"What? Raven-san is the gem?" Kiba spluttered, with such force that a fountain of spit sprayed from his mouth. "No – no way! That's impossible!"
"Is it?" Slade challenged coldly.
"No way," Sakura breathed, her mind thinking back to everything Raven had said to Tsunade. Now her words made sense indeed! "Raven-san herself is the gem? Now I understand her conversation with Tsunade-sama!"
"That would make sense indeed," Kakashi agreed gravely. "But I still can't…Raven-san, is this true? You are the gem?"
"Her silence should provide the answer you're looking for, isn't it?" Slade said.
"It can't be." More than just a few people were having severe difficulty in absorbing this shocking news. Jaws were hanging loose, and eyes were bulging wide. Nightwalker alone looked unsurprised, his face pale and his fists clenched at his side.
"Oh, but it can be," Slade said. "And, on top of that, do you know what relationship Raven has with that demon?"
"Slade!" Nightwalker's teeth were bared into a snarl, like a feral animal, his eyes gleaming like ice, one blue, one black. The look on his face would have been enough to terrify anyone into silence. Anyone but Slade. "If you dare…"
"Nightwalker." Without even looking at him, Raven raised a hand and laid it on his elbow, restraining him. "It's alright. They'll have to know anyway, eventually."
"But…"
Trust me.
"Still don't know much, do you?" Slade remarked. "Well, looks like Raven really does trust you, isn't it?"
"What you say is insignificant to us," Robin snapped.
"Really? Insignificant?" Slade's eyes were gleaming with amusement now. "I wonder if you'll still hold the same opinion when I tell you that your sweet friend Raven is the daughter of the demon the gem will release?"
The previous silence of shock was nothing whatsoever compared to the stunned silence that now deafened everyone. Starfire gasped aloud, her hands flying to her open mouth. But apart from that, no-one else was capable of making any sounds.
"No." Terra was the first to break the silence after that, her voice a hushed whisper. "No. It cannot be. Raven's our friend. She…"
"So much for my words being insignificant," Slade said mockingly.
"You're lying!" Robin exploded. "That – that can't be true! Raven's on our side. She would never…"
"That only shows how little you know about her," Slade sighed.
"Liar!" Cyborg bellowed in a fury. "How dare you? Take THIS!"
"Cyborg!" Raven immediately flung up a shield in front of him, halting his progress sharply.
"Raven! What are you doing? Are you just going to stand there while this beast blabbers lie after lie about you?"
"What lies?" Raven asked, her tone dull and flat.
"You can't be saying Slade's actually… I mean, you can't be the gem! You can't be the one to release that demon into our world! And that demon can't be your father!"
Raven sighed, shutting her eyes wearily. "Much as I hate to say it," she said tonelessly, "Slade, for once, is telling the truth. I – I am indeed the gem, the portal Trigon seeks. And Trigon is my father."
She had stunned everyone into silence with those words, ever so effectively. Suddenly, it was as if she was standing right in the middle of a huge vacuum, with a very large audience observing her from the periphery. Raven had not thought she could feel anything, but with the stares she was now getting, she felt a strangely distant pain constricting her heart, squeezing away her years of training at emotion control.
"Raven, please say you're lying," Robin whispered. "Please. I – this is just too much to…"
"Every word I and Slade have said is true, Robin. To say they were lies would be to tell a huge lie."
Cyborg turned hopeless-looking eyes upon Nightwalker. "You're the one who knows her best, Nightwalker," Cyborg said, almost sounding desperate. "Everything they've said…is it true?"
Nightwalker shut his eyes, his head bowed. "Yes," was his monosyllabic answer. He hesitated before continuing, "I've always known this, even before I met Raven. I was brought up with a strong knowledge of the uncanny from a young age, and so I discovered the truth some time ago."
Raven could no longer bear it by then. The shock, the suddenness of everything came crashing down on her with full force, like a tsunami at its peak, and her mind let out a wordless cry. For the first time in so many years, she felt emotions surfacing dangerously. The trees and bushes and rocks around them literally exploded from her dark energy, and the Titans and ninjas gasped aloud.
Control, control. With a ferocious burst of self-control, Raven poured all her years of intense training into practice, and blocked off everything she felt: the anguish, the rage, the helplessness. The dangerous dark energy inside her dwindled, and Raven felt all her calm and control returning at last.
"See that?" Slade said. "See what a danger she is to you? After all the secrets she's kept from you, you still wish to call her a friend?"
"Raven." Robin turned to her, his face twisted with a nameless expression. "Why – why didn't you ever tell us all of this? Why wait for our enemy to reveal your secrets like this?"
"You think this is something I'm proud of?"
"No, but…"
"Enough." Nightwalker's quiet voice conveyed a command much stronger than any shout could have. "Enough of this. Our focus now should be Slade, not interrogating Raven."
"Oh no, I am not your main focus," Slade said softly. "It is Raven who's right in the centre of attention right now, as it should be. Now come with me, child. And this is not a request."
Nightwalker lunged forward with amazing speed, punching Slade with such force that he went flying backwards, striking a tree sharply. Slade's ninja companions murmured with outrage, and immediately struck back, whipping out kunais and shurikens, while others began to focus on their ninjutsus.
"Azarath Metrion ZINTHOS!" Nightwalker's rose in a crescendo as he summoned an almighty gust of wind, directing it with sufficient control to ensure that only the rogue ninjas were lifted up from the ground and suspended in mid-air, unable to get down. Ignoring their yells of outrage, Nightwalker directed the gust of wind upwards until they were above the treetops, and then he calmly hurled them away until they were all out of sight.
"Do you wish to be next, Slade?" Nightwalker asked, in a soft, terrible voice.
"What makes you think I'll go down so easily?" Slade asked coolly. "You can blow me a hundred miles away, and it won't matter. In the end, I'll still be back for Raven. No matter where she goes, she cannot run. And she knows that."
"But that doesn't mean I'm going to simply submit to my fate," Raven said softly. "If I have to undergo what comes, I will not go down without a fight. And I'm sure you already know that, Slade."
"You're all wasting my time," Slade said. "Raven, you will come with me now, or I will…"
"Or you'll what?" Beast Boy demanded.
"Do not interfere," Slade warned coldly, "or there will be consequences. So stay out. Raven…"
"No." Nightwalker stepped in front of Raven protectively, one arm stretched to its full length sideways. "You're not taking her, Slade."
"Who do you think you are?" Slade sneered. "Raven's guardian? Her lover?"
"I'm her friend," Nightwalker replied quietly. "And I'm not letting you take her away like this."
"And neither are we."
Slade's eyes flickered to a point behind Nightwalker and Raven as the Titans and ninjas congregated behind them, forming a united team. "You heard us, Slade," Cyborg said firmly. "We're not letting you take Raven. If you want her, then why don't you try getting past us first?"
"You know the truth about Raven, and you still wish to support her?"
"She's our friend," Robin answered simply. "And friends always support each other. You thought you could turn us against Raven just by revealing her identity? But then, you've never understood the meaning of friendship, and never will!"
Raven looked back at her Titan friends, and her heart lifted. "You'll really…"
"Of course!" Starfire cried, giving Raven a quick hug. "We are friends, are we not? Do not friends always stick together, no matter what happens?"
"Sure do!" Beast Boy smiled.
"Hmph." Slade almost sounded amused. "How sentimental. But that doesn't matter to me. I'm taking Raven now, and nothing can stop me."
"Oh yeah?" Beast Boy sneered. "You and what army?"
"I was hoping you'd ask." Slade snapped a finger efficiently, and the Titans' eyes widened as they saw the ground around Slade rumbling, as if an earthquake was about to take place. The earth rose up and took shape, and gasps of shock arose from the ninjas as they set eyes on the huge rock-like monsters in front of them. There were more of them than anyone could count, and all of them were gleaming with fire and lava.
"Gaaah!" Beast Boy squealed comically, his eyes bulging in his head, and Cyborg glared at him.
"You had to ask, didn't you?"
To all my reviewers, thank you so much. Happy New Year to you all! :)
