Chapter 7
She would do anything for him.
If he told her to take her own life, she would happily oblige, and she proudly obeyed his every command. After all, he was her father. He brought her into the world, blessed her with her demonic heritage, and promised that all would work out according to plan.
However, this time, his words were very unconvincing.
Trigon leaned down and cupped her chin with the tip of his claw, offering a comforting assurance the best way an inter-dimentional demon knew how. His aura was composed of a thick cloud of dark and immensely dense energy. The dual pair of eyes narrowed to slits, in preparation to speak.
"This is the way of the universe, my child. Everything exists and then dies. Nothing physical is ever eternal... but if you follow my lead, you will reach your full potential. You will retain everlasting power and control that surpasses the insignificant mortality of your past life. You will become separate of your human half and become perfection."
Rage stared in awe as Trigon leaned in further, sending frightening chills down her spine; fear was downright unavoidable in the face of evil incarnated.
"You will never experience death ever again." He reared back into his thrown, of which was the remains of the dead Titan's Tower, and his face hardened into a steely scowl. "You must kill the boy. I will take care of the others. Remain inconspicuous, my child." With his last words, he deposited her back into the depths of the Earth.
She knew what she must do; she was on a mission, and she held tight to her father's promise. This was her destiny-to follow in his footsteps. As she drew closer to her target, she began to envision her future, melding and morphing before her eyes. She could, she would rid herself of this dominant mortal segment of her if it was the last thing she would do. She glared down at the sight of Robin making his way back in the direction to the surface with her human half in tow.
Robin...
He was the only thing standing in her way.
Raven glared angrily as the memory flooded her mind, reminding her why she hated him with every fiber of her being, and clenched her fists tightly. Robin felt an empty sensation fill his insides and he looked at his hand, watching as black cracking energy formed around his wrist. With a flick of her index finger, she phased him up into the ceiling, higher and higher until he reached the common room, tossed high into the air.
Robin continued to fly high until she released her hold of him and he made a painful impact with the pool's glass ceiling floor. He grimaced, recognizing the sickening crack as his own bones fracturing, and fell weakly on the common room floor. Raven's menacing figure floated up onto the top floor of the tower to meet her final victim. Her body slowing began to grow to an incredible height, morphing into an unfamiliar creature that hardly resembled her human features. Scales rippled across her body, forcing fleshy wings out of her spine. A vicious shriek erupted from her reptilian snout toward the nearly unmoving body of Robin.
"You...will..pay..for what you have done!" She thunderously echoed as she reached forward to clutch him in her claws. A crackling jolt of light and energy exploded toward Raven and she crashed backwards, shattering three of the floor-to-ceiling windows.
"I don't know who the hell you are, or how you got in here, but you're going down," Cyborg's booming voice roared as the other three Titans stood beside him. Starbolts whizzed past his head as the enraged Starfire blasted toward the unrecognizable Raven in a blind fury.
"What have you done to ROBIN?!" She screamed as emotion-fueled attacks hurtled at the slowly shrinking creature. As the familiar facial structure and violet hair returned to the small woman's features, Beast Boy's eyes widened and he rushed to stop Starfire's raging fists.
"No, no, NO! Stop, it's Raven!" Starfire slowly lowered her hands to see a pummeled sight of her best comrade. Tears filled the wells of her eyes as she fell to her knees, weeping at her body.
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After a few days of rest, Robin was finally fully conscious. He decided that it was best that he told the team what had plagued Raven-and what they could possibly do to stop it. Although part of him anticipated their reaction, he was mostly surprised by the unexpected acceptance of the situation that the Titans were finally discussing. The only thing he could not bring himself to say was that she murdered Control Freak.
"So you're telling me...Raven is possessed...by Raven?" Cyborg scratched his head in confusion. He was not so much disturbed as he would have been five years ago. Rescuing Earth from Raven's hell-sent father stood at his number one of bizarre experiences As a superhero. However, this time, the story was pushing the limit.
"Yes. The evil controlling Raven comes from her, but has a mind of its own. We have to find a way to get it out of her mind. If only there was a way-"
"To get into her mind? Dude!" Beast Boy jumped up and down excitedly, remembering an unexpected journey that he and Cyborg made into Nevermore. "Raven has a freaking mirror-portal-thingy that goes into her mind! If we can find that, we can beat this evil side of her!" He quickly quieted when the memory of fighting Rage reminded him why he never wanted to return. Starfire clapped her hands together, bubbling happiness even during the most trying of times.
"Then that is what we must do! We will find this mirror and save Raven!" She quickly exited the control room, eager to make up for severely injuring her best friend. After she subsequently prevented Raven from murdering Robin, she had continuously cried for hours at a time once the team realized that the demoness was comatose.
The other Titans soon followed after her, leaving Robin last as he stared at the floating body on the other side of the glass divider. There she was, seemingly innocent and void of a conscious thought. She looked as if nothing in the world could bother her peaceful slumber. If only she was sleeping peacefully... Robin could only imagine the monster wreaking havoc inside of her. If only he could have prevented this...If only he could have found a way...
"It's my fault..." A heavy hand lay on his shoulder, and he looked to his right to see the tall metal man beside him. His expression mirrored how Robin felt on the inside-a mixture of loss, frustration, and vengeance.
"It's not man. But it is your job to make it right." Cyborg roughly patted his back before making his way for the door. Robin took one last look at Raven's body before following his teammate. It was not often that he reminded himself how blessed he was to have been joined with an honorable and unrelenting group of heroes.
"It's almost over, bro."
It certainly did not feel like it.
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"So this is it, huh," Robin whispered to himself, eyeing the intricately designed and jewel-encrusted mirror lying ominously on the dresser. A dark misty cloud of negative energy visibly surrounded the entire area of the room, shrouding the team in dread. Even Starfire seemed discouraged.
"Friends, I sense a deep imbalance within Raven's mind. I fear that we are underestimating exactly what has taken over her," she said worriedly. Her small auburn eyebrows knit together, illustrating her inner conflict with invading her dear friend's mind.
Robin turned to her inwardly shrinking stature. "This is happening to Raven. Our Raven. She needs our help, and regardless of the depth of danger the team will encounter, we will fight this together. We will save her from herself." He looked back to the mirror, scowling at the image of himself in the metaphorical reflecting portal. Raven could see the truth of herself with this mirror-however disturbing it may be-so that she could better come to terms with the war inside. He had no idea how she did it. He, himself, was struggling to accept his own personal, ugly truth.
His words made no impact on Starfire, and her frown deepened. "I suggest that one of us stay on the outside to monitor her physical condition then. I volunteer for that position." Her expression further hardened and her glowing green orbs dulled. "I feel...responsible for her current condition. I fear that I may make things worse." Cyborg shook his head in disbelief.
"Star, no...If it weren't for you, Robin might not have been here, standing with us to lead the team." Her appearance remained uncomfortable.
"Yeah, you turned Raven back to normal too," Beast Boy added, "Even though she's in a c-"
"Let's go, Titans. Star, if anything goes wrong on the outside, anything..." Robin faced the solemn alien woman. He suddenly felt a surge of guilt plague the center of his chest. "Do what you think is right." He held his stern eye contact with hers until Cyborg opened the portal, and he turned away to face the impending battle ahead of him.
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They landed into an unfamiliar Nevermore, blanketed in a sea of emptiness and void. There was no sky, no Earth, or no space-just a world encased in an illusionary veil of dim light. The place seemed to go on forever with no absolute ending or event horizon.
"Dude, this doesn't look very much like the last time. At least those aspects of her personality made it...interesting." Beast Boy brushed his suit off from the long fall into Raven's mind. Cyborg pointed forward into the distance as a small hooded figure suddenly appeared walking toward them.
"Who says they aren't here?"
Robin cocked his head, jaw slack as he stared at the unknown person. He had never been there before, and has especially unsure of his surroundings. The figure slowly approached them, eyes hidden and completely concealed. It donned a dusty black cloak, shredded on the edges of the bottom.
"You should not have come here."
Robin stepped forward, walking in the figure's direction. "Who are you? What is..." He trailed off as its head rose and the hood was pulled back, revealing a dark and mangled face reminiscent of Raven's visage. He stopped, staring at what he thought was the remains of her. Her violet eyes had dulled into an ashy gray, and all traces of life were lost at the center. The pale, yet delicate skin along the apples of her cheeks seemed to be cracking and chipping away into soot and dust as pulsating veins along her forehead seemed to glow with magma boiling underneath the thin layers.
She looked...unhuman.
"The precious Raven you knew is lost to you now. This is the end of the road for you, friends." She sneered her last word. Beast Boy and Cyborg stared in amazement.
"She is not lost," Robin snapped. "This is her mind, not yours. Leave her be." The surrounding world boomed with a maniacal laughter that echoed around them. Her mouth remained unmoving as she stepped closer in proximity to him.
"This is my mind now, my world. I have been thinking, feeling, and...expressing myself through this mortal body since I re-entered it. I have taken what is rightfully mine. Your Raven may still be fighting to regain control, but she knows it is only a matter of time before her influence will be permanently silenced. Bit by bit, it has become mine."
Robin narrowed his eyes. "And how do you plan on silencing her?" Cyborg said, standing closer to Robin. She smirked.
"She will assimilate, or become a caged animal, just as she did to me. She, and the entire world shall feel what is known as pure Rage." Beast Boy and Cyborg's eyes widened with realization as she phased into the ground. Nevermore rumbled to life, rivers of lava began to flow, and an abyss opened under them, pulling them into the depths of Hell.
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First of all, I would like to apologize for the long-awaited update. Being a full-time student takes a serious toll on my free-time. Secondly, I'm also sorry for such a short update. I wanted to get this out before the new year, so hopefully this fiction will be wrapped up before or a week or two after the December 31.
I want to thank my wonderful reviewers for further motivation to continue this story. Mojoboy31 definitely reminded me that I had to finish what I started as soon as possible. Thank you all!
I will do I final review response in my last chapter. There should be two more chapters.
Let me know what you think!