Fan Fiction ❯ After The End ❯ Trials of a Hero ( Chapter 2 )

Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans, unfortunately. Any views or opinions expressed in this fan-fiction are strictly those of the author, me. The latter statement is probably just a formality, unless I somehow work my love of all things Canadian (GO CANADA) into this fan-fiction. Cheese is the root of all evil.

 

Please Read and review. Constructive criticism wanted.

 

Chapter 2:

 

Beast Boy slammed the door to the long abandoned warehouse with every ounce of strength he had in him. He did not care that Robin had told them all to keep a low profile while in the city, and he did not care that the loud bang he had just created was anything buy keeping a low profile in these trying times. The only thing flowing through his mind was anger.

 

He was angry at Robin for even suggesting something like that. `How could he even think that I would willingly harm Raven let alone kill her?' Beast Boy yelled in his head furiously. `I can't do that. I won't do that, not to her. I could never do that to Raven.'

 

Out of habit due to their week in hiding, Beast Boy subconsciously slipped on the hologram generator ring that Cyborg had modified for him. Instantaneously, Beast Boy's green skin began to phase into a tanned peach color. His messy green hair was converted into thick, blonde hair that was long enough to cover up the point on his green ears. The portion of his ears that were not covered were made to look real. Beast Boy's uniform was covered with a holographic version of a dark green tank top and blue jeans, both of which seemed torn and battered. To anyone looking at Beast Boy now, he would look just like a normal human slave in Jump City because that is exactly what all the surviving humans were.

 

Word of Trigon's resurrection spread quickly throughout the galaxy, and it only gave courage to the remaining supporters and servants of the evil demon. The news was the very thing that they had been waiting for, and they flocked to Earth by the thousands. The JLA worked hard to keep all invaders away from Earth, but a few ships managed to slip through the blockade. By day three of Trigon's rule, hundreds of newly arrived creatures pledged their loyalty to their long awaited master, and the first thing that they did was round up and enslave any and all humans that they could find. They planned to use them as free labor, obedient servants, or even in some cases, food.

 

In spite of their slave status, none of the creatures claimed sole ownership of any one human. That privilege was only open to two of Trigon's minions, Raven and Slade. Every other human not claimed by either of those two were considered the property of all. Thus, humans were still allowed to walk the city freely and fend for themselves to survive, but at any time, a follower of Trigon could order a human to do anything and they were expected to do it immediately, even if they were ordered to take their own life.

 

Beast Boy slid his hands into his pockets and sighed loudly as he continued walking away from the warehouse. Needless to say, Beast Boy's current situation sucked. Not only was he in every view a slave, but one of the people he considered his best friends was one of the ones doing the enslaving. The green Titan's mind was screaming the same things that Robin had tried to tell him earlier. No matter how much he did not want to believe it, and no matter how much it hurt to admit it, Raven was the enemy now. However, Beast Boy's heart remained firm in where it stood with Raven. The dark goddess meant a lot to the changeling, and his heart told him that there had to be some way to fix what had been done. Fortunately, Beast boy was not one to listen to his mind.

 

Beast Boy's wandering eventually led him to the edge of Jump City bay. The changeling's inner sense of time told him that it was the dead of night, but the blood red skies above Jump City and its surrounding cities gave off enough light for even him to doubt what he knew was true. It was as if his world was stuck in an eternal red day that cursed everything its light shown upon. The night no longer offered sanctuary from the horrors of the day. The horrors occurred all the time. There was no way to escape any of them.

 

Hesitantly, Beast Boy lifted his head up to face the world before him. He had seen everything many times before, but no matter how many times he saw it, it still brought a chill to his soul and anger flowed through his veins. At least a dozen or so of Trigon's followers were on the small island where Titan's Tower once stood, working hard by the orders of Trigon himself to construct a throne for him out of what little remained of Titans Tower. The evil demon envisioned it to be the first of many signs of victory to be constructed around Earth.

 

A single tear slid down Beast Boy's cheek, but was hid from sight by the hologram concealing his true self. Everything that he had in life was in that tower. Now, all that was left was rubble, and what was worse was that Trigon was degrading the remains of his former home by making it a place for him merely to sit his evil self on. That in itself infuriated Beast Boy to no ends, and it took every bit of willpower he had to repress his anger. It was especially hard for the changeling because he had always allowed himself to act on his emotions without thinking.

 

Through his anger, a single trace of logic stood out. Beast Boy knew that standing out in plain sight of Trigon's followers was dangerous, even if his true identity was now concealed by the hologram encumbering him.

 

`That tower was my home when no one else would give me one, Trigon,' Beast Boy thought full of Rage as he reluctantly turned from the wreckage of his once home. `I will make you pay for forcing Raven to do all of this. I will find a way to free her and I will make you suffer. That, I promise you.' As more tears filled his eyes, Beast Boy began his trek back to the warehouse he hand his friends had been hiding out in for the past week.

 

His walk was slow in an attempt to not draw attention to himself. The last thing he needed was to be picked as some freak's midnight snack, so he kept an eye out for any kind of movement from any of Trigon's followers. As soon as he was out of the open area surrounding Jump City bay, Beast Boy stuck to what little shadows remained in the red night.

 

Now that he was thinking somewhat rationally, he realized just how lucky he had been before having not been seen. Thus, Beast Boy took the longer way back to the warehouse through part of the city instead of around it like he had coming from the warehouse. Through what little remained of the city was crawling with the many different kinds of Trigon's followers, it was the safest route to where he was going. The rubble and few buildings that remained standing provided for perfect cover from on looking eyes.

 

It was also here that Beast Boy could freely utilize his powers. When the changeling was sure that no one was looking, he transformed into a small, green rat. The hologram generator ring changed with the size of the wearer, so Beast Boy had no trouble keeping it with him. However, while he was transformed, the ring did nothing to hide his green color. Fortunately for him, most of Trigon's followers viewed anything smaller than a dog to be worthless and insignificant, and those that did see him were not familiar with the normal appearances of most of the Earth animals. None cared that he was green, and he was free to wander as he pleased.

 

The rat Beast Boy scurried across street after street still keeping to the few shadows to make sure that he would not be recognized. Though he could not be seen did not mean that he was not forced to witness the horrors before him. He was right in thinking that the city was crawling with evil minions of the demon. Yet, there were many humans too. The humans were not working. They were not scavenging for food. They were being tortured, just for the fun of it.

 

Beast Boy heard their screams of agony and their pleads for mercy, and he wanted more than anything to help them. Helping others just came naturally to him, but he could not this time and it was killing him. There were far too many invaders for him to take on alone, and he would risk having his whereabouts leaked to Trigon if he tried. Reluctantly, the changeling turned away from the scene before him and scurried down a nearby alley with guilt eating at his soul. With every step away from the ones he was supposed to protect, his heart grew heavier.

 

As Beast Boy drew closer to his eventual destination, he could hear something abnormal off in the distance. It took a while for the changeling to recognize the sounds, but once he did figure out that it was someone in pain, his guilty heart would not allow him to pass by without at least checking if he was able to help in any way. Running as fast as his little rat legs could carry him, Beast Boy followed the whimpering and often shrill shrieks of pain that were ahead of him. Eventually, the rat Beast Boy found himself standing before a bloody and beaten man trying to claw his way… somewhere.

 

The man struggled to look up at whatever was making noise in front of him, hoping that it would be someone that would be willing to help him. Instead, he saw only a rat, but this rat was different. He noticed that this rat was green, and it instantly reminded him of one of his city's protectors. He did not care if he was hallucinating or not. No one was around to mock him for calling out to a rat if he was. He had to take a chance.

 

“Please,” the wounded man pleaded as he reached out for the green rat. “Help me.”

 

Beast Boy cautiously scanned the area around them to make sure that no one was looking. He may have been prevented from helping the group of people previously, but as long as he can help people, he would. Realizing that he and the man were completely alone, Beast Boy threw all caution to the wind and quickly transformed back into his human self. The man's eyes followed Beast Boy as he grew. Almost instantly after the transformation was done, the hologram generator in the ring he wore kicked in, and his usual green appearance changed back into his fake human one.

 

“I-It is you,” the man couched roughly. “Please, you must help me. I'm not going to make it unless you-”

 

“Calm down, dude,” Beast Boy spoke softly. “I'm here to help. I won't let anything else happen to you. I promise.” Beast Boy looked at the blood covering most of his body. “Um…Can you stand, sir?”

 

Tears began filling in the man's eyes, and he lowered his head. “N-No. T-They cut my feet off. I did nothing to them, and they just cut them off for no reason and laughed as I crawled away. Why? Why did this have to happen? Why did that girl, Raven, betray us all?”

 

Beast Boy felt anger swell up within him, but he quickly silenced it as he reminded himself that the man had just been tortured and he needed someone to blame at the moment. It was for his own good. Carefully, Beast Boy knelt down and picked the man up, careful to avoid further inflicting pain on him by allowing his feet to make contact with anything.

 

“I'm sorry for everything, sir,” Beast Boy said softly as he continued walking towards the warehouse to meet up with the other remaining Titans. “None of this had to happen, but it did. All we can do is live through it. There is always a way.”

 

No more words were spoken by either of the two survivors of the horrors that had befallen Jump City. Beast Boy was too intent on saving the life of the tortured man in his arms, and the man had lost consciousness long ago. Yet, that did not bother Beast Boy. It just made him run faster. He had to save this man's life, but in doing so, he stopped caring about not being seen. All that mattered was keeping this man alive.

 

Beast Boy kept running as fast as he could while still keeping the unconscious man safe in his arms. How long he ran, he did not know, nor did he care. He knew where he was going, and he was getting there fast. Unfortunately, fate seemed to have other plans for his journey as he quickly turned a corner and came face to face with a mixed group of three of Trigon's followers. Surprised, Beast Boy's mind shut down, and he froze. He was screwed.

 

The trio of invaders looked up from where they were sitting at the camouflaged changeling in confusion. They had built a small fire out of some of the rubble and trash from around the city and had camped out around it to rest for the night, but they changeling had shattered any of their hopes for sleep with his sudden intrusion.

 

The two aliens that were camped furthest from Beast Boy were Grediens, a race of short, lobster like creatures with wings and four claws that were able to extend three feet from their body. Their claws had a vice grip that could crush solid steel, and their hardened exterior protected them from most every kind of hostile force in the universe. Their only weakness is the fact that their underside is completely absent of any form of protection. The two Grediens alone could have been easily taken down by Beast Boy, but their other comrade was what had Beast Boy worried.

 

The invader that was closest to Beast Boy was an Arkaen. The Arkaens devoted their entire culture to serving Trigon in the past, and when Trigon vanished, the evil demon became their god when thousands prophesized his return. They waited patiently, increasing their own numbers in preparation for their god's return. Each one was completely and utterly loyal to Trigon, and would willingly decapitate themselves if that was what their god commanded of them. Sometimes, some of them thought that they heard Trigon's words to do just that.

 

The Arkaens themselves were massive in size, at least twice the height of a normal human when they stood straight up. They walked on four thin, spidery legs, but at the tips were razor sharp bones sticking out of each one of their legs that they both walked on and attacked with. Their bodies had no arms, but they were covered in dozens of tentacles. The greatest of Arkaens was able to make its tentacles extent over fifty feet to capture a target. Needless to say, if an Arkaen saw you, you were most likely less than a second away from your death if that was its aim.

 

Fortunately for Beast Boy, all Arkaens on Earth at the moment had different orders. Before the changeling could even blink, the Arkaen's tentacles shot out and wrapped themselves tightly around the bodies of both Beast Boy and the man he was carrying. The Arkaen quickly sprang to its feet and walked slowly towards Beast Boy, never letting him leave the sight of his red eyes. Once it was directly in front of the two, the Arkaen glanced at the wounded man, and tossed him behind him at the two Grediens, who immediately began ripping him apart piece by piece.

 

However, Beast Boy did not share the same fate as the one he was trying to save. Instead, the Arkaen simply looked Beast Boy up and down and grinned sinisterly at the changeling. It had something in mind for Beast Boy, something horrible. With what Beast Boy guessed was the equivalent to a laugh for the Arkaen species, it wrapped its tentacles around Beast Boy tighter and began making its way out of the destroyed Jump City.