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The Year of the Raven
Chapter 4
Corruption
Raven woke to the sound of the alarm going off. Although she had long ago accepted this as an occupational hazard (criminals never seemed to strike at a more reasonable late morning to mid afternoon), the sleepy disgruntled part of her mind idly wondered if being a Titan was worth the continuously interrupted sleep.
This was ridiculous, of course. Even if being a Titan wasn't the best thing that ever happened to her, or if it hadn't helped her forge the best friendships she'd ever had, better than she'd ever thought possible, her skillset wasn't appropriate for anything else. Just imagine the job interview...
'Hi, I'm a half-demon sorceress. I can phase through solid objects, and use telekinesis to move objects at a distance. I can also type 10 wpm using the illustrious 'hunt and peck' method. My strengths are my rigid self control and my intelligence, and my weakness is my desire to feast of negative emotions, and rend humans' souls. I'm available immediately.'
Raven groaned and rolled out of bed. For the first time in recent memory she craved coffee. She had to be tired if she'd let her mind wander that far, and now was craving coffee. Raven wondered if she could convince her friends to stop by a BigBucks™ on the way to this evening's (morning's?) crisis.
Raven lurched into the assembly area where everyone else was already waiting expectantly.
"It's Doctor Light," Robin said grimly.
"That old coot? What's he doin' back in town?" Cyborg grunted.
"Don't get cocky," Robin warned. "He's changed since we last fought him. Enough that I'm even considering calling Batman."
The others turned to stare at him in shock.
"If you'd heard the things he's done..." Robin's face was pale. "We're going, but just be careful. He's not the same Doctor Light we knew."
"Fine, let's just get going," Raven said. "We just need to make a stop on the way."
The Titans arrived at the scene, fanning out to surveil the area. Raven hung back, nursing her BigBucks™ groß coffee. The coffee might have been a mistake. She was more awake, certainly, but that caffeine was making her mind buzz, her skin tingle, and was generally making her edgy. She felt her thoughts and emotions swirling beneath the surface, and silently tried to rein them in. All the while, the song rang in the back of her mind.
They didn't have to look far. Dr. Light stood as an immovable object in a sea of chaos. He grinned madly at the panicked civilians fleeing from him. Then, as though guided by some othersense, he looked in their direction.
Raven saw immediately what Robin had talked about. Dr. Light stared at them, and there was madness in his eyes. Icy cold fear poured down Raven's back like ice water. There was no reason, no hesitation, no empathy there, only rage, sadism, and sociopathy.
"So nice to see you again, kiddies," he sneered. "I've so wanted to repay you for my previous humiliations. Now that my true powers have returned, I'll have my chance. Don't worry, I'll drag out your pain for as long as possible."
"We'll see," Robin spat back. "Titans, G-"
Then the world exploded.
A cacophony of light and color surrounded them, swirling and pulsing, and making it impossible to tell which way was up. Raven closed her eyes against the onslaught, but it did little to mitigate the effect. The energy was so great that it was hot against her skin, and so powerful Raven swore she could hear it roaring in her ears, deafening her.
Panic rose up inside her. She was blind, disoriented, and all but helpless. The song grew louder inside her, daring her to release control, and unleash her full might against him.
"Everyone, close your eyes!" Robin cried.
Raven was surprised she could hear him. Was the roaring in her ears real? Was it imagined? Was it something... 'else'?
"Beast Boy, can you sniff..." Robin halted as the team realized there was a retching sound from where they assumed the green changeling was.
"Cyborg, how are your sensors?"
"Not good, Robin." Cyborg's voice was heavily distorted. "He's throwing off radiation across the spectrum. Everything from microwaves to cosmic rays. My systems are scrambled. We can't stay here much longer, or we'll all be toast."
Robin sighed.
"Raven, it's all up to you."
"Me?" she squeaked.
"Can you sense him?" Robin asked, his voice rising in panic.
Raven would have face-palmed were she not so scared. She was an idiot. Dr. Light was confusing her physical senses, but not her Othersense, not her Empathy.
Raven took a deep breath, and tried to steady herself. Between the roaring in her ears, and the demonsong swelling within her, Raven could barely concentrate.
She reached out with her senses. She felt her friends around her, desperately trying to quash the fear inside them. There, farther off, could only be Dr. Light. His evil madness was an oily sickening taint. Raven gagged at the sensation.
Time was running out. She had to protect her friends.
"Azerath..."
Raven desperately tried to concentrate, tried to gather the magic within herself...
"Metrion..."
The demonsong was all-encompassing. The energy from Dr. light was burning against her face, and now he was laughing...
"Zinthos!"
Raven let go of the magic, launching it into an attack...
...and lost control.
Dark energy poured out of her as though emanating from every pore. The darkness tore through the color and light that her opposing supervillain was creating, knocking him off his feet.
The world returned vaguely to normal, and Raven used the respite to frantically try to regain control. She looked up at Dr. Light, who snarled back at her like a rabid dog.
"Not again. You won't do thattomeAGAIN!"
Raven watched helplessly, terror filling her as she saw his eyes, and sensed the power he was wielding, while her own power spun beyond her control. He reared back, and focused all his significant might on her.
Raven's power responded. It did not counter, deflect, or shield against the energy being directed at her; it consumed it. The darkness was hungrily eating the light and radiation bearing down on her. In fact, the more the darkness ate, the hungrier it became.
More and more energy, more power and fury directed itself against her, and more and more was absorbed into the void. All the while, the demonsong sang deafeningly in Raven's ears; no longer seductive, but mocking. The song mocked her, knowing it had won. It was in control. Raven had lost. Even if she could somehow regain control, she dared not. The all-consuming darkness was the only thing protecting her friends from this madman.
The energy increased even more. The darkness swallowed it, and craved ever more. Raven screamed with a voice that was not her own, a voice that scared her even more than Dr. Light, a voice like her father's.
And still the darkness wanted more.
It was then that Raven Understood. The terror she felt at her epiphany sent all rational thought out of her mind. Her bowels went loose, and her limbs, which she was only peripherally aware of before, went completely numb.
She was going to win, but she was damned, and they were all doomed. She was filled with the power of darkness, the power of her father's, but though she associated the power with her father, it didn't originate with him. He was only a symptom; he was an avatar, a harbinger. The true Power was older, larger, more alien.
Raven screamed again. She felt herself slipping away, the hungry darkness no longer content to eat the light and energy, it was now eating her. She was becoming the darkness. She, the Darkness, was going to win. It was predestined and inevitable. Just as the stars would die, and even black holes would eventually dissipate, she would win, because she was death. She was oblivion. She was Entropy.
Entropy.
As though the word itself had power, she felt her hunger grow even stronger.
She let her senses wander to Dr. Light. He was emitting even more energy, but it was no use. You couldn't defeat Entropy, only delay it. She pondered him sadly. They had both given up; she to her Power, and he to his. He was well past the point of no return. He was burning himself out. When he was burned out, when there was no more light to eat, the darkness would find something (everything) else to eat.
There wasn't even fear anymore, as though the darkness had eaten even that. There was only regret, that she had indeed been the cause of her friends demise after all.
Then something changed.
There was something Else. Another Power was there among them, a Power that was full of fury and rage.
The Power of this Other grew, filling Raven's Othersense with the scent of blood, and the impression of crimson.
It wasn't until Raven felt her head bounce of the concrete that she understood she had been attacked; attacked physically. She felt her magic waning with her consciousness, most likely due to the concussion she probably just suffered. A large fist smashed into the side of her face, bouncing her head off the concrete a second time.
As her Othersense diminished, her vision, blurry with tears as it was, began to return. She looked up, and saw a huge blood red beast. She blinked away the tears, but felt her consciousness slipping fast. She looked up again, and there, green fur now a brilliant red, stood Beast Boy.
The words sprang unbidden to her lips. She scarcely knew what they meant, only that they were appropriate.
"Ave,Sanguineus."
With that, all went dark.
When Raven opened her eyes again, her head throbbing, and her stomach roiling, she found herself swinging, bundled in her cloak. The swaying motion was starting to have its way with her stomach.
"Put me down," she demanded.
"Raven, it's just us," she heard Robin say soothingly.
As if she hadn't figured that out.
"I know it's you. Please drop me," she urged.
"Raven, calm-"
"NOW." She commanded, using her best 'don't piss off the half demon' voice.
She landed with a unceremonious, and tailbone bruising thud.
Quickly she rolled over, and cleared her cloak from her face. She heaved, and coffee scented bile hit the ground.
"Uh, Raven… Are you-" Cyborg began.
"Leave." She couldn't bear to raise her head to look at her companions.
"Raven, we aren't going to leave you." Robin insisted.
"This is not the time for my friends to surround me supportively; this is the time for my friends to leave me the hell alone so I can sort things out." She heaved again, and more coffee scented bile was added to the growing puddle.
"I will be fine, I promise. Just, please, leave me for a while. I'll be back in the tower tonight, I swear."
"Raven..."
"Robin, I reek, I'm a mess, and I'm miserable, and everyone hovering around me and smelling how much I stink, and seeing how much of a mess I am isn't doing anyone any good. Now, please leave."
There was a hurt silence during which Raven sensed more than saw her friends leave. It was just as well.
"Ugh," she said to no one in particular.
She heaved again.
She felt miserable. She stank, she hurt, her mind buzzed with pain and magic, and spots danced before her eyes from Dr. Light's attack.
"Ugh," she said again.
Now the question was what to do. If she dared use her magic, it would be a simple matter. She could clean herself up, and whisk herself to the tower with barely a thought. Now, however….
"Gods and demons," she groaned. "How did things get so bad?"
No one answered, not that she expected someone to.
She risked looking up. Her vision swam from what was most certainly a concussion. Miraculously, she managed not to give another heave.
The first thing she needed was to clean up, even just a little. That probably mean a restroom of some sort. Preferably one that wasn't around too many people. Her cloak would hide most of her mess, but the smell….
Maybe a gas station? Did they even have restrooms anymore? If she found one, maybe she could find some insoles. It was going to be a long walk back to the tower.
PAIN
Raven woke.
FEAR
It was thick in the air.
RAGE
The emotions were intense, delicious, and nearby.
PAIN
Raven leapt out of bed, and made a beeline for the source, regardless of doors, walls, or other potential obstacles in this obnoxious 'reality'.
'who?' whispered a small corner of her mind. I hardly mattered. Even if it was Beast Boy, who saved her life; albeit by smashing her skull on the pavement.
What mattered what he was exuding those luscious emotions, and that Raven was going to eat his soul. That's all that really mattered.
She neared his quarters. So close now. She almost licked her fangs (teeth) in anticipation.
"FRIEND RAVEN!" an enthusiastic voice rang out, "I had intended to speak with you! What a fortuitous occurrence! What keeps you up this night, friend?"
Raven groaned to herself in frustration, and readied herself to phase away. Starfire, however, was too fast. She came upon Raven, and wrapped her in an unexpected hug before Raven had a chance to react.
"Now really isn't a good time, Star," she said. "There's something I have to take care of."
She had to get away. Beast Boy was so close. The emotions washing over her were driving her to distraction. She had to get there.
She struggled against Starfire's hug futilely.
Starfire's arms were like steel bars.
"I must speak with you on a matter of great importance, friend," Starfire whispered over Raven's head.
"Really, Starfire, now is not a good time." Raven struggled harder. She might as well have been trying to cut down a tree with a herring. Raven readied her magic. Nothing was going to keep her from her quarry.
"You haven't been meditating," Starfire whispered.
Fear ran down Raven's back like ice water.
She tried frantically to free herself. Magic was out of the question now. Her emotions were running wild. She'd probably end up killing them both.
"Let me go, Starfire!" she pleaded. "I don't have time for this."
"I am not alone, either. We are your friends, and we love you, but we are not blind. You were out of control the other day."
"Leave me alone, Star!" Raven shouted.
"I cannot. I love you too much to leave you when you are in need. Come. We will meditate together," Starfire said blithely.
"I… I can't," Raven almost wailed.
"Why not?"
"I… be… b-because it stinks of failure!" Raven sobbed.
"Ah." Was all that Starfire said.
Her arms tightened around Raven. They were strong as steel, but also soft, and they were comforting.
The dam was broken. Raven sobbed into Starfire's chest, held by the warrior Tamaranian.
When she started to slow, Starfire release her from the hug, but caught her wrist in an iron grip.
"Come, friend," she said, turning to walk, pulling Raven gently, but implacably. "I have been remiss in meditating, and I fear I have acquired some poor habits. As my teacher, perhaps you could demonstrate the correct method."
"Star…" Raven breathed.
"No matter what, you won't be alone," Starfire whispered. "You never were."
"How did you get so wise, Star?" Raven asked.
"I had patient and loving friends to help me learn," she said, giving Raven's had a squeeze. "Now come! The pupil is in need of instruction!"
Raven stared back at Beast Boy's room, this time with guilt. What would have happened if Starfire had not been there? Would she have come to her senses in time? Thank the gods for Starfire. Thank the goddesses for her friends.
-To Be Continued-
