Spikesagitta: If you were banished from your homeworld and then your teammates found out your father was demon, wouldn't you have contingency plans? After the "The End" situation and her own "commandeering", she made sure she had resources in case she needed to bolt. A half-demon does not make a good hero, so yeah, you're going to see a bit of a darker Raven.

SepticMind: I'm glad you liked it, and that chapter was just to set the stage for these next few. I think we all know how Raven will take someone searching for her secrets: not well! Jinx is going to spend some time on the wrong side of Raven's powers, so hold on, we're in for a bumpy ride.

borvaintavers86: When a main character has multiple personalities, each one should get a little time in the sun. This isn't exactly what she has, but close enough for my needs.

Quick punctuation change: from now on, speech from one of Raven's emotions when she's not in Nevermore will have quotations, just like normal speech, though it will still be italicized. Raven's thoughts are going to be written without quotes, just like I've been doing.

Disclaimer: Did Raven choose to fly or ride in the T-Car to fights when she can teleport? If so, I don't own the Teen Titans franchise; it belongs to DC Entertainment, Glen Murakami, and Warner Bros.

Chapter 7
Art in Motion

A visitor to the Titan's Tower could have looked into the monolith's combined living room and command center and thought nothing was amiss. Cyborg and Beast Boy were sitting on the floor in front of the stadium-display-sized television and focused on their racing game. Robin was at the table reading a newspaper and occasionally writing facts and comments in a notebook laying next to his coffee. Starfire, whirling around the small kitchen like a tiny tornado, spent her morning preparing what was likely another dish of inedible Tamaran-inspired cuisine and being intentionally ignored by her male friends.

It first appeared that Raven was focused totally on the book in her hands, utterly uninterested in the room's other occupants. A persistent watcher, however, would notice that she had not turned a page for the past ninety minutes. Though her eyes stayed on the tome throughout that time, her attention was not on her sense of sight. Nor was it on her hearing, or her smell, taste, or touch. Instead, she was conducting an experiment of sorts and observing the results with her empathy and occasional telepathy.

By Azar, it's disappointing how panicked my teammates are. Every so often, she would intentionally wiggle on the couch she had claimed, causing it to squeak, or make a hum deep in her throat, and every time, three of the Titans would flick their eyes in her direction, making her wonder if she had shoved her face in a beehive from the intensity of honey flavor she was experiencing.

Cyborg had only looked over when she lightly coughed, his gaze and mind filled with concern. The metallic taste had cut through the pleasant sensation dancing on her tongue, and she had been more circumspect with her distractions. She was doing him a small favor, though, to make up for her mistake: with Beast Boy's concentration being split between the screen in front of him and the half-demon behind him, Cyborg's score had been steadily climbing and was now approaching his all-time record.

One would think that they expect me to begin randomly attacking them. I spent the past several days in my room, true, but it is not that unusual for me to do such a thing. I have not said a word to them outside of the normal morning greetings, and am sitting here, simply reading a book. Are they really so afraid of me after our last battle that they are prepared to defend themselves here in the Tower?

Perhaps the situation would have been improved if another enemy had chosen to commit a crime, but the city had been quiet. The chief of police had never been a fan of the Titans, and when Robin reported her… unconventional… capture of Mumbo to him, he had responded by releasing the information to the press. The headlines were all in the same vein: 'Titan's Terrorizing Takedown', 'Raven on a Rampage', 'Titans Dismember Their Foe'. Thankfully, the public outcry Robin had worried about never materialized: most of Jump's populace were more than a little frightened of the dark Titan and unwilling to cross her, and the few who weren't, generally those she had personally saved, had defended her use of force, even writing letters to the local papers. The professional criminals were laying low for now, likely to allow whatever bad mood they believed she had been in that day to dissipate.

So, all in all, the atmosphere in the Tower should have been very relaxed, which only highlighted the stress filling it. How much longer can this last, she wondered. Do we really need to fight someone before I can stop worrying about being stabbed in the back?

The tension ratcheted up when the alarms started, the red light pulsing and klaxon shattering the false calm. Robin ran over to the computer screen to read the report. "There's been a break in at the museum, but no visuals have come through."

"You thinking it's the thief that's been coming in and out this whole year?" Cyborg asked. Thankfully, the siren was loud enough to cover Raven's gulp. She hadn't even known that there was an investigation; the little news coverage after the spear incident had been about staff incompetence and lazy record-keeping.

Starfire flew over to her boyfriend. "Someone has been stealing from the museum of the city?"

"Yeah, we don't have any idea who it is, only that they're taking a random assortment of artifacts. And no, Cy, this isn't in the storage rooms or the ancient or medieval history sections, it's… modern art?"

"So we have a villain with bad taste," Raven interjected, simultaneously perturbed and delighted by Robin's and Beast Boy's jumps. Even Starfire had dropped a few inches. As sad as it is, I would have scared them more often if I knew how funny it was to watch!

Cyborg looked over at her. "Looks like it. You up for a tussle after the thing with Mumbo?"

"I am half-demon, Cyborg," she said as they raced for the T-Car. "We are always ready for a fight."

By the time the team had reached the museum, twenty-three minutes had elapsed since the notification. Not for the first time, Raven wished she was permitted to teleport to the scene of the crime in seconds rather than have to wait for the ground-bound boys to drive their toys. The official reason against it was that no Titan was supposed to get into fights alone, ignoring that that was what often happened when they were on their nightly patrols. If I asked Rage, she would likely say that the rule is meant solely to hold me back. It was a sign of how troubled she was that she could no longer dismiss that possibility out of hand.

Thankfully, the delay had given the visitors time to get away from the soon-to-be disaster zone. They hurried through the corridors of the museum to the art sections, their hearing devoted completely to finding the sounds of their enemies.

"I don't know why they call this crap art," a whiny voice said from behind a closed door. Gizmo, she thought, and a glance at Robin confirmed it. If Gizmo was here, then Mammoth would be as well.

"And the delightful Jinx," Love commented.

Raven grimaced. I made a big mistake, she realized. When I let her go that night, I gave her leverage over me. If she brings it up during the battle, then my team will be even more distrustful of me. And then, not only did I not stop her heist, we even had a civil conversation when she followed me into Phoenix. I told her how my soulself works… I gave her our names, for Azar's sake! How could I have been so stupid?

Joy chose this moment to make her opinions known. "It's not as bad as you're making it out to be, Raven. Yes, we could have told her less, but she was just as honest as we were. We're even on that score."

"Very true." Wisdom, too, spoke up. Were all of her emotions going to involve themselves in this? "There was enough information exchanged that we and Jinx would suffer equally if our conversation was used against us. It would be best if we spent our energy on a more productive activity than worrying; we are not sure she is even here!"

"They call it art 'cause other people say it is and it's better than what they can do," Jinx's voice rang out, followed by Mammoth's grunt.

"…Never mind?"

Robin kicked the door open while extending his bo staff. "Titans, go!" Starfire flew ahead of the others, starbolts shining brightly from her hands, while Cyborg rushed in right on her heels. Beast Boy took a moment to shift his form into that of a cheetah, then he too entered the fray.

Raven held back. She knew that she needed to join the battle, but she was unable to shake the memories of her last meetings with the pink-haired thief. In the short time that they spent together, she had become familiar with the girl, her mind a whirl of activity, her emotional outlook dominated by her hardy good cheer. Can I really fight her now? An hour or so in conversation, and she understands me better than Beast Boy or Starfire ever have. She is the only person to recognize that I have been wrestling with my Ascension meditation, the only individual on this planet who even knows what the Ascension is.

"You don't have a choice, my dear." Rage's tone was tinged with familiar bloodlust, "If you try to avoid engaging, the others will realize that something is wrong. I never expected to say this, but we will need to act as is expected of us until our merge, until we can totally defend ourself against them. If we change our purpose too hastily, we run the risk of one of them getting in a lucky shot before we can leave."

I have not agreed to the merge, Rage. There is much more to consider—

"Don't give me that shit! We both know that you desire the merge, the power it will give you; you are a demonling, after all. You are delaying your answer so that you can query the others, but I can tell you right now that Wisdom, Courage, Impudence, and I would all vote in favor.

"Now, we have no more time for talk, the others have begun the fight. We have only one choice; attack!"

Her team had, indeed, reached their targets. Starfire and Cyborg had partnered against Mammoth, Starfire peppering him with her bolts until the slower metal man had gotten in range and slammed his fist into the side of the red-haired giant's head. The metahuman flew back six or seven feet onto the ground, where Cyborg again threw a punch. This one Mammoth caught, and grabbing him by the head, he flung her teammate across the room and into the wall. Starfire had seen the opening and took advantage of it, her eye beams catching the giant in the ribs and sent him into the wall opposite Cyborg. The two men were momentarily dazed, laying on the ground in ironically identical poses.

Robin ran after the tiny technical terror. His first strike was blocked by two robotic legs that sprouted from Gizmo's harness, and he was forced to back off after a set of arms, terminating in blasters, unfolded and began firing on the hero. Robin drew a number of birdarangs, Gizmo deployed wings and twin rockets, and their fight devolved into a ranged game of cat and mouse.

Jinx was the member of the H.I.V.E. trio in the most danger. Her hands were flashing with her pink pseudo-magic, the hexes cracking the floor, the frames of the paintings, the sculptures on their stands, but none of her actions could halt Beast Boy's assault. Melting into a python, swelling into a bull, jumping and collapsing into an eagle, he continuously dodged her strikes as he advanced on her position.

Raven lifted herself from the floor and hovered, unsure of where she would be the most help. She decided that Gizmo was the one most likely to escape, and had started to fly towards him when honey flowed in her mouth. The experience was unusual, tinged with a sharp crackle of static and floral undertones.

She turned her eyes back to the bad-luck charm. She was quickly, desperately, dancing away from the shapeshifter, but for all her backflips, powers, and bloody-minded grit, the distance between them was shrinking second by second. The girls' eyes met, and Raven did not need to be a telepath to understand the message in Jinx's gaze.

Help me, please!

Casting a hurried glance over her surroundings, Raven's soulself lifted a poor imitation of a massive daisy, constructed from nearly fifty toilet seats according to the display, and hurled it at the dueling duo just as Beast Boy was about to land a hit. They sprang apart.

"Dude, watch it, Raven!"

She deliberately misunderstood the remark. "I will not throw around any nice pieces, there is no need for concern." A painting aimed at the two punctuated her statement. "Go help Robin, I can take care of her."

The green young man looked at the girls. "Okay, just don't go crazy like you did with Mumbo." He reformed himself as a sparrow and soared after the villainous inventor.

Jinx stared at her for a moment, then a grin split her face before she quickly covered it back up. With a jerk of her head, she sped towards a doorway to another area of the museum. Raven paused, then, seeing that none of her teammates were looking in her direction, followed.

Their chase took a couple of minutes, ending in the section devoted to the native cultures of the continent. Pink sparks shot towards the six cameras in the room, then the thief flopped down on the ground with a sigh. "That was a close one."

Shadows pooled underneath her, lifting and lengthening to wrap her entire body up and bind her in place. Ignoring the betrayal pasted on the girl's face, Raven walked over to her. "What the hell are you doing here, Jinx?"

"Moi? Is it so hard to believe that I want to be more culturally aware?"

"Don't try to be cute!" Raven snarled, her soulself starting to slither out from the bottom of her cloak, "Now answer the question!"

"I nee… ed t… talk… you…" Jinx gasped, her face turning rosy, then edging into blue.

"Let her up, Raven!"

Shocked by Courage's shout, she dispelled her soulself and covered her mouth in grief as Jinx's ribs visibly expanded and relaxed. In her anger, she had tightened the restraints she formed and had almost crushed the thief's chest. Jinx coughed in between her swallows of air, and finally forced herself to speak. "Dammit, girl, when you said you're deadly, you weren't pulling my leg."

"I… I am sorry, I did not mean to—"

The pinkette waved away Raven's apology. "S'my fault; this wasn't the best plan, looking back on it. I wanted to get in touch with you, but since I can't just walk up to your front door and knock, we had to do it a roundabout way."

"What about your teammates?"

"Ah, they know the plan. As soon as we took off, they were supposed to make their way to the exits and get out of here. Your pals should be chasing them, so we'll have a bit of time."

"Time for what?" What could be so important that Jinx would risk herself and her team just to talk to me?

The girl hesitated, "Well, I had Gizmo do some work, and, um, he found a couple of things that didn't make any sense."

"What 'things' are you referring to?"

There was a pause. "Just some things about you. Or, Rachel Roth, really. Is that threat of tearing my mind apart still in play?"

"Yes." Raven glared at Jinx. "If you think it will make me angry, you should just come out and say it."

"Okay, um… It's about your Swiss account, though, so…"

Raven fell back a step. No one should know about that bank account; it wasn't even in her alternate name, but instead under 'Angela Vogel'. How did Jinx find out about it? Why was she even looking? Who else knows? Does she realize what is in it? When did—

"Raven… Raven… Look, I get that you're pissed, but call it off! "

Jinx's cry called her back to reality in time to see a mass of tentacles, covered in gaping maws filled with needle-thin, razor-sharp teeth and breathing out a veritable miasma of sickly green vapor, reaching out from a black-edged hole in the wall to grab and presumably devour the thief. A flashback to the one and only horror movie she had ever seen gave her the source of this eldritch abomination.

Fear, whatever you are doing, stop!

"S-sorry…" The entity from the realm of nightmares halted, then fell apart into thick dark smoke. "I d-didn't m-mean to…"

Jinx looked between the now solid wall and the half-demon. "Raven, I'm calling in that favor you owe me. What the holy fuck was that!"

It's only been two weeks for Raven since Rage returned, and already there's some significant blurring of the lines between their personalities. Just think what she'll be like when the Ascension finally happens. At the rate this story is going, that'll be around… chapter 100 with my luck : (

My first battle scene with the whole team involved. Yes, I know it sucks, and any advice would be so very much appreciated.

When I said that Fear had the power of materialization in the second chapter, were any of you confused about what I meant? If so, now you know. It's funny; she is the "scaredy-cat" of Raven's emotions, and yet, she's the one that is guaranteed to keep you up at night, recalling your childhood fears of the monsters under the bed.

Silently Watches out.