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 35 is all set! The new dawn brings a renewed strength to the hearts of the brave heroes, yet a looming shadow quickly dwarfs the illuminance of hope. "One must not play on the nose of a sleeping bear." -German saying on Prudence-
Chapter 35 - Conflagration
The curtains within the hospital room were pulled back, causing the rays of morning sunlight to pour inside, and down upon the face of the severely beaten and injured young man. The outside glow brought a refreshing warmth of comfort, as the cold blackness of a deep sleep gradually dissipated.
Falcon groaned, as he twisted and turned his head across the cool silk pillows. He was not yet adjusted to the strangeness of his hospital quarters, but then who can?
Ugh. Why do mornings have to be so difficult?
"Rise and shine little song bird." An unknown heavy-set woman's voice cooed about him. "Tis a new day, and tis time for your breakfast."
"Huh . . . wha-what day is it?"
"It's Thursday honey. At almost seven in the morning I might add."
"Thursday morning? Oh, um, thank you."
His bed was adjusted by the Jamaican nurse, where he felt his chest being pushed upwards by the mechanical contraption, like it was a fancy folding chair.
His right ankle that had been elevated and bandaged, it was covered beneath the sheets. He wiggled his toes to check that he could still move his limbs. His torso was very tender, as the stitches to his chest began to itch and burn.
As he lightly scratched the irritating bumps, a platter of food on a metal tray was placed across his lap.
"Mmmm-hmmm." The heavy set woman hummed. "You just sit up straight, and make yourself comfortable."
The teenager rubbed the back of his neck with great care. He felt groggy, and he yawned. He could not recall the last time he slept so deeply, where he felt a renewal of his strength, slowly coming back to him.
Most patients in hospitals had to share rooms with total strangers, yet this eye-patch wearing drifter, he was fortunate enough to have a room, all to himself.
The aroma from the morning meal was nice. A cup of orange juice was his beverage, there was toast he could coat with butter and honey in their packets placed to a side, and there was a neatly stacked layer of sausage with eggs. This smell soothingly whiffed upwards and tickled his nose.
"Thank-you." he said.
"Its just part of my job hon." The plump medical worker smiled after saying this.
Hospital food tended not to be the most appealing, some facilities could offer better gourmet meals than others, but for most patients, the selection of food was rather poor and of low quality.
Still, to have no alternatives to find sustenance, one makes the most of what is available. The young man's stomach made some strange noises, where he did not realize how famished he actually was.
Most teenagers tended to skip breakfast and grab a simple granola bar, or an apple on their way out the door; others typically had a bowl of cereal before rushing out to start the day. To have a wholesome meal, this added into a person's routine, where this was enough to churn any growing young man's appetite.
Damn. When was the last time I ate? Falcon thought, as he began to open the fork and knife that were sealed in plastic.
His stomach grumbled again, and he blushed.
"You're a hungry little bird."
Falcon put his fork into a slice of the egg, and he took a bite.
"Hmmm-hmmm."
"And how are we feeling today?" The kind nurse asked, as she moved around the bed to check on the machines and the I.V. line that had been keeping a steady concoction of morphine, pumping into his wrist.
"I feel - I don't know how to describe it?" he began to cut up his breakfast with his utensils, and he took a few more bites.
"Well, your charts look good. Still, you are going to have a busy day, where after you eat, some physical therapy is in order."
"Physical therapy?" Falcon cocked his right eyebrow up in bewilderment. "It's my right ankle that is injured, but I should be able to manage just fine. I mean, I could technically be able to leave in like what, a day or so?"
The nurse walked around him, jotting down a few notes from the clipboard attached to the front of his bed, then she shook her head in clear disagreement.
"The doctor will be in, to go over things with you a little later on. In the meantime, you just rest and eat up."
"G-r-e-a-t." Falcon enunciated slowly, where his appetite was now lost.
"Oh come now child. This is all part of the process. With what you have gone through, it is only the next step to-"
"I know, I know." The wounded teen cut her off. "Don't worry, I got it."
The seventeen-year-old revealed a scrunched-up expression, as his face became wrinkled. A sharp jolt of pain, shot up his back and across his midsection.
Exhaustion was an understatement to how he could describe things. He was sore and bruised, where all of these things numbed him as he dwelled in a complete silence over the events he had been apart of.
Perhaps a few days of extra rest might not be so bad.
Falcon did not say or think anything further, as he had a splitting headache that thumped sharply against his cranium. Suddenly, her voice carried an echo, and the room had a strange tilt to it, causing much deeper wrinkles to form across his brow.
"Every-ting will be al-right dear child." The older woman spoke again as she helped him sit upright. She placed a hand behind the pillows to fluff them, and she continued with, "Just lay back, it will take but a moment."
"Ugh . . . what the heck?"
After he squinted his left eye, it became clearer that she was a rather rotund African American woman, somewhere in her mid-forties. She gave off a vibe, that she was a proud practitioner of her work in the medical field, and being a nurse was quite the honorable profession one could be apart of.
"Why is everything so . . . loopy and fuzzy?" Falcon blinked as he pressed a hand to his forehead. The migraine was increasingly potent, and the confusion of his surroundings was disorienting.
"Take it easy little one, easy now. Tis the medicine they have you under. Da pain suppressants do dull away ya pain, but there be some side effects. Dizziness to da bright lights, an upset stomach, a ringing in da ears . . . all of tis passes after a bit of time."
Falcon took a moment to breathe, in order to reorient himself with everything. For some reason, the documentary on a hibernating Grizzly Bear came to his thinking, and how the wild beast would be very aggressive following its overdue awakening.
"So. This is normal then?"
"Precisely child." she answered. "Now, you just sit tight and enjoy yourself. I have to make my rounds for da other patients."
The one eyed teenager felt his head sway to the left, then back to the right as he dozed in and out of consciousness. It was very rough, in trying to awaken from the deep slumber following the medical procedure to save his life, but this was an entirely different struggle.
The name of Susan was on the badge across her left breast pocket, and the golden shimmer of the background caught his eye.
"Say . . . um nurse." he asked.
"Yes?"
He closed his left eye, and the dizziness that a sailor on a listing ship could feel during a raging storm, that unbalancing 'feeling' swiftly hit him. He collected his thoughts during this short pause, and he reawakened to the world.
"Never mind." he muttered.
"Pay it no worries. You just eat your breakfast and rest-up now."
The sudden itching from stitches against his upper left chest, caused him to cringe. His lower right ankle felt stiff and swollen.
He knew that he would have a bad limp if he could walk, and the black eyepatch over his right-eye, made him feel like he had earned more battle wounds. The cover across his solid white eye with elongated scars, this made him dwell over another single eyed person.
No, not him. Not here!
A short time after he thought this, the nurse left and she shut the door behind her.
Falcon found himself alone. It was too quiet, there were no other patients in the room with him, as another empty bed next to him could be used, but currently it was vacant.
The steady beeping of monitors that were attached to him, gave him small comfort that he was in a secure and safe place to heal.
He sniffed his hospital gown, the light blue fabric was starting to irritate him. It was of a very light form of cloth or cotton, it almost felt like he was wearing a paper sheet. He did not know where his clothing had been stored.
"Funny, one never realizes how even the simplest things, can have such a profound impact." He pulled at the shirt collar, and he felt his head slowly roll back into the pillows.
Oh how he missed taking a nice hot shower.
As he glanced towards the large window, skyscrapers and the towering buildings across the landscape made him feel incredibly small. His attention was drawn back to his plate of food, and the effort of bringing this for him to eat humbled him.
He smirked before saying, "Well, I better not let this go to waste. After all, I don't know when I may eat another hot meal."
Having been rescued was the next thing that came to his mind, and he could not remember who saved him from his dire fate. Only a strange girl with blue hair, and a soothing voice greeted him in the dark.
The breakfast was devoured surprisingly fast, and he had consumed the hearty supplement to refuel his depleted energy. He then stretched the stiff joints in his fingers and neck, where the popping and cracking sound brought a notion of an alignment that his body was out-of-sink with.
He pushed the tray to the side, and his mind began to drift as it would when he had some moment of reprieve. The new threat he had not expected to encounter, was the tedious boredom that began to fester and stew within himself.
Meditation was something he had control over, and after releasing a deep breath, he closed his eye and felt the area around him grow steadily silent.
The walls felt like they were creeping inwards, and the florescent lighting buzzed in his eardrums. Even the ambient sound of machines, the distant echo of voices in the hall was tuned out.
He wanted to reunite with The Titans, he wanted to leave the hospital. Unfortunately, he was confined to the bed. The drugs made him feel sick, where even the slightest of movement caused a twist in his stomach to tighten.
Falcon could not fully feel his lower ankle where the only relief he had, was that it was still attached. The pair of mounds beneath the covers revealed to him, that both of his legs were still there.
He slowed his heart-rate down through a steady breathing pattern, in and out from his nostrils. He gradually regained his center balance, he focused so impeccably hard to maintain that calmness of the mind.
A spreading pit of his failures felt like it was drowning him. He had to navigate his way around this, and the stack of his faults only became more bothersome. It was like the pieces that form into a large puzzle, and the picture began to come together.
Now was his time to reflect, to heal and to recover where being confined to a bed made him desire above anything else, for his meditation to bring back a feeling of control. Even the comforts of the large canine Sibs, the proud German Shepherd that he met in the abandoned junkyard, the curious pup brought a bond of affection that he had long since forgotten.
I hope that The Titans are taking care of him. Surely Starfire is.
He regretted many things, from bickering against the team so harshly, at first with words and then in his actions. He had told them to keep their distance, and to not touch his bare skin.
Grievances were made, yet no peace had fully been offered by him to them. The Teen Titans had given him a room, and a place amongst their ranks. They had given him a welcomed home to establish himself as a member of their clan.
The Grey Necromancer felt ashamed, he was deeply upset over the foul pattern he had developed. Everyone of their close-knit family had tried to offer peace, solace, and friendship where he stubbornly refused.
All of them except for Raven, where the two colliding forces were at complete opposite ends, and they fought bitterly during his brief stay.
What could I tell them, or anybody?
Within the short time together, what surprised Falcon was how determined they were, to become true friends. Gradually, that strained fellowship began to change for the better. Falcon began to change, and he realized he could lean onto others.
It was a hard pill to swallow, but at the time he did not really understand what it was to forge a friendship when for so long, he had been abandoned. He had kept them all away, now however that he realized the errors of his mistakes, and his short temper, there was a part of him that wanted to make amends.
For years, the drifter only spent all of his energy and attention on his mission. It brought him thus far, where the purpose of everything had always been to defeat Slade. For revenge, and if he were to die in the process it did not matter.
Falcon was unsure of how they would react, should the truth ever be known of how he gained his abilities. If what his connection to Slade was, if it ever became revealed and how his childhood was robbed, in part because of his own doing, and of other factors too traumatic for any child to carry, was there any compassion they were willing to embrace with him?
The barcode tattooed on the back of his neck was evidence enough, like the numbers printed into the wrists of the undesired classes of society, during the Holocaust.
He was a discarded child turned weapon, and people in places of power felt a strategy that could benefit them.
They took me in, they gave me a room and a place amongst them. But they were never part of my mission.
This was a constant reminder to the horror he had unleashed as a child. His home was burned to ashes, his family was lost, and all he had was the potent rage to end the man that dropped him off at Arkham Asylum.
Slade was entrusted to watch over Falcon's family, yet all the one eyed adult did was to leave the child at a place that could contain him. He realized that the trust he had with this guardian, was forever shattered.
The boy was branded like some cheap piece of cattle, being led to the slaughterhouse as scientists and therapists prodded and poked, tested and retested him. He was a prisoner, to be used as a pawn in a larger diabolical game, along with countless other discarded and unwanted children. Slowly, their faces came to his mind.
"I'm sorry. I am so, so sorry." he pleaded, hoping beyond anything that he could be forgiven by these long since dead fellow patients. Falcon felt tears for getting a second chance to live, when so many others were lost.
It was here in this miserable hell, of the wet cramped area in the lowest levels of that facility on the island, that the young boy had been left to perish. Instead, he found a deeper strength to survive, and even thrive.
It was built upon hate that devoured his depression. This vengeance became something much more, and he realized there was something else tugging him along.
"You should have died many times. But you are a true warrior. A soldier of high caliber." A dark voice echoed in his eardrums. "Slade underestimated you."
Falcon kept his left eye shut, to ignore the entity within. He tried very hard and diligently to overcome this taunt, striving to grasp the present reality.
"So did I." The sinister voice continued.
"I won't listen to this."
"It is now twice that he has failed to eliminate you."
Falcon shook his head. Not saying a word.
As a child he read from an ancient tome, and he unleashed a demonic shadow. The powers that bound the two physical beings together, it allowed him incredible gifts, supernatural abilities that he never dreamed. Of course, there was a price to be paid.
At the cost of his right eye, he was granted a multitude of powers to control shadows, to generate fire from his hands, to see people's memories just by skin contact alone. The loss of his mother, this was a sacrifice to open the portal.
It was here, in this empty shadow of death that he blacked out, and the remnants of what he had left was destroyed. Like a burning phoenix rising from the ashes, but everything of his past had been sacrifced.
The fight at the Jump City Railway Station, his duel with Slade brought it all spinning back to him.
I failed them! I failed my mission, I failed . . . myself. He scoffed with disgust, as the faces of hundreds of teenagers and discarded children, like lifeless dolls were thrown on-top of him in the mass grave.
"He thinks you are dead. This is the perfect opportunity, as he will never expect you to come back from that."
The seventeen-year-old breathed for a moment, to bring a balance over the constant rush of thoughts that held him down, and made him feel weak. He had a bounty of superpowers, a vast assortment of strengths that no average person could ever wield.
To the one-eyed Necromancer, it felt more like a curse than a blessing to hear this voice. It would goad him, whispering evil things while he slept.
"Even with all your strengths, your greatest hopes and dashing boldness . . . you still flaunt your failures, like the shackles on some meager slave." The cold and merciless voice hissed.
"You did this to me." Falcon squeezed his fists turning his knuckles white, while the anger and torment he had been battling most of his life was eating away at him. "There is no greater torment than knowing he is still out there, and I - I am stuck here."
"You turned to me then, you will do so again."
Falcon reopened his eyes, there was no question what was burning brightly inside of him, like a raging inferno in a fireplace that danced and ate its way through a Yuletide Log. It was such a bizarre feeling, more of a hypnotic trance that whispered dark thoughts in the night.
"You know what it is that you want. So why lie to yourself?"
"I am NOT a slave, demon!" Falcon clenched his teeth as his eyes were filling with tears. "Not to you, not to anybody!"
"The truth is that you are a slave. A slave to your past. A slave to your failures. By taking my offer, you can finally be free. Unstoppable!"
The teenager stared at the mirror that was attached to the back of the bathroom door, and his image reflected his scars, battle wounds and injuries that all caused him to tremble.
"Admit it. I am the reason you lived, how you survived when everyone else perished. I am the source of your greatest powers!"
"No!" Falcon squeezed his fists again, his palms began to sweat. "You - you are wrong."
"Give in to me, and there will be nothing to hold you back."
The seventeen-year-old felt the weakened state of his broken body gradually dissipate, and a surprising energy revitalized his devastated spirit. Each time he was confronted with an insurmountable challenge, the entity would whisper to him this taunt.
Every time it grew bolder, and sounded appealing yet he refused to play by its rules. Clearly for Falcon, there was something it wanted, and it haunted him ever since he made that fateful bargain.
"You are in this place, because you are injured. You are injured because you pushed me away."
"Nobody is going to take this path away from me." Falcon's eye squinted after he looked at the mirror. "I will do it without you, just as I have always planned." he whispered under his breath.
Slowly, he noticed the image of himself in the mirror bounce back something unusual, of pure evil. His ashen colored face in the glass became distorted; a flare of crimson was noticed in place of his brown eye, and a sinister smirk expanded across his lips.
"So. You are feeling as you did before. The rage is still burning within you, after all these years. That is good."
"You are NOTHING to me!" Falcon barked, his vocal cords were harsh and a bit of a gravelly tone was heard.
"Foolish child! I am as much a part of you, as your very shadow. I will always be with you."
Falcon felt his eyelids shut, and he took three long breaths to calm his heart rate.
He was aggravated beyond exchanging bitter words with this darkness. It was the creature of his nightmares, the demon lord from the ancient tome he had read as an ambitious child. He wanted beyond anything else to revert something permanent, to alter the past, to change what cannot be changed.
"Give in to me boy, and you will be out of this hospital in minutes!"
Falcon felt tears travel down his face, the crisp winter snow of the memory was lightly falling around him again. He wept, and in the harsh element of night, he was found by the one-eyed man who his father had trusted his very life with.
"Just leave me be!"
As Falcon cried this, the front door was opened and the noise of patients and hospital staff walked by, where the teenager quickly turned his head as he wiped his tears away. The reflection in the mirror also reverted back to normal.
Standing in the doorway were Mr. Kennedy, and the child of six years old in her wheelchair. The pair had entered his quarters without knocking, and he was baffled at her eagerness in befriending such a downtrodden drifter.
"Forgive me . . ." The one eyed teen clutched a hand to his forehead after saying this.
"Let me guess, another headache?" The medical aid implied.
Falcon gradually nodded his head in agreement to conceal his tracks, and then he said, "I'll be alright. So Gretchen, what's the number of origami cranes we are going to make for today?"
The six-year-old's smile beamed brightly. Gretchen was so full of life and joy, where the pain of her illness made the knot in the Fire Wielder's stomach, to twist even further.
What cruelty is this, for any child to be stricken with this horrible affliction?
"Oh, about three-hundred should be good!" The Leukemia patient answered.
"Now that is a high goal indeed." The old teenager replied.
"But not impossible." Ryan Kennedy said, as he set up the the arts and crafts upon a nearby counter.
"Nothing is impossible!" The high spirited girl quickly turned around.
Falcon smiled, Mr. Kennedy let out a chuckle, and Gretchen giggled.
I suppose there can be a ray of strength, in even the bleakest of times after all.
(~)
"That's when he handed me a letter." The ex-Titan reached down and she clutched at her knees. "And when I looked up again, he was just . . . gone."
"Huh." Beast Boy replied as he rubbed her shoulder gently. "Well, there is a lot to go over in the mind, sure, but at least some of it is coming back."
Terra leaned back in her seat, the world was spinning and she had discussed everything about the incident, of the old man that she crossed paths with outside of her school.
That silver haired girl . . . she said something to me before we parted company. If only I could remember what she - wait . . .
"Terra, what is it?" asked Beast Boy, as he noticed the expression on her face shift into a contorted frown.
The door to the Common Room opened, and in walked Delphi. Her long white cloak was swaying about her, as the hood was pulled back, and her silk smooth hair was partially covering her right eye.
"You!" The ex-Titan sputtered as she turned to confront the other teenager.
The attractive priestess stopped dead in her tracks, while going to the kitchen to get a cup of tea ready for herself. The mood was transitioning from a pleasant morning, into a new heated argument.
"Yes?" Delphi responded.
The blonde in the wheelchair sensed the eyes of Beast Boy locked onto her now. Dammit. She thought. I don't want to cause a scene. Not here, not now. The others are going to be back any minute. Get ahold of yourself Terra.
The ex-Titan took a slow and deep breath, her hands were slightly trembling and she quickly forced her temper to be cooled.
"I uh . . . I wanted to know if you got the message from the others?" Terra gulped.
Following a brief and awkward silence between the three teenagers, the Squadron member smirked and she nodded her head. "Last I checked, they were all on their way back here."
"All except for Cyborg." Beast Boy chimed in with his rasping voice, causing both girls to turn and glance in his direction. "The Tin-Man said something about having to take care of some personal matters."
"What-ever that means." Terra quipped.
Delphi had finished getting the kettle set on the stove, where Raven told her where the stash of the herbal tea was located. After pulling the doors open, she uncovered the ingredients, and she began getting things prepared.
With her back turned, the seventeen-year-old outsider shrugged her shoulders before responding with, "Well, he is a popular fellow. From what all the media outlets say on the talk shows."
"I never really cared for the gossip." Terra replied. "It's all just pointless garbage anyway."
"Cyborg has a lot to look into." Beast Boy spoke up again. "He actually goes down to the amputee ward at the local hospital, with returning veterans and the like, to bring moral support to the community."
"You don't say?" The ex-Titan cocked an eyebrow at him.
The heat on the stove began to grow hotter by the second, where the flame underneath held the attention of Delphi's total focus.
She was just staring into the small fire, mesmerized as though she were in a deep trance of some kind.
"I never knew that about the big-guy." Terra was genuinely impressed. "Huh."
The green changeling smirked, and he began to fidget with his fingers across his lap. "There is a lot of stuff that we all do around Jump City, things the media doesn't really seem to care to cover because . . . well most people just tune into the ratings of the latest villain, or bad-guy we do battle with."
"Right."
"But there is a whole lot more about being a hero, than just capturing criminals and stopping bank robbers."
The blonde was deeply humbled by this. For the longest time, she had thought only a certain way about the renowned heroes of Jump City, or any superhero league for that matter. Yet with his explanation, it made the more compassionate elements about her old team, become much more clear and honorable.
Beast Boy cleared his throat before continuing his speech, "See, there is a kid Cyborg mentors, a young boy who we met at the park one day. He has a prosthetic arm, and the kid really took a liking to the big-guy, following him around at any public events like a lost puppy. He-he."
A dog's barking was heard, and the German Shepherd trotted into the Common Room with his tail wagging behind him.
"Well now." Terra answered as she petted the playful hound. "So he has his own personal fan-club? That must be some service."
"We all do." The shapeshifter chuckled while scratching the back of his neck with his good left hand. The cast over his right arm was still an unfortunate sight to view, while his left leg was also concealed beneath a red blanket, covering his other injury.
The kettle on the stove began to hiss, and the Squadron heroine turned off the flame to pour herself a cup. Terra watched the other girl getting her tea ready, and she began to clean the counter.
Beast Boy during this interruption, was focused entirely on the blonde. With her face down towards the dog, as he gave her wet kisses, she still sensed his eyes were concentrated upon her.
"You know . . . the others are probably going to be back any minute." He spoke, after looking to his wrist-watch that Raven had given him.
"Right." Terra remarked, as she refocused onto him once more.
Sibs barked and he hurried over to Beast Boy, begging to be petted.
Delphi began to dip the tea-bag a few times, and the scent whiffed upwards in a small snake-like pattern.
"Perhaps breakfast is in order?" The changeling spoke up, and he stretched his arms behind his head. "Being unable to help out there in the city streets and all, and well, I feel that this could be something we could do."
"Sure." The skinny blue eyed girl rasped while nodding her head from the corner.
The pair of teenagers in their wheelchairs, rolled to the kitchen and they began to set things out. Of course, Beast Boy only grabbed Tofu and soy based products, including almond milk, while the white cloaked girl took a sip of her drink, and she smirked.
"What's so funny?" Beast Boy asked, while he got a few bowls and a whisk ready.
"I don't think that, that . . . is what the others had in mind for a starting meal for the day." Delphi quipped, as she placed her tea down.
"Oh no?"
"Um Beast Boy, perhaps you can make something . . . that isn't vegan for once?" Terra replied.
The green hero's pointy ears drooped a little, like a dog when being scolded by its owner.
"Maybe a run for donuts will be the ticket then?" Terra shrugged her shoulders. "Everybody likes donuts and bagels, right?"
"And fruit." Delphi raised her cup once more to her lips. "Stand aside, let me see what we have here a-a-a-a-a-n-d . . . nope. Nothing much really. Good call Terra."
"There are some leftovers from the party last night." The blonde pulled out a box of pizza, the slices were cold and she sniffed it. "It smells alright."
"I think that your idea, is perfect."
Terra raised an eyebrow again. "About the pizza?"
Delphi chuckled while shaking her head. "The bagels Terra."
"Oh."
"But neither you nor Beast Boy are allowed to leave. At least in the injured states that you both are in right now, I can't have you getting in a bind out there. Slade is still on the prowl, and with who knows what schemes he is planning, it's just a bad case of any number of things that could go wrong."
Beast Boy stroked his chin before responding with, "Well, that is a conundrum then, isn't it."
"Luckily for you both, I can run this little errand and be back in a blink." Delphi took one last sip of her tea, and she tipped it to salute them. Then she approached the wall towards the side.
"Huh?" Terra and Beast Boy both said at once.
"What are you-"
"Where are you-"
The attractive priestess turned her back, her blue eyes turned white as she pulled out a small card from her belt, and upon tossing it along the wall, she chanted: "Latrop ot Pmuj Ytic, Nepo!" (Portal To Jump City, Open!)
A blast of sudden light expanded from the place the mysterious enchanted card was thrown, where a new gateway, the size of a door encased in complete shadows formed. The black portal revealed itself as something similar to what Raven would create.
"Whoa!" Beast Boy gasped. "When could you do that?"
Delphi shifted her hood over her profile, as her white eyes turned blue once more. "I'm heading into town. I checked on the map where the local bakeries are, and I found what was a popular hot-place."
"Mind if we tag along?" Terra rubbed her elbow after saying this.
"I think it would be most wise, for you both to stay put. I'll go and pick up the breakfast, where it won't take long."
"Wait, who is going to help us if we need back-up?"
The German Shepherd barked, where Sibs sat in the middle of the pair of injured teenagers.
"I think you guys will be quite alright. The rest of the gang should be back soon, and you have the dog." Delphi gave a quick nod, and then she walked into the black void, vanishing before their very eyes.
There was a brief pause that lingered, and it was ended by the dog barking at the wall that the girl had mysteriously walked through.
"Well, isn't she just full of surprises." Beast Boy smirked.
"I'll say." Terra deadpanned, then she placed the items back into the fridge and she took a deep breath prior to continuing in a whisper, "She is just like her."
"Who?" Beast Boy asked as his left ear twitched.
Terra frowned. "She reminds me of . . . well . . . she is kinda like Raven."
"Oh." The changeling blinked. "I guess she kinda is. Where do you think she learned to do that?"
"I'm not sure. Something about being a Rune Knight, of working with a guy by the name of . . . Constantine . . . I think?"
"Huh." Beast Boy's fang that jetted from his lips caught her gaze. "I don't reckon I ever met him, or that group before."
"Neither have I."
Silence.
"So, while she is out getting breakfast, what was it that you wanted to try and tell me before?" Beast Boy resumed his attention back onto the blonde.
"She . . . she said something to me before I came here. You heard her, she said some kind of . . . chant or something."
"Who? Raven?"
"Delphi." Terra snapped, and she shook her head in a clearly disgruntled fashion. "I couldn't remember all the details of the past week, and everything was just a blur of . . . well, it just . . . and then she said something like that, out in the hall and it all came flooding back!"
Beast Boy placed his left hand onto hers, trying to soothe the discomfort.
"It doesn't matter." Terra finally spoke, pulling her hand away. "So long as I don't know what happened to that letter that old man gave me. And without that letter, I don't know where . . . I just . . . it's all just a blank."
"Give it time. These things will come back to you."
A very long pause lingered this time, and it finally ended when Beast Boy continued with,"Terra, you can tell me anything. You know that, right?"
The ex-Titan kept her eyes to the floor, not looking at him.
"There was something in that letter, wasn't there?"
Terra still said nothing.
"It's alright." Beast Boy rubbed his chin. "Look, the gang isn't here just yet, and we can go somewhere . . . well, more privet and talk about this if you wanted."
She took a deep inhaling breath, all of the conflict and deceit, the steps that led her to this place was starting to come back, but there were still critical pieces missing.
"I'll be alright." Terra sniffed. "I think I just need a minute."
Beast Boy smiled his charming grin, where Terra looked up from the floor and finally said, "That letter I told you about . . . it had to deal with my . . . brother."
(~)
The journey for the pair of sister teammates was at last coming to a close. They had flown a great distance, and like the rest of their allies who had been out all night, now they were finally about to reach their destination.
The structure of the famous 'T' shaped building was at last in sight, rising out from the sea as they reached closer to the island. The feeling of joy superseded any dread that worried the blue cloaked Empath.
I'm almost home Beast Boy. I'm almost home.
Raven gradually descended onto the rooftop with Starfire in tow. The sun continued to glow brightly across their backs, while out over the water, the sparkling shimmer danced upon the tumbling waves.
Raven took a moment to catch her bearings, as the spot she was standing was where she and Beast Boy had shared their first passionate kiss, overlooking the bay. Beast Boy had leaned in, and Raven did not reject his advance.
Her heart beat a little faster, while the palms of her hands became sweaty.
For how exhausted they were, a new jolt of energy was coursing through the grey girl's blood. She did not want to leave him last night, but duty required her to put that aside and carry on with her mission.
"We are home at last. Is it not glorious?" Starfire asked while she hovered in mid-air.
The Empath smirked. "Yes, it sure is nice to be back."
While the teenagers stood to stretch their legs, The Tamaranean Princess had observed something different about the other attractive girl.
"Raven?"
"Yes?"
"It would seem that you are . . . um . . . well, in my native tongue there is a word for it, but here on earth, it is something called . . . of the glowing, is this correct?"
"What?" Raven sputtered while quickly turning around.
"Forgive me friend, but from the events at the party, to the tasks of last night, something is different in you."
Raven raised an eyebrow. She did not want to give away all the details of what had occurred between her and the green shapeshifter, where it was still too early to break the news to anybody, when there was still so much to sort through.
"Well, it was a long night. I barely got any sleep. I believe that goes for the lot of us though, running on fumes as we race from one urgent problem to the next." Raven revealed a slight smirk. "I'm relieved Starfire."
The redhead smiled back. "I too am relieved. It is a comforting feeling to know, that the others are safe, and we are going to be reunited with our friends once again."
"Come, lets go inside."
Raven turned, praying that this explanation was enough to hold her sister off. Everything felt calm, and as she was leading her teammate towards the entrance, Starfire's gentle voice caught the Empath unprepared.
"Last night, you were meditating up here." Starfire turned to look at her shadow that was cresting upon the wall. "Beast Boy came up shortly after to speak with you."
Raven felt a gut-punch reaction, her jubilation to have finished things was quickly eroding into a game of twenty-questions. The romantic moment was being peeked into, by her nosey yet overly compassionate ally.
"Yes, he did come up." Raven gulped. Her back was turned yet her cheeks felt to be turning warm.
Starfire brushed a strand of hair away from her face, and then she answered, "I see."
"There was a lot that has happened, and with the discomfort of Terra being back, well, I needed a moment to breathe, and to . . . to get a deeper sense of clarity."
"Forgive me, it was not my intention to stir up bitter feelings." Starfire felt sorrow. "While the topic of Terra is still an uneasy thing to discuss, but Raven, there truly is no other option to avoid this. She is here to stay, until this ordeal with Slade is completed."
"I know."
Starfire looked up once more, her compassion towards her friend was pouring out, overflowing like water dripping over the rim of a glass under the faucet. She understood what this difficult situation must have been like, for the female goth.
"There have been hard times, for each of us. Does Terra not deserve a second chance?"
There was an uncomfortable silence that lingered, the Grey Sorceress was partially turned away and looking down at her blue boots. The Sorceress took a deep breath to navigate through this.
"We gave her a second chance, remember? The day she came back to us, the day Slade unleashed those underground worms to destroy The Tower. And how did she repay us? Not with thanks . . . but with deception, trickery, and lies!" Raven felt the anger had overtaken the happy moment, and after she sighed she continued with, "Forgive me Starfire . . . I didn't mean to shout at you."
"There is no need to apologize. The topic of Terra can be, well . . . difficult. So that is why Beast Boy came up. I . . . I see it now."
"We did give her a second chance though." Raven reaffirmed.
The green eyed teenager frowned, and then she placed her right hand onto the grey female's shoulder. "This is a difficult time for us all, but we must not splinter apart. Not now. Not after all that we have overcome."
Raven smiled in response. "Starfire . . . you really can have the temperament of a six year old, always questioning anything and everything around you." she then pulled her hood over her face, to hide herself away.
"It was never my intention to cause distress." The stunning redhead clasped her hands by her side. "I am merely observing that, well, something has changed in recent days."
"There has been a lot that has developed, I couldn't disagree on that statement. If your curious as to why I am 'glowing' as you state, it's because I am finally back home, and I can get some rest."
"Yes. We all can surely use it."
Raven turned and began making her way to the door, when she heard the footsteps behind her not picking up. The cloaked teenager sighed again. "What is it now?"
"Raven. Were you able to talk with him, like you had planned?"
The attractive princess smiled while closing her eyes briefly. She knew in her bones, deep down to the marrow that a change had in fact taken place for her beloved sister.
"Do you remember when we were inside the hospital, awaiting the doctor's news about our friends situation?" Starfire asked, slowly reopening her eyes.
"Yes . . . it was a while ago, but I remember it. Why?"
"You were telling me that you required time to . . . sort through things. That you were upon unstable ground, but there was something that you were hoping to achieve."
"What are you-"
"It is okay Raven." Starfire's smile beamed very wide. "Come, let us head inside. Perhaps breakfast is readily awaiting us?"
The Tamaranean stepped in front of her comrade, where she waved her hand over the sensor and the door slid open.
Raven was left pondering what thoughts were truly going on inside of the other teenager's head, to bring up those things after they had a brief discussion about this topic from much earlier.
She only knows that Beast Boy and me are close . . . she understands how I feel, but that is it. Raven's rasping voice echoed in her head. The rest is all just speculation and theory on her part, But I didn't tell anybody a single thing.
Starfire tilted her head prior to saying, "There are many things to feel, where it is normal to be confused."
"What is it exactly, that you are bringing up Starfire?" The Empath questioned with her cold expression. "Are you saying that something is going on between Beast Boy and me?"
The redhead stood in the doorway, and as she turned she smiled with her eyes locked onto the other girl. "It is okay to feel this way Raven. The fear of the unknown, the doubts and the loss of direction."
"What?"
The tall and attractive redhead glanced down the stairs, and she continued speaking. "That feeling, it is how I felt with Robin."
Raven blushed, her normally ashen grey face was a shade brighter. Even with her hood covering any expression she could make, the steady focus of the other girl's unbroken gaze was a difficult thing to evade.
"Starfire-"
"Come friend. Let us go to the Common Room. Surely the others have all returned by now, and I am most curious to hear about all of their adventures." The Tamaranean Princess nodded, gesturing to not delay any longer.
Raven stood at the top of the stairwell, unable to budge as her heart and mind raced with countless scenarios that would inevitably unravel. Her typically cold and blank expression was still present, but something had become exposed.
As the Tamaranean was fixated on her teammate, a door inside the stairwell slid open, where the princess glanced to the interloper.
"Hey guys, you okay?" A commanding voice from below them echoed, where a distinctive figure emerged catching both girls unawares.
"Robin!" Starfire smiled happily as she always did, and she flew over and embraced her romantic partner in a powerful hug.
Although it could not be viewed from the loving couple, as they were intertwined in one another's arms, Raven at the top smiled.
"How was the trip back?" The Empath asked, interrupting the couple.
Robin cleared his throat before responding with, "Uneventful. You?"
Raven walked past him, and then she answered, "Same."
The three Titans quickly left the stairwell, and they made their way through the Tower, heading for The Common Room. The Empath was in front of their small group, while the whole time Robin and Starfire were linked arm in arm, clearly thankful to be together again.
Raven had not told anybody what had happened. Despite The Princess prying at the connection between The green shapeshifter and her sister on the team, it seemed that any time Starfire was putting it all together, she would stop.
The trio had entered The Common Room, and the gathered heroes, both Teen Titans and Titan Squadron groups were all loitering about.
Kimiko was standing next to Press by the long windows at the front, while Avatar was kneeling next to Sibs, rubbing his belly as the affectionate canine was rolling on his back.
Raven's amethyst eyes spotted Beast Boy and Terra, both in their wheelchairs and the two were startled by the door 'hissing' open.
"Cyborg is not back yet?" Robin asked, while he looked to each of the faces about the spacious room.
Beast Boy shook his head. "Not yet."
"And Delphi went out, to bring back some breakfast for everybody." chimed in Avatar.
"That is most thoughtful of her." Starfire said with an appealing smile, and her many stomachs gurgled. "Breakfast from a hard fought struggle, it is well deserved."
Avatar stood up, yawning as she stretched her arms over her head. Her long dark hair was brushed by her hands, and then she rubbed her face prior to saying, "Well, I don't know about you guys, but I am feeling pretty beat from that excursion."
Press nodded in agreement, as he stroked his gloved fingers along the head of his cane before speaking. "So, does anybody have any idea, on what was with all those . . . faceless enemies that cropped up everywhere? I mean, there were so many of them. I seriously thought there was something else happening."
"By all accounts, something else was planned." Avatar answered her teammate standing alongside Robin. "We just don't know it yet."
"What we faced last night, they were Robot Commandos." Robin spoke up as he typed on the center console. "They are a sort of strike-force that Slade uses, to keep us distracted and pinned down."
"So, what are they exactly?" Press asked.
"They are his foot-soldiers." Raven replied. "Nameless, faceless, and ruthless . . . totally inhuman creations that will follow their master's orders, without question. Without mercy."
The Titan's Commander typed very quickly, and the images of the duplicate attackers was shown on the jumbo-screen. Still images and video footage from cameras that had captured the battle was shown next, where both teams got to see how their allies faired.
Raven cautiously walked around the sofa, observing everybody but keeping a close watch over the two in their wheelchairs sitting side by side, as Beast Boy had his hand upon Terra's.
"You guys were out all night." Beast Boy spoke to her. "Nothing else happened while you were away."
"Hmmm." Raven was cautious about her temper, and the anger from what she first saw upon returning home, she could only hold it in check for a time. "Beast Boy . . . I think we need to talk."
"Talk? What's wrong?"
As the voices from their friends picked up in the background, Terra let her hand slip away from the green hero. The cold and fierce gaze from Raven being directed at her, it was an unpleasant feeling.
The grey girl was not going to let the ex-Titan come between her and the boy she cared so much for. Beast Boy deserved better in her mind, he was always giving so much of himself to anybody that was in need, and he never gave a thought to his own desires.
To Terra, she would gladly be willing to take herself out of Titans Tower to avoid any conflicts, she wanted to go home. It was the recent memory of the letter however, about her brother that had given her a deep pause in so much of her current state of thinking.
While the white robed priestess Delphi had uttered a phrase, to trigger some response in her mind of the events, none of this would have come to pass had Beast Boy not been so adamant about her coming back from the hospital with him.
For the skinny blonde, she was indebted to him, and she had to get to the bottom of this. Terra felt that things were improving, and her connection to Beast Boy had become greatly strengthened.
"We need to talk." Raven repeated, this time in a quieter tone so as not to cause the others to mingle over. "About last night."
"Oh." Beast Boy blushed. "Are you sure you want to? I mean, Raven . . . you kind of pushed yourself out there, and if you wanted to catch up on some sleep, I can wait."
Raven placed a hand onto his shoulder prior to saying, "It was a long night, but we should talk about this now."
Beast Boy gulped.
He was caught between a rock and a hard place, Terra was sitting alongside him, hearing every word that was spoken and her left leg was right next to his, as Raven began to stroke her fingers gently across his shoulder.
Who does she think she is? Terra asked in her mind, while her blue eyes were focused upon the Grey girl.
She is not going to get the better of me. Raven thought, her attention glued to the green changeling.
"Sure Raven." Beast Boy spoke up in his rasping voice.
"Beast Boy." Terra cut-in. "I wanted to thank you."
He turned and said, "Oh, what about?"
Terra smiled, and she reached out and held his hand again. "For everything, things are not easy with me being back, clearly, but you have always been the first of anybody to reach out to me, and I want to thank you."
"Terra, you have been through a lot." He expressed his typical smile. "I am always here for you."
She blushed, and Raven in response clenched her fists.
During this awkward silence between them, a blast of white light appeared from the side wall, and out from the portal, Delphi reemerged with bags of food. Everybody quickly swarmed around her.
"Who wants some breakfast?" The silver haired Rune Knight asked.
"Way-to-go Del!" Avatar commended her teammate.
"Glorious!" Starfire exclaimed.
"Well, it's about time." Press chimed in. "I'm starved!"
The red scarf-faced shinobi, elbowed him in the gut while she walked over.
"Ooof! Hey Kimi, what gives?" Press asked, as he partially keeled over.
The sixteen-year-old Japanese American rolled her eyes, after hearing his remark. Kimiko Musashi was quiet, but when she made any statements they were indeed strong remarks.
"Ah Dave, keep it up and just see what happens." Avatar scolded him.
"What? She hit me!"
"And YOU started it."
"Friends, this is a most wholesome occasion." Starfire was heard, while the hungry teenagers began to sort through the bagels and donuts. "To what activities shall we partake in, on this most wonderful day?"
While the multitude of voices and laughter echoed about The Tower, Raven had remained with her attention locked onto Terra, not moving while their friends began to eat.
The communicator attached to Robin's belt began to chirp, then everybody else's started to chime in.
"Uh-oh." Press sputtered.
The Titan's Captain reached over to see what was going on, and everybody else did the same.
"What is it?" Avatar asked, and she noticed the look upon Robin's face become stifled with frustration.
"I'm not sure." Robin replied. "But, it seems like its a story that is breaking over the news like wild fire."
He walked over to the table in the center of the room, and he turned the television on.
"What could it be?" Beast Boy asked.
"We shall see in a few seconds." Kimiko deadpanned, as she interlocked her arms.
The flatscreen was turned on by a remote, and the images of a massive fire engulfed the remnants of a delapitated structure.
*This is a channel 5 Special Report!* the speakers by the television suddenly caught everybody's immediate attention.
Footage began to play, and now everybody gathered around the curved black sofa, and the yellow circular table.
*Good morning Jump City. This is Janet Pierson bringing you the hot new story that broke only moments ago, that has caused the residents of Steel City to be in a panic!*
"Steel City . . . that's where-" Avatar started to put the pieces together, when she was cut-short by Robin.
"The Titans East!"
"Think it will be that bad, huh?" Terra asked meekly as she looked up and around her.
"Well, this can't be good." Raven grumbled. "Anytime it's a breaking news story, and we find out along with the rest of the general public, clearly we missed something."
"No!" Starfire gasped. "It cannot be!"
*These images are coming to us live, from our affiliates stationed in this industrial city of the east coast. We now go to Brian Collins, our field reporter . . . *
All eyes were fixated upon the large screen, where the horror at watching The Titans East Tower no longer a mighty monument, but a destroyed ruin caused dozens of questions to form. A wall of flames engulfed the once impressive structure, as rubble continued to collapse and crash in on itself.
The teenagers were lost for any words, as a state of shell-shock was plastered across each of their faces. Something terrible had happened, and nobody had any answers as to the whereabouts, or the wellbeing for their allies from across the country.
{{End Of Scene}}
Hit Counter: 22,738 views!
Reviews From The Previous Chapter:
Eris: "Awesome chapter. Very action packed story. Please update soon."
~~Thank you for your support. As a writer, I am constantly editing the craft, where for me the best part of this job, is getting to examine the feedback from readers such as yourself. So long as I am bringing greater enjoyment to the Teen Titans community, then I am doing something right.~~
~~T.M.O~~