Beast Boy charged into Laon's body in the form of a rhinosaurus, horn ready to impale the villain if necessary. He was past the point of wanting this monster in prison; dead was more like it for the hurt he'd caused Raven. Laon reached out his fist, encased in crackling, orange energy, and released a ball so powerful that it sent the emerald flying to the other side of the roof. The blast weakened the animorph, changing him back into his usual self. Starfire grabbed his frail figure before he could fall off the rooftop.
"Robin, we cannot keep fighting much longer!" she hollered to her leader, who had handcuffed Orion while he was unconscious.
"Keep going!" he shouted back, kicking Orion over the edge of the rooftop. Laon was too preoccupied to notice, his hands ready to strike Starfire. The orange energy was growing by the second, gaining strength and power. He released it, ready to kill the Tamaranian when… a black shield engulfed her and absorbed the attack.
"Leave. My. Friends. Alone."
The Titans looked up to see Raven weakly limping towards them, still injured after the chaos in the infirmary. Their eyes widened as she got closer to Laon, who chuckled evilly at the sight of her.
"Even in that state, you still look beautiful. I would, except your friends would castrate me."
Robin and Cyborg growled
"Funny, I was thinking I could do that myself," Raven smirked, her eyes glowing red. The Titans all took a step back, knowing how powerful and out of control Raven could be when rage took over her mind. With a new found confidence, she strode towards him.
"You've hurt me for the last time, Laon. You made me feel weak, worthless, afraid. But, now you're the one who's outnumbered and you're not leaving here alive. I won't allow you any more breaths than you deserve, you pathetic excuse for a demon!"
"Ah, how I've missed your fighting spirit Raven," he spat, his eyes glowing a dark orange colour as he prepared to counter whatever attack she had planned.
'Raven, you're too weak to fight him.'
'I'm sick of being afraid, Robin. This ends now!'
Raven let out an ear-piercing scream as she released every last bit of power from her body, creating a red beam of energy that bolted like lightning towards Laon. However, he was prepared and did the same thing, the red and orange mixing in the middle. Both demons were fighting for dominance. Raven gritted her teeth and pushed with all her might, her emotions encouraging her and giving her strength in Nevermore. Sadness pictured how vulnerable she felt after the unspeakable act had been committed; happiness pictured her friends and her celebrating their victory; rage pictured Laon locked in the deepest depths of hell being eaten alive by flames.
'You can do this Raven, we're all here with you. He's weakening!'
Robin's voice cut through all the chaos and the noise of their power dancing for dominance. Her scarlet beam absorbing the orange light. Laon screamed, bracing his body to push everything he had into winning the battle. Squinting against the light, he noticed four shadows surrounding Raven.
"Enjoy Hell, Laon."
Cyborg's laser released a blinding light; Beast Boy turned into a T-Rex and stomped the ground, causing shockwaves to threaten his balance; Starfire produced a giant star bolt and aimed at the villain; Robin got a handful of bombs from his utility belt. Together, along with a sweating Raven, they shot at the reason they became heroes in the first place. The combination of their powers spiralled towards Laon. He let out a pained cry and fell backwards, his powers ceasing. Raven's red energy swallowed Laon whole. It was over.
The Titans fell to the floor, exhausted, as the realisation hit them that they'd defeated one of their toughest threats to date. Beast Boy and Cyborg laughed, then weakly high-fived their victory. Starfire levitated around the rooftop, ensuring that no trace of Laon or Orion was left. She gazed over the rooftop to see Orion locked in the back of a police van with handcuffs and power-reducing gloves on his hands. She breathed a sigh of relief.
Robin had crawled towards the unconscious sorceress. Shaking her lightly, he prayed that she would awaken. The fight had tired her completely.
"You did it, Raven." He kissed her forehead and pushed her messy hair out of her face. Still she didn't respond. The others, noticing Raven on the floor, rushed over.
"Is she okay?" Beast Boy whispered. The dark bird looked like hell after the last couple of days; the insomnia and nightmares of the rape had left her with dark bags under her eyes and a paler than normal complexion. The once strong Titan was a ghost of her former self. All the Titans were relieved that it was over and Laon was defeated; he would never hurt their dark girl again.
"She has no energy but otherwise she's fine," Cyborg concluded after scanning her body. "I wonder how she got here, I thought you left her asleep?"
"I did. Maybe she heard us earlier and sensed we needed her help," Robin questioned, staring down at the sorceress. His eyes never left her rising and falling chest, scared in case she stopped breathing. "Let's go home."
"She's going to need a lot of support from us all. The ordeal she went through will be a permanent memory."
"Do you think we should get her to talk about it?"
"I'm not sure man, I mean it's not healthy to keep things bottled up but then we don't want to remind her of the rape even more."
"As long as she knows we are there, I think it'll be enough, Friends."
After setting Raven up in the infirmary, the rest of the Titans had a meeting to discuss the situation, hence why they were gathered on the sofa. Cyborg had linked the infirmary computer to his so he would know if Raven woke up.
"We can't let her isolate herself," Beast Boy commented. "We all know she'll want to be alone but we must keep her occupied. What if she becomes depressed?"
The others pondered Beast Boy's question, interrupted by Cyborg's arm beeping. He quickly jumped up and announced that Raven was awake, taking off towards the infirmary. The others were only a few strides behind.
"Raven, how are you feeling?" Robin asked, going to her side and grabbing her hand. It broke his heart to see the tears that were forming in her eyes.
"Tired," she murmured quietly.
"Don't worry, you're fine. You beat Laon and everything can go back to normal," Starfire smiled comfortingly, hugging her friend. Raven didn't normally allow such contact but hugged her back with as much strength as she could.
"Thanks to all of you," she smiled. "Are you sure he's really gone?"
"We checked the rooftop after the battle and scanned his body signature when we got back. He's definitely gone, so stop worrying. Orion is being transported to a maximum security prison facility in the South Pacific as we speak."
Raven visibly relaxed after hearing what Robin had to say, her body sinking further into the pillows.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell any of you what happened, it's just-"
Robin grabbed her shoulder. "You have no reason to be sorry. We're the ones who should be sorry for not realising that something was wrong."
"We're just glad you're okay!" Beast Boy grinned.
"Just promise us that you'll talk to us in your own time. The last thing we want is for you to become a recluse. Let us help you if you need it, deal?"
Raven nodded, her eyes starting to droop. Seeing how exhausted she was, Cyborg ushered Starfire and Beast Boy out of the room. He knew better than to ask Robin, knowing that their leader would be keeping Virgil at her bedside until she was ready to be released, which he predicted would be a couple of days.
"Go to sleep Raven. It's okay; I'm staying right here." Robin whispered, lovingly stroking her hair until her eyes closed completely and the tension left her body.
She was even more beautiful when she slept. Raven was the strongest, most hopeful person he'd ever known and he knew that with a few good nights' sleeps and nutritious meals, she would begin to look healthier and be ready to re-join the Titans in battle. But for now, he would give her the time to heal. While her body would look better, he knew from personal experience that a tragedy like the one she experienced would have scarred her mind forever. Everytime she went to sleep, Laon's face would haunt her. All Robin could do was promise to be the first face she thought of when she woke up, and remind her that she'd overcome her struggles once again.
Well there you have it, after 7 and half years, I've finally finished this story! I decided to do it now after seeing how many views Fighting Off Struggles still gets. This compelled me to buckle down and write an ending. While it's not my best chapter, or story for that matter, it's done. I enjoyed reading it. Trying to write in the style I used to as a teenager was very difficult but I made it as consistent as I could.
