TW/CW traumatic death, panic
Chapter 11
Dr. Light was as delusional as ever and didn't waste a second in mocking the Titans about his "superior" intellect as soon as they showed up. He used his tech to hurl bolts at them as he wove behind shipping containers and cranes, evading their attacks. He laughed as he sent a container tumbling off its stack and almost pinning Cyborg beneath it. He wasn't deterred that he missed him by a hair, only reached behind him to grab a light cannon from his back.
It was with the appearance of Raven and her counterparts that he was truly flustered. He gaped at the only Titan he had ever feared and started to stammer.
"It-it's not possible!" he exclaimed. "You died!"
"Some nightmares haunt you beyond the grave, Dr. Light. Surely you knew that?" Raven taunted as she hovered in front of him.
He was distracted enough for the other Titans to take him down with little difficulty. They were just beginning to marvel at the ease of this encounter when explosions around them put them back in defensive postures.
They looked around and saw figures emerging from the shadows all around them. It didn't take them long to realize they had been surrounded. Dr. Light had just been the flashy distraction so they wouldn't see the smoke and mirrors at work around them.
"Fuck," Raven whispered as she realized what they were facing.
A majority of their normal villains had materialized from the shadows. Mad Mod, Control Freak, Cinderblock, Plasmus, Killer Moth, Adonis, and a handful of others.
"Trap," Speedy spat as the Titans backed into one another to keep their eyes on the villains around them.
"Yeah," Robin conceded. "Just not when I expected it."
They waited to find an opening or for someone to make the first move. They had to proceed with caution. They couldn't be sure Nightwing was behind this, but they could think of little else that could gather all these villains together without complete and utter chaos.
Finally someone broke ranks. Adonis leered and licked his lips, winking at Raven and taking a step toward her.
"And I thought I'd never get to lay eyes on you again, sweetheart," he called. "This really is a treat, he was right about that. Let's see if you're still as feisty as I remember."
He purred before he dove for Raven and was knocked back by simultaneous blows of a birdarang and an explosive arrow as Robin and Speedy moved to defend her.
What followed was madness.
It was hard to keep focus on anything going on after that. The rest of the villains moved in after Adonis broke ranks and it was just about surviving moment to moment for the Titans from there. Planning and strategy weren't possible as they each had to fight off multiple attacks at once, over and over again.
It was exhausting. And they were fading fast.
"We can't keep going on like this," Raven said, as she stood over the unconscious human form of Plasmus, panting from fatigue. "We need to get out. I can't take us all, I don't have the strength now."
"I know," Robin heaved, as he doubled over trying to catch his breath. "We need to find an opening and get out. We need a distraction."
And as suddenly as the fight had started it became calm as the villains retreated back several steps. The Titans were huddled in the middle, trying to assess the situation and the reason for the sudden stop in combat when they heard a chuckle echo through the shipping containers around them. Raven stiffened and panic flashed across her face before she regained control of her fear. She looked around until she found him, standing on a pile of shipping containers to her left, his cape billowing in the wind as he stared down at her.
"Having a good time?" he asked. "I made this little surprise party for you, Pet. You should be flattered that so many wanted to be here to help celebrate you."
"Some of us are here for the money," Control Freak said casually, sitting atop some construction equipment, his remote control resting in his lap.
Nightwing glared at his interruption and Control Freak wilted under his admonishing stare.
"Are you ready to come home, Raven?" Nightwing continued, turning back to Raven.
"Fuck you," was Raven's response, her capability of wit and intelligent responses diminished by her weariness.
"I mean, that was what you had in mind two nights ago," he leered, smirking at her.
Raven hissed as she recoiled further from him and his low blow.
"Did you tell your friends what you were up to that night?" he pressed, jumping down from the containers and taking a step toward the heroes as they closed ranks around Raven. "Did you tell them how you couldn't resist that pull to me? Did you tell them that you came to me? Did you tell them all the delicious things we did that night? You didn't seem so repelled by me then, did you, Pet?"
All eyes fell to Raven in shock to see if she might reveal if what he said was true. All eyes but Robin's who remained trained on his dark counterpart.
"It wasn't you calling me that night," she said defiantly, the skin of her neck and that of her face not hidden by the hood of her cloak blushing furiously at his implications. "Robin was there that night. He called to me and, yes, in my exhaustion and emotional overload I wasn't able to deny the call. But you . . . you are nothing but a monster in the guise of someone worth something. And you can go to hell."
"But dear Raven, he and I become more the same person day by day. And yes, his persona was there that night, but I was there too, Love. You could see my eyes, you knew I was there. You were with me as much as you were with him. Don't forget that."
"Tangling in the sheets with the bad guys now, are you?" Adonis called out, purring at her again in a lewd way. "I'll take the next night you have free, babe."
He sputtered as his face contorted in pain and his hands flew to his neck. He made choking noises and his eyes focused fearfully on Nightwing who had a hand held up toward him, a tendril of smoke looking much like Raven's own manifested powers coming from his hand and wrapping around Adonis' neck, squeezing without mercy.
"She is mine," he hissed. "And you are insignificant."
He released his hold on Adonis' neck with his powers and the man fell to the floor coughing and sputtering.
"I grow weary of this," Nightwing breathed in annoyance as his hand fell to his side. "Come Raven. Save your friends this fight and come to me."
"You heard her," Robin growled. "Fuck you."
The heroes were worn down and when the fighting resumed it did not go well. They fought with renewed purpose, knowing that if they lost it meant losing Raven too, but their exhausted bodies could only do so much and adding Nightwing to the fight made things infinitely more difficult. They knew they couldn't last much longer. They needed an out, a distraction, in order to either retreat or regroup.
As Speedy found himself face to face with Nightwing he found that opportunity. Nightwing twirled his sword and raised an eyebrow at Speedy in derision and smirked darkly at him. But Speedy had a plan. He only hoped Nightwing was as emotionally unstable as he seemed.
"Did she do that thing when she was with you?" he taunted. "That thing at the end where she sighs as she curls into you and twists her hair around her finger? That's how you know she's happy and comfortable. Satisfied. Did she do that when she was with you the other night?"
The smirk fell from Nightwing's face.
"Hmm, I'll take that as a no. She always did that with me. Did you not know? Did you know that after she fled from you that she came to me? Seemed to me that it wasn't that hard to make her forget you before. Maybe I can do it again."
Nightwing's expression went to rage as he raised his sword and lunged at him. Speedy smiled. He was right. Emotionally unbalanced, and he had found the tipping point.
He countered Nightwing's wild lunges and laughed mockingly at him.
"She kissed me earlier today. I think she's finally coming around her thing with Robins. I'll have her over you in no time."
"Shut up!" he yelled, rushing at him once more with sloppy form.
"Won't take me out with wild swings like that. Looks like she affects you just as much as you claim to affect her. Maybe we'll celebrate after we beat you and your stupid lackies tonight. Just me and her . . ."
With that he took off around a stack of containers and he smiled as he heard Nightwing call for some of the other villains to follow in pursuit. He was letting his emotions get the better of his strategy. He only hoped he was luring enough of them away from the others that they'd be able to get out. Only now did the recklessness of his plan become apparent. He had created no exit strategy for himself. But he had to give Raven and the others the chance. It was the only thing he could think to do. Now, as he was pursued by Nightwing and who knew how many others, he had to think about what to do next.
The only thing he could think to do was keep moving and hope he could stay one step ahead.
O • O • O • O
Raven couldn't figure out why the tide of the battle had turned. After Control Freak and Mumbo had been taken out (Taking out Mumbo always made her smile. She could not stand him.) they found themselves able to take a breath, to plan the next move. It wasn't until Mad Mod was subdued that she was able to look around and realized that there was no one left to fight. But a quick survey of the villains bound or unconscious told her that not all of the villains were there, including Nightwing. And then a sense of dread clutched her as she realized who else was missing.
"Robin!" she screamed. He turned to her cry and saw the fear on her face. "Speedy's gone!"
"He drew Nightwing away," Beast Boy grunted from his position half laying on the ground, clutching a wound in his side. "He was taunting him and led him away with Adonis and Cinderblock in tow. I tried to say something before but-" he winced at the pain in his side and gestured to the wound. "I'm sorry. I tried to say something. He went that way."
Raven didn't take any time to think as she flew off in the direction Beast Boy had indicated, Robin, Cyborg, and Terra right behind her.
Terror guided Raven as she flew above the containers trying to pinpoint where Speedy had gone. She heard a commotion toward the water and flew that way.
She turned around a tower of crates in time to see Adonis' armor clad foot stomp with all his might on Speedy's ribcage. The cracking sounds reverberated around the dockyard, as did Raven's scream. Cinderblock and Adonis turned toward her at her cry and she saw Nightwing leaning over the bow of a docked cargo ship watching everything play out below him. He hadn't even bothered fighting Speedy. He simply stood there and watched.
He made eye contact with Raven and his eyes went wide at what he saw.
Robin, Cyborg, and Terra turned the corner and took in the sight of Speedy lying broken on the floor and Raven, standing on the ground with a dark and menacing aura pulsing and crackling around her. Her eyes were completely black and her face blank. They had seen Rage take over several times before, with her four red eyes and the fury written on her face, but this . . . this dark, cold persona was far more frightening than Rage had ever been. They had only seen this side of her once before and it was truly a dark day.
It was hard for any of them to pinpoint what happened next as Raven's aura spread out through the space around her and she sprang into action at the same time. All they knew was that Cinderblock was now out cold sprawled across the floor and Adonis was suddenly out of his armor and held by a black tendril of Raven's magic. It didn't appear that the aura was attacking him, just holding him, but his eyes had gone completely white. And he was screaming.
The scream grated on the ends of their nerves, like a steel brush being dragged against raw nerve endings; a high-pitched, piercing scream. A noise that his vocal cords shouldn't have been able to make.
They all stood frozen as Raven held him there for countless moments and Adonis' hair slowly began to leech of color just as his eyes had. He never took a breath but he somehow continued to scream.
The thud of his body hitting the ground brought everyone back to their senses and they wondered if her powers had rendered them dumb during her torture of Adonis. They didn't have to look closely at him to determine that he was already dead.
Raven's eyes returned to their normal amethyst as she turned her gaze toward Nightwing. He blanched at her stare and his jaw twitched as he clenched it in unexpected fear.
"I will avenge him," she vowed. "And I will avenge Robin. I will come for you."
Her voice was so cold, so detached and it made everyone hearing her words shiver as a chill ran down their spines. Nightwing took a step back, turned, and vanished on the spot.
Raven took a sudden breath, as if breaking a spell over herself, and let out a sob as she ran to Speedy's side. She cried out when she saw the condition of his body up close. She knelt beside him and cradled his head in her lap, removing his mask.
"No," she cried. "No, no, no, no, no."
Her tears fell onto his forehead as she lowered her head and surrounded them both with her energy. She sent tendrils of herself into him, trying to heal the damage and bring him back. She would not lose him. She couldn't . . .
It was a tense few minutes as the others stood there unable to do anything but call for backup and an emergency medivac, all while watching her try to heal him. They dared not approach her and break her concentration.
Speedy gasped loudly as he opened his eyes. He cried out in shock and lay there panting, trying to control the pain as Raven kept her eyes closed and her focus on the healing powers within him.
"Raven," he croaked, wincing as he reached out to touch her cheek.
She started at the contact and her eyes flew open and met his.
"Raven," he whispered. "Raven, you have to stop. It's – it's too late. There's – nothing you can do. Please, you'll hurt yourself."
"I can't just do nothing," she sobbed, her aura pulsing harder as she tried to send more energy into him. She began to shake as she took more of his physical injuries into herself. She shuddered and laid a hand on the floor beside her to support herself as she cradled her ribs.
"Raven, stop!" he pleaded. "Please stop. I'm fine, little bird. I'm okay."
"You're not okay!" she barked, wincing at the pain wracking her body. "I can't just do nothing. I can take it."
He cupped her cheek once more.
"I'm okay," he repeated. "I know how bad it is, Raven, I know I'm dying. But I'm okay. I don't regret this. I don't regret any of this. Saving you is the single greatest thing I can think of to sacrifice my life for. I'm sorry I couldn't stay with you. But this is for the best. This way I can bring you something other than doom." He smiled weakly. "I'm glad you're okay. I'm sorry I have to go, but I am grateful beyond anything that I got to have you. I love you, Raven. I – I love-"
He grimaced and his hand dropped from her face as his breathing became frantic. Raven closed her eyes and held her hands on the sides of his face. She sat for a minute, her face screwing up in concentration before she opened her eyes again.
"Stop fighting me," she pleaded, tears streaming down her face. "You have to let me try to heal you. I can't heal you if you don't let me."
"You'll kill yourself trying to save me," he panted. "I won't let you do that."
"I have to do something!" she screamed.
"You – you are," he choked out between desperate breaths. "You being here . . . with me . . . is helping. You . . . calm me. Always . . . have."
She sighed and closed her eyes, knowing exactly what he was referring to. She had been there in one of his detoxes. She had cradled his head much like now, and had just talked to him. When she ran out of words she hummed. And then she had put words to the melody. He had said that helped pull him out of the dark place. She had held him and healed him later, when he had been on the brink of overdose, and through another detox and that melody had become his lullaby. She remembered.
She sang to him, slowly, and barely more than a whisper. A song just for him. His breathing began to ease as a small smile came to his face. He held her hand that rested on the side of his face as she stroked his face with her other hand.
Her face contorted with despair as she sang and the tears continued to run. He laid a finger on her lips, seeing how hard this was on her. But she continued on, the words sung with a cracked voice as her sobs broke through the words that were too soft for the other Titans to hear. His breathing continued to be ragged, but less frantic, though his hands clenched both of hers now in a crushing grip, as if she were holding him to this world.
It was moments later that his hands loosened and fell from hers as he stilled. Robin couldn't remember ever seeing a face contorted in as much grief as Raven's as she lowered her head to press her forehead to his. She opened her mouth but no sound came out. It looked like she was screaming, but she couldn't get a sound to escape her throat. She sat like that for what seemed like an impossible amount of time before she finally took a breath and found her voice. She screamed a guttural cry, the cry of a wounded animal, and it sounded like the intensity of it would shred her vocal cords. She let out several more cries before Robin realized that they were starting to morph into a word. She was shouting no. The word came out choked over and over again, forcing its way through the constriction of her throat.
He could see her soul self gather once more around them both. She sent her power back into Speedy's body, still trying to heal him and bring him back. Robin knew that when she healed she took some of the injury upon herself, to share the burden and take the wounds away from the one she was trying to heal, but he had no idea what the repercussions of trying to do so on someone already dead would be. He ran to her side, intending to shake her from her trance and stop her crazy attempt at resurrection.
But before he could get to her the aura around her exploded and tore into the crates and containers around them as she let out a shriek that could only have come from the demon part of her. No human was capable of making a noise like that. She crumpled into a heap beside Speedy's head as her aura dissipated. Robin finally reached her and found himself praying that she was still alive and that her attempt at healing one already dead hadn't killed her too.
It was the longest seconds of his life as he tried to find her pulse.
He almost collapsed, himself, in relief when he felt her life blood pumping through her veins beneath his fingers. He could feel the wetness of her blood as the wounds she had taken from Speedy were beginning to bleed out from her clothes.
He went to gather her in his arms when his eyes fell on Speedy's face. He reached out and used his fingers to close Speedy's eyes.
"Thank you," he whispered, reverently. "Thank you for saving us, for saving her. I'm sorry. I am so sorry."
The wind picked up as the sky began to lighten with the approaching dawn. It whistled and keened as it blew through openings in the containers and seemed to echo the grief stricken cries Raven had uttered earlier. The haunted sound surrounded them, a melancholy soundtrack to serenade their pain and their loss.
The wailing of the sirens and the whirring of the blades of the approaching helicopter mingled with the wind, but fell on deaf ears. They would not make it in time.
