Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans 2003 this is a work of fan fiction please support the official releases.
Authors notes:
I wasn't sure I'd get this done in time but the last story took forever, apologies. Thank you, loose schedule. This is also a much shorter story... thankfully...
Anyway this is my belated Halloween style story. I did want to do something like this last year but didn't have the chance. Anyway, it's here now and this story takes inspiration from a particular episode of Transformers Animated so look out for that if you've seen that show. Again, take the leaps in science with a grain of salt.
I also wanted to do pairings I haven't really explored yet so certain characters will take a step back this time.
So, this is the last of the real 'filler' Stories' next time I finally get to tackle the stories I've been wanting to write since I started this Revival. Regardless I hope someone enjoys!
Ok here we go...
Plan Z from out of Jump City
"What do you mean it's cancelled?"
"Umm, they stopped making it, Rae?" Garfield replied clearly not grasping the core of his demon girlfriend's frustration. The atmosphere in the T-car was tense to say the least as the others could feel the awkwardness between the two. The weather didn't exactly help either with the lighting storm bringing the mood down as they made their way along the highway on Halloween night.
"I know what cancelling means, Garfield. What I mean is why didn't you tell me it was?" Raven growled.
Garfield gulped. "Umm I didn't think it was important?" He held his hands up with a nervous smile. Raven griped the bridge of her brow and sighed.
"So let me get this straight, Garfield because I'm so annoyed I need to process this properly. You get me into this dumb...?"
"It's not dumb, Rae" Garfield cut in.
"NO! It is... as I was saying you get me into this DUMB show and I have to put up with three seasons of it and you neglected to mention at any point that it doesn't have an ending?" Raven finished looking straight at him. Garfield's ears dropped and the sight of her intense stare.
"But... you think it's dumb so why are you mad?" Garfield argued.
"Because I'm invested now and NOW It's going to be on my mind for days when I didn't want it to be Garfield. That's why I'm 'mad'"
"...Sorry..." Garfield visibly shrank in the seat between Starfire and Raven. The Empath sighed again and crossed her arms turning to face the passenger window dripping with heavy rain. It's not like the sight was any better, she just didn't want to look at him right now.
In the front seats Nightwing and Cyborg observed the little moment through the rear-view mirror. Cyborg new this wasn't an argument worth worrying about to him it was just amusing.
"Hey remember when those two would argue over important things? Now look at them" Cyborg said lightly. Nightwing looked perturbed by his comment.
"Um they always used to argue over silly things like this, now they just do it as a couple?" Nightwing remarked. Cyborg thought to himself for a moment and then realised yes, Dick did have a point.
Starfire was feeling empathetic towards her green friend. She always liked Garfield even despite some annoyances and was one of the few people that enjoyed him for who he was. Here though the Tamaranean was desperate to break the tension.
"Ohh I am the most joyous friends. We have not seen our teammates to the East for what seems forever ... Eek!" Starfire said gleefully as a flash of lighting bolted her out of her seat with loud bang. The alien gripped Garfield in fright as he was the closest one to her which caused a blush embarrassment on him which Raven quietly observed out of the corner of her eye. Still, she was too mad to protest the little moment. Besides she already knew how he felt the benefits of an Empath were sometimes helpful in raining on one's own jealousy.
"Frankly we're lucky to be invited... eh, Gar?" Cyborg looked back at him through the rear-view mirror with a disapproving raised eyebrow. Garfield shrank again.
"I thought It said 1000ml...?" He murmured quietly. Raven rolled her eyes so much they almost made a sound.
"Maybe if you think before you do something so childish we wouldn't be here driving to Steel City in 'this'?" Raven pointed out the storm as she deadpanned the reminder of Garfield's antics.
"I said I was sorry" Garfield defended weakly.
Raven wanted to continue the argument but decided not to make the night anymore tense, with a heavy sigh she turned away and faced towards the car window, where she stayed for the rest of the journey.
Nightwing listened to Raven's words and felt an odd sensation of Deja Vu. The night Cyborg had referred to occurred last year back at their own Tower. It had been there second real Halloween party and Garfield being Garfield had opted to pull a prank on Cyborg who had dyed his hair orange before the party. To get his own back Garfield had planned a specific prank that was only meant to be used on Cyborg, though as far as he had come over the years Garfield was still not above lacking a little common sense from time to time. The bottle he had ordered to cause a foam explosion on Cyborg was too large and the resulted prank ended up covering the whole living room area full of Titans party guests. They were not pleased. This was early into his and Raven's relationship and she did not appreciate the multiple showers she needed afterwards.
After much grovelling the Titans managed to convince the Titans east to allow another party this year, the agreement was that instead they host. To prevent any future mishaps like that again. Garfield was already feeling apprehensive towards the evening after the previous year. He was a simple young man that liked to have fun, though even he was feel anxious and the judgmental faces likely awaiting him at the East Tower.
Even Raven, the person he loved more than anyone in his life was likely not going to give him the time of day tonight. Frankly he was surprised she had agreed to the whole thing given last new year's party though surprisingly she did, on the condition she not wear a costume. Garfield was happy to oblige this and not wanting to make her feel pressured omitted his own costume, besides in his words he could just make one up using his powers if need be. Starfire had become obsessed recently with television documentaries on Earth space travel despite being from another planet herself which the others just found cute. Her costume was a simple astronaut's uniform. Nightwing had been admittedly a little lazy with his costume and had just put on one of his old Robin costumes which to him now counted as a costumed. Cyborg had his rings so he had a lot more freedom, though surprisingly instead of choosing something like a Frankenstein he had gone for the look of a ghoulish football player, a throwback to his days before the accident.
The Titans East Tower came into view through the storm, a bolt of sharp lighting illuminated the tower with a bright flash. The T-Car pulled up towards the towers garage escaping the rain. The five assumed most of the other Titans had already arrived.
The Titans could hear the loud thumping of music blaring throughout the tower as they made their way inside. Raven could feel Garfield's nervousness, though her own was taking centre stage. She was counting down until the night was over.
The sight of strobe lights and dancing filled the original Titans eyes as they entered the main hall. A good fifty or more Titans were visible all in various costumes making it hard to distinguish each of them. Having spotted the five of them, The Titans East leader; Bumblebee flew over towards them.
"Bout time you guys got here!?" Karen remarked with open arms. The young woman was dressed in a boxy almost robotic outfit. Recently a robot character named "Honeybee" had become big, which created much teasing for Bumblebee that she should change her name to ride the popularity. It seemed this year she had gone along with the joke. She listed off each Titan as she greeted them.
"Sparky, always good to see you. Loving the costume Star. You might be a little old for yours Nightwing…oh Raven it's great you could be here!" As she turned towards the green Titan her face flattened "…Garfield…" She sighed.
"Hehe… hey Karen" Garfield replied sheepishly, Karen had her arms crossed with a look not too dissimilar to Raven when she was mad at him.
"I hope we can expect no shenanigans tonight, hmm?"
"Best behaviour" Garfield promised.
"Alright, well make your selves at home guys, foods over there just watch the punch, Speedy went a bit overboard with the sugar" Karen said. Garfield looked around and couldn't make sight of Aqualad amongst the crowd.
"Hey where's Garth? Can't place him?" Garfield asked.
"Oh, he's not been well since he last came back from Atlantis, some kind of infection or something he's in his room I don't think we'll see him tonight" Karen explained.
As the five original Titans made their way into the crowded party a group of girls came up to greet them.
"Oh Star, Raven, Bee! Come over here?!" The group consisted of Argent, Kole and Jinx who were all gathered at a small table with a collection of drinks. Karen smiled.
"Well guys?" She asked them. Starfire giddily floated over towards them whilst Raven gave a quick glance towards Garfield.
"Sounds great…" She deadpanned and walked over towards the table to join the others. Garfield's ears dropped and he let out a defeated sigh.
"Aww man, I hate being in the dog house" He whined. Nightwing placed a hand over his shoulder in support.
"Don't worry bud, you'll bounce back trust me" Cyborg came over and nudged the two of them.
"That snack bar looks pretty good and since Garth's not hear ya got no competition for the veggie stuff besides Raven" He pointed out, Garfield perked up a little.
"I want two tofu pizzas…" He said softly.
Cyborg smiled back at him. "Whatever you want buddy…"
The night was progressing nicely, the vibe was more chilled than excited, not really spooky either. The group of girls had been chatting for a little while about all sorts of things now they were getting on towards relationships.
"So, Star? How's things with tall, dark and broodishly handsome" Argent joked.
"My Nightwing?" Star asked confused.
"No… Cyborg" Jinx snarked, causing the others to giggle slightly except for Raven who was sipping on the straw of her drink casually.
"Oh, it is most delightful, My Nightwing is the best person I know, he makes me so happy" Starfire beamed.
"Ughh this sentimentality is gunna make me puke…" Jinx snarked.
"Oh, come on Jinx it's not like you don't see any of that?" Kole argued.
"Yeah, where is Wally by the way?" Bumblebee asked.
"Oh, hang on" The former hive cleared her throat. "WALLY!?" Within what seemed like a fraction of a second a young man dressed as a road runner materialized with a light gust of wind next to the table.
"Yes, dear?" He smiled cheekily. Jinx held up her empty cup.
"Would you mind?" A quick flash happened and a second gust of wind perked up as Jinx's empty cup was now replaced by a full one.
"Thank you, Wally dear" Jinx gave the speedster a light smooch, in a second, he disappeared again with a gust of wind. Jinx looked back over towards Bumblebee.
"As you can see, he's around"
The others simply shook their heads and laughed.
"So, Raven?" Jinx turned to the Empath standing quietly amongst the group.
"That's my name…" She deadpanned.
"How's Gar?" She asked with a slick looking smile. Raven didn't answer straight way, instead she took a long slurp from her straw looking straight at the witch in front of her.
"He's fine" She answered after a little gasp.
"No, no, no, Rae. Details. Please?" Jinx said, Raven looked a little annoyed.
"Why is my relationship of such interest?" the Empath argued.
"Well to be honest, none of us thought you'd be into someone like Gar?" Kole pointed out. For some reason this particular comment got to Raven in a way she hadn't expected.
"And why shouldn't I be into someone like Garfield?" She said crossing her arms.
"Oooh, she used his full name, she must be mad at him" Argent whispered towards Bumblebee.
"I may be mad at him but that hasn't changed how I feel about him" She argued. Jinx leaned over towards Kole.
"Follow my lead" She whispered into the diamond Titans ear.
"Well, he can't be that great, I mean he seems very immature…" Jinx started
"… Yeah, and he's always telling those ridiculous jokes…" Kole carried on
"… And those stupid pranks…" Bumblebee added.
Raven had reached her boiling point with these comments and was about to blow. Starfire could see it clearly.
"How dare you!? Garfield may be a little... childish but he's the most selfless, caring and kind person in the world. He makes everyday worth living for and I… I happen to think he is hilarious!" Raven finished loudly. The other girls stared at her and collectively after a few seconds blurted out in unison.
"Awwwwww…"
Raven's face turned a bright red as she pulled up her hood and crossed her arms to try and hide her embarrassment. Starfire smiled knowing how much she cared for him.
Over at the food stand, Cyborg was getting frustrated with the poor selection of food choices. Garfield was still feeling down about the whole night and hadn't really touched any of his food, only taking multiple sips of the punch. Nightwing however was busy arguing with Speedy over who had the 'lamest' costume as the Titans east archer had arrived in a Green Arrow outfit.
"I mean I'm at least wearing a costume I wore; you are just… I don't know what you're doing to be honest?" Nightwing argued.
"You're lucky this is a party bird boy, otherwise I'd be to throw down here and now" Speedy growled. Nightwing scoffed.
"Remember how it that went last time?" Nightwing smirked reminding him of the incident with the Master of Games. Speedy's head visibly twitched as the two masked heroes growled at each other. Out of the crowd a familiar face slowly waddled over, Aqualad looking rather sickly arrived at the food table.
"Uh, Garth?" Nightwing asked looking at the very ill looking Atlantean in front of him.
"Hey…hey guys…" He croaked.
"Uh, you should probably go back to bed, you look like literal death" Speedy remarked.
"Wow, nice man" Nightwing commented on Speedy's words.
"What? Look at him…" Speedy argued raising his hands towards him.
"It's ok guys I feel…f…fine…" Aqualad groaned, looking like he could vomit at any moment. He kept scratching a particular spot on the back of his neck. Garfield got up and walked over to his friend.
"I think these guys are right dude, you should probably be resting up or something, hey maybe Raven could take a look at you?" the Changeling offered.
"No, guys don't worry, I'm good… I'm good"
"Well… if you say so, help yourself to some food I don't think BB touched any of the vegetarian stuff?" Cyborg remarked at the back of the table.
"Hey I'm just… I don't know" Changeling gripped his head in frustration. "Where's the bathroom by the way?" he asked.
"Closest one should still be the one I installed last time I was here through into the hangar bay" Cyborg pointed over towards a pair of double doors near the side wall. Changeling wandered over towards the door out of sight. Subtly Cyborg pressed his ear after seeing him walk through the doors.
"Sparky here, the 'goose' has entered the pen, over"
"Roger that" A voice replied on the other end of the line. Cyborg then quietly snuck away out of sight.
Starfire floated over towards the group looking rather uncomfortable. She was darting her head around looking for something.
"Oh, boyfriend Nightwing where is the room of rest?" Starfire whined.
"Umm, through those doors I think, love?" Nightwing pointed over to where Garfield had just entered. The Tamaranean was about to float over towards them but was halted by the sight of two small Titans. Más y Menos, the Spanish speaking twin speedsters of the Titans east. Más dressed in a devil outfit and Menos dressed in an angel outfit carrying him on his shoulder. Más was holding up a selection of chocolates and flowers for the beautiful Tamaranean. Menos looked visibly irritated at being left out on the bottom.
"Um, that is very nice but I really must…" Before Starfire could finish her sentence the two had already begun a little scrap on the floor much to the amusement of the other Titans. Starfire saw this as her chance to sneak away and simply floated overhead.
Speedy leaned over to the chuckling Nightwing.
"You really don't deserve her, man" he said lightly. That was it for Nightwing.
"Ok, Roy you wanna go?" Nightwing turned and barked.
"Oh, I want to go, Dick!"
"Let's go!" Nightwing untethered his cape and prepared to give Roy a friendly lesson in challenging him and his relationship. The two prepared for a friendly spar and the other Titans gathered around to watch.
Garfield looked at himself in the mirror and sighed. Truthfully, he would be happy to sneak away and return to the tower, something he thought Raven would probably want to do at some point in the evening. How she had affected him he thought to himself. Truthfully though the young green Titan was starting to outgrow these kinds of events. Something the other Titans were not oblivious to, they did wonder if this was Ravens doing, however Garfield knew that things for him were changing.
He slowly left the large, clearly much nicer bathroom in the hanger hall and kept his head down, before something blocked his way knocking him down to the floor. He looked up to see the image of Starfire in front of him.
"Oh, Star! I'm sorry I didn't see you there?!" Garfield yelled worriedly.
"It is ok, friend Garfield" Starfire offered her friend a hand to lift him off the ground. The changeling gripped it back and she effortlessly pulled him back up. She didn't need to be an Empath to sense he wasn't in the best place right now.
"Friend, Garfield? You have seemed... off all night?" Starfire asked. Garfield looked away from his teammate.
"I'm ok Star..." He said with a clearly fake smile. Starfire could see it obviously wasn't and placed a light hand on his shoulder.
"You do not seem like you are?" She said to him. Garfield looked up at her with his eyes starting to sting.
"I'm worried I'll lose her..." He murmured quietly. Starfire quickly grabbed him and pulled him in for a hug.
"Oh, Garfield you do not need to worry. I happen to know friend Raven thinks the world of you. I heard her say it myself" Starfire cradled her friend's head who then ruffled it up to look at her.
"Really?" Garfield said.
"Trust me, she loves you more than you know" Starfire reassured him. Garfield looked at ease upon hearing this. The two Titans stood in each other's arms whilst noises from the party could be heard across the hanger. The two were then drenched in a blanket of darkness as the lights in the massive hanger went dead.
The two of them looked around in the darkness, Starfire lit up her hands with a Starbolt. The hanger became illuminated with a bright lime green light. A loud crash echoed inside the room, spooking both of them. The two walked slowly towards the centre of the hangar to investigate the noise. Starfire was shaking a little, not sure what they would find. The sound of creaking and clanging bolts can be heard from every direction.
She screams.
Several Starbolts blasted towards a figure lurching in front of the Tamaranean.
"Starfire?! It's me, stop!" Cyborg yelled in the darkness.
"Cyborg?!" Changeling yelped in confusion.
"Yes it's me, Cyborg thank you very much" he snarked. Bumblebee appeared out of seemingly thin air having returned to normal size.
"I thought he was supposed to be alone?!" She questioned towards Cyborg.
"I thought he would be?!" Cyborg argued back. Garfield looked even more confused than he was a moment ago.
"Wait what's happening here?" He asked.
"Oh get a grip, Garfield. This was payback. Payback for last year. We were going to film us scaring the crap out of you, ok?" Bumblebee explained. Garfield looked dumbfounded at this information.
"Sparky here however didn't account for the laser shooting alien, did you?" She said placing her hands on her hips.
"What do you want from me woman? I can't prepare for every little variable?" Cyborg defended.
"Clearly" Karen snarked. Starfire looked annoyed at the two of them.
"How could you both think about pulling such a cruel prank on Garfield tonight?" She barked at them.
"Come on Starfire, he does this all the time I'm sure he would have found it funny in a day or two..." Bumblebee argued, the darkened hangar now filled with a scarlet red set of emergency lights flooding every direction.
"Oh now what?" Karen grumbled. The sound of massive shutters falling down over the Towers glass could be heard by the group of them. As the banging stopped and the hangar went quiet a voice relayed a message over the speaker system.
"Tower Lockdown complete"
Cyborg looked befuddled. "Lockdown? Computer why?"
"Possible contamination, quarantine procedure in effect" The computer replied.
"What?!" Cyborg yelled.
"You've gotta be kidding me..." Bumblebee groaned.
"Uhh guys? hello anyone there?" A familiar croaky voice relayed over the radio. Raven was looking over an exhausted Speedy and Nightwing looking battered over an intense spar.
"Yeah, Rae we're over here in the hangar" Cyborg replied over the line.
"Hang on one second. Ok I think you two have had enough, let's break it up..." Raven broke the two masked Titans apart with her powers. She returned back to her conversation.
"...Sorry, give me a moment and I'll be over" She finished.
"No, Raven wait! Were in quarantine!" Cyborg yelled over the line.
"What do you mean by 'quarantine'?" Raven queried.
"Hang on... Computer identity source of the contagion and identify" Cyborg ordered at the Tower.
"Source of Contagion is Titan 'Aqualad', identification of contamination is unknown" The computer relayed.
"Must be a bug or something?" Bumblebee said.
"Umm, did you see Aqualad earlier? I think the tower might be right ya know...?" Garfield commented.
"Raven, computer says the source is Aqualad but it doesn't know what's the cause. You should isolate him until we can figure this out in the lab or something" Cyborg suggested.
"Alright, things look a bit panicky in here, I'll try and see if we can't get a little bit of control on the situation... maybe you can help, Dick if you can still, see?" Raven snarked towards Nightwing who was chugging down as much water as he could get his hands on at the food table besides them.
"I can see fine thanks" Nightwing said.
"Not clearly enough to walk away from a pointless little scrap?" Raven deadpanned. Nightwing simply grumbled.
"We need to find, Garth he's sick and we could all be at risk..." She said.
"He's probably back there amongst this lot" Nightwing pointed towards the large crowd of Titans lit up by the red emergency lighting system. Nightwing then observed something strange happening towards the back of the main hall. Panicked screaming could be heard and he stood ready by Raven.
"Something's wrong..." Nightwing said nervously.
"Guys? Something's happening, we've gotta go..." Raven said over the communication line.
"Rae, wait?!" Garfield yelped.
"Gar?..."
"B...be... careful..." He whimpered quietly. Raven's eyes widened a little.
"I will, don't worry..." The sound of the line closing could be heard as Garfield sighed beside Starfire. The Tamaranean rubbed the Changeling's shoulder with reassurance.
"Alright, Bee... what exactly happened during Aqualad's trip to Atlantis?" Cyborg asked.
"How should I know? he went home and apparently; they went on a mission to some deep part of the ocean or something? He came back and he looked like that since then.
"Well why didn't the Tower pick it up before? Computer? can you identify the species of the infection, is it viral or bacterial?" Cyborg asked the Tower.
"Source of contamination is neither viral or bacterial" The computer replied.
"What? Then what is it?"
"Unknown, closest related species on record is the 'Sacculina Carcini' of the East Atlantic Sea" Cyborg looked very confused by that answer, Garfield too looked a little puzzled.
"What species is that?" Starfire leaned in towards Changeling.
"I...I think it's a barnacle?" Garfield replied. The others were surprised he knew that
"Ok, Raven? Raven! There's probably something wrong with the Towers systems I'm gunna try and see if I can't run a diagnostic sweep on the whole thing" Cyborg waited for a response to come through his ear but none did.
"Hello? Rae? Dick? Anyone?" Cyborg didn't get any answer back from anyone back over at the party.
"Maybe the signals jammed?" Karen cut in
"Signals fine. Hello? come on, come on... Hello?! Anybody?!" Still no reply came.
"...Raven..." Garfield ran over to the door leading back to the party, with his powers he gave himself stronger limbs and attempted to gain a grip on the thick steel doors opening.
"Star, something's not right, I need a hand" Garfield yelled back over towards them. Worried about Nightwing as well Starfire rushed over and tried to pry open the door as well.
"Wait?! Stop you guys this is a quarantine still we don't know what's back there?" Cyborg protested.
"They could be in trouble!" Garfield tried with Starfire to pull against the bulkhead doors. With a mighty pull the two swung the heavy doors back with a loud bang. In front of them now was simply the standard Tower door.
"Ok just this one..." Garfield was cut off by the sound of a loud bang coming from the other side of the doors, the noise made Starfire jump.
Then another bang and another and another.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! The two of them slowly backed away from the door as the noises grew louder.
"Um guys? What's happening?" Garfield asked nervously between the noises from the door. The shape of the door frame began to twist and bend as something strong looked like it was forcing its way through. Bumblebee started fluttering her wings and made herself airborne. For a moment the banging stopped and the four Titans looked at the door with nervous anxiety.
A great force knocked down the damaged doors finally smashing them across the ground as the Titan Wilde beast came through looking rabid and aggressive, within seconds a horde of Titans flooded inside the hangar, screaming and writhing like animals.
Starfire took to the sky to try and escape the coming swarm. Garfield swiftly shifted into a large Pterodactyl and swooped up Cyborg, Bumblebee followed and the group flew up out of reach as the mass of Titans filled the ground floor below them. Changeling placed Cyborg on a railing system above the hangar and the group looked down.
"Dude's what's going on?!" Garfield screamed looking down at the horde of his fellow Titans reaching and clawing at the air. No intelligence seemed to be behind their eyes.
"My Nightwing!" Starfire yelled having spotted Richard in the crowd besides Raven who was also clawing towards them from the ground.
"Rae...no..." Garfield had spotted Raven amongst the swarm and began filling up with anxiety and dread.
"They look like... Zombies?" Bumblebee remarked.
"Zombies?! Zombies?! There's no such thing?!" Garfield screamed grabbing his hair in frustration.
"Really, Gar? We've fought ghosts, alien robots, wizards, witches and all-powerful demons... and yet you draw the line at Zombies?" Cyborg listed off. "Hell, your girlfriend is the daughter of the ultimate 'evil', besides they aren't undead, this is likely an infection of some kind" He finished.
"Ok...fine... but look you can fix this right?" Garfield pleaded to him.
"I don't even know what this is?" Cyborg looked down trying to spot the source of the problem, Aqualad. He used his robotic eye to pinpoint the Atlantean. Once he had a visual, he noticed the strange protrusions on his face and body.
"Computer run a full hangar scan" Cyborg ordered.
"Scan initiated" A bright red strobing light appeared at one end of the hangar passing through the infected Titans below. "Scan completed"
"Ok bring it up" a hologram image of Aqualad sprouted out from Cyborg's arm in front of the group. The image zoomed in on the structures now on Aqualad.
"It is barnacles dudes... They're growing on him" Garfield said looking at the image.
"None that's ever been discovered, these things are weird...? They have traits similar to mushrooms too" Cyborg explained. Bumblebee looked back down.
"Is that how they spread so quick?" She asked.
"Potentially... It might also be why there affecting the brain chemistry too?"
"Then why are we ok?" Garfield asked
"They must spread through physical contact once mature…" Cyborg pondered.
"Yet they are not using any of our friends' powers?" Starfire observed.
"It probably wouldn't know how, right now out friends down there are just animals" Cyborg replied.
"But the important question is... can we cure them?" Karen asked nervously.
"That's the easy part" Cyborg smiled and pressed his arms a few times, Bumblebee's communicator beeped.
"These things may be new but their biology is the same as the ones we got here. I've sent you a formula for a solution that should cause them to fall off the host's body. You'll need to head up to the lab and mix it up" Cyborg explained.
"Alright, then what?" Karen asked.
"We need to get it to the distribution centre towards the back of the tower and have it dispersed through the sprinkler system, that should do the trick" Cyborg continued.
"Ok and how do we get it there when the towers locked down and these guys are running around?" Karen said pointing down towards the ground.
"You and BB will have to shrink down after you finish in the lab and head through the vents..." Cyborg replied. Bumblebee groaned.
"I had a fun feeling it would be something like that?"
"What will we do, Cyborg?" Starfire asked.
"We'll have to make our way to the distribution centre too I'll need to recalibrate it before we put the cure in. We'll have to go through the old-fashioned way..." Cyborg groaned. Starfire looked nervous at the prospect.
"But... but what if we become, infected by the barnacles?" Starfire stuttered.
"I'm hoping with my cybernetics and your alien DNA, we'll be unaffected. Still, we'll be careful and stick together alright?" Cyborg finished.
"I... I understand" The Tamaranean said.
"Ok people we know what we gotta do, let's make it count!" Cyborg shouted.
"Ok come on, Garfield let's get this done" Bumblebee shrank down and flew up to towards a ventilation shaft on the roof with Garfield quickly following behind in the form of a small fly, the two disappeared inside the vent. Leaving Starfire and Cyborg overlooking a horde of infected Titans. Cyborg walked over to the other side of the railing to gain sight of his goal.
"There!" Cyborg pointed to a set of doors away from the crowd of Titans below.
"That's the quickest way to the distribution centre, Star" Cyborg said, Starfire had a look of unease at first but quickly melted to one of determination.
"What is our plan?" She asked with confidence.
"We need to distract them; they can clearly still see us and track where we move. You're gunna have to fly down and draw them away but keep your distance in the air" Cyborg ordered.
Starfire nodded and flipped over the railing tumbling towards the horde below. stopping a few meters above them she flew over to the other side of the hangar, the swarm of infected Titans clambering over each other to follow her. Cyborg jumped over towards the doors on the other side of the room, using his tech he softened his landing so no one would notice him in the back. Quietly he began prying open the bulkheads.
Starfire watched in horror as the horde tried everything it could to reach her, Titans climbed over each other and tried using any footing they could to reach her. Starfire was getting nervous; in response she threw a light volley of Starbolts to disperse the group. This only made them more aggressive. As she flew up into a corner, the horde tried to claw its way up the wall.
Back over at the door Cyborg had successfully made his way through.
"Starfire, now!" Cyborg yelled. The Tamaranean gripped the wall and launched herself at full speed across the hangar, the infected below could barely keep sight of her and fell over each other trying to turn back around. Starfire rocketed through the doorframe.
"Quick help me pull these back!" Cyborg and Starfire grabbed a pair of the doors and the heavy baring's crawled back together. They could hear the sound of running approaching them rapidly. As the door slammed shit the familiar bangs could be heard on the other side.
"That won't hold them for long, c'mon this way quick!" Cyborg turned and Starfire followed making their way down a red lit hallway. The doors behind them shunting and writing from the horde behind it, the screams of the infected filled the whole tower.
Up in the lab Bumblebee and Garfield were making good progress, the formula was coming along nicely even with the distracting red lighting filling the laboratory. The room itself was rather typical looking, having all the equipment one could need for any emergency.
"I hope they're okay…" Garfield said quietly listening in on the disturbing sounds coming throughout the tower.
"They can take care of themselves Gar, now come on were nearly done here" Bumblebee said whilst she was working, Gerbiled looked over at her in despair.
"I'm such a screw up…" He murmured.
"Excuse me?"
"If I wasn't so… childish… this wouldn't be happening…"
"Um, I don't think this is your fault?" Bumblebee said confused.
"She'd be safe… she wouldn't hate me right now and you wouldn't hate me…" He murmured quietly
"Woah, woah, woah, Gar… who says anyone hates you?"
"But earlier?"
"I was annoyed at you sure; you can be annoying but that doesn't mean I hate you" Bumblebee came up to the Changeling clearly upset and frightened. She lightly placed a hand on his shoulder.
"You're a good guy, Gar. Trust me" Garfield felt a weight lifted at those words.
"As for Raven, I wouldn't worry. I've never seen a girl so in love and she can deny it all day but I know it when I see it. You're her world, Gar" She finished. Garfield's eyes lit up and he grew his familiar smile. A small ding rang through the lab, The device Bee had been working on popped out a large cylinder full of a vibrant looking solution., she picked it up.
"Yes…Now come on let's go save her and everyone else" Bumblebee said triumphantly. Garfield nodded in response the two made their way over towards the venting system.
"That's so small" Garfield noticed the tiny size of the vent leading towards the distribution centre.
"It's going to be a struggle getting it through there… any ideas?" Bumblebee asked.
"I think I got one?" Garfield smiled. His body morphed into the shape of a large rat that's body was entirely gelatinous, he wrapped himself around the cylinder and absorbed it, in essence the cylinder had small arms and legs. Bumblebee placed it on the wall as he crawled up to vent, easily pulling himself and the cure through.
"Man, your new powers are cool as shit, Cyborg were on our way…" Bumblebee remarked and shrunk down to follow him through the pipes.
"ABOUT DAMN TIME!" Cyborg yelled down the line.
Cyborg and Starfire had been on the move constantly, barring each door behind them so as the keep the flow of infected chasing them down. Now only a few infected managed to crawl and chase after both of them leaving the rest behind to catch up.
The two had arrived at the final door before the distribution centre. These doors were particularly tougher than the last ones.
"This is all you Star, I'll hold em off" Cyborg stood behind the Tamarean as she started to pull the doors apart. Cyborg charged his sonic cannon, the ghostly green glow fought against the red emergency lighting filling the hallways. As single infected Titans clambered around each corner, he let off a blast towards them, knocking them down by overloading their senses.
For a moment the hallway went silent and Cyborg scanned to try and detect anyone still approaching. Without warning a Birdarang clumsily flew beside him and stuck itself inside the wall of the hallway. Cyborg was too dumfounded to register what had just happened before it exploded, knocking him back. Starfire turned around to help her metal friend. Then saw the sight she hoped she wouldn't have to again.
At the end of the hall stood Nightwing and Raven, faces covered now in small little barnacles obscuring their eyes and growing around their bodies. The two had their mouths open drooling profusely as if they were starving.
Raven raised her hands and her familiar black magic flickered from it. The panels on the roof of the hallway fell on top of the two other Titans.
"I thought you said, they could not use our friends' powers?" Starfire said shoving the tiles off of her.
"It must be learning as it grows, come on we need to get this open now!" Cyborg turned back towards the door and started pulling it across, Starfire joined him. The two closed their eyes and strained until a light clang had them pop open their eyes to see the sight of another Birdarang, this time hitting the doors. The two quickly backed up away from the small explosion.
As they hit the ground, they heard Raven and Nightwing sprinting towards them. Nightwing went for Starfire who tried to push him back without hurting him. Raven tried her best to much on Cyborg but his armour wasn't feeling anything she was doing to him.
"Geez, Rae hungry much?" Cyborg pushed Raven away leaving a streak of drool on the mechanical man's arm.
"Eww, say it don't spray it girl?" Cyborg snarked. Oddly the infected Raven looked a little annoyed. She raised her arms and her magic flickered again, this time it ripped out several panels along the wall. She was still in there.
This gave Cyborg an idea.
"Ok, Rae lets have you do all the work…" Cyborg said quietly. "Star?! Keep lover boy busy I've got a plan"
Starfire grunted trying to fight off her infected boyfriend. "What do you think I have been the doing?!" she yelled.
"Hey Rae, Rae!?" Cyborg shouted towards the Empath.
"You know, it has to be said Raven… you're cooking is so bad I think I might die each time I try it…" Cyborg taunted. Raven screeched and raised her arms trying to aim her magic towards him, he swiftly dodged.
"…And you know I love when you help me out with my baby but could you not learn what tool is which already, I've lost count with how many times you've passed me the wrong wrench. You know for someone who claims to be smart you sure are dumb sometimes" Cyborg giggled, clearly having fun with this. Again, Raven screeched and tore through the wall which he narrowly avoided. Cyborg parked himself In front of the bulkhead doors.
"…And I'm sorry Garfield is right Rae, that show isn't dumb you should have looked it up…" He finished. The Empaths eyes widened as she roared, her magic ripped through the walls and rocketed towards Cyborg like a tsunami. At the last moment he jumped towards the floor as the dark energy ripped open the bulkhead doors leading to the distribution centre. Cyborg quickly fired a sonic blast towards her, knocking her down to the ground.
"Come on, Star were in!" Cyborg clambered up as the Tamaranean pushed Nightwing away down the hall with her strength and followed Cyborg. The Chamber they were in was covered in white walls. In the middle a tall cylindrical structure stood inside a large pool that went deep down into the ground with no visible bottom. This was the towers computer centre. At the top the structure became larger as pipes and wires grew out of it like roots.
"Tell me you guys are close?!" Cyborg yelled down the communicator line. As he barked those words a light bang could be heard up above them as a vent cover fell to the floor In front of them. Bumblebee and a strange looking transparent animal came out of the small pipe.
"We're here!" She yelled down at them, Garfield returned to human form with the Cylinder with the cure in hand and hung of the wall railings.
"Alright let's finish this, I need to open up the feed solution so we can place it in the sprinklers. Keep the cure up there until I'm ready" Cyborg sprinted towards the middle of the structure.
His path was soon blocked by the sight of a heavily infected, barnacle covered Aqualad rising from the pool around the structure. Cyborg screeched to a halt as the Atlantean blasted a torrent of water at him knocking him against the wall. Starfire tried to fire back at him, the Titan hid myself under the water of the pool. He resurfaced a moment later and blasted a wave of water at her, The Tamaranean was caught up in the surging waters.
"Hey, Garth!" The infected Atlantean looked up to see the sight of his leader approaching him at speed down the chamber. She fired several bolts form her gold stingers. The electrical shocks blasted through his body which afterwards fell onto the floor with a thud.
"Come on, Sparky lets end this nightmare!" Bumblebee called over to Cyborg who shook off the water damage and made his way over to the console. With a quick flurry of commands, he punched the console causing the centre to open up ready to receive the cure.
"Now, Gar!" Cyborg yelled up towards him.
"I'm coming!" Changeling swung over towards the centre along the dangling cables, though his path was soon blocked by a familiar sight. Raven had floated up towards him, she looked like she was struggling to stay Airborne but her face still had a horrific aggressive look on it, the barnacles had grown even more.
"Gaaaaaarfield…" She croaked out. The changeling gulped, he was rightfully terrified in this moment. Raven began firing bolts of magic at him, in a panic he quickly outmanoeuvred them as the collided with the walls of the chamber.
"Rae, stop! Were trying to help you?!" Changeling didn't get another response out of her mouth only her dark magic blasts. He tried to hope down towards the centre of the chamber without damaging the computer system.
"Hang on, Gar!" Bumblebee yelled; she readied herself for flight then let out a high-pitched scream as a bolt of electricity went through her body. She fell to the wet ground and looked up to see one of Speedy's arrows imbedded in her torso. She saw an infected Roy enter the chamber followed by the rest of the infected, all of which had clearly learned how to use their powers in some form.
Starfire and Cyborg were becoming overwhelmed by the amount of infected. Garfield looked down and saw this was his last chance, he made a great leap down towards the open centre structure. As he saw it get closer, he felt a great force shove his body against the structure with a painful slam. It was Raven's dark magic. The force caused him to drop the cure which had smashed against the side of the structure upon impact. Garfield watched in horror as the cure split open and pour downwards into the pool below. Time seemed to stop as he saw the horde slowly overwhelm his friends.
This is it he thought, there's nothing to be done, the cure had to be put through the sprinklers. There was nothing he could do. In that moment though a though came to him. He had little time; it was now or never.
The changeling dove down towards the pool below, the form of a blue whale appeared in mid-air, open mouthed and landed in the water with a thunderous splash. Garfield quickly drank up the cure mixed in the pool and resurfaced. He used his powers to add several more blowholes on top of the whale's body and with a deep breath… the cure blasted out of the breaches on its body filling the room up and covering all the infected in a vibrant coloured mist.
The horde screeched and writhed as the cure did its work. The barnacles slipped off each of their bodies and fell like marbles on the wet ground. Garfield spotted up in the air Raven was still afloat. Without hesitation he morphed into his familiar Beast form and sprinted over the horde of Titans to catch her. The Empath fell gracefully into his arms. The barnacles slowly slipped off her body as he returned to human form cradling her in his arms.
He looked around and saw that the other Titans were starting to come to, breaking free from the creature's control. They all asked different questions.
"Where am I?"
"What happened?
"Why does my head hurt?"
"Is the party over? Did I miss anything?"
Cyborg and Starfire looked over at Garfield holding Raven close.
"Friend, Garfield you did it!" Starfire beamed.
"Way to go buddy" Cyborg added.
"Great Job, Gar" Bumblebee gave him a small wink as she smiled over towards him having pulled the arrow from her side. He smiled back at her; he turned around to around to face Raven who was just walking up with a light groan.
"Ugh, Garfield?... what's going on?" Raven looked around at the confusing scene in front of her and looked back at Garfield who was smiling. She looked down at herself and spotted the drool drenched on her outfit.
"Why am I covered in drool?" she deadpanned. Garfield couldn't help but start giggling which then turned to contagious laughter. The other Titans joined in on the hysterics leaving Raven looking confused until Garfield started nuzzling into her which caused the other Titans to start giggling for different reasons.
"Gar, cut it out will you! You're embarrassing me!" Raven protested but it wasn't of any use, he didn't care.
Back at the Tower, Starfire was floating down the hall next to Garfield as the recalled the rather eventful evening.
"I shall elect to prepare myself for any future zombie infestations" The Tamaranean said to her friend.
"I never thought it would be something we'd have to prepare for… but hey now it's on the table, who knew?" Changeling giggled.
"You handled it very well"
"Yeah, I know and I'm me" He grinned. Starfire was a little upset at his self-doubt and pulled him in for another hug.
"You are valued, Gar. Never think you are not" Garfield's eyes began to water at her kind words. She was till the kindest of them all these years later.
"T…Thanks, Star" he croaked. She pulled back and watched him rub his eyes lightly.
"Now I must prepare, Richard a bath to soak his wounds" She explained.
"Oh, I'm sure he'll love that…"
"I have also prepared the pudding of 'Honourable Defence' just for him" Starfire pulled up a rather vile looking dish that seemed to be moving on its own. Garfield looked at it and simply said.
"…That too"
Starfire giggled. "Goodnight, Garfield"
"Goodnight, Star" Changeling watched her glide away around the corner out of sight. He turned back towards his door which slid open with a light whistle.
Garfield jumped a little seeing Raven sitting on his bed looking ready to call it a night.
"Raven?"
"You say my name, Garfield like you don't expect me to be here. This is where we sleep?"
"I know it's just…"
"Just what, Garfield?"
"Earlier?..."
"Oh, Garfield… come on, come here" Raven sat up on the back of the bed and tapped the spot in front of her knees. Garfield slowly made his way over towards her, he lay resting his head on her knees looking up at her upside down, even here she was the most beautiful thing in the world to him. She gently pushed her fingers through his longer shaggy hair and she could swear this almost made him purr.
"Listen, I was mad at you before and that's ok. It's a part of being together, it doesn't mean I don't like you anymore or want to break up. You don't need to think of such things"
"Wait who told you I was thinking…?"
"We talk you know, the other Titans…when they weren't praising you, they told me about how you were earlier and like I said you don't need to worry. I love you, Garfield more than anything, you are everything to me" she said with a light smile. Garfield started to sniffle as his eyes began to sting, he discreetly tried rubbing them. Raven let out a light giggle.
"I love you too, Rae. You're my everything" He smiled back at her. Raven leaned down and placed her leaps on his. The two came together in a soft embrace. As they pulled back and stared at each other for a moment.
"I'm sorry about earlier Gar, I know I need to work on my temper but I should have known better. I've already learned that lesson" Raven said.
"I know, Rae. I'm sorry too I should have too but don't worry we can work on being better together" he grinned. Then he quickly remembered something.
"Ooh, Rae I was gunna ask, I finished the second to last book of that series you recommended, can I read the last one I'm stoked to finish it?" He beamed.
"Oh that, sorry the other passed away before they could finish it… sorry" Raven deadpanned. Garfield looked like the life had been drained out of him.
"…What?!" he yelped.
"We'll it's been a long day Gar, I'm very tired so goodnight!" Raven gave him another quick smooch on the top of his head and used her powers to wrap herself up on the other side of the bed.
"…Hang on but all that grief you gave me; you can't just pull that on me? Rae? Rae!? He tugged at her under the sheets and pulled her over. She looked rather annoyed.
"Honestly, Gar. Its only a book series you should really let it go" She remarked and rolled back over.
"What?! How? Raven!?" Garfield clutched his hair on the bed ready to pull it out but in the end let out a defeated sigh.
I guess I walked into that one…?
Ok there we go. I hope someone got some enjoyment out of this. I'm just glad it was shorter and I manged to get it done by the schedule I set so there's that.
Till next time and thank you!