Disclaimer: I do not own Worm, a Web Serial by Wildbow which comes highly recommended and is free online (just google it). Nor do I own Teen Titans in either their Comic, Cartoon or any other form. It is a property of D.C comics, and Warner Bros, as well as Cartoon Network and whoever else might have a slice of that pie.
Well this was done much quicker. Hopefully I will be able to keep at this pace for a while, the muse has been strong for this fic.
Italics and single quotes 'hello world' indicate mind to mind communication.
"Azarath. Metrion. Zinthos."
Floating in the middle of her new studio apartment in Brockton Bay, was Raven. Surrounding her on the floor in the shape of an inverted pentagram, were tallow candles, lit with an off-putting blood red flame. The windows looking out of her apartment were covered in thick black curtains, and Raven had spent the previous day enchanting her walls and her door to prevent any noise from coming in or out.
"Azarath. Metrion. Zinthos."
Raven had been meditating for more than two hours already, calming her mind and preparing her magic for the ritual she had chosen from her vast magical knowledge for strengthening the barriers of her mind that kept out outside influences. The ritual required three components: a sacrifice, an anchor and something symbolic for the effect desired.
For the sacrifice, Raven had drawn blood from herself into a bowl using a glass knife, which she had then dipped each candle that she was using for the ritual with. The sacrifice provides the power behind this kind of magic, providing payment now for a set amount of future results, in this case protection of the mind for 24 hours. The anchor, a blood red ruby they had bought for this purpose, was the container which would hold the magic needed for their protection. Infusing the magic from their sacrifice into the ruby would allow it to act as a protective amulet for the next day.
As it was only a temporary protection, the price of the sacrifice was rather low, only some of their own blood. More long lasting protections could be created with more valuable sacrifices, such as the life of another or even one's soul. Magic always has a cost, part of the responsibility of being a sorcerer like Raven was understanding the ethics behind each ritual and spell, a cruel calculus of morality, balancing the costs and the results so as to cause the least amount of harm.
For the symbolic representation of the effect she wanted to imbue into her anchor, Raven had made a small wooden shield, which she painted white, with a black door in the middle. This represented the creation of a barrier, and the incantations that she would use during the ritual would further assert that this barrier would be to prevent outside sources access into the wearer of the amulets mind.
As Raven felt her mind and magic reach a state of peace and tranquility, she held the shield in her left hand and the ruby in her right.
"Blood is given, a day's protection is sought, may the wall between my mind and the will of others be strengthened," Raven intoned in Sanskrit. Raven had learned this ritual for creating temporary enchantments from an old tome on magic she had read while first learning magic in Azarath when she was younger.
Three times she spoke her incantation, before with a flash the candles surrounding her went out, and she felt a harsh burn on her hands. Knowing that the pain was part of her payment, as with many of the magics that she knew, Raven held onto the shield and jewel until the pain disappeared. After inspecting her new amulet, Raven quickly placed it into a small bag hung around her neck. Checking the clock on her wall, she stood up and got ready for the upcoming mission.
Dragon had paid well for her assistance with retrieving Sphere's tech from the moon, and Raven had quickly made good use of their new resources. An apartment of their own was the first major purchase of their little shopping spree, and one that took a good deal of convincing on Raven's part to convince Taylor it was necessary. Ever since the locker incident Taylor's father Danny had become more and more distant with them, spending more time at work and seemingly less of an effort trying to draw them into conversation.
Taylor had confessed to Raven that her relationship with her father had been a struggle ever since her mother passed away, and it seemed that the knowledge of Taylor's bullying at Winslow had driven Danny into depression. Sadly his reaction only caused the relationship with his daughter to deteriorate even further. While Taylor was hesitant to leave her father on his own, she eventually agreed to move out. They needed both the privacy and safety of a place of their own, and by leaving her father's residence Taylor hoped that any villains who might try and come after them would be less likely to trace her back to her father.
After furnishing their new apartment with the bare necessities, which to the woe of Taylor's frugal nature included things she considered luxuries like high speed internet access and a laptop, as well as a plethora of occult supplies ordered online. It shocked Taylor how quickly they managed to go through their earnings, but she decided to trust that Raven knew what she was doing. After all she had years of experience being a hero and was the one who had the necessary knowledge of magic to understand what they might need.
The last purchase Raven had made for them was for some new equipment for their costume. Raven had been displeased to find that while most of her powers came with her when she started possessing Taylor, her demonic strength and durability had not. She could still use her command over shadows to form claws, and her second pair of eyes still formed on their forehead when she tapped into the power of her emotions, especially rage. This loss of durability and strength was not too unsurprising to Raven, after all Taylor's body was entirely human, but was definitely something that needed to be mitigated.
This was a common problem in Earth Bet for both heroes and villains without a brute rating, and Narwhal had pointed them towards a store in Toronto that sold bulletproof lightweight materials. While expensive, these materials had the advantage of being available in significant quantities, which was useful for the inevitable need for repairs. While the material would lessen the impact of a bullet or knife, it wouldn't be able to handle more than one or two shots. It was definitely meant to be the last defense, rather than something to depend on often.
They had layered their cloak and leotard with the material, making it a bit heavier and less flexible, and had decided to add a pair of black pants to their costume. It was both more modest, which pacified Taylor who thought that their old costume was far too revealing, and added warmth and protection to their long legs. Considering that this mission was taking place in Canada during the winter, warmth was a much needed necessity.
Dressing in their new costume and sticking a knife in their boot just in case, they were finally ready for their first mission with The Guild. The execution of the villain Heartbreaker.
"Alright listen up!" Narwhal yelled to the group gathered at The Guild headquarters in Toronto. "One last time going over the plan of attack for the day. Raven, our new teleporter and empath, with be bringing all of us to the Montreal Protectorate Headquarters which will be our staging point for the day. She will then be using her abilities to locate Heartbreaker and the heartbroken. We will take positions surrounding his group at a distance of at least 1500 meters.
"Remember Heartbreaker's range is only 250 meters, but he has complete control once he knows you are in his range. He doesn't have any sensory abilities, but his heartbroken act as sentries and guards. We believe that one of his Parahuman slaves, hereafter referred to as Current has some kind of ability to detect movement in the air around her. At least three more of his slaves are Parahumans with unknown abilities, and any number of his children could also have abilities, likely variations of his master power. We know that one of his sons, Guillaume, has the ability to sense everything a person will do for a time after touching them, and others will likely have abilities similar to Heartbreaker, Hijack and Cherish.
"As far as we know there should be 16 adult women who are enslaved to Heartbreaker, and an additional dozen younger girls who are his children. He currently has 3 male adults who follow him, and 6 or so male children. Assume that all members of the heartbroken are fanatically loyal to Heartbreaker, willing to sacrifice themselves for his safety. Nonlethal force is preferred for all of the heartbroken, but don't hesitate to use any force necessary if you feel like you are in danger. It is unlikely that any of the older women will be able to be cured of his affect, but we hope that we might be able to help them live somewhat normal lives after this. The PRT will be waiting for the all clear to handle everyone we capture, treating the victims is their problem so I want all of you to concentrate on safely and quickly taking everyone into custody. Raven will be teleporting in and taking out Heartbreaker first, and none of us will be moving in until she reports that Heartbreaker is dead.
"By order of the PRT, Heartbreaker has been given a kill order for dozens of charges of rape, kidnapping and murder. This kill order was given over a year ago after Heartbreaker took a member of the Montreal Protectorate under his control. We managed to get her back, but she has never recovered from what he did to her. Until then he had just been considered an A-class threat, despite being scum, and was therefore outside of our jurisdiction. You all know how pissed off that made me, so I am glad that the PRT finally saw the light and gave the go ahead to kill this sack of shit.
"Heartbreaker has terrorized the people of Montreal for over a decade. The Guild was created to take down the worst of the Parahumans out there and there is no doubt in my mind that Heatbreaker is one of them. Raven, I know this is your first mission with us, and that this plan rests heavily on your shoulders. You might consider yourself a rogue, but this makes you a hero. Thank you all for coming today, let's get to work."
It didn't take long for Raven to find Heartbreaker. Rarely had she ever sensed the sheer amount of lust and obsession that surrounded the heartbroken, it showed itself to her senses like a bonfire. Her empathy had always felt to her as a sense most similar to taste. Lust was like a spicy pepper, while obsession was sickeningly sweet. The combination and its sheer intensity was vile to her senses, an unnaturally intense phenomena she could sense from across the city.
'Are you ready for this Taylor? You've dreamed of being a hero your whole life. I know that it's not exactly what you always hoped it would be. We won't be helping your hometown today, but I want you to feel proud of what we are about to accomplish. Being a hero is a calling, it's often a thankless and dangerous job. It changes you. Just-I want you to know that I am proud to work with you. I know I can be somewhat condescending at times, and rather pessimistic, but I really admire your idealism Taylor. I promise I will continue to do everything I can to get my own body so you can have control again. I look forward to seeing what you can do.'
'Thanks Raven, that means a lot to me. It's been difficult hitching a ride in my own body. It feels sometimes like you're the hero and I'm just along for the ride. I really can't wait until I can be a hero all on my own.'
'I understand Taylor, it will happen soon. I promise.'
"Alright, is everyone in position?" Raven said over the communicator that Dragon had given everyone.
"Roger, Raven. Mission is a go!" Narwhal replied.
With a deep breath, Raven covered herself in shadow and opened a portal in the closet of the room Heartbreaker and two of his slaves were currently in. Ignoring the sensual moans and grunts of the three people in front of her, still hidden by the shadows, Raven swiped her hand in the direction of Heartbreaker, sending a razor sharp projection of darkness towards Heartbreakers back. At the last second one of the two women saw the projection coming towards their master and tried to push him aside, but was too late.
The darkness projection cut straight through Heartbreakers body, which collapsed in two halves on top of the women he had been on top of. Blood poured everywhere, soaking the bed as the two women screamed in anguish and fear.
The second woman, who had been sitting next to Heartbreaker, leapt at Raven, screaming incoherently. As she made her way towards Raven her hands turned into sharp looking blades, dripping a black liquid of some sort.
'Stay away from the blades,' Taylor whispered into Raven's mind. 'She's obviously a changer and that liquid is probably poisonous or something.'
Agreeing with Taylor analysis, Raven flew away from the rampaging changer, taking a moment to activate her communicator to call in reinforcements.
"Heartbreaker is dead. Move in."
"Copy, all teams advance on the heartbroken."
Again the changer leapt at Raven, forcing her to fly to the other side of the room. Fortunately the other woman in the room seemed to still be in shock, screaming while trying to get out from underneath Heartbreaker's body. The door to the room slammed open, allowing a young teen boy to enter in a rush.
"What the fuck is going on!" the newcomer screamed.
"That bitch killed him! I'll kill her!"
Once again the woman with the dripping handblades rushed at Raven, only this time instead of flying away Raven stood her ground. A black shadow surrounded the night table next to the bed, before the table lifted up and smashed into the changers hands, knocking her down to the ground.
With an animalistic scream of rage, the male teen raised his hands, shooting a bright green bolt of energy at Raven, who dove out of the way using her flight abilities. Around the house they could hear more screaming and crashes as the rest of The Guild stormed the building. Continuing to dodge the green bolts headed at her, Raven picked up a chair that was in the room with her soulself, tossing it at the male assailant, knocking him back with a grunt of pain.
The changer ripped her way free of the night table, reentering the fight. It was obvious that the two heartbroken had experience fighting with each other as they moved to try and trap Raven in the corner of the room. Ducking under a swipe of the changers blades, Raven swept her feet out, tripping the woman and sending her hard to the floor. Seeing an opening the male blaster sent a green bolt at her head, missing by inches instead hitting one of his ally's legs.
"Damnit Numb you hit me!" she yelled as she started to crawl towards Raven using only three of her limbs.
From his name and the effect she could see his bolts had on the woman, Raven guessed that his powers disabled limbs in some way and resolved to make sure that she never found out what would happen if her head was hit. She took the opportunity of a practically immobile opponent to reduce their numbers, sending a trio of black bolts at the downed changer's head. Each bolt only had enough power in it to hit like a strong punch, and three of them were more than enough to knock her out of the fight.
Sending a fourth bolt towards the blaster, only to watch him dodge out of the way, Raven realized that if she wanted this fight to end any time soon she would need to get closer. As she flew towards him, she saw a teenaged girl with wild pink hair enter the room, making eye contact with her.
Instantly Raven felt a strong attack on her mental defenses, as her amulet burned on her neck. Breaking their eye contact to both her opponents' surprise, she used her soulself to take control of the blanket from the bed, wrapping the teenage girl's head and knocking her to the floor. Raven closed in on the last combatant in the room, knocking him out with a quick kick to his head just as Narwhal and a pair of soldiers that worked with The Guild entered the room. Seeing the girl with a blanket around her head the two soldiers quickly shot her with their containment foam sprayers before moving on to spray the other three heartbroken in the room as well as Heartbreaker's remains.
"Good work Raven," Narwhal said with a look around the room and an approving nod. This was the last room I needed to check before sounding the all clear and calling in the PRT. We have a few injuries downstairs if you have the energy to heal anyone, nothing too critical, but one of our mercenary soldiers got shot in the shoulder and one of our capes got a nasty burn from a heartbroken with some pyrokinetic abilities. When you're done we need to debrief at the local PRT HQ." Narwhal shot Raven a sexy pout, "is there any way I could convince you to help out with the paperwork?"
Raven snorted in surprise at the request, cheeks heating up from the flirtations of the older woman. "Not a chance in Hell. Sorry Narwhal, but I'm afraid I already have plans tonight with a nice steaming mug of herbal tea."
Rushing off before Narwhal could use her wiles to convince her to help with the greatest of all evils: paperwork, Raven flew, phasing through the wall, to the front of the building to see her two injured guildmates. Floating down next to them Raven explained her healing abilities to the curious pair.
"I can take in the pain from a wound, causing rapid healing in my patient. It shouldn't take more than 5 or so minutes each, and I assure you that the pain is nothing that I cannot handle."
Getting their permission to heal them, Raven floated next to them and crossed her legs.
"Azarath. Metrion. Zinthos."
After a long day of fighting and dealing with bureaucracy, nothing was more satisfying to Raven then a mug of herbal tea before bed.
'Hmm. That does taste good. I'm a tea drinker myself,' Taylor said.
'Well lets add that to the list of things that we will do together once we have separate bodies.' Raven replied as she took another calming sip as the news program they were watching started talking about their raid on Heartbreaker.
"In other news, Montreal's Heartbreaker was killed today in an attack by The Guild. New Guild member Raven was credited with carrying out the Kill Order, in an attack which also captured all known members of the heartbroken. The PRT has taken them into custody pending further investigation of their mental state and the effect Heartbreaker may have on them even after death, as well as an investigation into the crimes they committed as a member of that group. Guild leader Narwhal had this to say."
"Heartbreaker has been a blight on Montreal and on all of Canada for far too long, and it is with great pride that I can say The Guild was able to carry out Heartbreaker's Kill Order and capture all heartbroken without any casualties. This was a good day for the safety and wellbeing of the people of Montreal, and I know I will sleep better tonight knowing that there is one less monster in the world."
Shutting the TV off, Raven spoke to Taylor about their first fight.
'What did you think of your first cape fight?'
'It was terrifying Raven. I couldn't believe how fast everything happened, it was so hard keeping track of where everyone was and what everyone was capable of. I guess I never realized how scary it would be being in a fight without knowing what the other person's power is. It was also… more brutal than I expected. I mean those three wanted to kill us. And when we killed Heartbreaker… that was very final. I've never seen someone killed before, I guess I thought it would be harder somehow. It just seemed so easy, one second he was alive and the next, not. Life is fragile I guess. I think I thought that I would have a bigger problem with killing someone, but seeing him raping those two women and seeing how insane they were really struck me. That could have been anyone, anyone he wanted could be made into his sick perverted plaything at any time. I can see why people were so afraid of him.'
'Well Taylor, no one ever has to be afraid of him again. As you said, it was rather brutal. I've killed before, but never quite like that. I have no regrets, and I expect that it will not be the last time I take a life, but I still find it rather distasteful. It was a long day, I think it's time for us to retire. We've been working hard lately, I think tomorrow would be a good day to rest a bit before we start gathering some of the materials we will need to build a body for me.'
That's it for our first fight scene. They won't all go as well as this one, but the heartbroken weren't really prepared to fight someone like Raven.
Thanks for reading! See you all again soon. Just a note I fixed a few spelling and grammar errors in the first chapter. : ]
