A/N: Yay! Here's the second to last chapter. Whoo hoo! I've finally got it about done. LOL. Just one more chappy and that will be the one with the "extended ending to it" Thank you for all the reviews and favs, I appreciate it-it has been a great motivator in getting this fic done in the midst of my ridiculous school life. I hope you enjoy the read! Oh-and one reason this fic has been kinda accurate is because Nevermore was one of my fave episodes and I was pretty obsessed with Teen Titans in my tween years. ~_^ Cheers!
Disclaimer: I'm almost done!
Robin: That is not a disclaimer:
Me: Rawr. So sue me.
Robin: I will.
Me: Shut up. You want me to finish this, don't you?
Robin: ...
Me: Ha. I don't own any Teen Titans anything.
Cyborg braced himself for the impact, jumping away from the four-eyed blast of energy at the last minute. There was no reason to take on any damage if it was unnecessary, it would just become a problem later on in the fight and at the moment, he had no desire to put himself or his fellow teammates in any sort of compromising position. Thankfully, Beast Boy had morphed into his pterodactyl-form as Raven drew on her powers to take to the air and the maneuverability it offered.
Taking advantage of their distraction, Cyborg began to run along the ground, dodging the dips in the uneven ground and keeping his body at an angle to return fire. He was decidedly satisfied to see that some of his blasts were hitting their marks and that the red creature was entirely unable to fight all three of them at once. That was good. That was very good. It meant that there was a good advantage on their side, as long as they could keep it up.
He frowned. Beast Boy and Raven were good distractions, especially with Raven shearing off bolts of black-white energy with rapid-fire bursts. Taking the moment, Cyborg ducked behind one rock and powered his cannon for twice the impact. It wasn't something he was in the habit of doing, but the situation demanded it and he was going to deliver.
Jumping out from the rock, he took aim and fired, purposefully.
The blast was true and one-hundred percent accurate.
The red creature roared and bellowed a loud cry of pain, effectively angered and all minor irritations forgotten as it's attention shifted from the green winged dinosaur and rebellious daughter to focus on the metal-armored cyborg. The four yellow eyes searched rapidly for all of a handful of seconds before it zeroed in on a fleeing Cyborg. He powered up to deliver a blast point-blank to the interfering figure when another screech of pain was forced through his fanged mouth.
Beast Boy had seen what was happening and reacted the only way he could, grabbing the creature's thick white hair with his powerful talons and jerking backwards as hard and fast as he could. It worked just well enough to topple the creature for the second time that day.
It crashed to the rocky ground with roars of disapproval, recovering quickly enough to begin firing bolts of yellow energy at the Green animal morpher.
"Beast Boy, look out!" Raven shouted, throwing all her might into a strong black bolt to counter the energy her father had hurled towards her friend. She didn't dare check over her shoulder to know if he was alright. He had to be. They'd been making some progress until they'd toppled him over. His fast recovery was the biggest hint she knew of. He was ticked off and that was making his attacks twice as powerful and definitely more effective.
That wasn't a good thing at all. Raven grimaced, dodging to the side and throwing another bolt of energy towards him. This wasn't something she could keep doing all day. It was bad to let it drag on for as much as she had. They needed a new plan of action—especially if there were three of them here.
Robin felt his feet slowing of their own accord as they drew nearer to Raven's room. He really didn't want to be going there. Correction, he really didn't want to be going there on Starfire's errand. He was sure Raven was fine. If she wasn't, he would've noticed. Team leaders were supposed to notice things like that. She'd been perfectly fine, as far as he could tell—a little more exhausted than normal, more stressed than usual, but still fine.
Starfire hovered a few steps ahead of him, rounding the corner with her usual quick movements.
It was at that particular moment he felt a distinct twinge in the back of his mind. Robin stopped. He waited for the feeling to repeat itself but it didn't. He frowned. He knew that kind of thing. It meant that something was wrong. Somewhere, somehow, something was wrong.
Starfire reappeared around the corner, a frown on her face. "Robin, now is not the time to be stopping in the middle of hallways!" She floated over to hover directly in front of him, about to speak again when she caught the look on his face. It was just enough of a change for her to know what it meant. "Robin?" She asked, gentler this time. "What is wrong?"
One green-gloved hand moved towards his face, shifting at the last minute to smooth his spiky hair. "I don't know, Star." He said, honestly. "I don't know at all." If something was wrong, then it meant that he'd missed something else somewhere. The thought made him scowl and he reached towards the hallway wall, bracing himself.
Starfire slowly unfolded her feet and stood on the solid ground. "Robin, whatever is the matter? I must know at-"
He held up a hand, his mind whirling furiously. He never missed things. He never missed things that made for some sort of-oh. He felt a slight chill run through him as his mind made the connection he hadn't allowed it before. The absence of Cyborg and Beast Boy. Raven's smashed in bedroom door.
The boy wonder stifled a moan. Referee. He was going to play referee again. If there was any particular aspect of being team leader that made his stomach turn at the very thought, it was playing mediator between a hyper green teenager, a one-track-mind Cyborg and a very ticked off Empath.
Been there, done that, didn't get the T-shirt.
Starfire took up a position to his left, bracing on the wall beside him, staring at the blank wall opposite. She didn't say a word. They stood there, in silence, her impatient and him thinking hard.
"Robin?" She ventured, after a few silent moments. "May we now go see if Raven is-"
"No."
The redhead pouted and looked away.
Cyborg ran.
It was taking more concentration to run carefully on the jagged terrain that he cared for. One particular dip in the ground made him grimace and as he leapt, he felt familiar talons catch hold of him, hauling upwards. Beast Boy. He smiled, relieved, only to see Raven streak past them both and brace herself, before blasting a large portion of the ground, creating a dust cloud.
He coughed, shielding his face as Beast Boy zoomed after the cloaked Empath. Within minutes, they were crouched behind a small rock as the red creature bellowed and howled in the opposite direction. Beast Boy shuddered and shape-shifted to his human form. His nose wrinkled and he was about to sneeze when Raven grabbed his hand and clapped it over his own mouth.
"Don't you dare." She hissed. "He'll hear you."
The sound was muffled and painful as he sneezed and then yanked his hand free of hers, waving it in the air with an expression of disgust on his young face. Anything he might have said was silenced with Cyborg's not-so-subtle hand dropping heavily on his shoulder. He whimpered.
"Raven?" Cyborg nodded towards her, already seeing the words on her face that she had yet to say.
"It's not use. He's too strong. Even with your help, I cannot defeat him." Her hands clenched into fists and her face turned away. "I shouldn't have dragged you into this, it's all-"
"You didn't drag us. We volunteered." Cyborg interrupted. "Quit moping. Call for backup or something. What about all those other yous?
Beast Boy perked up at once, wriggling out from under Cyborg's authorative hand. "Yeah. Do that. The green one kinda kicked butt." He pumped a fist in the air. "She was cool!"
"And I'm not?" Raven growled, taking the distraction for what it was worth. Cyborg fixed her with a frown. She leaned away, slightly. "I can't. Even if I did, it still wouldn't be enough. None of my other sides have the kind of power we need. We need mad power. The kind that…it won't work. We need to think of something else."
Cyborg almost smiled. That was good. She was thinking of them as a team again, that was definitely an improvement. Beast Boy twitched beside him and he turned at once. He knew what that meant. The green kid had just gotten an idea that was probably exactly what they needed.
"Maybe…" Beast Boy said, slowly. "But Raven, what if…not alone-but together?" He shifted awkwardly in his crouched position. "They're all part of who you are, right?"
Cyborg grinned. It faded as another roar and blast of yellow energy cut too close to where they were, but he knew a good plan when he heard it and that was good. He thumped the animal morpher on the back and dared to peek around the corner of the rock. He ducked back a split-second later. They'd all have to work together to make this work and he could already taste the sweet stain of success. "Go for it, Rae. We got your back." He gave a snappy salute and sprang out from their rock and bolted towards the red creature.
"Ditto." Beast Boy gave an encouraging nod, before springing to his feet and dashing after Cyborg.
Raven watched them go and for the first time, a faint smile crept onto her face and stayed. She leaned back against the rock and began to concentrate as her eyelids slid shut. The surge of energy came and flooded into her with fresh renewal.
She rose to her feet and walked several steps into the smoothed clearing between the jagged boulders. Her hood rose and sheltered her head as the wind whipped up a few swirls of dust, toying with her cloak. Opening her eyes, she crossed her arms in front of her chest and a flare of energy accompanied the movement.
Six duplicates rose from the ground, a mismatched rainbow of colored cloaks. Yellow Raven peered out from behind giant, goggle-glasses, the Pink Raven was checking her cloak and the Grey Raven slunk along the edge of the group, while Green Raven stretched, both arms waving in the air. As an almost afterthought, Orange Raven appeared with one finger stuck in her ear as she opened her eyes sleepily and burped.
Raven resisted the urge to scowl. She needed to concentrate now.
All eight cloaked figures rose into the air, hovering several feet above the ground before it happened. In a brilliant swirl of color and light, Raven fused her original self into every side of her personality present. The color blurred into white, stirring up the ground beneath them and with a powerful surge, everything went white.
In the midst of the pure power, Raven felt herself being torn in all directions and then forcefully smashed together. It was painful. It was painless. It was a powerful and mind-blowing. Inside the orb of light, peace and purity, there was enough strength to fortify her darkened soul.
Hidden by the light, where no one could see and survive, Raven's eyes flew open and she smiled.
He felt her presence before he saw her. Cyborg fired his cannon from mid-air, thanks to Beast Boy's aerial assistance. They were holding their own, but just barely. It was as if the more damage they inflicted, the more powerful and angry the thrashing creature became.
It dodged his last shot and retaliated with a barrage of bird-like creatures that materialized beside the duo and began to attack them. Beast Boy yelped, dropping Cyborg and streaking off into the sky in a vain attempt to lose the little buggers. Cyborg swallowed his groan and flailed his arms wildly, firing off shots, hoping to get lucky. This was bad.
Then he felt it.
A shift and change in the air, as if something powerful and predatory had just made itself known. A stillness seemed to come with it as the bird's angry squawks became muffled. Even the silence seemed to shudder.
The red creature was oblivious to it, until the wind whipped viciously around him. The creature turned slowly and stared.
Hovering just before his face, clad in white from head to toe, was Raven. Her face was hidden in the shadows of the white cloak and there was something stronger emanating from her very being as she hovered before him. Without warning, her hands went to her sides, poised for movement and a mass of black energy formed between her two palms.
Hurling it outward, Raven threw it at Trigon, a swirling mass of black-white energy that formed itself into a band that bound the demon from shoulders to waist. She spoke up, her voice dark and terrible in tone. "You've done enough! You're going back where you belong!"
Trigon roared, struggling against the binding spell she'd cast on him. "Never!" He spat. "Insolent little-!" The surge of anger was enough for him to break loose from the band.
Raven didn't even flinch. She rose into the air, keeping their heights almost matched as her arms crossed in front and her eyes and mouth began to blaze with the same incredible power that was literally pouring out of her body.
Trigon's response was two brilliant beams of yellow energy to counter the strike rushing towards him.
The energies met and clashed, canceling each other out until it became a sheer battle of wills, the balance going from one to the other and then back again. Sometimes Raven's energy was stronger and sometimes the yellow one was brighter.
In the corner of her eye, Raven was aware of her titan teammates struggling against Trigon's bird-barrage. Her eye twitched and she threw that annoyance into the swell of energy streaming out of her. Within seconds, the birds disappeared in puffs of grey smoke.
The battle continued, until it was evident that Raven was slowly gaining the upper hand. With one final surge, a groan left her lips as Raven threw everything into this last effort and sent the beam crashing backwards. It overpowered the yellow energy, surging into the demon's face, followed by an incredible flash of light.
As the light faded, standing on the ground was another Raven-duplicate, this one in a dark red cloak with equally dark red, glowing eyes. Red Raven stood tall in front of the White Raven, a miniature thing of barely a foot tall, attempting to intimidate the real thing.
Red Raven threw her head back showing two pairs of the red glowing eyes before her body disintegrates into a bolt of energy that crackled into White Raven's hand. There was a twitch of her cloaked shoulders and then another brilliant flash.
The smoke cleared to show Raven in her usual blue-purple cloak, standing atop a rock at the edge of the once-battlefield, her body bowed forward as if cringing inward upon itself to handle all that has just happened in the last few minutes.
With a quiet moan, the Empath straightens and a faint flicker of wind blows through, offering a hint of refreshment and showing that all has returned to normal. The moan bubbled up again and she collapsed backward into two pairs of waiting arms.
Cyborg smiled proudly. "It's alright Rae, we gotcha."
"It's good." Beast Boy murmurs. "It's okay."
They set the purple-haired girl on her feet and the cloak fell from her face, revealing a faint tinge of blush on her pale cheeks. She reached up with one thin hand to rub her head. "We did it. Thank you...friends."
Beast Boy broke into a wide grin. "So...we really are friends?"
She nodded, a small smile appearing to accompany the blush. "Mmm-hmm."
The green boy smirked. "And you really think I'm funny?"
The smile faded and the blush melted away. Her trademark glare of narrowed lavender eyes drilled straight into him. "Don't push it, green boy."
~*~*~*Thanks for reading! ~*~*~ ^_^
