Fan Fiction ❯ Shades of Grey ❯ The Beast ( Prologue )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Prologue - The Beast


         The beast paid no heed to the flashing green and blue lights as they flared to life quite suddenly. The droning sound of alarms cut painfully in it's ears, but the prey was too much to resist, so much so that these simple distractions would not hinder it's desire. As it stalked forward, simply sweeping aside any obstruction that presented itself, the beast finally spied what its other senses had it lead to. The girls screamed as it rose up upon thin hind-legs, roaring in response. Before, the beast had kept it's hunting silent as it had no intention of sharing it's meal with the pack, but with victory only seconds away the fairly nightmarish creature would have no qualms about the noise of battle. The beast resembled a rather wolfish serpent with armor like scales gleaming obsidian across it's entire form, only breaking the color with a mane of bright red hair, empty white eyes and a jaw of blood washed daggers. However, the roar alone easily struck fear into the two unfortunate store clerks who had been charged with closing shop when the sales girl had spotted a swarm of similar demons tearing their way into the now dark mall. She had attempted to mask her and her friends' presence by shutting down the apparel store's lights and hiding behind a desk. Much to their dismay, however, one of the beasts must have spotted them and had not hesitated in tracking them down for now it stood tall above them, moments away from ending their lives.
         "Hey cuddles!"
         The beast turned, growling. Leave it to be that something would interrupt it's hunt. The sight which greeted the monsters hollow eyes was that of two outlines - one of a diminutive figure wearing a simple cape and brandishing some kind of pole weapon, the other a large, muscular looking man covered in cybernetic augmentations glowing an ice blue - standing before a backdrop of carnage. What remained of the beasts pack now covered the mall floor in heaps, squelched under the barrage of green projectiles, black energy and what seemed to be a green Tyrannosaurus Rex. The monster roared in anger and grief at the loss of it's brethren and leaped the clerk's counter and propelled itself directly at the two standing nearest to it.
         However, with the quick extension of his arm, the large man seemed to lash out with blue energy that felt like a superheated firehose striking the beast and crushing it's body back directly into the counter, pulverizing it into wood splinters and drawing another scream from the two girls. The beast would shrug off the useless pain with a shake of it's head only to glimpse at the smaller flying directly at it before the world would go black with only the sound of bone shattering to announce it's departure into the afterlife.


         The green and red clad warrior struck the monster twice more with his bo-staff before a heavy hand would grasp his shoulder.
         "Robin! Get a grip, that's the last of 'em," announced Cyborg. The boy wonder only shook his head and shifted his weapon so that it's ends sunk back into a simple rod and clipped it to his belt.
         "I seriously doubt that."
         The two would simply check to see if the two girls they had saved were alright before rejoining the others. They were all showing signs of wear and tear accumulated from the recent battles taking place all through the night. They had been called to an old warehouse in the early evening to find near fifty of the same beasts they had been fighting all night, never quite making it back to the Tower before another distress call would be put out on their signal. Now the Titans stood before each other in different levels of physical as well as emotional turmoil. Their leader, Robin, had attained several cuts and bruises along with a hastily made bandage around his left bicep where one of the demons had gotten a little too nippy and was becoming exceedingly more and more aggravated as the night dragged into early morning. Starfire looked exhausted, her normally joyous green eyes now reflecting her lack of rest, as well as small wounds similar to Robin's own. Cyborg looked, for lack of a better word, banged-up with several dents and scratches punched into his armor and a depressing crack in that glowing red eye. Raven's own wounds would be easily covered by her voluminous cloak, though it too suffered many tears and jagged cuts along it's surface - reflecting her mood perfectly. Beastboy had suffered a trio of slashes diagonally down his front which had split his belt and seemed hastily bandaged up.
         "If I weren't so sexy, I'd say we were the saddest looking bunch here," offered BB. It seemed he never really changed personalities, his jokes simply became more and more pathetic.


         Finally, back within the Titan's home base - the "T Tower" - the sun rose, it's warm beams turning the smooth surface of their personal island's surrounding waters a beautiful orange and yellow. Robin had fallen asleep upon the main room couch, sitting there all night waiting for the next alarm while his team tended to themselves. Now as the sunlight washed over his face he would awaken with the nightmare of last night still fresh in his memory. They couldn't keep going like this, it was too much for them to spend night after night fending off such numerous foes. They could all easily handle one to one odds, two to one if they were strong enough. But ten to one was just too much, especially every night if Robin's suspicions were correct. First things first, though - even the odds as best he could. So that's what they'd do first, while they still had time before nightfall.