"What the... what?" Cyborg muttered, looking at Robin and Starfire, puzzled by what or who they were fighting. It appeared they were kicking, punching and blasting... air? Because there was no one there.
"Umm... Robin? Star? What are you doing?" Beast Boy scratched his head, confused, "Is there something I'm not getting again?" The young leader turned his head around, but it took just a second for him to get hit from behind. He stumbled a bit, but then jumped out of the way. Starfire tried helping him by eye-blasting the air, but she wasn't sure if she hit the target.
"Get over here! All we know as of now is that the enemy is invisible-," Robin panted, protecting himself with the bo-staff.
"We kind of got that," Beast Boy said under his breath.
"-and there's more than one," Robin finished his sentence, shooting the changeling a glare, obviously heard his little remark. He did a backflip, kicking the air. "Raven, do you think you could try sensing where the enemies are and try and find out who we're exactly fighting?" Robin swiped the air again, but this time he actually hit something. The sound of metal hitting metal echoed throughout the street, and suddenly the one attacker became visible. There, in front of Robin laid a broken robot with sparks flying everywhere. But that was no usual robot. From what the Titans could tell from that rubble of parts, it was supposed to be a spider. It's long legs were sticking out at weird angles, sending chills down the teenager's spines. It would seem it was about three feet tall.
"That is truly the disturbing," Starfire said, shivering from just the sight of such a horrible machine. The Titans didn't have much time to observe, as other spiders that were still invisible started attacking. One even scraped Beast Boy's arm, ripping a part of his uniform. He quickly spun around and morphed into a hippo, ready to charge. The other's joined him, Robin barking out orders.
"Robin, do you still want me to try and see through the invisibility shield?" Raven asked and took up the lotus position as soon as Robin nodded his head yes. She quietly started chanting as her teammates tried their best to protect her and fend off the invisible attackers. Trying to help his friend, Beast Boy turned into a blood-hound, listening for any sounds of metal that could reveal the machines positions. Soon enough he picked a clanging sound originating near Raven. He started running as fast as he could. In the meantime, Raven couldn't pick up anything. Those spiders were machines. They didn't have a soul or an aura by which she could sense them. It was impossible. And that's what she was about to say to Robin when Beast Boy called out her name.
"Raven! Look out, behind-" But she couldn't hear his whole warning because she felt a sharp pain go through her back. An ear-splitting scream was heard and it took her a couple of seconds to realise it came from her mouth. The pain was so dreadful that it numbed all her other senses. Her vision was blurry, her head was spinning and muffled sounds of yelling came to her ears. She collapsed to the ground, in a pool of what seemed blood, too weak to stay on her feet. The dark girl felt someone shaking her shoulders, but that soon stopped and she was enveloped in darkness. The world went black.
Raven stirred a bit, but even the little movement sent shots of pain up her spine. She froze in place, sucking in a breath. She slowly moved back into her original position. After a few seconds of hard breathing passed, she could relax once again. Now that she had nothing better to do, she took the chance to look around. She was lying on a bed with soft sheets. The walls of the small room were white and the floor was tiled. Everything smelled clean. The big windows on the right side gave the small room just enough light and a great view of the city. Different machines and medical products surrounded Raven, as soft beeping sounds filled the air. Without a doubt in her mind, she realised she was in a hospital. And that's when all the memories from yesterday came back, flooding her mind. But what she didn't understand was, where were all her friends gone to? And why wasn't she in the med bay, at the Tower? Her train of thoughts was cut short when the door opened slowly. She hoped it was one of her teammates, but alas. It was a girl that was just another patient, like herself. She took a double take when she saw Raven, staring at her for a second. But then she smiled, closing the door behind her. The girl slowly crossed the room, and Raven noticed she was using crutches. That's probably because of the cast on her leg, Raven thought.
"I'm glad you woke up," The girl said, her voice resonant and clear. It was pleasant to listen to, "You were in a coma for three days. We haven't even met, and I was getting worried. Good thing you're okay now." Raven stopped listening halfway through. Her mind was preoccupied with the information that she was in a coma for three days. The empath couldn't believe it. Those robots really were deadly. If it weren't for Raven's healing powers, who knew if she would have survived a cut on the back.
"I'm sorry, I didn't introduce myself properly. I got carried away, I like talking a lot. Well, that's what most people tell me," The new girl laughed, blushing slightly. "My name is Aubrey," Aubrey stuck out her hand, a bright smile lighting her face up.
"Raven" The purple-haired girl shook Aubrey's hand, nodding politely. Raven didn't like meeting new people and socializing, but she had to suck it up and be nice. She was a superhero, she needed to act properly. Even if it was really hard sometimes. But Aubrey seemed nice, even with her bubbly personality and habit to talk a lot.
"Oh, wait! You're Raven? Raven from the Teen Titans? That's so awesome! Beast Boy told me a lot about his teammates," Aubrey looked excited. She was slowly descending on the bed next to Raven, putting the crutches aside. The empath's interest was piqued. This girl knew Beast Boy?
"You know Beast Boy?"
"Yeah. I started working at the "Pizza Corner" a couple of weeks ago and I met him there. He was ordering for all of you. He was really nice, so we quickly became friends," Aubrey explained with a dreamy look on her face. That's weird, thought Raven, I sense something coming from her...
"You like him, don't you?" Raven asked, trying to keep her voice monotone. But she couldn't help and feel a bit... was that jealousy? Or possessiveness? For Azar's sake, you aren't even dating Beast Boy, you shouldn't feel this way. Raven scolded herself inwardly.
"Well, I'm going to tell you a secret," Aubrey was now red as a tomato, "He actually asked me out."
Raven felt like someone punched her in the gut. She couldn't breath. She couldn't form a comprehensible thought. All she could do was stare at the girl in front of her with wide eyes. Her heart ached even with the thought of Beast Boy going on a date with someone else. That was her fear from the moment she realised her feelings for him. She shouldn't have had such high hopes that Beast Boy returned these feelings. Who would even like a demon like herself, anyway? Demons weren't supposed to be loved. They were beings of evil and hate. She should have known that all those times Beast Boy tried to include her in activities, it was only because he pitied her. She was so stupid to believe he truly wanted her company. Her whole outlook on him changed. She was not going to stand the pity anymore.
"Raven? Are you okay? You kind of-"
"I'm fine, thank you," The empath answered coldly. She wasn't gong to play nice to Aubrey anymore. Beast Boy only knew this girl for a week and he already asked her on a date. Raven couldn't believe that. It was true the empath and the changeling weren't dating, but she couldn't help the emotions she was feeling. Her depressing train of thoughts was cut off when the door opened again and in came Cyborg with Starfire. She was so grateful for their timing. She couldn't stand another second with Aubrey.
"Friend Raven! Oh, you have done the waking up. You were in what the doctor informed me was called the "coma", yes? Are you doing the okay now?" Starfire floated quickly to Raven's bedside. Her usually bright face was overcome by worry. Her bright green eyes were tearing up.
"Man, we were so worried for you! I haven't seen Star cry that much since we watched "Lion King"," Cyborg shook his head, "How are you holdin' up?" Raven smiled slightly at her friends.
"I guess I'm better than I was before. Although my back still hurts when I move," The empath said, trying to reassure her worried teammates. Starfire nodded, wiping away the unshed tears from her eyes. Raven was happy that Starfire contained herself and didn't hug her.
"Perhaps we should bring Raven to the Tower?" The alien princess asked Cyborg, still looking at the violet-haired girl like she was too scared something will happen if she looked away.
"Good idea, Star. C'mon, let's get ya out of here and home. You should be able to rest there," The half-machine gently picked Raven up, carrying her out of the door and through the hospital halls. Starfire was floating next to them. After a short talk with the doctor to inform him about Raven, they were good to go.
"Where are the others?" Raven asked as the morning air hit her face upon exiting the hospital.
"Robin is home in the room of evidence. I have told him multiple of times that he should not spend so much time in there, but he just does not listen," Starfire shook her head in disapproval, crossing her arms, "But I do not know where Beast Boy has disappeared to."
"He said he was going to meet us at the Tower when we brought you back. I don't know what that little dude is up to," Cyborg said, a thoughtful look on his face. Soon enough, they were in the T-Car, driving towards the Tower.
Now that Raven was home and securely sleeping in the med bay, Robin could confront his teammates. The only one that wasn't present except Raven was Beast Boy, but nobody found him, so they started the meeting without him.
"I just talked to Raven," he said as the Titans all sat on the couch in the common room, "It looks like she remembers what happened three days ago, so that's good. I only had to tell her what happened after she blacked out. How the spiders suddenly became visible and retreated, without warning. In other news, I have been looking through the robot parts, trying to see if there was any kind of clue. We know that they must be controlled by someone. So I was trying to find the owner, and look at what I found," The leader extended his arm, so his fellow teammates could see the object in his hand. Cyborg and Starfire leaned in to see what it was, but even with the close proximity, they didn't know what it was.
"Robin? What is that unusual object? Starfire asked, one small eyebrow lifted.
"That is a part of the robot. It fell out as I separated it's other parts. I don't know for what it's used, but there is some kind of engraving in it. It looks like someone's initials," He handed the part to Cyborg, who pondered the idea.
"S. C.? It could be. I mean, it's our best shot. But we don't know if the person is male or female," Cyborg said, returning the object that looked like a small plate to Robin. But just as Robin's hand touched the plate, something beeped. The Titans' heads shot up, looking at each other. A red light shown from the plate Robin was holding, and the Titans realised they must have activated a bomb within the robot part. The leader quickly jumped up, already running out of the room. He had just enough time to get out of the Tower and throw the bomb away.
"That was unexpected," Said Cyborg with wide eyes.
"Indeed," Starfire nodded in agreement, holding a hand to her heart, "I hope he has enough time to exit the Tower and safely dispose of the bomb." Almost the same second she said that a loud exploding noise echoed throughout the Tower. Starfire and Cyborg shared a quick look, before storming through the OPS room to check on Robin. They came to the door of the Tower and found Robin standing in the entrance.
"Man, did you have enough time? What happene-" But Cyborg didn't have the time to finish his question when Robin turned around. The half-machine, half-man tried his best not to laugh but failed. He started laughing loudly, pointing towards Robin's face. It was black from the gunpowder and his hair was messy and sticking out in weird angles. One eye was visibly twitching behind his mask.
"Robin? Why is your face black? Did you not have enough time to dispose of the bomb?" The alien princess was clearly confused.
"No, Star. He didn't have enough time to throw out the bomb. It blew up in his face!" Cyborg was still laughing up a fit, but Robin's face remained stony.
"Oh! Are you unharmed? Cyborg, this is not the time to be laughing at Robin's misfortune!" Starfire scolded her friend, putting a gentle hand on her leader's arm.
"I'm fine, Star, really. It did blow up in my face, but I'm okay," He blushed at how caring she was. She took his hand and they entered the Tower together, leaving Cyborg alone.
"Yo! Guys! Don't be mad, I was just laughin'! I didn't mean nothin' bad by it! HEY!" The half-robot, half-man yelled after his friends, trying to catch up with them, but the oblivious couple didn't hear his calls.
Author's Note: Hey guys! I'm back with another chapter! Since my summer brake has started, I decided to post two times a week. On Mondays and Fridays. I'm not sure if I can pull it off, but I can try. :D My thank yous go to the people that read my first chapter and that reviewed. You are all awesome! 3 In the next chapter we will see where Beast Boy went and how's Raven holding up. Until then!
~Natalie