Disclaimer: By this means, I rightfully claim ownership to this FanFiction story and my original character within it, by my trademark signature T.M.O at the conclusion of every update. Any other characters that may appear in this work and are new, these are the rightful properties by their creators as well and cannot be reproduced, or duplicated without their individual consent. I do not own anything within the DC Universe, from Warner Brothers, or on Cartoon Network. The only original character and the name that I created for him; that I accept half ownership on is Falcon from this telling. Scififanfreak222 owns the second half of him as well, for drawing him upon a collaboration of various new designs and sketches within the year of 2010; and cannot be knowingly placed into another literary document, writing community, comic book series, and or televised broadcast without either of our written or verbal consent in front of legal consultants. TheForceIsStrongWithThisOne, Scififanfreak222, xSaffire55x, Novus Ordo Seclorum, and RavenxIsxAxBlackxRose; each of these fellow writers have helped me to press onwards with this story, every-time I have come across writers block. Without their outstanding guidance, the updates would have taken me even longer to complete.
Chapter 22 is finished! The struggle of the Teen Titans persists. Old wounds heal for some, while the intrepid fight within The Gold Depository unravels. "Nothing is impossible to the willing heart."-John Heywood (1497-1580)-
Chapter 22 - Into The Fray
Beast Boy looked at Starfire as the two wheeled themselves closer to the end of the hallway, where the changeling was only a few inches behind. So many thoughts and dizzying possibilities flooded his brain, and he had no idea as to what the exact condition of his previous romantic interest would be. Terra was awake, and that was all that mattered to him.
He was certain that things would be alright though, as Starfire herself said that the Geomancer was asking for him. For the Tamaranean Princess to have smiled at him when she broke the news, the conflicting probabilities were dissipating.
It felt like the weight of a previous frustration that had been clinging to him, was all but forgotten. A new bright glow of energy had taken over the disruptions in his brain. Things with his teammates had placed him on unstable ground, but this development meant that there was a new journey to venture into.
He used his left arm to spin the tire, while his right arm that was in the cast was close to his body. His left leg was elevated still, in the foot rest that came with the wheelchair. Starfire's left leg was also elevated in the foot rest, and her injury brought the reminder that plenty had been sacrificed in their efforts. Robin, Cyborg, and Raven were out in the city still sacrificing. The Tamaranean Warrior would heal, as her injury was not as severe as his was, but it would take time.
At what cost, will the sacrifices become too great? Beast Boy thought to himself. No sacrifice is too great, no mission too small, the Teen Titans will be here to answer the call.
"We are almost there." Starfire said while partially looking over her shoulder. "Her room is just ahead of us."
Beast Boy nodded in acknowledgment, he did not speak a word.
Doctors and other patients strolled past, while the two well known heroes stayed on their current journey. It was a bit of an adrenaline rush that overpowered the aches and pains, it numbed their wounds as they each felt a purpose once again.
"Here we are." Starfire said while they waited by the door. "She is just on the other side."
While she reached for the door handle, Beast Boy put his hand out and he stopped her.
"Wait!" The changeling gasped. "I . . . I need a minute."
Starfire retracted her hand, and she felt a bit of the energy was like a caffeine sensation, and it was difficult to slow her heart rate back down. The journey from the other end of the hallway was a bit strenuous, and it must have been an exhausting trial for the fang-toothed hero, as he himself had only awoken earlier in the night.
"Beast Boy, I do not understand." Starfire tilted her head. "Terra has awakened and the first thing she wanted to know, was if you were okay."
"S-she did?"
"Yes." She placed her hand onto his. "After all this time, finally she is asking for you."
"I know, it's just things didn't go so well when last I saw her."
"It is understandable to be conflicted."
Beast Boy recoiled a little. "I think it's just how everything has been, and I do not know . . . I can't-"
Starfire smirked to ease his worries away. "It is okay. I have done my part, and if you required some of the time to be alone with her . . . I will understand."
"It's not that I'm afraid, I just have so many questions and . . . wait, you mean, you would do that for me?" He scratched his chin. "Starfire, why?"
She turned her head to gaze into the window of the door, where the blond haired girl that was resting in the bed. She was looking out of her window to the city. As the red-head paused, she felt that her teammate's eyes were still focused onto her.
"You have not had the proper time that you need, to find a sense of closure." Starfire looked back at him and she stroked his arm. "Go to her, perhaps you shall find ways to build something anew, that was thought to be lost."
"Starfire." Beast Boy swallowed a lump of saliva in his dry throat, fighting to find the words, where all he could articulate was; "Thank you."
She nodded her head, and with a smile that brought the bright comforts that she was so accustomed to giving, she felt that his gratitude had restored a bond of trust, and affection in her once more.
He placed his hand onto the door handle, he breathed in a few deep breaths before exhaling through his nose. This was indeed a powerful moment that he was about to experience. The brawl in the dam, the events of so many things were a conflicting bounty of what he wanted to feel. And yet through it all, the kindness of his sister teammate had brought forth a new spark in him, and it silenced every other emotion.
For some strange reason, the vision at the waterfront beside the tree that stood out from the rolling plains, where the cloaked entity that revealed itself had given him a path to choose. He quickly shrugged his shoulders, as this was just a thing of his mind, and the Test that Raven had briefly told him about, it was the furthest thing he wanted to ponder over.
There were a variety of reasons to talk with Terra, and the discontented distortion between his friends had caused him to ponder over his own destiny, of what he wanted to shape for himself. He was now sixteen years old, and the child nature that anybody could have treated him with was gone. Yet for some reason this feeling of a new opportunity, of a choice he could make with the Geomancer, it was growing stronger.
"Terra . . . you're awake!" Beast Boy uttered as he wheeled himself inside of the cramped little room.
"Beast Boy?" Terra replied, while turning to look at him as he flipped on the light-switch, and he closed the door. "You're here?"
They leaned close to one another, and the changeling stopped by her bed, unable to bend down to embrace her and she was too deeply wounded, to reach up and return the affection. They both looked over the other and once their eyes met, they did not even realize that their hands were touching.
"When I heard you saying my name at the dam, I-"
"I know." Beast Boy interrupted. "It all happened so fast, everything did."
She lightly stroked his arm, and the trembling of her wrist was due to the fact of fatigue and the grave loss of blood she had endured. Her complexion appeared more like Raven's too.
"I am just glad to see that you are here with me." Terra smiled at him. "That you, that we made it."
"Some of us just don't give up." Beast Boy chuckled and he clasped her fingers.
Terra turned to look at the door that he had entered from, and a curious expression formed. "Where is Starfire?"
"Oh, well she figured she didn't want to overcrowd the room. What with the both of us being in wheelchairs and all."
Beast Boy revealed a crooked smile. She never said that. Why would I say that she said that?
"Oh, right." The blonde haired teenager nodded in agreement. "I didn't fully realize how cramped things are in here. Makes sense."
The fragrance of her golden colored hair had not left him, and the animal instincts still recalled the sweet scent of her, from the last time they had met the Murakami High-School.
"I never really got to thank you." Terra blushed a little, as she looked away.
"Really? For what?"
"You came after me Beast Boy. After all this time, and you . . . well, it doesn't matter now."
Beast Boy was perplexed, and the uneasiness of everything was still very much a potent force.
"I was just doing what I always do." he smiled. "There is no need to thank me."
"Yes I do."
The two old friends gazed into one another's eyes for a long moment. The silence between them was deeply felt, yet the bond they shared had been restrengthened. Enough sorrow and regret had been created, and the momentum to move forwards in their own lives had come, yet they found that they were bouncing into each other.
"Terra-"
"When you came to see me at school that day." she spoke gently as she always did. "I didn't mean to be . . . I wasn't trying to . . . I never wanted to make you feel like I didn't care. I just thought it might be easier if you were you know, pushed away."
"I know." Beast Boy smirked like he typically did. "Hey, you know what today is?"
"I uh . . . no. What is today?"
"It's my birthday."
Her eyes lit up with a boost of enthusiasm. "Oh wow! Happy Birthday Beast Boy!" Her eyebrows raised a little. "Wait, where is everybody else then?"
"Oh, they had to answer the call. You know how it is being a superhero, it's alright. They'll be back soon enough and then we can really celebrate!" His smirk beamed into a massive smile.
She frowned. "After everything that's happened, with all that we've been through, I don't want to take away any of the momentum. It's your day after all."
"What are you talking about?" he chuckled. "Terra, you were a part of things with us, heck you still are!"
"Thanks for the kind sentiment. You always were very open with me."
"Listen, Terra."
She did not respond.
He licked his lips before speaking. It was still surreal to be actually sitting here with her, when they had decided to move on but a part of her seemed to regret something, as he did. It was an unspoken issue, an unresolved moment that had finally caught up with them. Things of deep conflicts can resurface in the awkwardest of places, and in the most unexpected times.
Beast Boy looked down for a moment before talking. "There is nothing to feel ashamed of or frightened of by the others, or with me. I'm just glad that you are okay."
The Geomancer's smile had returned. Things had been nothing less than a terrible ordeal, but there was great comfort in being with the changeling. His smile and the calmness within his green eyes, his attention he payed to her, she had forgotten how his affection was a rare commodity.
"So much has happened since we last saw each other." Beast Boy continued speaking in his rasping voice.
"I'll bet." she smirked. "Why don't you tell me about some of your adventures."
"Really?"
"Yes. Its not like we don't have the time, and besides. I-I would like to listen."
"Oh, sure!" he nodded to take away the jitters, and then he stroked his chin. "I guess I could start with our trip to Tokyo."
"Whoa! You went to Japan!?"
"Heck yeah! And it was awesome!" he threw his arm up from the excitement. "Aside from the run-in with the corrupt police, the countless creatures of Brushogun, and from taking on the King of the Kaiju being the one and only Godzilla himself, yeah it was an adventure."
"I'll bet."
"Now let me see, oh yeah, so when this guy in a fancy suit called Saico-Tek, started to bombard the Tower, we knew something was off. Talk about the crazy start to a busy adventure, and then . . ."
(~)
The familiar bell rang four times, and the students began to pour in from the hallways and around their locker bays as they left their homerooms. The teenagers were wearing uniforms, the white dress shirts and black pants for the boys were accompanied by a solid black neck-tie. The girls wore blue skirts and they also had neckties to go over their white shirts.
Many voices bounced about halls, some were nervous, and others were in a groggy state from the early morning. Most of the youth tended to stay up into the long hours at night, where there were all sorts of things which a teenager would preoccupy their time with. Homework or assignments with chores from their families, it was not the first or even the most pressing thing on the mind. Some would infuse their energy into what was required, but many carried the procrastinator philosophy, to put things off until the very last minute.
Some were avid gamers, playing on the latest and most addicting platforms where a few of the boys were on their phones busily driven in their own devices. Others had blog-posts and they focused on the meager and mind-numbing tasks, of chatting about society and the latest gossip in school. For the average teenagers and high school students, they wanted to sleep in for the morning.
The student body conversed, the consistent noise of voices echoed across the halls and down the length of the entire building. Down in the lower yellow locker bay area, Elizabeth Spears had slammed hers closed and she headed for the first class of the day, history. She was a freshmen in high school, and with her already small stature and being an underclassmen, it only made her feel tiny compared to everybody else.
Along her journey, she had overheard some of the conversations where two well known seniors at the school, Amber Eileen McKenney, and Dionne Rochelle Murray were chatting about one of their friends.
"So did she say when she would get back?" Amber, the red head with freckles asked while flipping through her phone.
"No. She just said that she had to meet somebody. Strange that she wouldn't even check in with us, right?" Dionne the African American replied.
"It's not like her to ignore my texts."
Elizabeth was curious about who they were talking about. Gossip of the upperclassmen was always an intriguing topic, but it did not phase the young fourteen-year-old. It was not a long walk to her class, as the room was just down the hall from her locker-bay. Many students had taken out their cellular phones and were sending text messages back and forth, while in the background three boys were standing near a window, catching up about the latest sport scores.
Two of the girls were noticed glancing at their circular pocket mirrors, while they applied the final touches to their makeup. One of the boys was even courageous enough to be asking a girl for her number. Elizabeth rolled her eyes, she knew only too well that many of her female peers enjoyed the chase, but some girls could be very manipulative in twisting a young man's arm. While all of these things were going on, Elizabeth sat at her desk by the far back corner. Many of her classmates ignored her, and she did not care to mingle with anybody.
Her hair was tied back in a bun, and she was wearing the same dress colors as everybody else. The reason there was a dress code, was to defuse any tension that could arise from the student population and to negate any gang symbols.
Her black shoulder bag was draped along the back of her seat, where the emblem of a blood red Phoenix, rising from fire was embroidered on the front central flap. She always liked that symbol, it was something that her mother would tell her about the stories of ancient and Greek mythological beasts, for her bedtime stories.
"Hey Tizzy Lizzy." One of her classmates spoke up, jeering towards her.
Elizabeth ignored the pestering girl, and she kept her head looking down at her desk, while opening the textbook and getting her notebook with a pen out from her bag. She always came prepared for class, and she took great care when it came to being responsible, towards getting good grades.
"Hey!"
Another annoying voice called to her again, and still the fourteen-year-old would not respond.
"You should answer when you are called." A second girl who was African American jumped into the game.
"What are you, deaf?" asked a third girl.
The three female students chuckled among each other, where the blond haired girl in the middle leaned away from her seat, and her companions slowly followed behind her.
Of all days . . . why did it have to be this one? Elizabeth said in her mind, she was not amused.
"What makes you think that you can't answer someone, when they call your name?" The very rude teenager, who was in charge of the other two strolled over, flanked by the black girl, and another thin and brunette Caucasian teenager.
The leader of the pack was Amber Rey, and she leaned her forearms onto the desk. She clearly wanted to poke and prod at something, and she was completely ignorant as to why Elizabeth tended to keep to herself.
Not now, please not for my first class. The aspiring and hopeful medical trainee bit her tongue, while she responded in her mind. Elizabeth did not like blonds.
"Answer me, you blue haired freak!" Amber was now hovering right above her prey's head, and her breathing was felt to be giving a very uncomfortable and threatening presence.
"I heard you." Elizabeth's steady and calm voice was of a complete contrast to the intrusive girl's. "But no, that's not my name."
"What did you say?" The petite and boisterous teenager, Amber Rey, she was on the cheer-leading squad and she clearly had a beef with Elizabeth.
She would not let up.
The two slender bodyguards who stood with her, they crossed their arms to give back-up. Kimberly Nox and Sasha Bee were not likely to leave her side either, where they too were on the cheer-leading squad. Kimberly was short-tempered and high-maintenanced, while Sasha was very snippy at people who did not "conform", or anybody her two best friends had marked as the target.
Now during this interaction, others in the room were gradually paying attention. Some continued to ignore this, as it happened more days than anybody counted, yet a few more than the typical number of onlookers were taking notice. Some in the class were even taking bets, on who would lay the first hit.
Elizabeth leaned back a little and after she studied the tone about the room, to see if anybody would pay attention to her side, she sighed. There would be nobody to potentially support her account, with not an ounce of compassion coming from anybody, she slowly looked up. The aspiring nursing trainee would have to find a way out of this pickle, and it always appeared to happen exactly when she did not have the energy, or the desire for it.
The always calm and resilient blue haired teenager felt her lips curl. "I said, that I don't respond to idiots, who think that they can get away with annoying me." Well now, I might as well finish it then.
Amber gawked. "Really now? Those are some bold words coming from a freak!"
Elizabeth breathed in through her nose, to calm her heart-rate and to settle the nerves. "Look, just go to your seats and leave me alone. Alright?"
"Oh, what's this?" joined in the brunette Kimberly. "I think she is scared all of a sudden."
"She is pretty scared." chimed in Sasha Bee. "Look at her eyes, she's already out of it."
The three girls, or the three stooges as Elizabeth preferred to consider them, they were always bugging and pestering her. From history class, to P.E. and even when they were in the cafeteria eating lunch.
The real unfortunate side to dealing with some of the drama, the dark side that played out on a daily basis across schools, all around the country was that nobody seemed to care. It often goes unspoken that challenges build ones own character, and Elizabeth did find herself through most days, looking upwards at the highest peeks upon mountains to overcome. Bullies were just a natural part of the school system, and intolerance would always be a factor in the real world.
"I'll ask you ladies one last time, to please go back to your seats and leave me alone." Elizabeth's tone did not waver or fluctuate in any form. It was still the same calm and collected manner as in the beginning of this engagement.
Amber Rey smirked a cocksure glance, she leaned in and pushed the girl's notebook onto the floor. "Oops."
Elizabeth gradually tilted her head, she blinked and said in the coolest and most empowering tone that she had ever mustered; "You really shouldn't have done that."
"Oooooh!" chimed in the other two girls.
"What are you going to do about it?" Amber Rey felt that her victim's eyes were finally locked onto her blue pair, but there was no sense of impending fear or anger of any sort. "If you think I'm afraid of the sight of blood, it's not like I haven't seen it before."
Elizabeth's eyes squinted a little, while she kept her captivating blue pair locked onto her antagonizer. "Well then that's good. Because it means that you're not pregnant anyway."
A few of the students who overheard this banter snickered, where the retort took out the wind of any momentum the bullies could muster.
"Why you-" Amber said while lunging in for a strike.
Elizabeth pushed herself away from the seat, forcing the momentum of the desk into the gut of Amber Rey, the rising star of the cheer-leading squad for the football team. The other two dauntless girls that had flanked her sides quickly reached out to grab their leader, and they were partially startled. The banter would last just so long, and now they were about to engage in fisticuffs.
Kimberly was the next to leap into the action, and as she tried to swipe at Elizabeth, her low right hook missed where the acrobatic and more finesse nursing intern swerved herself out of the path. The fourteen-year-old dodged the next strike, and she grabbed her bag then she swung it upwards into the face of her newest attacker!
The black bag slapped Kim across the bridge of her nose, and the dizzying momentum caused this girl to slip backwards and slam against the wall, giving out a reverberating Thud!
The third bodyguard stepped up to the plate, now it was Sasha Bee's chance as this shock and awe tactic had worn away. The black teenager was very consumed with the brawl, and she was not about to let her rank and position in the hierarchy of high-school drama be demoted in any way or form.
"I didn't want this, remember that." Elizabeth said while holding her hands upwards in a defensive stance. "I offered you a chance to walk away."
"Oh no, not now you don't!" replied the second attacker.
"GET HER!" Amber Rey protested, and the scuffle resumed.
"Fight! Fight! Fight!" The students in the room cheered.
Elizabeth twirled and sidestepped to the right, and she danced around the charging bully. Sasha Bee did not like being played for a fool, and she quickly turned and preformed a cartwheel to drop-kick the bedazzling warrior! Her thin frame and years of training in the after-school programs did have an effect of her coordination and agility. Sasha Bee was agile and quick, and she was totally determined to land a strike against the girl's head.
The blow missed! Elizabeth tucked low and in the same swift motion, she caught the girl's left foot and she held her converse seeker with both hands by the heel. Sasha Bee had a look of disgruntled terror now forming across her face, as the realization of now finding herself in a compromised position, due to such a swift counter-measure.
"I said that I wanted to be left alone, and you refused." Elizabeth Saffire Spears shook her head, where now every student in the room was looking on at this impressive display of martial arts skill. "Why?"
"Let me go!" Sasha Bee cried.
Elizabeth tilted her head to the side. She was unsure as to how much time had passed since the bell rang, or when the teacher would enter the classroom. To find herself in a very compromising position like this, it did not look good.
She began to replay the step-by-step actions of what had happened. Of the dauntless three challengers approaching her, with Amber Rey knocking her books to the floor, of watching her own legs curl from beneath the table, with her hands grabbing firmly onto the sides. In a flash, the momentum drove things on, as she saw herself pushing the desk into the belly of her antagonizer, while slipping out of the gap of the chair that was attached to the desk. The second girl was seen swooping in for her chance, and being thwarted with the uppercut of the black bag to her face, knocking her backwards into the far wall.
Blood began to trickle down her nose, as the fight had brought a clearly visible injury.
It was in this instant as she noticed Kimberly Nox holding a hand to her nose, the blood was seeping through her fingers in a steady drip. Out of the corner of her eyes, the creaking noise suddenly caused the bullied teenager to feel her heart-rate increase! Some of the students hurried to their own chairs, hoping to not be found the guilty party, and others backed as far away from the wide circle which they had formed.
Elizabeth was frozen in place, where she wanted to do something to get out of this unwanted and consequential dilemma.
In walked the tall and well dressed teacher, Mr. David C. Lumus. He had golden blond hair, there was a bit of stubble beneath and around his chin, his eye color was green like a fierce dragon, and his skin color was Caucasian.
"What in the world!?" David was shocked, and he immediately dropped the briefcase onto his desk. "ELIZABETH!"
The freshmen was dumbstruck with the new wave of fear traveling all throughout her body. She quickly released the other girl's foot, and she backed away with her hands up.
"You don't understand, I was-"
"Stop. Just stop it." Amber said while helping her ally Kimberly back to her feet. "She's mad, don't you see!"
"What are you talking about!?" The blue haired teenager cried back. "You and your friends attacked me!"
"Are you kidding me?" Sasha joined in to play the victim card, and to get brownie points. "Ha! Now that is a laugh."
"Quiet, all of you." The history teacher was standing in the middle of the bickering parties, trying to act as a mediator and buffer to whatever had occurred before he had entered. "I will not tolerate violence of any sort in my classroom. Is that understood?"
His green eyes fixated onto Elizabeth's entrancing blue pair. Her mouth was agape, she was trying to speak but there was only silence for her rebuttal.
"Is that understood?" He turned and looked at Amber next, trying to gauge her and her friends responses.
"I'll hear both parties say it." He continued, as his deadly glare intensified.
"Yes." The four girls said in unison.
He nodded his head. "Good. Now then, I don't know who did what, and I know it won't be settled here. All four of you can deal with this in the principle's office."
"What?" Kimberly piped up while holding a hand to her nose, to stop the bleeding. "Look what she did to me!"
He sighed, then he pointed to the brunette with blood pouring down her fingers. "You will go to the nurse."
"Why should we be getting punished here?" Amber chimed in.
"Hold on, now you're taking their side, without even hearing my counter argument?" Elizabeth tried to defend herself again.
"HUSH! All of you!" The history teacher threw his arms up, then he approached the blue haired pale girl. "Elizabeth, grab your things. You two, help your friend to the nurse and then make your way's to the principle's office."
"But I-" Elizabeth sputtered.
"But we-" chimed in the three antagonizing bullies.
"NOW!"
Elizabeth sighed, it was obvious that the cards had been played, while there was not much else she could do, or anybody that she could turn to for assistance. Her classmates around her were too focused on their own problems.
People in general were cowards, most would enjoy a good spat of violence and the battle of wills, so long as they did not have to get involved. With the challenge of taking a beating, or of standing her ground knowing full well what could transpire, she chose to the latter option. The consequences would come when she fought to protect herself, as it was a trait that made her stand out among so many.
Looks like I'll have to go with plan b now. The aspiring medical intern rasped in her mind.
She nodded her head, without saying a word out-loud, Elizabeth grabbed her black bag swinging it over her shoulder, and she walked out the door with a bit of pride in her step.
"Hey, if you think this is over . . ." Amber pointed to her chest as she peered venomously at her prey. "You've got another thing coming."
Elizabeth smirked again. "For all the incredibly stupid and pointless brain-cells in that thick skull of yours, I will say this." she whispered while the two stood by the door. The tension was very thick, and their scuffle did create a bit of a workout. "You caught me on a really bad day."
The blonde squinted her eyes with disdain, as her comrades Sasha held Kimberly up behind her.
The history teacher crossed his arms over his chest, it was very apparent that his rules were not to be trifled with.
"Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm going." Elizabeth waved her hand as she stepped into the hallway.
Her father had already scolded her about disobeying his deepest concerns, that she was reckless and brash when it came to dealing with spur-of-the-moment trouble. For Elizabeth Saffire Spears, she had the "shoot-first ask questions later" mentality. It was clear that she was going to be getting at the least, an after school detention for the brawl. Even though it was in self-defense, she had nobody else to corroborate her side of things.
Everybody in the classroom did not seem to care about her, but one of the boys who was nearest to her spot that she sat, he pushed her desk back alongside his, and he picked up what appeared to be a notebook she had left behind as it went sailing across the room from the scuffle.
(~)
Through chaos and battle, the fight of good and evil continued. The outstretched green gloved hand of Robin had reached down into the pitch black void that his friend and longtime ally had unfortunately dropped into.
In a vain effort to reach him, he dove after him to help pull him out of whatever catastrophic darkness that awaited him. Sadly, he was just seconds away from accomplishing his mission. Again, Robin had arrived too late and he was left holding nothing but air.
I hate this. He ridiculed himself in his head. I hate this whole stinking mess!
The battle within The Gold Depository was still transpiring about him, where the fight for supremacy against the unending odds of enemies, the tide was slowly ebbing back in their favor. But at what cost?
"Cyborg!" Robin called out to his Second-In-Command, but he received no reply.
The Boy Wonder thought he heard the Technological Expert whisper something poetic, before turning his arm cannon against the control panel that ran the lift, before he closed his eye. To destroy the mechanism that was the only means of escape for the leviathan-like opponent known as Cinderblock, it was a bold move, reckless but very crafty.
Still the sacrifices that his teammates had made over the course of just a few days was tough enough, where this it was utterly unbearable.
"Dammit!" Robin slammed his fist onto the floor. "I told him to wait, that I was going to get to him. That we should have worked together to take down Cinderblock. The fool!"
While he slowly turned onto his back, a barrage of blaster fire erupted across the doorway that he and his teammates had created, and other shots came from within the vault itself, with what remained of the invasive army. The local security forces were heard charging back into the room, while the robot commandos were pinned and being annihilated without their commanding overseer to act as the final barrier.
To take control of the situation, this brief pause allowed the Titan's Captain to re-calibrate his actions. Now was not the time to withhold any reserves of his energy, he was pushing himself past the limit, but he could rest back at the Tower.
"Robin!" Raven shouted to her commander. "I could really use your help about now!"
"Raven!" Robin's voice echoed. "Cyborg . . . he-he fell."
"I know. We can search for him later, right now we have to clean up this mess!"
The Dark Bird was using her enchantress powers, to erect her black energy shields over her wrists as she tended to do when defending herself. Two lumbering and menacing behemoth sladebots pressed on with their attack, unfazed and determined more than ever. They were the very same model of robots that Robin had battered down, in order to outflank Cinderblock.
The Team's Leader was a bit dazed and conflicted, yet his resourceful and impressive stamina had recharged from a few deep intakes of much needed oxygen into his lungs. The entire room had become obstructed with the smoke grenades, and the bellowing collapse of the steel plate that both his comrade and Cinderblock had fallen through.
It was the perfect opportunity to stealthily get back into the fight, as the din of battle exploded all around them.
What was it he said? Robin thought in his mind, as the last words that the gear-head had spoken washed over his thinking.
He shook the irritating cobwebs out, and after picking up his trusting staff that lay across from him with his left hand, he felt the anger seethe and expand within him once again. Slade was responsible for so much destruction and evil, and it was becoming more apparent that those closest to him were suffering.
"Keep your friends close Robin. It's always the ones that you love, whom you end up hurting in the end." The voice of Red-X rattled about his skull, while the choppy image was relived as he battled the mercenary-for-hire within The Bank Of Perez.
"ROBIN!" Raven pleaded, while she was now leaning with her back against the railing.
"I'm coming!" The brave and dauntless hero called back, where in his heart, the gravity of the situation only became much more potent.
I won't lose another friend. Not now, not after everything!
He stood up and grabbed hold of his grapple-gun attached to his belt with his right hand, aiming for the supporting brackets that the catwalk rested between. "Not while I've got strength left!"
(~)
Inside the long dark shaft within the Gold Depository that had been drilled and formed from the army of sladebots, it was very, very far. It went a long ways underground, deep below the things that most people knew about, yet the maw eventually did have a solid bottom.
There was even an impressive tunnel beyond the crumpled and overturned jacks and equipment, while the metal platform that was raised on pillars, it was not going to be operating anytime soon.
Sparks sizzled and popped from what was the control panel, while a few stranded bars of gold were scattered here and there, reflecting their shiny and attractive hue through the pitch black darkness. There were also a couple body parts of the robot commandos, torso's and limbs with their electrical components revealing their artificial designs.
It was like an array of toys had been strewn out from a bin in a daycare center, and the mess was going to be left as it was.
Along the floor, two silver metal beams that had been built, they were designed to ferry the gold wherever the curving path was leading it to. Here at the bottom of the pit, in the cold damp dirt lay Cyborg, the Teen Titan's Mechanic. He was sprawled on his stomach with his arms and legs spread, and the cloud of soot was clogging his breathing. He felt himself coughing, wheezing for fresh oxygen yet the chilling taste upon his tongue quickly revealed that he was not in the depository.
He had fought and battled the enemies above, where the last thing he could remember was smirking, then he closed his eyes as he felt the free-fall sensation of weightlessness overtake him. The Teen Titan lay across from the platform, as the huge behemoth that was Slade's deadliest henchman, he had overplayed his hand and ignored the control panel that operated the lift that they were both fighting upon.
"Cinderblock!" The gear-head cried out, as he opened his eyes. He coughed a few more times, while charging his left arm as it reformed the sonic cannon. The blue glow of the power source hummed and illuminated his shadow behind him, as he aimed it down the long tunnel.
He panted while turning his head, he looked and looked but he was all by himself. There was nothing around him, he was entirely alone.
"Great, this is just great." He grumbled, while powering down and returning his arm to its normal state. "Well at least I stopped them from getting anymore gold out, but where the heck did that oversized and blundering concrete block-head, run off to now?"
He rubbed the back of his neck, and while it was pitch black, the faint yellow glow of lights were strung upon both sides of the cavern, and it traveled along the path of the rails. He looked himself over to check that he was not injured, and the surprising durability of the white and blue armor that encased what remained of his flesh, it fared very well.
From each of the demanding tasks and obstacles he had overcome before, from the missions and heroic deeds that he charged into the storm with his superhero friends, the eighteen-year-old had become rather accustomed to the enhancements upon what remained of his actual physical body.
To think that I would actually be proud of this . . . armor that I need to survive, to function and to even live, bah! Cyborg shook his head to quiet his negative thoughts.
If he had plummeted in his actual body, he would never would have survived the fall, without breaking bones or worse, becoming paralyzed and dying a slow agonizing death. The calculating computerized portion was connected to his brain, and it was giving him the statistical analysis of his current predicament. He hated feeling that this was all backwards, that these enhancements that saved his life before actually did come through many more times than he wanted to admit.
Dammit. I have to give it to my old man about one thing he got right. That this would endure through all sorts of trials and tests. Cyborg's voice continued to echo within in his noggin. I don't want to even think about it.
"I think the bigger and far more important question that I should be asking, is where . . . where the heck am I?" He heard himself ask out-loud to cease his jitters, and his voice bounced around the long dark of the tunnel.
The Teen Titan slowly lifted himself up, while reaching for the side of the well carved cavern. The sides had grooves that were formed from some sort of a massive drilling machine, and while he looked at his hand, he felt the sensation of dark dirt crumbling between his fingers.
He was grabbing hold of the wall with a firm and steady grip, and this sort of monumental excavating project was apparently not done over the course of a single night, or even during the week. Cyborg's computerized half of his brain fed him more mathematical facts of what he was observing. It appeared that whoever drilled this, had planned it out for months, and with an unyielding loyal army of robot commandos to do ones own bidding, the mystery of how it could have been achieved so quickly was solved.
His red scanning left eye revealed a more clear and night-vision scope of his surroundings. As he looked to his mechanical hand, he released a bit of carbon dioxide from his body, and the appearance of his physical form always reminded him, of everything that he had lost during the accident.
"Come on Cyborg, not now." He gave himself a bit of a pep-talk to encourage himself onwards, while his voice echoed about the long cave. "There will be plenty of time later to deal with that. Now is not that time!"
*Cyborg . . . Cyborg come in. Do you read me?*
The sudden voice of Robin in his built-in communicator, within the portion of his left wrist played.
"Robin! Dang, I never thought I would be so happy to hear your voice again." He chuckled, while he flipped his arm over to see the screen image of his ally.
*Oh Thank God! Are you hurt?*
"No, no, nothing too bad. A little scuffed up, some dings and dents, but I'm alright."
*Just hang on. Raven and me are finishing things up here, and we'll be down to get* - - - *to you in a moment. Any sign of Cinderblock?*
"Okay." Cyborg replied, he felt his attention recenter on the image after glancing about his surroundings. "No sign of the big guy. He sure can move awfully quick."
A couple blaster shots whizzed past Robin's head on the camera. He ducked as more of the white noise garbled his transmission. Raven was noticed in the background, unleashing her powers at the waves of sladebots that continued their attack.
"I don't know what to expect Robin. But I can assume that whatever it is, it won't be good." Cyborg charged his right arm and formed the sonic cannon, aiming it precariously at the open tunnel that was churning his interests to explore.
*What - - - do you see?*
"I'm in a tunnel of some kind, it's man-made and there are tracks that lead somewhere."
He knelt alongside the two long metal bars, they appeared to be train-tracks and he was careful not to touch them as he peered ahead of him. If they were, they would have been electrified and he did not want to risk getting shocked, where the glowing bulbs about the walls revealed there was something of a power source, running in his direction.
Behind him the ceiling that he had fallen through was just too high to climb his way out of, while directly to his front, a pathway that led somewhere spurned his gaze. He was determined to survive, and he did not want to wait for anybody to rescue him.
"It could be my ticket out of here."
*What was that, I'm sorry your end cut-out a bit. There is some interference happening on my end, and I couldn't catch that last part."
Cyborg rolled his eye. "I think I have a way to get out of here, but, all of those sladebots didn't just originate from out of thin-air. They came from somewhere, and this tunnel is the best bet to find that source."
Robin's mask that covered his eyes widened with anticipation, and excitement. *Are you saying that - - - -*
"Robin. ROBIN!" Cyborg harrumphed. "Dang it. Robin . . . Robin this is Cyborg, do you copy?"
He waited a moment to check if his leader would respond, only no answer came.
"Something is interfering with my communicator's signal." The gear-head slowly rose back to his full height, and he turned off the device. "They can handle the clean-up fine without me. In the meantime, if this path is going in the direction I think that it is, and with what my gut is telling me about the things I already know, then maybe I should follow it."
Cyborg took a deep breath to calm his nerves a little as he was on his own, heading into the famed lions den. Or at the very least, a way back to the surface.
"Okay, okay I can do this. Even without the others, where if that is what it means to take risks, and to prove myself to be a capable leader, then I guess it will have to do."
While he began to trek forwards, his red-eye and the scanners built into his body to alert him, they did not detect the camera that was focused on him. One that was fixated on him the instant he had awoken from the drop.
"In order to lead others, I first have to lead myself out of this pit."
His gut instinct was of a constantly stronger pull about everything, and it was partially due to where he was heading. Every fiber and even the robotic parts were telling him, that he was heading into more danger. It reminded him to keep his guard up and to stay alert. The giant concrete criminal that had taken the ride down with him was still nowhere to be found.
Cyborg walked very close to the wall within the dark and forbidding tunnel, keeping one hand against it, and his free arm out as his main line of defense. With every trepidatious step taken, he felt his heart-rate increase while his feet carried him even deeper into the unknown.
{{End Of Scene}}
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