"Scatter!" Brave exclaimed, diving to the side. A moment later, a massive sword smashed into the earth, splitting clumped chunks of dirt in the ground. Brave scarcely had time to react as another colossal blade shot in her direction. Seeing the attack, the emotion dodged to her left, feeing movement of air brush her cheek as the sharp edge came within inches of her skin. Another strike followed without leaving a moment of rest for Brave, and as the courageous girl ducked, she found herself lacking the usual smile that she wore when in battle. She knew why it was absent; this wasn't fun. There was a lot on the line right now, and she had no time to be messing around. It was essential that Raven be back in charge of her body soon before Rage took over, and Beast Boy needed to return to the Tower as well. Brave's eyes darted to the green shape-shifter nearby, his arm around Raven's waist as he quickly lead her away from the battle. The bold emotion put this in the back of her mind as she performed a round-house kick on the statue, a satisfying solid crack following as her foot connected with the monster's stone chest. The eight-eyed statue slid back a few feet, and a small grin crept onto Brave's face, her fingers curling into a fist. So maybe it was a little fun.
"I can handle myself, Beast Boy," Raven protested as the shape-shifter directed her away from the demonic statue. Thankfully the creature was distracted at the moment by Brave, assisted by Calm nearby. The blue-clad emotion accurately fired several blasts of black and white magic on the statue, but the monster hardly seemed to notice such attacks.
"Come on, Rae; a few minutes ago, you couldn't even stand!" Beast Boy reminded. Raven frowned, pushing him away. Her knees shook for a moment, but then she regained her balance, proceeding to focus on Beast Boy with a look of slight contempt. The harsh expression lessened, however, when Raven could see nothing but concern in her friend's eyes. The dark empath dropped her gaze. Beast Boy was just watching out for her like the good, considerate person he was. She shouldn't have snapped, or in the very least she should have tried to be more patient.
"I know you're trying to help me," Raven sighed, "but I'm not helpless. I can protect myself from danger."
Beast Boy smiled slightly, relieved that Raven didn't seem to be angry with him. "I guess. I just… you know…," he scratched the back of his head, "… I get worried." A loud crack distracted the two from their conversation, and moments later Brave went flying backwards past them, painfully skidding backwards over the ground. She sat up, grimacing. A bright red color inflamed her arms from where she'd scraped her skin on the rough landing, and her left forearm was with scattered scratches of scarlet liquid. "Brave!" Beast Boy knelt down beside her, Raven hanging over his shoulder. "You okay?"
Brave's pained and contorted expression quickly cleared, and she smiled at him. "Never better, BB!" She pushed herself into a standing position, though it was obviously a difficult task to do so. The girl coughed. "Well… that's a lie. I have been better." She winked at him. "Though it does help that you're here." Behind him, Raven scowled at her emotion, but the green-clad girl only chuckled in response. Raven turned her head to the side, crossing her arms.
"Your arm's kinda lookin' bad," Beast Boy addressed, seemingly oblivious to the silent conversation between the two girls.
"What, that old thing?" Brave scoffed. "Who needs an arm? I could do fine without it if I had to. Though I'd rather not have to," she added jokingly. Her indigo eyes squinted momentarily as she noted something in the fight still going on nearby.
"What?"
"Watch out!" Calm shouted from behind, sounding very much the opposite of her usual composed tone. Beast Boy whipped around as a dark shadow fell over him and the two girls. The statue had a hold on Calm in one of its enormous fists while the other three hands spun their swords menacingly, approaching the teenagers at a quick pace. Beast Boy crouched down, glancing over his shoulder. Even though Raven and Brave were on their feet, there was no knowing what shape they would be in if it came to defending themselves or even fighting in a battle. Brave was injured, and Raven already weak, no matter how much she denied it. Beast Boy saw no other option than to attack.
Morphing into a triceratops, he charged forward and rammed into the statue's chest, knocking it back several feet and stopping its advance. Calm dropped out of the monster's iron grasp to lay stunned –but unscathed- on the ground. The statue scowled, the frown etching deep indentions in its dark stone skin, and attempted to attack again. Changing forms from the horned dinosaur to a gorilla, Beast Boy met the charge with hairy fists, catching two of the statue's four limbs. The stone creature drew back with the pair of free arms to jab its swords at the shape-shifter, but Beast Boy quickly transformed into a fly before any of the attacks could connect. Seconds later, a large green hippo crashed on top of the statue, pinning it to the ground momentarily.
Raven watched the battle, her outward appearance expressionless but internally surprised at how well Beast Boy was holding his own against the statue. The dark girl had no idea why the statue was at the location of the portal; it was supposed to have been in Timid's territory guarding the entrances and exits of the maze. It was, in fact, supposed to protect against anyone who might be an outside threat. Her emotions were a part of her, and no matter how angry or wrathful they might be, her friends, and more importantly, she shouldn't be attacked. The reason Beast Boy and Cyborg were attacked the first time they were in her mind was because they were an unrecognized presence and, therefore, a menace. Since the green teenager had been inside her mind before, he shouldn't have been thought to be dangerous. Raven knew that Beast Boy was the furthest thing from intentionally threatening her safety, and since the monster was not only attacking her friend but her and her emotions as well, Raven was certain that something was wrong. As the statue threw Beast Boy off, only for him to avoid a rough landing by turning into a bird and hovering safely just above the ground, Raven's attention was stolen by Brave.
The courageous girl was limping in the direction of the fight determinedly, her indigo eyes set on the statue. Raven grabbed her shoulder. "What are you doing?" she demanded, an eyebrow raised.
Brave frowned, gesturing toward the battle. "Helping, unlike you. What do you think I'm doing? Marching to my death?"
"You're already injured enough," Raven snapped, lowering her hand to her side. "I don't want to know what happens if one of my emotions die."
"Sheesh, I'm not going to die," Brave complained, rolling her eyes. "Calm down, mom."
"Don't be so stubborn," the dark sorceress countered. "You could easily die."
"So could Beast Boy!" Brave exclaimed. Raven paused, realizing her emotion's real intentions for wanting to join the fight. "And then it will be our fault, won't it?!" Brave continued ferociously, the heat in her face rising. "What is it that you've said before? 'This is my problem; I'll deal with it'." She pointed behind them to the angry statue swatting at Beast Boy's hawk form. "Well, look who's dealing with it for us! Again!"
Raven stared at her emotion for a moment with wide eyes, shaking her head. "What do you think I am supposed to do?" she inquired, trying to act angry but ending up sounding almost like she was really asking for help. "If I use my powers, then I'll be left defenseless."
"If you fight without your powers, you will get hurt." Calm appeared, massaging her tender shoulder. She'd landed awkwardly on it when the statue had dropped her. Raven looked to the blue-clad girl, who continued. "But if you don't, then Beast Boy will be."
Raven's eyes flickered to the fight.
"And we don't want that to happen, do we?" Brave asked, completely serious for once. Raven turned to her, opening her mouth to reply, when Beast Boy's voice interrupted.
"No no no no! Hey! Hey! Over here!"
Raven had glanced in his direction when she spotted a heavy shadow drawing towards them at an unimaginably quick speed. Seeing the source incoming threat out of the corner of her eye, Raven dove forward, tackling Brave to the ground just as two stone swords bit into the earth where they had been standing moments earlier. Calm stumbled backwards, avoiding the initial attack but missing the second one that followed. The flat of a blade hit across her already injured shoulder, and the girl dropped heavily in the dust, cradling her arm. The eight-eyed statue stood over her, a deep, evil grin that looked terrifyingly close to Rage's carved into its face.
Before the monster could launch its attack, however, a green gorilla jumped on it from behind, wrapping thick arms around the statue's stone neck in an attempt to distract it. Successfully unbalanced, the statue directed its attention to the shape-shifter, its head turning around with sickening cracks to face Beast Boy. Having forgot that the statue was actually two, the teenager recoiled, hesitating a moment longer than he should have before shifting into a hawk and taking flight. Before he could get out of reach, however, the statue reached out with four arms and caught his leg, jerking down and slamming him into the ground hard.
Moving away from a groaning Brave, Raven saw Beast Boy -now back in human form- wearing a pained expression and lying dazed on the ground beneath a seething statue. Her skin tingled with the rush of adrenaline, and suddenly all weakness she'd experienced earlier was overpowered by Raven's concern and need to protect Beast Boy. Without a thought to the consequences –something so uncharacteristic for Raven- the dark sorceress ran in between the statue and Beast Boy. The monster's eyes flashed crimson upon seeing her, and the four sword-bearing arms lifted into the air.
Raven tensed her shoulders, her own eyes glowing with furious power. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" she shouted, and a wide streak of black power escaped her outstretched fingertips, slicing through the chest of the statue. The statue froze, arms still primed in the air to attack. And then slowly, gradually, it broke apart at the waist, crumbling back into nothing more than lifeless stone. A wave of nausea swept over Raven, and the feeling of all strength leaving her body was too much to handle. The dark girl sank to the ground, arms wrapped around her stomach.
"Raven." Beast Boy's heavy breathing drew closer as he knelt beside his friend. "Rae, a-are you okay?" His warm hand touched her shoulder, and Raven lifted her head slightly to look at Beast Boy. Save for a slight scratch on his cheek, Raven was relieved to see that her teammate was all but unharmed, however worried he might look. Before either could say anything to one another, a sudden flare of crimson light blinded them. The flash vanished, leaving in its place a dreaded emotion that Raven and Beast Boy hoped they'd seen the last of.
"You thought you were smart, didn't you?!" Rage demanded in her deep, throaty voice, sneering down at the two Titans crouched in front of her. "It was only a matter of time until you used your powers. You're just that weak that you can't survive without them." Raven attempted to scowl at the hateful emotion but was stopped by another wave of nausea that claimed her. Rage snarled. "You're a weakling and a coward. At any sign of danger you wanted to fight back with your magic. All I needed was to summon the guardian statue here, and confuse it a little bit into thinking you were the enemy with a quick spell. It took but one burst of angry power from you for me to identify your location. And look at you; you're helpless. Trying to be protected by the 'abilities' of this green fool."
"Raven's not a coward!" Beast Boy responded, frowning. "Rage, you don't know that! It's not true! She-!"
"SHUT UP!" Rage roared, turning on him with fiery eyes. "You've caused too many problems for me! I've had enough! Enough of you and this pathetic excuse for TRIGON'S DAUGHTER! NO MORE!" Her clenched pale fists were enveloped in a scarlet aura, and Rage held her hand out above Beast Boy and Raven's heads. Beast Boy's hand tightened on Raven's shoulder as the two prepared for the blow, but it was an impact that never came. Mere seconds before the incoming attack, a soft white light shone from the red emotion's body, and Rage had enough time to widen her eyes before she vanished in a bright flash, leaving behind a confused shape-shifter and horrified dark sorceress.
"And which emotion are you?" Cyborg asked, crossing his arms as he observed the emotion who had suddenly sat straight up on the couch, her purple hair flying back from her face. The girl jerked her head around to take in the ops room, a wild look in her bright eyes. Her expression tightened, wrinkles marking her forehead, and had the Titans been able to see her hands through the back of the sofa they would have noticed her fingers clenching into a fist. Cyborg waited a few moments more, knowing from past encounters with Raven's emotional sides that it took a little time to realize that their current place of residence was in the Tower and not Raven's head.
Eventually, when he suspected the stretch of time that had passed was long enough, the robotic teenager spoke again. "Hey. I'm Cyborg. You know, the half-robot half-man member of the team? Yeah." The emotion slowly turned her head toward Cyborg, first with her eyes and then followed leisurely with her neck. She regarded him in almost cold silence. Cyborg, of course, was oblivious. "So I was just asking; what emotion are you? And please don't play the game of 'why don't you guess?' with me because honestly I've been dealing with that all day and it's giving the human half of my brain a headache."
Ignoring the teenager completely, the emotion breathed in, ready to let all of Trigon's power break loose, when her senses tingled with the hint of danger. Glancing over her shoulder, the dark girl caught a glimpse of Robin and Starfire standing side-by-side. The alien princess watched with curiosity and encouragement in her open expression as if reassuring the darker girl that she was safe. If they'd dealt with Timid earlier, it was understandable why Starfire was acting in such a way. Though her outer appearance was gentle, the new emotion could sense Starfire's inner warrior instincts tingling like she were prepared to jump into battle any moment. Robin was probably the reason for that. Positioned a little in front of Starfire, the boy stood straight, the thumb of his gloved hand barely brushing his utility belt. No doubt he had warned his teammates to be wary of any changes in the emotions. It was enough for the dark emotion to drop her tensed shoulders. The time wasn't right.
Exhaling at long last after a pause that seemed to stretch on forever, the dark girl stood. Her eyes landed on Cyborg, and she was suddenly reminded that she had a question to answer. Running the tip of her tongue against the back of her teeth, the emotion thought quickly.
"Why not play the game?" she asked, clearing her throat. Thank goodness she was in Raven's body and her normal voice came naturally or her usual demonic voice would have given her away. At her words, Cyborg gave an over-exaggerated groan, throwing his hands in the air. Causing him such frustration made a flicker of pleasure alight in the emotion's chest. She continued, smirking. "Games are such fun if they're the right kind of games."
"No more games, please!" Cyborg pleaded, facing the emotion again.
His reaction only fed the dark girl's urge to continue. "How else will you figure out who I am?"
"Fine! You know what?! I don't really care! Don't tell us!"
That's what she'd been counting on. "Suit yourself." Rage, for that's who the girl was, crossed her arms and sat down on the back of the couch. Hooking her ankles together, she lifted an eyebrow at Robin and Starfire. Naturally, Starfire seemed to be confused, but the look that Robin was giving Rage stirred anger inside of the girl. It wasn't accusing, but more wary and almost suspicious. Rage dug her thumb into her arm, ignoring the bead of blood that crept out and stained her nail. She hadn't done anything yet, and it was irritating that Robin might already be catching onto her scheme right off the bat. Though it was against her very nature to do so, Rage tilted her head and turned her mouth up at him in what she considered to be a smile. The action gave the impression that it did nothing but creep Robin out, and so he faced Starfire instead, speaking to his friend quietly. Rage's "smile" flipped upside down. That ought to show him. That was, until she decided to show her real power, and then Robin would realize just how much strength his teammate really held within. It was far more than Raven ever let on. The only price for such power was the small cost of injuring or destroying those who were around her, something that Rage held no remorse for.
Sliding off the couch and landing on her feet, Rage approached the kitchen, farther away from where the Titans were gathered together. She needed to be away from their pressing emotions and accusing gazes; a certain masked one in particular. Twisting the tap on the sink, a stream of water attacked the metal drain below with quiet tappingsounds. Rage could only imagine how it would feel if the water droplets were tiny blades thrusting at an innocent. Smiling, the emotion pushed her thumb under the flow of cold liquid, washing away all traces of the scarlet blood staining her nail. She paused.
As she was in charge of Raven's body, it was easy to imagine all the pain she could put her original's physical form through. It would be so easy to do so, especially when aided by the strength of her power and the lack of worrying for control. The girl glanced at the shiny surface of the sink, catching a glimpse of her host's face rippling in small pools of water below, ridden with no scars or injuries due to her healing abilities. How desperately in the past Rage had wanted to change Raven's smooth features to something lacerated, and that only made it more difficult in the now for her to hold back her furiosity. But no. She had to wait. The girl's eyes flashed red for a moment, flickering to Robin. The Titan leader was watching her over Starfire's shoulder, so Rage curved her back to him, pursing her lips irritably. Her crossness lessened as she felt Robin's frustration poke at her from behind.
Not yet.
Rage knew she had limited time to inflict as much destruction on the world as she could while in control of Raven's body, but in order to do that damage she had to time her reveal right. There was no point in causing devastation if she were subdued right away. No, Rage was required to wait if she wanted accomplish her task. She had to do something that would ruin Raven's life. The hateful emotion would start with the dark girl's friends, or maybe her tower. Either way, it would take Rage's original a long time to forgive herself, and a long time to face her friends, if they were still around, that is. While Rage couldn't actually etch real scars into Raven without rendering herself helpless- or at least incapable when it came to achieving what she wanted- she could scar her original emotionally. After dealing with Raven's teammates, Rage would move onto the entire obliteration of her home.
The first place she would start with, as convenient as it was, would be the main room. Raven held many memories here, an abundance of fond recollections that Rage despised. It was at times like those when Happy could almost be thought of as… more powerful than her. The very thought of it made Rage bristle with anger. She suppressed the hatred quickly, jabbing her nails into her palms. The pain brought little comfort other than the thought that Raven would have to deal with the minor injury later. Back on her original train of thought, Rage returned to planning. After seeing the ops room in ruins, the emotion would move onto the bedrooms, each individual's filled with precious little items that represented treasurable memories worth keeping. The first to go after her own would be Robin's as punishment for the suspicion he was showing her now, however accurate it was. Next would be Cyborg's sleeping quarters, Starfire's, and then finally Beast Boy's.
Beast Boy. The mere mention of the shape-shifter was nearly enough for Rage to blast the refrigerator up off of the tiled floor in anger, and she had to fight the urge for a full minute before regaining control. Of course. Even now he was distracting her, nearly making her blow her cover just by entering his name into her mind. It was a shame he wouldn't be there when Rage eventually attacked. She scraped her fingernails over the edge of the sink, engrossed in her thoughts. Beast Boy was the teenager she loathed the most of all the Titans. He set Raven on edge, irritated her, and was one of the few reasons Rage appeared as much as she did in the real world. While Rage was more than pleased because he caused these problems for Raven, she still held a deep hatred for the green teenager, for though he constantly inflicted anger in Raven, he could also affect her in a gentle way that no one else was able. He had it inside of him to suppress Rage almost as easily as he brought her out. With a light touch to the hand or arm, or maybe even something small like a precious, quiet word from the boy, Raven would be reverted back to her normal, more-or-less impassive personality, and then Rage was diminished to a shadow of her previous self.
But it wasn't the reason that Rage hated Beast Boy with such a passion. With every bone and ounce of flesh in her body, Rage despised the way he offered her a feeling that she didn't recognize. Every single time that Raven saw him, met his eyes, or just exchanged words with the green boy, Rage dreaded the rush that would pass through her body. This mystery reaction wasn't only experienced by her; she and every emotion underwent the sensation. The stir that Rage faced wasn't even unpleasant. It was unknown, and, because it confused her, the girl hated it. She reviled the perplexity, uncertainty, lack of confidence, and turmoil within that Beast Boy made her feel. A deep rumble vibrated in Rage's throat. She couldn't stand the way he made her want to turn her growl into a purr instead, maybe make a harsh comment into something kind. It was all his fault!
Rage smashed her fist into the kitchen counter, causing several jars to shatter and the faucet handle to fly off, showering the tile floor with droplets of water. She took in a deep breath, a heavy chuckle pressing at the sides of her stomach. "Oh well," she grinned. "I was getting bored anyway. And it's not like now's a bad time." She whipped around to see three Titans watching her with wide eyes.
Robin had an expression that could only be read as 'I knew this was coming, so why didn't I stop it?' Rage laughed at him, elevating off of the floor. "That's right stupid bird; blame yourself. Remember, it's your fault. It will always be," she couldn't help but goad. Behind him, Starfire's eyes lit up angrily and she flew beside her leader. Rage paid her no heed, instead turning her sights to Cyborg, who had his arm canon prepared and aimed in Rage's direction, though it was easy to see he didn't have the confidence to shoot the girl who took on the appearance of his friend. The dark emotion smirked, adjusting her voice to the low tone that she loved so much.
"Remember me?" the girl questioned him, taking on the familiar appearance with four red glowing eyes and demonic teeth.
"Rage," Cyborg frowned, and Rage could sense his resolve deepening. She only laughed. She didn't care. No one could stop her like this.
"Look at you; trying to use the only intelligent side of your brain. But it still looks like you managed to figure it out anyway." Rage rose further into the air, loose items in the room beginning to float, encased in red power at her command. "But I'll use a formal introduction just in case you're not sure." Rage paused, power swelling around her arms. "Rage, met the Titans." She smiled, her dagger teeth glinting dangerously. "Titans, met your death."