"You think you're tough," mocked Mirror Master. "But really, you're the weakest of them all."
"I am not weak," Raven glared back at him hatefully, not sure if he would be able to hear her through the thick glass of the prism. As it was, he either didn't hear or flatly ignored her, instead motioning to his duplicate and the fake Beast Boy to jump down beside him. The real Mirror Master pressed a button on the machine strapped to his shoulders, and before her very eyes, they wavered into nothingness, like a couple of holograms.
She scratched the perfect glass with her nails, furious. This would not stand! He had some nerve, treating her like an amateur...how it enraged her! Before losing control, Raven breathed in deeply, sat down in a cross-legged position and began meditating. Don't lose control. Don't lose control. Don't-
"You're definitely the ugliest, too, not pretty at all. You'd think the robot was an eyesore, but you, on the other hand-"
Her head exploded. "SHUT UP!" She screamed. "SHUT UP, YOU FILTHY, HORRIBLE MAN!" She saw red, darkness clouding her mind. Nothing mattered but his immediate demise. Tendrils of darkness flew out from under her cloak and sliced through the glass, causing the entire prism to explode. Huge shards of glass flew in all directions, lethal spears of crystal that crashed into the buildings surrounding the street, causing even more destruction.
Mirror Master scrambled to avoid the myriad projectiles, barely surviving the onslaught. His costume was ripped, and his special shoulder-apparatus blew apart, destroying any power he might have left. His eyes widened at the sight: Raven's eyes were glowing red; her cloak was billowing, darkness flowing out as if it couldn't stop. It was a nightmarish sight – awful, horrifying. Seeing the transformed Titan before him, he squealed girlishly and backed away slowly – desperate to run, but terrified to move.
"NOW WHO IS THE WEAKEST?" The voice wasn't hers – it was demonic; it belonged to something unimaginably terrible. "RUNNING AWAY FROM THE 'HARMLESS, LITTLE WITCH-GIRL,' ARE YOU?" Mirror Master shrugged off his damaged machine and ran for his life, screaming at the top of his lungs. Before he had got even five metres, he heard, "WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING?" Something grabbed his ankle and he was dragged backwards, across the already glass-covered street.
Whatever had grabbed him turned him around and held him upside-down by his ankle, right in front of Raven's face. Up close, it was even more terrifying than he could have imagined. "Please!" He cried uncharacteristically. "Please let me go! I'll do anything! Please don't kill me, please!"
A whirring sound distracted both monster and victim – a birdarang suddenly sliced right through the tendril of darkness that had captured Mirror Master, causing him to fall back onto the sharp, crystal-covered asphalt. Robin, Starfire, Beast Boy and Cyborg burst onto the scene – and several things happened at once. Robin immediately rushed to Raven and tackled her – clutching her in his arms tightly, so she wasn't hurt when they landed. Cyborg smashed the rest of Mirror Master's strange apparatus and pinned him to the ground. Beast Boy transformed into a python and wrapped himself around the criminal, trapping him in his iron grasp – it wasn't necessary however, as Mirror Master was too shocked to even blink.
Starfire landed next to Robin and Raven, a grim expression on her face. "Oh, Raven! Are you alright? Can you speak? Are you hurt?"
Robin leaned Raven against his knee and held her head upright, as her energy seemed to have faded completely. "Give her a little space Star," he murmured, as he pulled back Raven's hood. She looked half-asleep; rings under her eyes and skin paler than usual. "I'm...okay," she whispered.
"Thank gornog!" Starfire cried, attempting to hug her. Robin pushed her back gently with one hand, and shook his head.
"Remember what I said about personal space, Star." Nevertheless, Starfire helped Raven stand back up, as Robin plucked a small chunk of glass that had buried itself in his glove.
"Get off," Raven snapped, suddenly ripping Starfire's arm from her shoulders. Then, with a momentary glance at Robin, she flew into the air and vanished, leaving the Titans in the cluttered street.
xxxx
Raven headed straight for her room, hoping to meditate as soon as possible. Her emotions were welling over, refusing to back down, and she had to regain control before something else terrible happened.
At her door, she paused, seeing the presents that had been laid out. Each was labelled with hearts and the names of the other Titans...gifts - for Valentines. A fleeting thought crossed her mind, but she pushed it away and walked straight on, as if she hadn't even noticed the gifts. Instead of going to her room, she went up onto the roof of the Tower, leaving her door unlocked.
Once settled on the edge of the roof, she locked herself into the deepest, darkest part of her mind and anchored herself there, hoping more than anything that the Titans could forgive her for what she'd done.
xxxx
Though the Titans – including Robin himself – were against locking Mirror Master up in the cell inside Titan Tower, he knew it was the only choice. The criminal had caused some awful damage in both Central City and Gotham City, finding it very easy to escape even the most secure of prisons. He had a strange talent for such escapades, and Robin could only assume it had something to do with his power to enter mirrors. At least he could be holed up inside the Tower until the Titans could contact someone who could handle the strange villain.
Despite Beast Boy's and Starfire's indignant demands, Robin threw Mirror Master inside the secure cell, locking the solid-steel door afterwards. Turning back to the Titans, he held up his hands as a sign of peace.
"Look guys, Raven will be okay. Just because he is in the same building doesn't mean she will...er, well it won't happen again." He made himself sound more confident than he felt.
"Even so," Starfire pestered. "It will still upset her to be reminded of this man and what he...what he made her do."
Beast Boy was even more adamant. "How can you be so heartless? Raven needs to be away from this guy! It's best that she never even hear about him again...ever!"
"Robin's right," Cyborg finally spoke up. "Raven will be okay, BB. She's not as breakable as you always seem to think she is, and you don't have to try and be her hero all of the time."
The changeling was caught off-guard. "Wha...no, it's not like that! I just don't see why she has to suffer-"
Robin put his face right up to Beast Boy's. "Do you really think I would let anything happen to Raven?"
"Er, well..."
"It's nice that you are thinking for her, Beast Boy. However, she will be perfectly safe...and so will Mirror Master. I think you're kind of overreacting."
Beast Boy looked down at his feet, embarrassed. He trusted Robin with his life – and Raven's, of course – but he couldn't stave off the bad feeling that was coming from the cell beside them. He did have a million enhanced animal instincts, after all. He was sure he could smell trouble lurking behind the giant, solid door, no matter how secure Cyborg and Robin claimed it to be.
xxxx
It was almost midnight, and Raven still had not returned from the roof. Beast Boy and Starfire had been fighting over who would get to go up and comfort her, but once again Robin appeared on the scene, looking a little annoyed.
"I thought I told you that she wants to be left alone."
"No person would want to be alone for this long, especially after such a horrible thing has happened." Starfire countered. "She needs somebody, even if she doesn't want them there."
Instead of retorting like Starfire, Beast Boy kept quiet. He thought about his Valentines gift, still lying outside Raven's door. The rose was probably half-dead now, and Raven might not come back for the whole night. Even if she did, would she see the gifts by her door? Maybe he should have waited to give them to her, instead of relenting and leaving them there.
"Raven will come down when she is ready," Robin was saying. "You know very well that you shouldn't disturb her."
"She needs a hug!" Starfire cried.
"She needs to meditate." Robin rubbed his temples in impatience. "Come on Star, maybe she'll be okay by morning."
"Morning is in six minutes," was the smug reply.
Beast Boy quietly left the room, leaving the two to argue. He knew Robin was right, but couldn't help but feel responsible...again. Did she blame him? Did she hate him, perhaps? On the way to his room, he saw Cyborg's door was still open, and invited himself.
"Hey Cy, you're still up?"
"I could say the same for you." The half-robot was typing furiously into a computer, but as the changeling entered, he turned around and subtly shut down whatever he had been working on. "Is it Raven?"
"Yea. She won't talk to us, and she's all alone, up on the roof. It's kind of like last time, you know?"
"Don't ask me to remember. I try not to." Cyborg was referring to the day that he and Beast Boy had accidentally fallen into Raven's mind via her strange, handheld mirror.
"Right," Beast Boy attempted to take his mind off Raven. "So, why are you still up?"
"I always stay up late, remember?"
"...okay. Why?"
"Well, to be honest..." Cyborg looked down, as though embarrassed. "I was thinking about Raven, too."
"Oh..." An awkward silence ensued, both teens unsure of what to say. They both cared immensely for Raven, and wanted to talk to her, but knew that they lacked the proper tact that Robin or Starfire seemed to have. If you could call what Starfire had 'tact.'
xxxx
Outside the door, Mirror Master grinned. The girl was on the roof, then? All alone? Perfect.
He still couldn't believe the way he had acted before. He'd been like a scared kid, screaming and pleading for his life. How humiliating. How revolting. Instead of blaming himself for his behaviour, Mirror Master blamed Raven. How dare she do that to him? That monster. She was like a demon, inhuman. The fear he had felt before was long forgotten - replaced by utter humiliation and a thirst for revenge.
Stealing through the hallway, he turned and came across – ironically – her bedroom. It had to be hers; it had her name on the door. He hadn't planned on coming across her room, and instantly ideas sparked in his head. Vengeful ones.
Outside the door were several gifts – of course, it was Valentine's Day today. She seemed to be either the only object of affection, or everyone had been too afraid to hand over their gifts personally. Mirror Master chuckled softly to himself and braced himself against the door, testing its strength. To his surprise, the door opened on its own. It must have been unlocked, as Raven sure didn't seem the type to leave her personal belongings open to the other Titans.
He chuckled again at the sight of her decor: Halloween-style. And she called him a cliché. He peered at her crooked mirror, obviously structured so to seem 'creepy.' However, something caught his eye: an ominous, handheld mirror, on the dresser in front of the bigger mirror. He picked it up, feeling the stone horns and intricate filigree of its back. In a creepy, Raven-ish way, it was beautiful. Mirror Master smiled to himself. It would be too bad if she lost it.
"What the...how did you...? Titans!" The voice made him jump. It was that ridiculous Boy Wonder, trapping him inside Raven's room. Mirror Master thought quickly, and before Robin could reach him, dodge-rolled to the right and sprinted away as fast as he could. Damn it! Everything had been going so well, too.
To his surprise, he saw the small mirror was still in his hand. Funny, he was sure he had dropped it. SMACK! Beast Boy was trampled underneath, instantly incapacitated. Mirror Master could see the living room ahead now, the door thankfully open wide.
Mirror Master headed straight for the huge pane of glass, aiming to disappear into its reflective surface. Cyborg readily blasted the window before the criminal could manage an escape. The momentum was too much – Mirror Master flew through the gaping hole.
"Quick! Star, catch him!" Starfire placed a dazed Beast Boy on the sofa and rocketed after Mirror Master. She saw him plummeting, but was shocked to see that he was staring into the little mirror, smiling. She picked up speed, trying to reach him before the ground did – and that was when it happened. She couldn't believe her eyes: Mirror Master disappeared, into the mirror. But, as soon as he did, there was an awful, bone-chilling scream. The mirror, in mid-air, exploded.