(38)
It was a dirty and underhanded trick, and coming from someone as despicable as Terra, with her rich history of backstabbing and deceit, it was something that Raven lamented should have been entirely anticipated. That being said, it was a mistake that the empath was certain to make sure wouldn't repeat itself.
There was little pause in Raven's actions. The moment the word came erupting out of the wide eyed Gizmo's mouth, instincts took over and before her conscious mind was even able to grasp what her body was doing both she and the bound up bad guy were consumed by a shroud of black energy and sent hurdling upward through the stone ceiling of the cave, through the rock, dirt and soil and finally up into the dim light of the night sky. Below them thunder clapped and the Earth shook as a raucous explosion ripped through the no longer secret layer, swallowing up and obliterating everything in a wall-to-wall cloud of brilliant flame.
Upon finally realizing she was out of danger, Raven took a breath and released her mental hold, allowing the shadow that had propelled her and Gizmo out of harm's way to free them from its protective embrace. She could instantly feel the slow moving body of darkness, slipping off of her head, down her shoulders and past her knees until finally it disappeared into the unseen space beneath her feet. To her right Gizmo babbled incoherently as he continued struggling against his simple but secure bonds while to her left fire danced and licked the midnight air as it leapt up from the still open elevator shaft- the one that had initially granted her access to the now burning pit.
Finally able to think, Raven's mind was quickly lit with unnerving thoughts as self-righteous anger swelled up her mind. Yet again Terra had made an attempt on her life. There was also no doubt in her mind that the blonde haired wench was responsible for Beast Boy's disappearance as well. Deep down inside of herself she could already hear her red cloaked emotion- now so much louder and clearer than it had ever been before- speaking to her, shouting at her, commanding her.
"No more," whispered Raven harshly, clenching her fists.
There would be no more forgiveness and no more second chances. Terra was a plague upon the planet; she was a disease only meant to bring misery and destruction. And just like any disease she needed to be eradicated. The thought itself was dark and unsettling to the empath, but could not sway her. At the moment the only thing she cared about- really the only problem she now faced - was finding Terra's location. Raven needed information and currently there was only one person who could possibly help her.
Turning sharply, Raven made a bee line straight for the still babbling Gizmo. When she was a mere few steps away, she raised her hand, calling forth her powers. In a heartbeat Gizmo was enveloped in black energy and forced to hover the remaining distance until finally he found himself face-to-face with the agitated empath.
"What happened here?" hissed Raven menacingly through her teeth. "What were you and Terra planning?"
Still shaken from his near death experience, Gizmo gaped wide eyed at the infuriated half demon before him. Opening his mouth he struggled in vain to form anything that sounded like a cohesive sentence; every attempt met with the same outcome as a useless string of staggering consonants and half-said words spilled forth from his gaping portal. The harder he tried to speak the more useless he became and more and more he feared the kind of retaliation the glaring half demon would bestow upon him if his failure to provide information persisted.
As precious seconds ticked by it became more and more apparent to Raven that getting any sort of answer out of Gizmo through conventional means was a just short of impossible task. This of course didn't necessarily mean she was out of options; it simply meant that other, more complicated measures needed to be taken. Certainly, Raven was far from defeated.
"Quiet," she barked sharply, immediately bringing Gizmo's babbling to an abrupt halt.
With the villain silent, Raven slowly raised her hand and gently placed her palm against his bruised and sweat soaked forehead. Though she was flustered and angry she did her best to calm herself. Her agitation after all would do nothing to aid her with the task at hand. In a matter of moments she felt her empathic abilities taking affect. There was a tingling sensation in her finger tips and the slight feeling of butterflies in her stomach as she carefully and adroitly absorbed every last bit of apprehension from the diminutive geniuses bound body. His breathing slowed, his expression became passive and in a matter of seconds he was as a statue in his quiescence.
Keeping her palm securely placed on the Gizmo's head, Raven took a deep breath as the first part of her task came to an end. Calming the struggling villain wasn't entirely necessary, but was done simply for the fact that it would make the final part to her plan that much easier. With one final breath, Raven, shut her eyes. Seconds passed with the only sound being that of the gentle mummer of the forest wildlife around her. Then, with her eyes glowing an otherworldly white, Raven exhaled as all at once the path into Gizmo's mind and memories flew open before her.
"Take me back, Gizmo," she whispered. "Back to the beginning. Show me what happened." She breathed long and deep as the steady beating of her heart slowly began to match that of Gizmo's, and the gap between their minds was bridged.
It was always an interesting feeling to say the least. Whenever Raven would delve into someone's mind it became almost as if she had been divided in two. Immediately her senses would be overloaded with an overabundance of input: the smell and touch and taste of two completely different locations at the exact same time.
With a brilliant flash the world around Raven was gone, instead replaced with the cramped, secluded confines of a prison cell. Though the smell of the forest still lingered in the air, it was cement and iron that now surrounded her. Though she could still feel the fresh soil beneath her feet suddenly she also became aware of a hard and wooden chair pushing uncomfortably into the meat of her rear and the middle of her back. Looking down she found a simple wooden table pulled up close to her abdomen- the way you think of school desks -with an assortment of colored blocks scattered across it. Her work, Gizmo's work, there waiting for her.
Without even needing a cue, she suddenly found herself snatching up the colored pieces one by one into her slender fingers. Her fingers. Gizmo's fingers. Her eyes quickly scanned every piece, instantly differentiating the necessary from the not. One by one she snapped block to block, red to red, blue to green, yellow to brown. Her actions now became Gizmo's actions as she experienced his life through his eyes.
The first sign of trouble came as an unfelt tremor rippled through the environment. All at once the world around Raven blurred and bent and contorted in a most impossible and unnatural way. The grey brick of the cell flashed different colors, becoming garish hues of pink and yellow before immediately returning to normal. The iron bars of the cell door momentarily became like taffy, twisting and spiraling out at odd angles before quickly resuming their usual shape.
Raven cursed quietly to herself as she connected a green block to a blue one.
These sudden and bizarre changes to the environment were signals that she was losing contact with her subject. Of course the longer one maintains contact the more likely this is to happen, but the fact that Raven had only just begun led her to believe that Gizmo's mind was in much worse shape than she'd initially thought. In other words she didn't have much time. If she were to get anything useful out of the villain she would need to work fast.
"I don't have time, Gizmo," she pleaded, as she connected a red block to its counterpart. "Hurry up and show me what you know."
It was then that a low rumbling sound caught Raven's attention. Instinctively she found herself whirling around just in time to see the wall of her cell crumble to pieces, creating a large hole and pitching a cloud of dust into the stagnant and sweet smelling air. She coughed and covered her hand with her mouth just as a figure appeared in the hole, arms crossed casually behind her back, long blond hair flowing in an unseen and unfelt wind, her eyes that of a cold and calculating professional.
The Titan's had of course heard of Gizmo's breakout, but the authorities had been unable to provide any real information other than that he'd simply escaped. Not one of them could have predicted, however, that Terra had been the one to aid him.
There was another sharp jolt to environment as Terra's image blurred and her body became stretched and jagged. As Raven struggled to correct the image- almost as if she were trying to fix a broken TV screen -there was another brilliant flash and once again Raven found herself entirely removed from her surroundings and dropped unexpectedly into a new location. Immediately she was able to recognize it as the cold and mechanical innards of Slade's former secret base; the one that she could still feel the smoldering heat of back in the world of reality. Once again she felt her body acting on its own without any input from her brain as her actions continued mirroring those of Gizmo's. Her hands busied themselves with a soldering iron and circuit boards, and before her lay the hollow body of a battle suit that rang too familiar for Raven to feel anything positive about her future.
"I'm having some doubts."
The voice came suddenly from behind her. The work in front of her momentarily forgotten she turned to find Terra sitting against the far wall of the room, her body bathed in shadow. For a moment time stood still as she stared at the shrouded silhouette that was Terra. Though she couldn't see her face, it was clear the blonde was staring back. Not a word was said between them, and finally Raven found herself simply returning to her work. It seemed that no sooner had she put her head down than suddenly she could hear the faint sound of talking once again resonating in her ears, bits and pieces of a conversation impossible to comprehend due to the distance and the low whispers. One thing could not be denied, however; one of the voices was indeed Terra and, though Raven couldn't see who, it was obvious that the girl was not alone.
This was the kind of information Raven was looking for. If Terra were indeed working with someone and was in fact being helped in some way it was of the utmost importance to find out the who, what, where, when and why of the situation.
There suddenly came another shockwave and again Raven was reminded of the urgency of her task. Narrowing her eyes she focused as the her on the outside of Gizmo resumed her concentration, digging deeper.
Once again the memory twisted and shook before another blinding flash overtook the environment. This time Raven found herself on the ground, her shoulder pressed against her ear, her arm sandwiched between her body and the cold concrete floor of the hideout. Her swollen face burned and she felt a sharp stinging pain every time she breathed as well. There was also a loud ringing in her ears which made it all but impossible to hear anything that was going on around her. Laying still on the floor, she struggled to maintain focus as the room spun and contorted in her dazed stare. Certainly Gizmo had taken one hell of a beating. After a few moments she finally became aware of the beginnings of a shrill and exasperated voice echoing in her head and suddenly what appeared to be a visibly upset Terra came marching into her slanted view.
Immediately Raven was able to make out an object clutched tightly in Terra's left hand. Small and yellow, it triggered the empath's recognition. Terra's old Titan's communicator, the one they'd given her when she'd first "joined" the team. That was how she was able to contact her. It was then Raven realized if Terra indeed still had the device on her person it would not be a difficult task to trace it using her own communicator.
Though she felt that she had what she needed in order to find Terra, still Raven was intrigued by the events unfolding before her and decided to continue watching. The violent flickers of Gizmo's frazzled mind were occurring more often now and certainly it wouldn't be long before the connection would be severed. Firguring it would be best to get as much information as possible she therefore decided to continue her silent observation.
Though her eyes were seemingly cast somewhat in Raven's direction, Terra paid her no mind. Clad in the battle suit from before the blonde seemed more concerned with something else. She paced back and forth across the floor, waving arms and pointing fingers, her face contorted into a mask of disgust as she hissed out a near endless stream of words; words Raven found difficult to understand due to the ringing in her ears. Though what was being said could not be fully determined, it was clear just by Terra's body language that she was in the middle of a heated argument.
The thought came quickly. There was no doubt the mystery accomplice was close by. Studying Terra's gaze, Raven determined that the person whom she argued with had to be on the other side of the room behind her. Immediately the empath could feel herself desperately trying to roll over, to convince the shell she was occupying to shift it's gaze to the opposite side of the room. She had to see; she had to know. Who was it that Terra was speaking to in the shadows; who was it that she argued with now? As luck would have it she suddenly felt her body slowly begin to roll, shifting its weight from its shoulder onto its back with a short and pained sigh.
This was it. All she needed was just a bit more effort. All she needed was for Gizmo to turn his head only slightly to the right. Then Terra's mysterious confidant would be revealed.
Finally it happened. Raven's heart leapt as with a groan her head lolled to the right, bringing her eyes to rest on the opposite side of the room. Instead of finding answers, however, all she found was confusion.
For indeed there was nothing.
In front of her sat nothing, nothing but lab equipment and rock walls. No mysterious stranger or familiar face. Nothing but an empty section of air and space. Raven's eyes scrunched in utter bewilderment just as the ringing in her ears started to subside and Terra's voice finally became more clear.
"Because I don't like this, that's why," she shouted.
There was a pause as Terra seemed to wait for an answer. Before any could come, however, she simply spoke again.
"Look, I just don't want to kill any more than I have to," she said, pacing a bit.
There was another pause. Terra sighed.
"I don't know. I guess you have a point."
Outside of Gizmo's body, Raven searched for a logical explanation. It was surreal. It didn't seem possible. But here it was before her. As the conversation wore on Terra's mystery partner continued to go unseen and unheard. A comrade only evident to Terra herself.
It was true that Gizmo's mind was damaged, but this was not his psyche, these were simply his recollections of the events he'd witnessed. Raven expected certain things to be exaggerated or perhaps slightly different from the way they actually happened, but this was something entirely different. There was no way Gizmo could have been wrong about something like this.
It was the truth.
Gizmo and Terra were the only occupants of that hideout.
No one else.
There was simply no one there.
(39)
"You know I gotta admit even with all the cuts and bruises he's still pretty cute," said Ima peering over Terra's shoulder.
Sitting on a carnival bench with Beast Boy's head cradled gently in her lap (his legs stretched out so that he was lying flat) Terra paid no heed to Ima's words, only continued lightly stroking the green man's brow as she gazed lovingly down at his unconscious visage.
"So what are you going to do now?" asked Ima after a pause.
Terra did not look up.
"Wait," said the blonde quietly. "I'm going to wait and take care of him until he's his old self again."
Silently Ima walked around the side of the bench, working her way to the front.
"What if he's never his old self again?" she asked calmly. "What if the spell's permanent?"
"It won't be."
"But what if it is?"
"It WON'T be."
"But what if-"
"Shut up!"
Terra's outburst brought the conversation to an abrupt halt. Her eyes sharp and commanding, she held Beast Boy close as she looked to Ima who currently stood with her hands on her hips, not intimidated in the slightest but silent all the same.
"Just shut up, Ima," continued Terra. "Beast Boy and I are destined for each other. We're meant to be together. And no amount of magic is going to-"
A small groan from Beast Boy brought Terra's tirade to an abrupt halt. With hopeful eyes she cast her gaze back down to the still unmoving boy in her arms. She lightly called his name as she leaned down closer, tilting her head so she could make out his soft, nearly inaudible rasping.
"What is it?" she whispered.
"R...R...Raven," croaked the boy. "So...sorry Raven. Love you so...Always love you..."
And then he was quiet, once again fallen back into silent unconsciousness.
Terra's mouth weakly cracked open as short and ragged breaths made their way over her lips. She sniffed slightly and swallowed as she yet again felt the all too familiar sting of rejection.
"You were saying?" came Ima's voice suddenly.
Terra shook her head, trying to shoo away the bad thoughts and feelings that were currently creeping their way into her mind.
"It's nothing," she insisted. "It means nothing."
Ima smirked.
"Destinies aren't all they're cracked up to be," she said taking a step forward. "Sometimes even the most powerful love must come to an end."
A terrible silence filled the fairgrounds as Terra sat unmoving, still staring down at the unconscious Beast Boy.
"I'm so sorry, Beast Boy," she whispered finally, hugging the young man's head tightly to her chest. "I guess this is the end."
A/N Kind of late with this chapter I know but I hope it was worth it (Probably wasn't). Last chapter is next so stay tuned. In the mean time be sure to check out the collaborative effort I'm currently working on with a bunch of other great writers on this site (Titanfan45, Still too old for this, TheForceIsStrongWithThisOne and Novus Ordo Seclorum). It's a Titans story called "Ganguro" and it's under the account Zorkaberry Pie. Take care. - Sir Alwick
