Bird Brain Ch 10
Disclaimer – I do not own nor intend to profit from this or any of my other stories. I only own the plot idea.
A/N – Thank you to reviewers The Amethyst Eyes and "Darkempath7" for your support! As for "Darkempath7"'s question about why Raven does not call for backup, I hope you'll see the answer soon enough. Also, if you still have any lingering questions about the chapter or story as a whole, PM them to me or write a review in them so I can clear things up. I do not want any confused fans. :D Anyways, I proudly present the last main chapter of this story! Read on!
The three apprentices closed in on Raven, forming a wide semicircle around her. Raven backed up, giving herself plenty of space to plan her next action. She glanced around, noting her possible strategies for her current situation. Lowering one hand, Raven felt something brush against the inside of her right arm. Glancing downwards, she saw what it was. Her Titans communicator. Something inside her wanted to call for backup. Raven could fend off her former friends…no, her friends, the Teen Titans, long enough for Titans East to arrive and help. But she was uneasy. There was something else that told her otherwise. She had to do this herself. Raven squeezed both of her fists tight.
It was personal.
Her friends had saved her by themselves, so it was up to her to repay them for their courageous deed. No backup. She would only use the sheer power of the Raven within her. She had eradicated Trigon, the incarnation of pure evil. Surely she could defend herself and prevail in her current situation.
Raven prepared her hands with black balls of power, glaring at Slade. "It doesn't matter how many you have on your side. I've still got you."
"On the contrary, Raven. I've got you."
Unseen from behind her came Robin, a rounded fist as a hand. His fist met Raven's back with a loud slapping noise, forcing her to the ground.
"Aaah!" Raven exclaimed in shock. She rolled onto her back and raised her left hand. Her powers dislodged a large boulder, and she sent it hurtling at Robin. It smacked him in the gut, taking Robin with it on its path across the area. Raven switched her attention to Cyborg, who was now coming at her like a speeding bullet. He fired a well-aimed sonic cannon shot at her, the shot managing to clip her leg. Raven tumbled down with a grunt and glared at Cyborg.
They don't know who you are. They don't remember they're Titans. So don't hold back.
Raven winced, clamming her eyes shut.
Just keep them alive.
"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" she yelled, a large ball of crackling energy forming between her hands. Gritting her teeth, Raven released the tremendous power at Cyborg, who was not very lucky to be on the receiving side of the blast.
Beast Boy was next to attack. As a tiger, he leapt up and slashed at Raven with great agility and strength. His sharp claws tore through the thick material of Raven's royal blue cloak.
"You are so repairing this, Beast Boy," Raven muttered in a low voice. She threw some of her soul into the green tiger, and hefted it at the rising Robin.
Starfire was the only one to stand before Raven now.
"Alright, Starfire. Just you and me. Show me what you've got."
Expecting her friend's hands or eyes to light up with green energy, Raven quickly prepared a shield if she needed it. Starfire raised her clenched, bare fist and swung at Raven. Dodging easily, Raven swept her foot under Starfire's feet, knocking the alien onto her back.
Looking at Slade, Raven called out. "I still don't fully understand why you want me as your apprentice."
Slade sighed from the distance. "Let me enlighten you. During your fight with your father, I witnessed great power from you. I was truly impressed. All this time, I really had no idea of this wonderful power lurking inside you."
"You want my power, then."
"Aren't you a smart one…"
Raven motioned to her friends. "So why do you need them? How exactly are you controlling them so…completely?"
"Within each of your pesky little friends is a tiny device that ensures my control. All I have to do," he said, putting a finger to the side of his head, "is think." Slade reclined back in his hard chair. "Shame. Starfire seems to be quite pathetic without her powers, even under my supreme control."
Raven's eyes widened. A fast smile jumped onto her face before she could fully suppress it. But it didn't matter.
"Thank you for reminding me, Slade. You've been such a help."
Instantly, Raven took off and flew out of the lair. She knew how to fix this. She knew that the emotions were key. If she somehow got her friends to feel something so strong, to feel raw emotion, maybe she could snap them back into reality. At this point, it was all she had.
"No!" Slade cursed himself for making that fatal comment. He hadn't been aware that Raven also knew how Starfire's powers were controlled. "I may have just killed my own plan. Shit." With his face stone cold and his glaring eye, Slade commanded his army. "Bring her back to me at once! There will be no more complications, correct?"
As a confirmation, the four ran out of the lair, leaving the masked mastermind alone to grumble in the darkness.
Raven zoomed across the cool water, ripples fluttering wildly beneath her. She looked straight ahead, past the darkening sky and mist from the water. Her eyes were set on Titans Tower.
Flying through the broken window, Raven landed on the soft common room carpet.
"Alright, what can I take that will snap each of my friends back into reality?" She looked around the room, her eyes sitting momentarily on the fridge. "Hmm, everyone does love food…" Raven spotted Silkie in the corner of the room, sleeping on a folded towel. Raven smiled, warmth filler her face.
She teleported to her room. The others were probably approaching the Tower now. There wasn't much time. She flew to her dark closet, rummaging around the bottom in search of a black one-shoulder bag. Grabbing it, she opened a small black portal around her feet, just large enough to fit her through. She reappeared out of the floor back in the common room. Running to the fridge, she opened it up, feeling the cool air tingle her exposed skin. She reached in, grabbing a spoon and jar of mustard. Inching backwards, she tentatively picked up a tofu burger. She sighed. This was to save her friends. She put the tofu burger in a sandwich bag and shoved it into her bag. Now, who was left?
"Just in case," said Raven, carefully putting Silkie, who was now crawling around the kitchen counter near Raven, in the bag next to the tofu burger.
"Alright, Cyborg, what would get you back into the real world?" Pausing for a moment, Raven decided upon a tough choice. "It'll be hard to sneak this into Slade's lair, but the T-Car will have to go." Raven grabbed the keys from Cyborg's drawer in the kitchen, and headed down to the garage.
Down in the garage, Raven heard a noise coming from the back door. Readying her hands with her powers, Raven stood strong. "I'm not afraid. Come out and fight."
A tunnel of light suddenly opened up in front of her. In her confusion, Raven had no defenses readied. The sonic cannon blast hurtled her to the opposite side of the garage.
"Ooof!" she exclaimed, landing hard on the concrete. "Alright," she said, getting up, "time to go."
She hopped into the T-Car and started the ignition. With her bag in the passenger seat, Raven peeled out of the garage, barely making it through the slowly opening garage door space. She glanced in the rear view mirror and saw the four Titans behind her running after her. "Let's kick this into turbo." A smirk formed on her face. She never expressed any interest in driving Cyborg's "baby", but now that she was in the driver's seat, she was ready to have some fun.
"Alright, Cyborg, what fancy traps did you put into this thing?" she asked, eyeing the various buttons to her right. "Smoke bombs, tacks, sonic cannon, rocket, ooh, oil, always a fun classic." She pressed the last button, and heard a click. Some compartments in the back of the car opened up, and black oil flooded the street. Robin, leading the pack, saw the overflow of oil and immediately leapt up and continued following the T-Car from the sidewalk. Beast Boy, who had been directly behind Robin, hadn't seen the oil until Robin had jumped away, so the shape shifter fell face first into the muck, getting it all over himself. Cyborg had taken one step too many and slipped in the oil, falling flat on his behind, splashing a nearby Starfire with the goo.
Raven glanced at Robin in her side view mirror. "Of course, Robin's the only one competent enough to evade the oil." Raven laughed briefly, taking a sharp turn to the right. Robin skidded at the curb and pounded his foot into the ground to stop himself. He turned and continued following the T-Car, edging closer and closer with each stride. After a few minutes of the downtown chase, Raven checked out her rear view mirror again. The other three had rejoined Robin in the chase, and they were all nearing Slade's lair once more.
"Just the final stretch to go…" Raven groaned, her voice sounding strained.
Finally, Raven saw the hidden entrance and…
BAM
The rock wall of Slade's lair exploded in a shower of rock and stone, sounding like a bomb had just detonated. The T-Car landed harshly on the stone ground, the tires screeching like angry cats that had just been run over. She dusted off the hood of the car, uncovering the still shiny metal underneath. With her back over her shoulder, she backed up, ready to face and save her friends. One by one, they appeared out of the hole, all covered in dust and dirt, not to mention some oil, excluding Robin.
From out of the corner of Raven's eye, she saw a figure move behind her.
Slade reappeared out of the darkness carrying a gas tank and sharps box.
Raven looked back at her friends. There was no time for Slade to knock her or them out. She would save them. She would at least try.
All of a sudden, Starfire began to blink, as one would if something was caught in his or her eye. Once. Twice. Three times. Raven's glance moved to Beast Boy. He too had begun to blink more frequently. Soon enough, all four of them were blinking unnaturally.
Then it hit her.
Slade was going to keep them unconscious so that their bodies would be able to succumb to the device he had put inside them. That's how they were so obedient. That's how he was controlling them so completely. That's why Slade held the gas tank and injections, probably filled with more knockout material. The Titans were coming to! This was Raven's only chance to save her friends.
"No!" Slade began to run at Raven and his apprentices, but Raven got to her friends first.
Approaching Starfire, Raven placed Silkie in her arms and shoved a spoonful of cold, fresh yellow mustard into the alien girl's mouth. Raven stepped back and stared, hoping for the best.
After a long moment, Starfire's eyes popped wide open. She swallowed and gasped. Raven heard the faintest fizzle from Starfire's body.
"Silkie! My bumgorf! How wonderful it is to see you!"
Raven's breath flew all the way into her throat, and she felt the sides of her mouth turn up into a fantastic smile. She had done it. She had found the flaw in Slade's alleged foolproof plan. Emotions. Things that Slade could probably not experience much anyways. Things that he lacked. Happiness was one of the strongest of emotions. It was what brought Starfire back into real life, into reality.
Raven flew to Beast Boy next. She unwrapped the tofu bagel and shoved it into the boy's face, surprising him. Raven ripped it from his mouth after he had bitten down hard enough. The tofu burger's fantastic taste and flavor danced across Beast Boy's dry tongue, tantalizing his senses. His previously serious face changed into one of pure elation, and he yelled, "TOFU!" with his mouth full. Raven flinched as pieces of tofu came flying out, but she smiled nonetheless.
Raven ran to Cyborg's car and casually sat in the passenger seat. She exerted her soul self over the metal man and moved him into the driver's seat. "Here. You might be missing these." Raven tossed the keys into Cyborg's confused hand. Feeling the sparks and familiarity from his own technology, Cyborg snapped out of Slade's trance. Looking around at his surroundings, Cyborg smiled and yelled out at the top of his lungs, "BOO YAH!"
One more.
One Titan left to free from Slade's curse.
Raven looked down at her bag. Empty.
But it didn't matter. She had something with her this entire time that she hoped would be able to free the last Titan, Robin.
She exited Cyborg's car and walked slowly towards Robin, cautious which mind would bring itself forward: his human mind or the mind of Slade's device.
Raven opened her mouth, trembling slightly. Her stomach fluttered with innumerous butterflies, and her footing was suddenly close to unsteady.
"I didn't know of anything that would really spark some emotion in you, so I apologize, but this is all I've got." She reached up and captured his lips in a passionate kiss.
Love.
Love was what she had all along. When she realized that she felt so deeply for her friend, he had been running through her mind all this time. Even if he didn't snap out of it, even if he ended up killing her, Raven was just happy to know that she loved someone. Emotion. The emotion of love was arguably the most powerful emotion she had experienced; not even her father's rage could compare. As cheesy as it might be, it was indescribable. She had tried, time and time again to define for herself what it was that she felt, what she was becoming.
Raven unwrapped her arms from behind Robin's head, looking at his face, hoping to see any movement, any sign to tell her that he was okay, that he was there.
Robin didn't move.
Their eyes held locked with each other for the longest moment, time seeming to slow to the point where a second felt like a minute.
A faint, fizzing sound came from Robin's head, and Raven looked up again, a small hopeful smile appearing on her lips.
"…Raven?"
Raven rushed into Robin's arms, tears threatening to fall from her amethyst eyes.
"It's okay, I'm back." He looked around at his fellow smiling Titans, "I think we're all back." He put his warm palm against her back, pressing her to him.
"You knew that something was wrong?" Raven asked, looking up at Robin.
"Yeah." Robin reached up and scratched the back of his head before returning his hand to Raven's back. "It was like I was falling in and out of consciousness, like I was in a super heavy daze. I knew that sometimes I was moving, but I wasn't conscious enough to come to."
"…No!" came a clearly distressed Slade. Raven turned around, still in Robin's arms, and looked at the villain. Slade, desperate for victory, held one of his drone's laser handguns, poised and ready to fire. "Robin! Attack her!"
Robin released Raven from his grasp and took a few steps towards the man. "Don't forget, Slade, I'm not under your control anymore. Hurts to lose, doesn't it? The worst part of losing something is trying to get it back, isn't that right?" Robin looked back at Raven. "You ready?"
"Let's go."
Stepping forwards again, Robin thrust his fist out. "Titans go!"
Beast Boy transformed into a tiger and leapt at Slade, slashing away. Slade backed up, attempting to shoot him with the laser gun. The tiger clawed at the gun, knocking it out of Slade's hand. Slade, now with two free hands, was able to flip onto his hands and kick Beast Boy the tiger in the face.
Starfire flew up into the air, something her body had not done for quite a few days, and was itching to do. "It feels wonderful to once again feel emotion and flight!" Her eyes and hands lit up with green starbolt energy, and she unleashed a powerful eyebeam on her target. Slade fell backwards, engulfed in the green energy. Starfire started pelting him with a barrage of starbolts. "I am not so pathetic now with my powers, yes?"
Cyborg stood above Slade, loading up his sonic cannon, and aimed. Quickly remembering, Slade pressed a button on his wrist, activating the computer chip still inside Cyborg's electronic side of his brain.
"Aaah!" His hand flew to Cyborg's head, feeling conflicting controls. His right arm transformed back into a normal arm under Slade's command.
"Robin…help!" Cyborg called, fighting to keep his control prominent.
Attending to his friend's call, Robin ran to Cyborg. "What can I do?"
"Move!"
Slade had commanded Cyborg to strike a punch, so Cyborg's right fist came crashing down. Robin jumped out of the way just in time.
"Get the chip out! Hurry! And keep moving!"
Robin leapt up, dodging yet another blow, and situated himself on Cyborg's back. Cyborg tried to grab Robin and throw him down, but Robin found the drive to eject first. Robin pressed the small button and the left side of Cyborg's head slid out. The light blue, almost gray chip stuck out perfectly in the middle slot.
"Gotcha."
Robin plucked the chip out from Cyborg, and leapt off his back.
"Thanks, Rob!"
Robin nodded. "Alright," he said, turning to face Slade, "your turn to help me. Ready to unleash the sonic boom?"
Cyborg grinned. "Oh yeah."
They both backed up and checked out their path. "Raven! Starfire! Beast Boy! Move!" Robin called, warning his friends.
After clearing the path, Robin and Cyborg ran straight at Slade, their feet pounding on the ground in unison. Jumping in a crossed path, Robin and Cyborg unleashed their proper weapons. Just before releasing his explosive discs, Robin let go of the chip that had been in Cyborg's head moments before, effectively destroying it one second before the full blast hit its intended target.
"Aaauugh!" Slade had only the time to look up into the dragon's mouth of the attack. He burst through the far wall, falling down a hole a few feet deep. He groaned as he tried to rise, pushing large stones out of his way.
Robin motioned to Raven. "Care to deliver the final blow?"
Raven's mouth warped into a devious scowl. "I intend to."
Raven walked up to Slade, her confident eyes dead set upon Slade's own. "You thought your plan was fool proof. You thought I was so weak to submit to you. You thought you could control my friends, the Teen Titans." Raven paused, stopping directly in front of the fallen Slade. He looked up at her, the tiniest hint of fear visible in his lone, gleaming eye.
Raven's eye lit up with fiery white power. "You were wrong."
She flung her soul self into Slade and levitated him up, his feet dangling three feet off the ground. "Just as a warning, the last time I did this to you, you were more or less a zombie." A dark smirk appeared on her face. Slade almost expected the four, red eyes to reappear along with it. "This time, you're human."
Raven thrust her arm out to the side, and Slade had no choice but to follow. He flew across the room, completely under Raven's control. He slammed against the wall, his will and body useless against Raven's greater power. Raven lifted him up out of the rubble and smashed him against the ground and ceiling, bouncing him around like a pinball in a pinball machine.
Groaning and panting, Slade lied at the bottom of a pile of rocks that had followed his path from the ceiling to the ground. Rising would only result in more bashing that could eventually lead to his death.
"Had enough, Slade? How's it like being without control? Can't even control your own body, can you?" Raven taunted, looking down at him.
Tired and bruised, Slade chose only to respond with words. "Control is only a matter of the mind. And I have control of mine."
"What, that's it? No furious rise from the rocks?"
With nothing left to say, Slade remained quiet.
"Just remember this for next time, Slade." Raven brought her face close to his. She stared him dead in the eye. "I can do this all over again. And more. The power you witnessed with my prophecy? It's all still in here. Under my control. It was your worst decision to come mess with me. No one messes with me."
With those final words, Raven walked back to join her friends. She opened a portal underneath the five of them and the T-Car. In the shape of the black raven, they flew home to celebrate.
"I propose a toast to Raven! For saving our bodies and for taking Slade down!" Robin proudly said, holding up a glass of apple cider. Just because they were superheroes, that didn't mean that they could break the law and celebrate with champagne, although Cyborg had suggested it.
"To Raven!" said the four Titans, happy to have full control of their bodies once more.
Raven clinked glasses with them and took a small sip. She smiled as she looked around at her friends. She had, of course, chosen to sit next to Robin, who had invited her to sit by him.
"Thanks, you guys." Raven wasn't really used to being praised, so she didn't have much to say.
"Friend! Please tell us what you did as each of us were taken away!" asked Starfire, eager to know how Raven prevailed.
"Well, when Beast Boy was taken away…"
And so the Titans spent the rest of the night listening to Raven describe the whole story, beginning to end. Cyborg was surprised at how much Raven could say, as she had been so quiet all this time.
Throughout the entire story-filled night, Raven never let go of Robin's hand.
A/N – Thank you for making it all the way through "Bird Brain"! :D I've had lots of fun writing this story and receiving your comments and criticism. It's all been very helpful. But the journey is not completely over! The final part to this will be a short epilogue to clear anything up and a little RobRae fluff, since this story lacks quite a lot of that. Leave a review if you read and enjoyed the whole story!
- Necronom Hezberek Mortix