Narcoleptic Slide
AN: I wondered what happened in the twenty years after Starfire left the time stream that would leave Raven in an insane asylum. This takes a more lonely scenario, and so the progression is faster.
In an instant, they were gone. The portal winked out of existence, and Raven was left with a particularly ruined common room. It was the second time-travelling villain they had encountered. This time, only one person was left, and from Starfire's description of the future she had seen, it did not bode well for Raven's sanity. A little magic and a hand wave restored the room to its former condition. Already the tower felt empty, even cold, despite the summer sun's best efforts at irradiating the day-side. There was nothing left to do, so she retired to her room. The grimoires left by Malchior still had spells she did not know.
In less than a month, the the public and, more worryingly, the criminal sector had gotten wind of the Titans' disappearance. The first to cash in on the reduced enforcement was Cinderblock. Not long after the breakout, Raven's black magic encircled his ankle, suspending him in the air. A quick trip to an alternate containment facility, and then she returned to the tower, turning off the alarm. The city-wide security system Cyborg installed had simplified things greatly, both for the Titans and the police. A week later, the alarm went off again. There was a hostage situation at a bank. The mundane law enforcement could handle it, but having a meta-human around greatly improved the life expectancy of all involved. Raven emerged from the shadows of the police chief's car. "How many criminals and hostages?"
The middle-aged man shook his head. "Twenty hostages, one criminal, but he's wired to blow. I'm not sure this is a robbery."
"Terrorists?"
"Homegrown, looks like. We'd like to bring 'im in for interrogation. We'd appreciate your non-lethal expertise."
"That's why I'm here."
She sighed. Her eyes flowed black as the bomber's limbs were encased in tight bonds of darkness. She floated towards her panicking catch - another man pointed a gun at the bomb - "No!" - had to be fast, less control - what would have crushed the gun instead severed the entire hand. The injured man screamed and clutched his bleeding stump to his chest, a scene that would appear in her nightmares. The police chief, shaken, called out to his men.
"Get that man to the hospital!"
He turned to thank the sorceress, but she had gone. The bomber collapsed into waiting arms of the police, unconscious and bruising badly.
The first hints of autumn gilded the leaves of Jump city. Raven gazed at the Titans around the kitchen table. No one was eating anything. She took a slow sip of tea. Her warm exhale blew the illusions away, leaving only the bleak morning. She stood up.
"This isn't working."
The alarm sounded. As she read the report, a smile graced her features. She had a plan.
Gizmo had come up with the heist, which should have tipped her off. Jynx cast a wary eye about the armory. The police force had countermeasures against meta-humans; they had to, before the Titans came into the picture. Sticky blasts, tasers that could kill normal people, the works. Billy rifled through the crates, crowing over the occasional exceptionally large firearm, spawning a few clones to play with it. "Tri, how's the hero watch?"
"No sign of her yet."
He called from the rafters. His eyes rotated in a lazy orbit around the building. Kyd Wykkyd hid in a corner. Gizmo was in a realm of spiritual reward, if not heaven. The Pack dangled him above a pile of weaponry as he integrated the new tech into his personal combat module. Goliath amused himself by scratching at the concrete floor. Jynx knew they should have no problem taking out the lone Titan, but she couldn't shake the feeling that the job wouldn't end well.
Kyd did not like the unease on Jynx's face. There had been multiple heists that started like this; confident, foolproof, only Jynx didn't like them. Inevitably, they screwed up. He didn't know why; some of his teammates subtly indicated that Jynx was well named. As subtle as they could be, what with Billy Numerous's tendency to shout, Goliath's tendency to state the obvious, and Gizmo's tendency to not care. Personally, Kyd felt she had such a personal connection with misfortune that it gave her prior notice. Ultimately, he still couldn't fight down the wave of panic that gripped him as something closed around his neck.
Raven felt a strange sort of satisfaction from the reaction of the mute. Her shadowy transportation was her best kept secret; as long as everyone assumed she had infiltrated a building by ingenious, yet physical means, she rarely had to worry about setting off an alarm. "Don't move of I'll chop off your head."
She whispered. The extra tingle of fear running through Kyd was delicious. Her next spell was quite complex, which his why she had prepared it back in the tower. The paper crinkled in her grip, covered in spidery writing. As her influence consumed the paper, time seemed to slow down. Raven strolled to the center of the warehouse, paused, then encased the criminals' necks in the black collars. For good measure, Goliath was suspended upside down by his foot as well. Just before the spell ran down, Raven crushed the hive of circuits attached to Gizmo's back.
" - fudgenuggets?"
Raven smiled serenely.
"If any of you try anything, I will happily separate your heads from your bodies. Oh, and Billy? Your collar has a blade on the inside. If you try to replicate yourself out of this, you will only decapitate yourself."
Billy gulped.
"Yes ma'am."
Raven turned her head.
"Any questions?"
Gizmo's eyes glittered with unshed tears. "Why'd you kill Beatrice? Why?"
Raven glanced at the remains of sophisticated electronics. "I can't have you try anything rash, now could I? Let's go."
With that she floated the Hive Five out into the dark night.
"Welcome to the Tower."
Raven could feel the confusion roiling behind her. "Until my friends return, you'll be staying here, where I can keep an eye on you."
The emotional waters were muddled.
Billy, confused and hopeful.
Goliath, endlessly confident.
Gizmo, mad, grieving.
Triclops, calculating, curious.
Kyd, indifference.
Jynx, disgust.
Each got a personalized cell, laced with precautions against breakouts and their respective superpowers. As Raven lay down in her bed, the familiar feeling of emotional background noise lulled her into the first peaceful slumber since her friends left.
The Hive Five sat in council at their enemy's breakfast table, as Raven cooked in the kitchen. "Well, I think she's cracked, the soot-ball. She's never smiled before. Never."
Jynx stole a glance at the bustling kitchen. Raven conducted a dozen utensils in the composition known as "Breakfast". Jynx whispered back.
"I don't know. We don't see her outside of battle much. I do think, however, that she is desperate. If she's friendly to you, be friendly back. Trust is the only weapon we can hope for now."
"Sh-she scares me." Whispered Billy. Goliath nodded.
"I don't care! I don't like being a pet either, but we have no choice."
Kyd tapped the table twice. The criminals fell silent. Raven floated breakfast over, and pretended she didn't sense contradictory feelings behind the pleasantries they offered.
'This, this is working. I feel more sane already.'
The floor under her feet grew black swirls and currents, etching themselves into the tiles.
Kyd was the last one she put into the cells for the night. He obediently laid down on the table with restraining bands. With an absentminded flick of her wrist, the bands fastened themselves and the collar dissapated. Raven paused at the strange emotion emanating from the bound villain. It wasn't fear, or resentment, or hatred. It was pity. She whispered,
"Thank you." She closed the door. The several different kinds of confusion only made her weep more, outside, leaning against the door. Her closed eyes did not see the blackness that engulfed the subterranean corridor.
Gizmo scowled at the screen. The high scores mocked him. However, it would have to wait, as Billy had to be put in his place, and Gizmo enjoyed that almost as much as winning his name a ranking. He was about to finish off the three Billy clones when the screen flashed red, along with the rest of the lights. Raven barked out something, and at once Gizmo found himself in his cell again.
"Mud bungler."
Of all the villains, Plasmeus was the most peculiar. He was practically a force of nature, but also the victim of a curse. Raven had researched his origins, and came prepared for the inevitable escape. Be it some clumsy technician, or an evil mastermind, he had a tendency to get free with alarming regularity. Raven followed the maroon wake of destruction to the creature, who was trying his best to get to the industrial sector. She reached into a pouch she had attached to her belt and pulled out a handful of white sand. She pronounced the incantation and with a gentle breath, loosed the grains to the wind. For a moment nothing happened, then Plasmeus shuddered, and fell as a human. Raven carried the unconscious body to the island of her home. Deep in a pit lay the life support system that would contain the sleeping horror. Raven envied the cursed man in a way; to sleep through much of life held a dangerous attraction for her, especially now that she alone held the city against meta-human criminals. The cement flowed around the serene form of the sleeper. This too would reappear in her dreams, but never in her nightmares.
Kyd considered himself lucky. Of the Hive Five, he was the safest from their captor. Billy had snapped early on, and in the ensuing fight, so had his arms. Gizmo had been caught fiddling with the electronics and thus wore a straight jacket at all times, tied brutally tight. For reasons he could not fathom, Raven took Kyd with her every time she went out. At first, it had been just groceries, but eventually he helped out with the crime fighting. He justified his heroic conduct by reasoning that if he let Raven handle all the fighting, the criminals would probably die half the time. Her spells were powerful, but required precision to be used mercifully. Precision was a rare commodity in many of the battles. Right now, she was meditating on the rooftop of the Titan's tower. Kyd closed his eyes, enjoying the ocean breeze. Thus he did not see the red goo that covered Raven's mouth. When he opened his eyes, Red X stood over a recently bound Raven, the red semi-liquid still hissing in the air.
"Just stopped by to get Robin's things, don't mind me."
He chuckled and strode towards the roof access. Red X got five feet away before his world turned black. Kyd looked upon the the unconscious and lacerated criminal with sadness. It would be the last time Raven meditated outside her room. Kyd breathed one last breath of ocean air, then followed her inside, ignoring the crater where she had floated.
In a week, the nightmare ended. Raven sat reading in the common room. The Hive Five milled about in various degrees of boredom. Then a golden flash lit up the room. Reflexively, the six criminals found themselves in their cells again. Raven sighed. It was so nice to have the old team back.
"Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana!"
Most of the team, that is.