The intersection was a graveyard of twisted metal and shattered glass, the air heavy with the scent of ozone and the metallic tang of fresh blood. Mammoth, his massive chest heaving, spat a glob of crimson onto the cracked asphalt. He had never felt pain like this—not from a hero, anyway. The masked figure before him, draped in red scales and radiating a heat that made the air shimmer, wasn't fighting like a hero. There were no quips, no warnings, and no mercy.
Jake Long's golden eyes tracked Mammoth's every twitch. He could feel the fire churning in his gut, a sun-core of rage demanding to be released. He could end this now; a single, concentrated blast of dragon fire would reduce the behemoth to a charred husk. But as he looked at the brute who had helped level the cafe—the place where Julie had smiled and Rebecca had poured him coffee—Jake decided that fire was too quick. Fire was a release. Mammoth didn't deserve a release. He deserved a reckoning.
"Come on then, you son of a bitch," Jake rasped, the sound like grinding stones. "You liked throwing things, huh. Let's see how you handle me."
With a roar that shook the surrounding skyscrapers, Mammoth charged. Jake didn't dodge. He planted his taloned feet, his claws digging into the concrete, and met the brute head-on. The impact was like two freight trains colliding. The shockwave shattered the remaining windows in a fifty-yard radius. Jake's scaled arms locked with Mammoth's massive biceps, the sound of straining muscle and grinding bone echoing through the street.
While the rest of the Titans were occupied with Jinx's hexes and Gizmo's mechanical swarms, Beast Boy saw the opening Robin had ordered him to take.
"Separating them! On it!" Beast Boy shouted, mid-air. He shifted in a flash of green light, transforming into a massive African elephant. He slammed his weight into the side of the wrestling duo, hoping to knock them apart.
It worked, but not as he intended. Mammoth, fueled by survival instinct, used the momentum to swing Jake like a ragdoll into the elephant's side. The impact sent Beast Boy tumbling back, shifting into a gorilla as he skidded across the ground.
"Hey! Watch the fur!" Beast Boy grumbled, shaking his head. He lunged back into the fray, swinging a massive fist at Mammoth. The brute took the hit to the jaw, barely flinching, and countered with a backhand that sent the green gorilla flying into a parked car.
Jake didn't wait for Beast Boy to recover. He was a red blur again, his movements a lethal dance of Draconic Kung Fu. He leaped, driving his knee into Mammoth's sternum, then followed with a rapid-fire succession of palm strikes to the brute's throat and face. Each hit landed with a sickening thud. Blood sprayed from Mammoth's nose and mouth, staining Jake's crimson scales.
Beast Boy, now a raptor, shrieked and dove at Jake, trying to pin his arms. "Dude, stop! You're gonna kill him!"
"Get. Off!" Jake roared, his tail—suddenly manifested—whipping around to swat the raptor out of the air. Beast Boy hit the ground hard, shifting back to human form, gasping for air.
Mammoth, seeing the distraction, grabbed a nearby streetlamp and swung it like a baseball bat. The heavy metal pole connected with Jake's ribs, sending the dragon-boy crashing through a brick wall.
The fight devolved into a chaotic, three-way mess. Beast Boy kept trying to play peacemaker, shifting from rhino to tiger to hawk, but he was caught in the middle of a hurricane. Mammoth beat Beast Boy down with mindless cruelty, and every time the green hero struggled back up, Jake would tear through Mammoth again. It was a cycle of brutality. Jake was making Mammoth bleed—deep, jagged gashes from his claws marking the villain's torso—but Beast Boy's constant interference was wearing his patience thin.
"Stay out of this, damn it!" Jake snarled, shoving Beast Boy aside as he drove a scaled heel into Mammoth's thigh, the muscle tearing under the pressure.
Mammoth's eyes went wide, the pupils shrinking. The pain had moved past the point of endurance and into the realm of madness. A guttural, primal sound erupted from his throat—a berserker's scream. His muscles swelled, his skin turning a dark, bruised purple as adrenaline and sheer agony took over.
He moved with a speed he shouldn't have possessed. He swatted Beast Boy away like an annoying insect, the green changeling hitting a wall and falling limp. Then, Mammoth turned on Jake. He ignored the claws raking his chest and the punches fracturing his ribs. He lunged, his massive arms wrapping around Jake in a crushing bear hug.
Jake gasped as the air was forced from his lungs. He felt his ribs begin to groan, the pressure immense. Mammoth's face was inches from his, a mask of gore and insanity. The brute squeezed harder, his intent clear: he was going to snap the dragon in half.
In the grip of death, Jake's human restraint vanished. The predator took over. His head snapped forward, and his jaws—lined with razor-sharp, draconic teeth—clamped down on Mammoth's exposed throat.
The sound was horrifying. With a violent wrench of his neck, Jake tore a massive chunk of flesh and windpipe away.
Mammoth's grip loosened instantly. He stumbled back, his hands flying to his neck, but it was too late. Dark, arterial blood sprayed over the ruins, a fountain of life ending in the dirt. He tried to scream, but only a wet, whistling sound emerged.
Jake wasn't finished. The heat in his core reached a breaking point. "I told you," Jake hissed, his voice a demonic growl. "Consequences."
He coated his fists in white-hot dragon fire, the flames licking up to his elbows. He stepped forward and delivered a dual-fisted punch into Mammoth's chest. The impact didn't just break bone; it cauterized the entry point as it sent the five-hundred-pound man flying fifty feet into the air.
Before Mammoth could even begin to fall, Jake's wings erupted from his back in a shower of sparks and leather. He took flight, a crimson streak ascending into the darkened sky. He hovered above the dying brute, his silhouette framed by the moon.
"Burn," Jake whispered.
He exhaled a massive, spiraling torrent of fire, but he didn't stop there. He began to spin, his wings fanning the flames into a localized firestorm. A pillar of blinding, golden-red heat descended, engulfing Mammoth entirely. The roar of the fire drowned out everything else—the fighting, the sirens, the screams.
When the flames finally dissipated and Jake drifted back to the ground, there was no body left. Only a scorched circle on the pavement and a pile of gray ash that scattered in the wind.
Silence fell over the intersection.
The Titans stood frozen. Starfire's eyes were wide, her hands glowing but motionless. Cyborg's cannon hummed down, his optical sensor flickering in disbelief. Even Donna, a warrior herself, looked shaken a bit.
The H.I.V.E. Five were equally stunned. Jinx dropped her hands, her pink eyes staring at the spot where their powerhouse had been. Gizmo's mechanical spider-legs buckled. They had lost members before—to prison, to retreats—but they had never seen one erased.
The shock quickly turned to a murderous rage for the H.I.V.E. "You... you fucking bastard!" Jinx screamed, her eyes flashing with a chaotic purple light. "He's dead! You killed him!"
The H.I.V.E., fueled by a mix of fear and fury, surged toward Jake. But before they could reach him, the Titans moved. Robin led the charge, not to help Jake, but to contain the situation. The Titans intercepted the H.I.V.E., a frantic, desperate skirmish breaking out as they managed to subdue the remaining villains through sheer coordination.
Beast Boy stood a few feet away from Jake, his face pale and his hands shaking. He looked at the pile of ash, then at the boy in the mask. He gritted his teeth, his voice cracking with emotion.
"How could you?" Beast Boy asked, his eyes wet. "He was... yeah, he was a jerk, but you just... you just killed him. Right in front of us. How can you just do that?"
Jake didn't look at him. He stood with his back to the hero, his wings slowly folding back into his spine, his scales receding just enough to reveal the burned skin beneath. He shrugged, a cold, indifferent movement.
"Just like that," Jake said.
His head turned slightly, his golden gaze falling on the rest of the H.I.V.E. Five—Jinx, Gizmo, and the others—who were now pinned or restrained by the Titans. The irritation, the unspent rage, began to itch at his skin again. He hadn't felt the "snap" of satisfaction he expected. He still felt the weight of the cafe bricks.
Jake began to move toward them, his steps slow and deliberate, his claws lengthening once more. He growled, a low, predatory sound that vibrated in the air.
He wasn't done yet.