A Mirror, Darkly
Ch.2 – Smoke and Mirrors
Waking early, Raven blinked sleep from her eyes and stumbled to her shower, leaning on the tiled wall heavily, waiting for the water to get up to temperature. She shivered, the cold morning air prickling along her skin unpleasantly, making things ache. "Hurry up," she hissed, willing the small shower stall to obey. In time, it did.
Rinsing sleep away, she contemplated the day, a vague sense of distaste at what was likely going to be required, or rather asked. Something else came to mind, that made her stop suddenly, shampoo getting into her eye irritatingly. Uncharacteristically, she bit her lip and grinned, the idea setting a thrill up along her spine.
Rinsing quickly, the half-demon called to her cloak, not wanting to bother with the inanities of towels and the time needed to dry and preen. It waited, hovering just outside the shower as she shook water free with a wrinkling of her nose. Sighing, she borrowed a trick from her kitchen repertoire and simply shifted into shadow quickly, but controlling it so she left the water along her skin behind. The result, was an odd blur where Raven had been, and the sudden pattering fall of water along the tile. "Huh, neat," she mumbled, inspecting her arm, now dry. Blinking, she realized it also dried her eyes unpleasantly, but such was expected. It was the first time she'd pulled that trick. "Scotty eat your heart out," she murmured, reaching out and letting the cloak slither along her arm and up to her shoulder.
Folding into it, she reappeared in her Trophy Room, directly before the shielded case she'd dreamed of. Running a hand along the dull metal sheath, red runes flared and dimmed, recognizing her as their architect. Modern security was nice, she knew, but nothing beat hell-forged wardings. Presently, the domed cylinder rose, displaying her latest personal triumph in it's glory. She had little idea why the thing held her attention so, the demoness didn't worry on it. It was potential. Possibility. Options. That was reason enough. Running a hand along it's signature feature, she grinned. Time for a test drive.
But first... she'd be missed, if she was... well missing. Shedding her cloak and standing naked in the darkness, she contemplated her options. Finding no simple solution, she reached into the garment, as it curiously peered about, and retrieved her mirror. "Externalization," she commanded it, stepping next to the case as the congress of her mind appeared in their own ways, to join her.
"Oh this is going to be fun-"
"But we have to be careful, if we're caught-"
"Then it'll be over too soon-"
"And maybe we'll have to fight!-"
"Which would be welcome, my cloak is getting dull-"
"I wonder how my tits are going to fit in that-"
"...Quiet," she ordered, as the myriad other emotions, less powerful that the primaries that seemed to speak up the loudest, backed away to give her breathing room. "I need options. I have to be in the Tower soon, and I'd like to play with my new... toy," running a hand along the contours of the suit, she did have to wonder, how would the thing fit around her-"
"I believe the best option, would be something you've debated once before," Knowledge conceded, head tilted in thought. "If you plan on using that... then some of us would actually be hindering you. On the other hand, those same could proxy your presence sufficiently, we feel."
Nodding, Raven considered her own point. "Who would it be?"
"Morality, Duty, Conscience." Knowledge nodded as the three stood forward, and Raven smirked. Hinder her indeed. She worried once that her concentrated emotional forms had autonomy, would act on their own without her, but such was really impossible. She was, they were, all her. Regardless of her difference of opinion, seemingly, between them, there was no argument or failing to act in accord. She could decide to kill, and had done so, much to the chagrin of some voices, and the thrill of others. Regardless, they all acted in concert. It was an odd condition, she admitted, but so was she. Heir of Hell, holder of the Crown of Asmodeus, The Seed of Wrath. Ah, the joys of family, she mused. Nodding, she broke her introspection, beckoning the three aspects forward. The process wouldn't be difficult, and luckily none of the others in the Tower had the ability to sense a difference in her so drastic.
Her only concern were tasks that required any depth. With her fundamental self so split, it would be difficult. She would reason that out in time. "Bound in darkness, you three; Toward the light, face thee; In my place, stand free; To my task, free me." The incantation was simple, more a formality but needful. Magic need not be complicated, she knew. It was desire, the will to dispose of illusions and imprint that will upon the universe that mattered.
Few could rival her power of will.
The three facets of her self shimmered and merged, as the cloak wrapped around them, seemingly pulling them into a single form. Raven stood before herself, then, the congress of her mind dismissed back to Nevermore. Blinking, her simulacrum smirked slightly, tugging the cloak more closely about it's naked form. "Damned cold mornings," it swore in her voice.
"Luck on your deception, make sure Jinx has breakfast before you lea-"
Rolling violet eyes, the three-made-one sighed, reaching up and taking Raven's shoulders. "Many in body, singular in mind. You're talking to yourself, literally," it reminded her, and Raven shook her head ruefully. She had the odd sensation of being in two places at once, looking out from her eyes, seeing herself twice. Truly, she was in two places at once. And one of her was getting colder by the moment.
"See you later," she said, grinning, as the cloaked self folded and went to clothe itself. She could feel it, a tendril of her own thoughts flowing to and from the Other. It was disconcerting, but she was quickly acclimatizing. So had the cloak been odd, initially. Perhaps she would do this more often... contemplating, she mused she could literally shunt facets to and from body to body if needed, as each was a soul-form, her will strong enough to hold them cohesive. An interesting idea.
A smiling Raven lifted free the suit that lay supine on the stand, the slight bulk of the thing deceptive. The man who'd recently worn it had died ingloriously, falling and drowning in the bay surrounding Blüdhaven mysteriously. Raven had been dispatched to take stock of the man's dwelling, for clues to his possible death, when she found the hidden access to an abandoned floor of the building. With all entrances cut off, and the building itself derelict, the massive support lab the suit inhabited was duly suspect. Once she'd seen the mask though... much made sense.
She'd claimed all the important files, yet something stalled her. Memories of betrayal, of the concept of being someone other than oneself had filled her. Something clicked, and rather than forward the lab data to the Tower, she'd kept it, teleporting all related material to her Trophy Room while she destroyed the building, collapsing it in on itself to mask her find.
And now, she had it. She slipped on the supporting primary layer, an interface skin that molded to her feminine curves. Switching on the underskin, she went through a series of movements, familiar to her from her time in the Tower. A readout on the forearm signaled the underskin understood her frame and center of balance, as well as her range of motion. Smiling, she donned the outer layer, surprised as the thing shifted of it's own, thickening in places, thinning in others. In the now open shell of the casing she hid the treasure, she inspected her now androgynous form, vaguely feminine in it's slight build, but also hinting at broad shoulders and lacking obvious curves. She rotated her limbs, again in the same motions so familiar, as the suit shifted more, bulk redistributing to allow her full movements and support, while it's systems redistributed to fulfill the guise. Lastly, she donned he mask, noting with surprise the readout along the inside, informing her of all the processes she'd taken for automatic, some requiring attention.
Unsure how to proceed, she remembered that like some of the previous technology used by the creator of this suit, a neural link was used for complex systems. Hesitantly, Raven placed the mask on her head, a small prick in the back of her neck alerting her to the suit's invasion.
A hiss in her ears, or rather her concept of hearing-
Rrrrrssvsda aiaahh eEEehh Ayeeeeeiee Ouuuohhh Youuu. Interface linguistics adjusted.
Primary reserve power 73 percent, secondary reserve absent. Shell integrity 82 percent. User interface sync 23 percent. Suggestion: Review somatic trigger and interface schema. Suggestion: Replace secondary power. Suggestion...
She noted the suit's readouts, the information disturbingly being shunted directly into her mind. Not one to use technology often, Raven was taken aback at the thing's complexity, reevaluating the creator in her mind. When she did so, something interesting occurred to distract her.
Subject, Richard Grayson. Target adjustment preconfigured, no further augmentation needed.
Raven blinked, but quickly realized what that meant. She conjured ideas of others to mind-
Subject, Jinx. Target adjustment absent. Load default schema or input new?
Not the response she'd expected. She tried again-
Subject, Superboy. Target adjustment absent. Load default schema or input new?
"Damnit," she swore to herself, this time opting to input but gaining yet another annoyance in the process-
Configuration menu. Please access database material to configure combat adjustment mode.
Concentrating, she tried to 'relate' to the suit, all the information she could of the young kryptonian, which only resulted in-
Brrzzzeeeeeeee- Interface threshold passed. Power spike shunted, reserve power at 72 percent. Please access formated data to proceed with combat adjustment mode.
Shaking off the noise in her head, Raven considered those words... formatted database. Of course. Smirking slightly, she contacted her doppelganger, as it conversed with Jinx
"-get the Tower roster database.. no. Full Tower and if you can, JLA personnel and records databases," she informed her double, growing more excited by the moment. Her Other would use the excuse of needing the information for research and training... which was true. For what, was for her to know.
She relaxed, communing with the suit again-
Subject, Raven. Target adjustment preconfigured, no further augmentation needed.
Oho, she mused. Curiouser and curiouser... she dove into that idea, wanting details-
Adhesive matrix loaded into memory. Neural inhibitive gas matrix loaded into memory. Adjusted neural feedback loop initiated. Reactionary accelerators engaged.
Eyes widening, she felt a surge of adrenaline, before she seemed to settle back into her thoughts. Experimenting, she moved her arm slightly, noticing with some wonder how simple the motion seemed, like she was willing something made of smoke as opposed to flesh and bone. Curiouser and curiouser. Deciding not to use the weaponry, she dismissed the thoughts of her double, and noted the suit powered down, back to it's idle state. She noted with interest the readout of her reserve power was steadily flashing, the heads up display moving very slowly in this state. She figured the suit could idle for years, doing only simple math and interfacing. Interesting.
So much potential. She delved into memory, dredging up different people, Titans and Hive members, but only found records for her own basic, historic team and Slade, with some broken data for Batman and what she had to assume was a new Robin. She'd remedy that soon enough.
First, she needed to take the new toy for a test run. "Suggestion, replace secondary power, eh? Well, that's a good start." Securing the mask, she moved and stretched, noting how the suit adjusted, the mechanics in it flowing with her movements. "This is going to be fun," she lilted, the eyes behind the mask glowing brightly a moment.
The suited girl disappeared in a hazing shift, before falling practically out of the ceiling onto her ass back onto the floor. "Ouf! What the-"
Primary interface method unrecognized, neural lockdown initiated. Please resume recognized input method.
Blinking, Raven tried to shunt her hand into a shadow, only the rap her knuckles hard on the wall. "Ow!"
Primary interface method unrecognized, neural lock-
"Right, ok, I get it. I can be this or me, but not both," analyzing the wording of the warnings, she grinned for a moment. "Yet." Shrugging, Raven looked about the room, seeing nothing that would aid her, but remembering that supposedly this suit had not only been worn by, but completely understood certain individuals... "This is going to sting," she murmured, a small smirk on her lips, as she ordered the interface to feed her information, rather than receive it.
Arching her back, she grunted, arms straining to her sides as she trembled, her mind assaulted with foreign information, bypassing the suit's protocols for safety. She was unworried; if she broke this body, she could remake another. It was her soul-self that housed what was fundamentally Raven. That was safe from this thing. She hoped.
Hours she felt passed, as her teeth ground and grinded from the pain, but suddenly as it came, it left her, and she slumped, falling heavily to the floor to lay, dazed for many minutes. When she regained some sense of cognizance, the demon rose, shaking off the torpor of the forced feedback with an anxious grin.
She flipped forward onto her feet, sweeping a kick to the air and then going through a precise series of attacks, all aimed for nerve points or critical load-bearing joints.
For the hell of it, she swept the leg as well.
Bouncing in place, she grinned manically. "Hwoah... I know kung fu."
I OoO I
Alarms sounded throughout the Tower, and on cue, the Titans assembled in the meeting room quickly, Raven folding into her seat without a word. Nightwing looked to the screen and paled, similar looks on a number of the more veteran Titan's faces.
"This is big," he said, back to his group. "Computer, access files and download to Comms," listing a few names, the machine did as it was bid, sending profiles and relevant data to each Titan's Comm, for those their leader listed. Nodding, he turned and dismissed them, hurrying to the Scramjet bay beside Cyborg. "Titans, move out."
The metal man looked to him, running beside his longtime friend as they approached the bay. "You think it could be-" he began, cut off as Nightwing turned to him.
"No way. He's been gone too long. Has to be someone else."
Shrugging, Victor continued to the jet, wondering why then the file was sitting in his memory. "Lets go see, I'm worried about that stuff out of principal."
"No doubt, lets get this done fast." Hopping into the pilot's chair, he keyed the machine on, Cyborg joining him in the secondary.
The Titans had moved out on their own means, Raven unfolding nearby as Flash nearly ran into her. Grinning at the speedster, she pointed to the tower they were receiving alerts from, a single broken window on the top floor the only evidence from their position there was trouble. "We'll have to come in from the bottom," she murmured, keying her Comm open. "Any reply on getting us security clearance to proceed?"
"Nothing yet," Nightwing replied, closing in on their position. "Kori, Connor, proceed to follow in by the point of entry. Cass, back up Raven and Flash. Gar, we're in on wave two, behind Raven's team. All in, no backup this time."
Affirmatives sounded, as the Titans rounded to approach their appointed points of entry. Raven saw with a distant detachments as Starfire and Superboy went through the same broken window that looked to be the thief's – or whatever had set the alarm off, point of entry. As the jet landed, and the second team prepared to move in, an explosion went off – from behind them.
A car, simply parked in a curbside space, blew up and obscured the jet for a time, making Cyborg nervous. He didn't want the fuel to ignite from the proximity of another explosion. Scanning the area, he didn't pick up anything, simply the wreckage. "Decoy," he announced, locking down the Jet with a security transmission.
"Affirmative," Nightwing answered, as they received sporadic reports and confirmations from the two other teams. Raven was doing her best to avoid damaging things, teleporting from secure room to secure room for some distance into the facility, since they didn't have clearance yet. Kori and Connor were at an impasse, finding shortly inside a series of unpassed doors with no trace of force that they'd seen from above.
Nightwing felt something wasn't quite right about this. "No further sign? What does this mean..." he pondered, but shook his head, dismissing the notion. He had to be sure. "Raven, progress," he called, wanting to check on their spearhead team. They had first contact if something was up, it seemed.
Raven kept her report constant, not allowing a pause in the flow of information to leave them in the dark. "Nothing, no breaches. No bypasses. I don't think they came this far."
"Computer systems up here aren't damaged, but some are active," Connor called, getting Nightwing's attention. "Looks like some mining information was taken."
"Makes sense," Cyborg added, scanning the area by the primary lab lobby with his own sensors. Nothing but their first wave's evidence was there. "I'm with Raven; don't think they came this far Fearless."
Nodding, Nightwing sighed, turning to the doors they'd come in from. "Do a cursory scan of surveillance, Vic. Gar, go wait for the locals, let them know what's up. Team one, extract and regroup to the Tower. Kori, Connor get me an exact copy of what was taken." Snapping his Comm closed with a sigh, the former Robin looked again to the burning wreckage of the car with a glare. He could imagine that being a mistake, perhaps, of a novice but...
"Got an ID on a local anti-meta picked up by the PD's on the way in. Had traces of high explosive on him. Got our bomber it seems," Raven announced, her Comm chirping the data Gar was sending.
Changeling snorted, head shaking to the screen. "Seems awfully coincidental. But hey, what can you do..." closing his own Comm, the shifter greeted the local police as they pulled up, detailing them on the Titan's actions so far.
Connor's ID transmitted a mission green, not bothering to transmit with PD's present. Too much red tape got choking, they all knew. Leaving by the same window, the two fliers made a speedy path back to the Tower, as Raven, dismissed to do the same, folded her team and beat them there.
"Brrraaaah, that's weird," Wonder Girl shivered, rubbing goose-fleshed arms in the aftermath of her riding the shadowways with Raven.
Flash nodded, stretching in the Tower's main room, grinning suddenly. "But hey, almost as fast as me." Raven elbowed him in the side for the remark, but none the less favored him with a grin. "What now?" the speedster asked, as his team milled about nervously, data from the mission collecting from their Comms, while Raven moved to a terminal to type out her reports.
Nightwing's voice broadcast from the main system, seemingly from all corners, "Nothing else we can do, but analyze that data from the top floor computers, and see if we can beat whoever it was to the next step."
Shortly, the Jet touched down, shadowed by the the other fliers and Changeling, the landing bay opening up atop the massive Tower.
Sparing the Jet a quick once over, Cyborg joined his teammates in the Tower proper, as they all went about post-mission duties. The vehicle was riding oddly, probably some accessory damage from the car blast to one of the wings. He'd check it over after reports, wanting to download the data and clear his temporary memory ASAP.
The Titans collected in the main room again, trading theories and ideas when Raven approached Nightwing, a curious expression on her usually stoic features. "You ok?" She asked simply, knowing he would understand the question.
Nodding briefly, he favored her with a small smile, shrugging. "Paranoid, maybe. I hate my mistakes coming back to haunt me, that was a lose end we never tied up."
"We have a lot of those," the empath said quietly, nodding. "I was wondering, since I spend so much time at home, if I could have a copy of the database entries, so I can keep myself updated on things." Nodding to the terminals she was often seen using after missions, she shrugged. "I guess it's one of the drawbacks of being in an unsecured area. Can't 'dial in'," she noted.
Nodding absently, Nightwing keyed in the proper accesses, granting Raven privileges to access the secure files from the Tower's computers. Moving to a terminal, the empath pulled a flash drive from her pocket and went about the task of copying those files, when the Tower alarm sounded.
As one, the Titans looked to one another then the main display, a map scrolling by with a single room in red. "Evidence stora-NO!" Nightwing dashed from the room, in close pursuit by the collected Titans. Raven was as usual first on the scene, standing by the door shaking her head.
"No one has come or gone by me since I was out here," she said, eyeing the door critically. The vault access was intact, something they'd not expected. "I opened it briefly to look inside, but there wasn't anything out of place," she added, looking away.
"Dangerous, we need to be careful here, there's a lot of dangerous toys in there," Nightwing chided, but his heart wasn't in it. Raven was as concerned as he was; her emotions coming through, showing her anxiety as she was being proof. "Flash, Cassie, stay out here. Everyone else in. Be ready for anything."
As one, the Titans dashed inside, the heavy vault door barely open before they'd rushed the room. Corners and darkened coves ruled the room, until Starfire murmured the current watch password, lighting the room brilliantly. All seemed in order, but one wall safe was open, it's contents missing.
"How?" was all Nightwing said, shaking his head. "How, after all this time."
The others had no answer for him, as the harried young man slammed his hand into the now empty vault. Nothing else had been touched – and he saw now what they'd overlooked. "The Jet. He used the explosion to get in the Jet. Then into storage somehow, and now he's got the secondary power generator!
"Damnit, why did you have to reappear, Red-X? Why now, after so many years?" Nightwing stalked back out of the room, shoving the ton-heavy vault door savagely on it's liquid bearings. The dull boom of the thing hitting the wall was a signal for the others to unfreeze, unused to their leader being so emotional about anything.
Cyborg cleared his throat, remembering there was still a threat possibly loose in the Tower. "Kori, go check on him. Rae, Flash, head topside; sweep to the basement, opposite routes. Gar, you do the same with me, bottom up," Sighing, the metal man shook his head sadly. "Man, thought we'd never see that ghost again..."
I OoO I
Tumbling into her bedroom, Raven squealed happily, hugging a heavy duffel bag to her chest, quite naked to the casual eye. Closer inspection revealed the red lining in a circuit-like pattern along her skin, the interface layer of the suit still on.
The plan was so simple, it was... criminal. Laughing again she remember the look on Richard's face, pulling on her Other's perception when the vault was discovered empty. "Oh, that was good. I never knew this could be so much... fun!" Bouncing where she had sprawled, she grinned, listening to the sound of her roommate swear and curse, working on something in the room over.
"Jinx!" She called, rewarded with a sudden yelp as the girl did something wrong with whatever she was working on again. Grinning, the empath could sense the girl's curiosity – Raven never yelled through walls.
Padding to her door, the Thief knocked, opening the door after as Raven seemed to be just getting back in, pulling a fresh cloak on. "I thought that cursed beachtowel ate dirt," she observed dryly, commenting on her seemingly absent typical mantle.
Raven turned and grinned, shaking her head, "Its on an errand," she held up a small flash drive, the one her Other had passed her during the small uncertain period in the Tower. Raven hadn't lied – either of her. She did open the vault door, before her Other had arrived, but only by fractions of a moment. Already peeled out of her new suit, the Titan had used knowledge gleaned from the security system to get into the vault, the whole process of retrieving the belt taking less than a minute. Her other had held it's cloak open, as Raven dived into it – and subsequently back home, moments before the Titan's arrived.
Tower security could verify it all. Cameras weren't an issue, she knew where they all pointed, and was pointedly not there when they swung around. Coordinating two bodies was taxing, but all had gone as planned. Even if someone had tried to verify her actions based on a magical scan, they'd only find her 'porting to the vault, and only once was it opened.
She had a fully assembled suit, the data she needed to program it's systems, and the glowing sensation of doing something completely wicked and new. And getting away with it. "What kind of computer system do you have, in that toybox you call a room?"
Blinking, the disheveled Jinx shrugged, wiping a smudge of grease from below her eye. "Just my laptop, why? New porn collection to browse?" Grinning, she reached for the drive, only to grip air, the Titan pulling it away. "Awe, stingy."
Shaking her head and laughing silently, Raven leaned back, giving the Thief's quick eye an interesting view of collar and thigh. Swallowing, Jinx cleared her throat and and looked back to the Titan's face. "Well. Maybe we can look it over, over some tea," the violet-haired girl offered.
"Sounds good, I could use a break anyway," the Hive girl agreed, turning to her own room to retrieve her computer. Raven moved to the kitchen, but turned, going back to her room and retrieving her leotard and belt, tucking the mask into it quickly, hurrying out to meet the young witch as she settled down at the table, water already on the boil.
Raven sat, keeping her cloak carefully tucked around her secret for the moment. "So what are you working on in there, sounded somewhat serious."
"New hair ties," the girl answered promptly, causing the Titan to blink.
Raven's mouth worked silently, as she thought about that a moment. "Er. What?"
Turning, Jinx grinned over her shoulder, "You think this is magic?" Gesturing to her hair, the girl wrinkled her nose, laughing. "Never could get that spell to work right anyway. Gizmo worked out some new ones, side project."
"But why all the cursing and... it sounded like you were forging metal in there?" Raven asked, brow furrowed.
"Oh. Well that's different, why didn't you say so," Setting a pair of mugs on the table, she sat, waiting for the water to boil. "The other night, we went in to get parts for a new kind of armor, something to help counter your new powerhouses," grinning, she leaned back, smudging grease along her cheeks further. "Back in the day, Starfire wasn't so hard to deal with, with Mammoth. Now," shaking her head, she leaned on her hands, fingers a cradle for her chin. "Well, Shorty's working on something with the sonic drills, and the armors themselves." Shrugging, she gestured to her room, as Raven worked on the memory module she'd acquired. "
Nodding over the machine, Raven had to concede the point. "I imagine unless you were built like Mammoth or a kryptonian, getting hit by one of the new kids would put a rather large damper on your evening plans," she noted, remembering the few sparring matches she'd had with them recently. Only her demonic heritage had allowed her to shrug off those blows, something she didn't flaunt. "So you're building some armor for yourselves?"
"Mm, something like that," Jinx grinned, shrugging slightly. "Mostly, I think it's just something to keep him busy." Nodding to the computer, she stood, taking the boiling water in hand. "Now, what about your little porn collection, hmm?"
Rolling her eyes, Raven glared over the cover to the laptop. "It's not porn, you silly thing – it's better. Come see."
Pulling her chair closer, the quirky witch glanced over the data scrolling over the laptop, here eyes widening. "Oh my..."
"Indeed," the Titan breathed, images flashing by quickly, too fast to recognize beyond a glimmer.
Jinx's mouth worked silently for a moment, before she looked up at the Titan, her expression curious. "What do you intend to do with this... how much is in there," the young sorceress boggled, wondering at what precisely the Titan was about.
Raven leaned back, pulling the mask forward into the light, laying it on the the keyboard in full view of the Thief. "Everything, and... I believe," grinning up at the taller Hive girl, the Titan smirked.
"I shall do whatever I want," Raven said quietly.
A/N: Oh yes. I went there. And I shall continue to go there. More development to come. You know (or may not) that I don't leave things unexplained for too terribly long. Unless I want to. Teehee.