boy repeated the maneuver, pulling the monster up then slamming back down again, and again, and again.
After the last slam, the gorilla-shaped shapeshifter raised up a foot then deliberately shoved it down an unoccupied mouth. Raven thought that was incredibly stupid, but then she heard the choking. That discomfort distracted the monster enough that Beast Boy was able to rip out one of his captured hands, specifically the one that had been caught by one of the torso mouths. Sharp teeth were flung about, scattering on the floor while blood trickled from the scratches and gashes left behind.
Morbidly, Raven noted that the blood was red. For some reason, she had thought Beast Boy's blood would have been green too.
Due to the arm the injured hand was attached to still restricted by a tentacle, the freed hand did not go far. However, it didn't seem like Beast Boy was put off by that. Instead, he thrusted the hand towards the singular head mouth that still bit down on his other hand, fat gorilla fingers wedging their way in.
Even with the green fur, the empath could see the primate muscles bulge and strain, but their efforts were rewarded as the monster's jaw was dislocated then nearly ripped off. Now both of Beast Boy's hands were free.
There was gurgling from the creature, a sound that was cut off but the meaty punch that followed, then another, and another. Something was breaking, crunching, and then the monster's body fell still. Beast Boy didn't seem to care as he continue bashing a head that no longer resembled a head, and would have continued had a certain pink-colored monster not tackled him off the now still green one.
Broken from her stupor yet again, Raven unleashed a wall of her power but found her frustration only grew as her attack slid around the latest arrival. Beast Boy was at a disadvantage now, grappling with a creature that was at full strength while he wasn't. Damn it, there had to be something she could do! Something! Anything!
But the pink monster with his bulging upper body was not going to be denied as it began to drag Beast Boy with it.
At least, that was until a red rope lassoed around its thick neck and tightened insanely. There was a shriek of pain from the pink-colored creature, its hands going to the rope that immediately burned it. A gold, armored fist punched out of the flat face and instantly all its struggles ended.
The body was tossed aside and once obstructed from sight, there now stood an armored Wonder Girl who was barely recognizable. Never before had she seen the blonde covered from head to toe and spikes, spikes, and more spikes stabbing out from the smooth, golden surface. Walking around her, Red Robin came into view as he surveyed the two surviving Titans.
At this, Beast Boy resumed his human form, panting heavily but looking relieved. Grateful even. The masked teen's eyes then found their way to the empath where they practically burned into her. He was standing there, body straight, shoulders squared, and when he spoke, it was with the authority and irritation of a leader.
"Anybody want to tell us what the hell has been going on?"
Red Robin got the gist of it. The team had done a movie night, nothing out of the ordinary there. After the movie was over, they had been attacked and picked off by a group of monsters from which they still had no idea how they got into the Tower. As the night wore on, the team experienced their own horror movie until it was just Raven and Beast Boy left.
That begged the question of how they were going to end this night. There were five missing, four Titans and Miguel Barrago. Where had they been taken? Based on the accounts he was able to get from the two surviving Titans, there was at least one more, maybe two if there was something lurking in the elevator. If they were going to bring this to an end, they were going to find where these monsters were secreting off their friends.
Cyborg had allegedly been having problems doing that himself, but now he was one of the missing. But that didn't mean they were out of options. Sometimes the nose of a dog was far more reliable, and they were in the garage where Cyborg had holed himself up in while he was building the T-car.
First, they had to take care of Beast Boy's injuries. His hands and lower arms were all cut up. The skin-tight, fingerless gloves he wore—miraculously not torn up themselves—were acting like bandages themselves, but the whites were showing off how soaked in blood they were becoming.
Raven settled that matter, placing her hands over Beast Boy's, a black light glowing from between them. He had no idea that Raven knew how to heal, though she claimed she was "eating the pain away." What really mattered was that the green teen was back into fighting shape, and so was able to become a hound dog with its sensitive nose.
Maybe cameras were having a hard time tracking these things, but they could not hide a scent trail.
They were led up several floors, which meant muscles were starting to burn from the climb up. Thankfully, they didn't have to go to the top floor, but the floor they did exit at clued the masked teen where they might be heading.
His suspicions were soon confirmed when they arrived at one of the training rooms. It wasn't the one that Starfire used, but it was spacious like that one. For the most part, the rest of them tended to use this one, primarily Cyborg for target practice and Raven for…her own private training. She never quite took to "physical education."
"Everyone get ready. We don't know what's behind these doors. Don't get caught up with what we see, go into action. First priority is to fight off and put down anything in there that's going to fight back. The second is to find what they're doing to the others. Find them, top priority is to rescue them. Any questions?" His tone of voice offered no room for argument despite what the last two words he spoke were.
"This is kinda like that scene, from Wicked Scary," Beast Boy muttered, back in human form once he had followed Cyborg's scent here.
"Wait, was that what you were watching?" Oddly enough, that question had come from Wonder Girl who was facing the green-colored boy. "Isn't that movie suppose to be cursed?"
"That's why I wanted to watch it! No one else said no! …well, except for Raven but she says no to a lot of stuff and this was Miguel's first movie night so we figured everyone should be there for it," the shapeshifter explained.
"And you sons of bitches didn't invite me?" the armored blonde demanded.
"You had plans with Red! I think they were important. I think we still have the movie downloaded. We can watch it again…maybe next year," Beast Boy protested.
"Until then, let's break whatever curse brought these monsters into the Tower," Red Robin interrupted. After taking a step towards the doors, which didn't open, indicating that the door's sensor wasn't working, he reached over to a panel next to the training room's entrance and found it was operational. Inputting the code, the doors slid open, and as soon as they were wide enough to let one person slip through, he said, "Let's go."
He led the charge, running in, several birdarangs in hand. All were of the explosive type because the plan was to hit and to hit hard.
The training room had undergone quite the transformation. There was a mass—the best word he could use to describe it—that had a lot of mouths with a lot of teeth and it was surrounded by all sorts of nightmarish monsters whose attention was now on them. Big, small, all were malformed, multicolored, and snarling in their general direction.
It was a sight to inspire the most empathetic of "nopes" and plead the case to run with their tails between their legs. But over there, attached to the walls were what looked like some kind of sacs. They could have been mistaken for a macabre decoration, but a group of what looked like a splice between spiders and ticks were currently sealing Cyborg into one of them. A foot here, a hand there, and his face were all that remained free, but that wouldn't be lasting long.
Hit and hit hard. Let's do this.
He flung out an arm, throwing the whole handful of birdarangs out. They flew, spinning as they sliced through the air until they struck several targets, at least three of them hitting that blob with countless mouths. A roar-like snarl thundered as the birdarangs detonated, and much of the attention of the host of monsters was now directed in his direction.
They came, swarming in his direction. Red Robin waited, body tensing until the last second when he activated the rockets in his boots and launched himself into the air. Beneath him, an armored Wonder Girl charged head on into the greater numbers, but she bowled through the ranks easily. Many were knocked off their feet and sent sprawling onto the floor.
Beast Boy came in as clean up, going large, going elephant, and stomping harshly on anything that couldn't get up in time. The green pachyderm whipped the large head from side to side, slashing with the tusks and flinging the trunk like a whip. The shapeshifter's rampage blocked off sight of Raven, though the masked teen above could see her. He noticed how the hood and cloaked girl hovered in the air, her cloak flapping as bolts of black power raced ahead of her and hit quite a few of the creatures.
Curiously, they didn't seem to be affected whatsoever, getting back onto their feet and chasing after the other two Titans. Flinging out his arms, his cape hardened and Red Robin went into a glide, angling himself downward at the monsters' rears. Holding his arm ahead of him, he used the edges of his cape to slice into the sides of any monster in front of him, the tips of the cape stabbing into one that was dead ahead.
The masked teen heard the expected sounds: cries of pain, shrieks of anger, snarls of seething rage. You know what he didn't see that he was fully expecting to? Blood. There was no blood. None anywhere. Not even on his cape.
His arms stretched out to his sides and he gained some lift, rising above even the mass at the far end of the training room. He watched as Wonder Girl combined fist and glaring red lasso to decimate anything that got too close to her. The way she was moving, she was perhaps fighting at her best right now. No wasted movement, everything was hitting whether it was a fist, or a booted foot, or the spikes on her gauntlets ripping apart anything that got in their way. The lasso burned any monster that touched it and some were starting to pull back.
Those retreating ending up in Beast Boy's warpath, and crushing added to the options there. But no blood could be seen though. It was a detail he kept noticing.
His eyes drew over to where he suspected the others were being held, the last bits of Cyborg almost covered up. To Raven, he called down, "Those pods on the wall! The others are in them! Get them out!"
Raven looked up at him and only the nodding of her head could be seen. The empath took off, flying above the carnage.
Red Robin had to turn his attention away for a second, his eyes widening as he gave a second boost from his boots, nearly avoiding the large mouth that tried to take a piece out of him. The large mass, covered with mouths, couldn't quite stretch but it tried. He was maybe its next meal, but not right this second.
Slipping a hand to his belt, he dropped several pellets. They fell into one of the toothy maws and gave short, explosive bursts and caused so much smoke to flow out of it. The mass jerked then tried to lunge unsuccessfully again, its own weight preventing it from moving out of its stationary position.
But it had a few other tricks up its sleeve, and those were tongues. Lots and lots of tongues. So many spilled out and stretched after him. Clenching his jaw, the teen vigilante bided his time, and when those wet appendages were close enough, he slashed with his cape, severing quite a few of them.
His arms were working double time, back and forth, left and right, cutting off whatever got too close while gravity reasserted itself over him and he began to drop. This meant heading for a mass of tongues that were rising up towards him like slithery, heat-seeking missiles. He gave a twist of his body, arms out, and glided away though not unmolested.
The tips of several tongues licked at him, some even touching him, and while it was against his will, he fired the third and final burst from his boots, burning any that were too close. The flight path curved and he rose up higher, nearly reaching the ceiling.
Elbows bent, he threw up the tips of his hardened cape and impaled them into the ceiling, his body jostling as it came to an abrupt stop. Both hands went to his belt, opening a few of the pockets and withdrew their contents. One of the items could be described as a grenade, and another was putty that he covered it with. Add in a makeshift fuse with an igniter, and he was done.
His impromptu arts and crafts project finished, Red Robin threw it downwards even as the tongues were closing in. He brought his hands up to their grips on his cape, threw up his legs so that his boots were planting themselves on the ceiling, then pushed with all his might until his cape was pulled out.
He flipped and began gliding just as the grenade covered in C4 putty entered one of the mouths and seconds later a boom tore out of the blobby thing below him. Flames ejected from several mouths, and a whinny keen escaped from it. But it wasn't over, because not all of the tongues gave up their chase.
Hopefully that had bought Raven some time.
Cyborg's was the first one she arrived at. His face was all that remained uncovered by the fleshy substance that was imprisoning him, and even then only a portion of his human face was exposed.
Raven took in the sight and set about getting to work. The others would hopefully keep the fighting away from her. She needed to concentrate, focus, block out all the mayhem, and tear these bindings off her oldest friend.
She could feel her power, how it welled up within her, glowing from her eyes and as she reached out and took hold of the strange substance before her. It seemed into it and with her effort of will, she commanded her power to tear open the pod and liberate Cyborg.
Her black-colored power tore out of the fleshy husk and accomplished absolutely nothing. It remained there without any damage, continuing to hold an unresponsive cyborg. This, this didn't make any sense! What was happening? Why weren't her powers working?
Clenching teeth together, she summoned more of her strength, its dark might so very tempting and inviting—but no. Through her lips, she chanted "Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" and surged her power forth into this obstacle, determined to obliterate it.
It soaked into the flesh, grasped at unknown material, weaved into it, then pulled. Out her power emerged and once again the pod remained intact.
What…? This… What was happening…?
Distantly she heard the snarls, the grunts, the blaring of an elephant, and the muted booming of an explosion, but all of her attention was at her hands. It was a response that really held no meaning since hands weren't necessary to utilize her powers, but the act implied some sort of control that was figuratively slipping through her fingers.
She didn't understand. She did not understand what was happening. Throughout the whole night, it was as if nothing she did amounted to anything. But her powers did work. They did! She had used them on Beast Boy and there was no problem. Everything else, she might as well have done nothing. She felt nothing wrong, everything worked as they normally did, her body channeled properly, and even the focusing chant she uttered…this made no sense at all!
Her hands gave no answer to this conundrum. Nevertheless she peered at her palms as if to bore through skin and see if the solution was hidden in the bone beneath, or rather yet the channels that coursed through them and the rest of her body. Answers continued to elude her while the din of violence faded from her hearing.
Raven needed to understand. She needed to know. Why was this happening, why was it happening now, and why could she not divine the answer?
She didn't hear the landing, the footsteps either, but she felt the hand on her shoulder and the pull it initiated, turning her away from the plight of Cyborg and the others. Raven's eyes lifted up and away from her hands and found the masked eyes of Red Robin. He looked stressed, or perhaps the exertion of tonight was causing physical exhaustion. Regardless, he appeared to be about to say something, but there was a pause and then it felt like he was studying her.
"What's wrong?" the team leader asked calmly, too calmly for the current circumstances.
Pushing it all aside, her confusion and distress and now the irritation, she answered, "I have it under control. Go help the others,"
He did not need to know—
"Raven." The tone of his voice offered no room for protest and it stopped her from pulling away. The white lens of the domino mask seemed to penetrate through her defenses, leaving her helpless against the will behind them. A once strong voice softened when it spoke again, "I come from a place with killer clowns, literal two-faced lawyers, and Manbats. I have seen a lot, more than you know. You know what one of those are? I've seen people poisoned with a hallucinogenic fear toxin. I know what people look like when they're afraid."
This again? First the shapeshifting broccoli stalk and now the weak would-be leader? Oh that was rich. Who the hell did he think he was?
Before Raven could retort, the hand on her shoulder tightened and gave a little shake. "Don't deny it. I know the signs and they're painted all over your face," Red Robin unknowingly cut in and stopped her response dead in its tracks. "Now's not the time to go into denial. You're scared and I think it's affecting your powers. Calm yourself down and do what you have to to focus yourself. Our friends need you right now and there is only so long—"
Red Robin stopped long enough to whip his upper body to the side, one arm extended out as it threw a birdarang at an approaching beast. The following explosion knocked the creature off of its feet and away from the two Titans.
Without missing a beat, "I'm running low on those. We're all getting tired. We need you, Raven. So do what you need to do, calm down, then give it your all."
The powerless human pulled away, his hands gripping the edge of his cape, hardened by an electrical current, and turned to do battle. He practically leapt into the fray, vanishing into the horde itself.
Raven stood there, watching. She could see where many of the monsters swarmed around Wonder Girl with her blazing red—red?—lasso, an arm extended upwards from an uppercut she had just landed on one creature. Further away, Beast Boy stampeded about through monstrous passengers clung to his green body. There seemed to be no end; for every one that fell, another two took their place and there was no sign of any source that they came from.
Like these fiends came out of thin air.
Her eyes shut and she began to steady her breathing while realizing how fast and shallow her breaths had actually been. She could feel the stress throughout her body and the nervous energy that continued to keep her on her feet, unsure whether to fight, to escape, or to freeze up.
Hands balled into fists and trembled from the tension placed on them. Another, much deeper breath was taken, and with the exhale did her hands uncurl. Another breath in, then out, in and out once more, each one steadying her strained nerves.
Shoulders lowered, the jaw loosened, and eyelids remained sealed shut. Her lips began to move repetitively, following the motions of a chant with three primary words that were always spoken in the same order. The silent words were made with speed, but as seconds ticked by, the motor movements began to slow as well.
Awareness began to expand, and she could truly feel where the others were. The three fighting were the easiest to identify, and that was then followed by those held captive. The captured were quiet, much too quiet. There was something missing, though, and those were the minds of the myriad of monsters that had invaded. She sensed nothing from them, nothing at all.
Another breath and with the exhale did her powers flow out from within. This wasn't an attack, far from it. It was more an expansion of her awareness, one to cover the massive chamber and seek out answers, answers that were right in front of her but not truly comprehended. It was easy to separate the fighting Titans and the unconscious ones as well; their very essences were foreign to her own. Not the monsters, they all seemed to blend in.
It made no sense, but she was on the verge of epiphany. Begin from the start: they appeared from nowhere, no signs or alerts of entry, they could—no, did—enter locked and secured rooms, they were affected by physical blows and the powers of her teammates, but not her powers, and no matter what damage was done to them there were little signs of injury such as bleeding. What did it all mean? Add in the details that their presence, and essence, blended with her own power…
None of it made sense for a living creature. All living creatures had life, a lifeforce, and essence. Sometimes any of those three could be tapped into and it took the form of either a skill, an ability, or supernatural power. None of that was detected in these monsters, so, perhaps, could it mean…?
Were these creatures not living things?
It was an idea, one she ran with and…now she understood.
Constructs. That's what they were. Animated constructs created from the mind alone. But whose mind? Who could possibly…?
Oh. Now she detected it. With a refined search, she saw what had given these constructs "life" and the energy that maintained them. That energy, it was the same as…hers. It was her energy. As much as she wanted to inquire further, that could wait. First and foremost, this night had to end.
Around her body, her cloak began fluttering then waving about. Her eyes opened, alit with glowing black energy. She let it flow from her, encompass her, and allowed it to surge about. This very act stilled all of the nightmarish constructs, no movements, noises, or actions committed to anymore. From below her feet, shadow stretched out, combing over the floor and slipping under countless clawed feet and serpentine lower bodies. As soon as shadow touched any of the constructs, it had the effect of blackening the creatures. Any recognizable features like scales, snouts, teeth, musculature, all of it lost their definition and variability until all were similar to black silhouettes.
The pods met a similar fate as well, her power seeping into the very fabric of the fleshy tissue. She was beginning to understand now why none of her attacks had been effective. When you reduced it to the fundamentals, she was fighting her own power and how would using more of it destroy it? There was only one course of action to take.
A simple thought was all it took and everything enshrouded in black returned to her, swarmed about her until it was all reabsorbed. It must have been quite the sight from outside, but from within there wasn't much to describe.
In seconds, it was all over.
The three surviving Titans remained where they had stopped, watching it all. The first to truly move was Beast Boy who rushed past her and to the now freed Titans, all of whom were collapsed onto the floor since none were supported by their pods anymore. Terra was who the shapeshifter sought out first and he began to check for her vitals, all the while calling out her name.
Unsurprisingly, it was Kid Flash who regained consciousness as he pushed his upper body up with one arm and rubbed at his head with his other hand. With a groan, "What did I miss?"
Another Titan passed by her, Wonder Girl this time who began checking over the others. Cyborg was stirring, Starfire was beginning to groan softly herself, and Miguel remained to be seen. Raven, though, paid little mind as she calmed everything within.
Everything that she had just absorbed was roiling within and it was taking effort to soothe it. She had to, otherwise there was a risk it would flood out and resume its conquest of the Tower. So this meant more silent chants and deep breathing to establish the state of calm that was needed.
As if to further prove that her abilities were still functional, she sensed the approach of the last Titan, the team leader, and the only one who hadn't moved to look over their rescued teammates yet. Opening up eyes she hadn't realized she had closed again, Raven peered up to the blank, stoic face that was directed to her by none other than Red Robin.
Normally she could read him like a book. She could read them all like they were books, whether they were stimulating chapter books like Cyborg or children's picture books like Kid Flash. Right now, she could not make heads or tails of what was going through his head, and the emotions she could pick up on were not being broadcasted to her.
When Red Robin did speak, it was to give voice to four words, ones that were perhaps more terrifying than any small army of nightmarish abominations could ever be.
"We need to talk."
Author's Note: Ah yes, the catch phrase of a certain detective in Gotham. Whenever those words are uttered, it's never good for the receiver. These last few chapters were inspired by an episode of the 2003 Teen Titans animated series. Specifically, it is an episode called "Fear Itself." Naturally, some liberties were taken, some elements of the Lovecraftian variety spliced in, and we have our team of heroes in a horror story. Hopefully it was enjoyable, but don't think we're near the end yet. Still plenty of chapters left.
