Chapter 6-… Lest You Become a Monster
Robin came awake slowly and painfully. He remembered Blood's red eyes boring into his mind, and then a feeling of blissful emptiness as the power-mad psychic had taken total control. The next thing he remembered was a stabbing pain that shocked through his entire being- and now he was lying on the floor with someone shaking him.
"Robin, Robin- are you all right?" a familiar voice asked.
"I think so, Starfire," Robin groaned and pulled himself up. He was still in Brother Blood's appropriated penthouse office, but something had clearly happened to the place while he'd been out. All the lights had gone dark, and shadows clung thick about the windows- so thick that it was now impossible to see outside. A cold chill hung in the air. Starfire and Beast Boy were both hovering anxiously around their friend and leader, but Cyborg was examining something lying on the ground.
"Cyborg," Robin asked as he walked over, "What are you looking at?"
Cyborg shook his head and pulled back, and Robin saw Brother Blood himself lying immobile on the floor, legs curled tightly to his chest and arms wrapped around them, mismatched eyes wide open. The criminal mastermind seemed to be still alive- he was breathing, at any rate- but his gaze was completely vacant. And the expression stamped on his face could only be described as sheer, raving terror. Every so often, his body gave a shuddering tremble.
"What did this to him?" Robin asked, appalled.
"No idea," Cyborg said. "I just remember him trying to take over Raven, and then something knocked me out. When I woke up, those trap chairs of his had all been deactivated and the psycho himself was lyin' over here with his brain fried. I've tried waking him up every way I know how, even hit him a few times- gotta admit that felt good- but nothing. Whoever did this to him knew what they were doing."
Robin's eyes narrowed as he considered the implications of that statement. An idea was forming in the back of his mind as to precisely what had happened in this room, and he didn't like it one bit. "You say the last thing you saw before blacking out was Blood using his powers on raven? Where is she, anyway?"
"Here."
All the Titans turned to face the source of the voice, which was at once familiar and horribly changed. A figure near the window, so dark that they had taken it to be part of the strange shadow, turned slowly around, revealing itself to be a girl wrapped in a cloak the color of a midnight sky. Slowly, deliberately, she reached up and cast back her hood- and the other Titans recoiled in horror.
It was plainly Raven, but she some terrible transformation seemed to have happened to her. Her once pale skin had darkened to a fiery red, while her dark blue hair had been drained of all color. A second pair of eyes had appeared on her forehead, and all four glowed with an unholy light. As she lowered her hands back to her sides, Robin could clearly see that they were clawed.
Apart from height and gender, she had become a perfect replica of her father.
"Raven," Robin finally whispered, "What happened to you?"
"I am reborn, Robin," she replied, "You cannot imagine it. All my life my soul has been torn between my father and mother, demon and human- or, as Azar described it, evil and good. But now I see that these distinctions are meaningless. Blood wanted to control my mind, but in the end all he did was show me the truth- the only thing in this world that matters is power. When I understood that, I became complete- and now all of my enemies shall tremble."
"Come on, Raven, this is a joke, right?" Beast Boy asked, a note of desperation in his voice. "Well, knock it off. Cause it's not funny."
Raven turned slowly to regard him, her eyes blazing. "You," she hissed, hate dripping from her voice. "Of course you would think this a joke. You are incapable of taking anything seriously. But this, I assure you, is real."
Robin stepped forward and reached out to put a hand on Raven's shoulder. "Listen to me, Raven. I know Blood hurt you, but you can't give in to this part of yourself just because it gives you more power. We're your friends, Raven. Let us help you!"
For a moment the intensity in Raven's eyes seemed to waver- but then they snapped back to the cold harshness that had dominated them. She raised her hand and from it shot a blast of darkness highlighted with red. It stuck Robin in the chest and sent him flying across the room, to land in a crumpled heap. He slowly pulled himself up, twitching as dark energy bolts danced along his limbs.
"I do not require your help, mortal," Raven snarled.
"All right, Raven," Cyborg growled, "We tried to talk sense into you the nice way, but it looks like that's not gonna work. Now its time for the hard way!" He raised his sonic cannon and fired a powerful blast. Raven raised both her hands and projected a ray of dark energy that met the soundwave in midair. They strove against each other for a moment, but finally the sonic cannon gave out. It sputtered for a moment and then exploded. Cyborg was knocked to the floor, and stared disbelievingly at his ruined arm.
"Man," was all he managed to say in a stunned voice.
Starfire lifted into the air, eyes glowing and starbolts forming around her hands. "Raven, I have no wish to fight you," she said sadly, "But by hurting our friends you leave me no choice." She leveld one starbolt directly at the other girl. "Forgive me."
"I do not forgive," Raven said and unleashed another blast of dark energy. But Starfire simply flew up above it and then dove on Raven. There was no time for the sorceress to react. Before she could cast another spell, she found herself pinned against the floor by a superhumanly strong alien warrior.
"Please, Raven," Starfire said, "let us help you!"
"I told you that I do not require help!" Raven hissed, and suddenly her whole body was suffused with crackling power. Starfire screamed as this power coursed into her own form, then slowly collapsed to the ground. She lay there, still twitching.
Raven slowly pulled herself to her feet and stared at the unmoving forms of her friends. "Truly I had no desire to harm you," she whispered, "But there are things I must accomplish that you would not like, and I will not allow you to interfere. Maybe someday you'll see things my way."
"If you don't want to hurt us, then don't!" Raven whipped around and saw the source of the uncharacteristically serious voice- Beast Boy. He was standing there staring at her, the look in his eyes torn between rage and sadness. Raven had not seen it, but he had worn this look once before- when he discovered that Terra was Slade's apprentice.
"You understand nothing. Do not pretend that you do." Raven had no time for the inane babblings of this green pest.
"Oh yeah?" Beast Boy asked, advancing. "I think I do. I knew Terra, knew her better than anyone. I saw what Slade did to her, the things he made her do, and how in the end she nearly killed herself trying to make up for it! And now she doesn't even want to remember the things she did, because she just can't stand it anymore. Is that what you want, Raven? Is it?"
Raven scowled. "You show your ignorance, Beast Boy. Terra was a human who was consumed by the power she couldn't control. I know exactly what I am doing, and I am an entirely different order of being."
"A half-demon consumed by power you can't control? Doesn't sound so different to me. Remember what you told me after I turned into that monster? You said we all have monsters inside us, and we need to know how to let them out- and when to keep them in."
"I was a fool then. I know better now."
Beast Boy sighed. "I had to try," he muttered to himself- and then seemed to explode outwards. The building beneath groaned under a weight it had never been meant to support- the weight of a Tyrannosaurus Rex.
Even Raven had to take a step back when coming face to face with one of the mightiest predators ever to walk the earth. Beat Boy roared and took a lumbering step forward, but his chosen form was too large to maneuver effectively in the enclosed space. Raven closed her eyes and concentrated- a careful observer might have noted the human-shaped shadow that shot from her body and into the giant dinosaur's. Beast Boy stumbled for a moment, then fell to the floor with a resounding crash. When the dust cleared, he was in his own form and thoroughly unconscious. Rising from the comatose form, the soul-self shot back towards her physical form and merged back into it.
Raven stepped into the center of the room and looked around at the comatose forms of her teammates. "Again, I truly do not desire this," she said, "but it seems that you leave me no choice." She raised her hands again, and they began to crackle with red energy. "Good-bye, my friends."
The red bolts lanced towards the Titans- and stopped. Raven doubled over as though she were in terrible pain, her eyes held tightly shut. When she opened them again one pair had vanished, and they had returned to their natural violet shade, though no other aspect of her appearance changed.
The Titans were groaning and pulling themselves into seated position- and they stared in horrified fascination as Raven seemed to do battle with herself. Finally she looked up at them and spoke.
"Get out of here! Now!" she gasped out. "I can't keep control for very long, but listen to me- you have to go."
Robin pulled himself up and took a shaky step towards her. "Raven, fight it. We can help you- I promise!"
"You can't… save me now," she gasped. "Didn't you hear me? I said GO! Get out of here while there's still time!"
A sudden shadow filled the room. When it cleared, the team- along with the comatose form of Brother Blood- was gone.
Raven tottered for a moment gasping out a pain-filled breath, and then collapsed face forward on the floor.
