So sorry it has taken me so long to update. Life has been difficult with the holidays and then a visit by Mister flu. I'm coming out of it and hoping to start posting regularly again! Thank you all for the kind kudos and feedback while I have been silent!
Everyone was either too drunk to move or was just too lazy, but Raven had found that she had fallen asleep in the deck chair that she had laid out on. Her tummy was happily filled with all sorts of delicacies she would have never seen at the Titan's Tower, and Psycho was fun to talk to. The woman had been following superheroes for quite some years and wanted to know everything that Raven was willing to tell.
The night was warm, but the wind off the lake brought a chill that kissed her pale skin once in, but it was not something that bothered her. For once, she felt she was at peace.
'Pretending to be Dick's rich slut,' she thought dreamily to herself.
Sex. The conversation earlier had not vanished from her mind but filed away for a later mulling while meditating. Her personalities would have had a blast with the fact that someone expressed interested in her.
'You should be insulted, Raven! He sees you only as a piece of meat that was put on this planet for his pleasure.' Pride would growl.
Happiness, of course, would counter. 'No, he's a sweetheart to bare his emotions like that. You don't have a reputation of being easily approached. If he were looking for a one night stand, Starfire would have been a better choice.'
Raven chuckled at that. Happiness was wrong, of course, but it sounded like something she would say.
'But can he accept what you are? He sees your human side, but you keep your demon part hidden away. Would he want to be with you if he saw those four eyes looking at him in the dark?' Doubt asked.
'Even so,' Passion said with glee. 'Think of how enjoyable of a night it's going to be! Just imagine that strong man bending you over and pulling down your panties. Then he only has to slip his-"
"Nope!" Raven said out loud popping her eyes open before Passion could finish her erotic train of thought. The bikini-clad sorceress sat up and looked about her. Bottles, food cartons, and bodies of Robin's friends were scattered about the floor. Some were snoring while others were curled up in corners blissfully sleeping away.
Raven quickly located Robin who had leaned up against the walkway and hung his head to sleep. A small smile flitted across her face as she watched him breathe. Robin was a nice guy, and he had done so much for her. She could not shake the fact he had gone to hell to rescue her when she faced her father, the demon lord.
'He is exceptional,' Hope whispered in her soul.
Ivan was asleep on the deck chair beside her and Raven glanced at his Rolex for the time. She could make out 2:30 AM and stretched. The debate was staying up on the deck with Robin or getting him downstairs to their cabin. Even as peaceful as it was, she was not leaving him out of her site.
A chill shot through her spine and her eyes grew wide as the tingling sensation moved up and spread through her innards like cancer. She had fought enough battle to recognize the presence of something evil.
Her eyes immediately began to dart around looking for the source of the sour magical essence that had slithered its way on to the deck.
'Shit, not now.' she thought pulling her legs in and crouching on the deck chair to keep a low profile.
She half closed her eyes and began to let her energy seep out of her body and expand like a passive scan of the area. She could feel the warm heartbeats of those on the deck as her power touched them and the unique signature of Robin who was still safely asleep. It was farther down the deck to the other side of the ship that she felt it. Something black, sour, evil. Whatever it was, it was creeping towards them quickly.
Without hesitation, Raven leaped from her chair and glided herself to Robin's side, landing without a sound beside him. She covered his mouth, and immediately his eyes opened, but his training and her eyes kept him from striking out with the balled fist.
"What is it, Raven?" he asked, recognizing the look in her eyes.
"Nocturnus is here."
Robin flew to his feet and looked about. Raven knew he was seeking a weapon. Only one of the beer bottles was in reach. Her magical instinct rang out hard in her head, and she threw herself away from him as something slammed between them with a burst of power and rage.
"Diiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiccccccccccccccckkkkkkkk Gggggggggggggggrrrrrrrrrrrrraaaaaaaayyyyyyyysssssssooooooooooonnnnnnnnnn."
The creature stood between Raven and Robin, floating four feet in the air, it's energy radiating around it like a sickly purple light. The hood and faceless mask were pointed directly at Raven while the dress and petticoats churned and moved as if blown by a breeze that did not exist.
"What are you?" Raven demanded, keeping her power charged.
A screech told her that Ayla was awake and Raven knew this entire situation was getting out of hand. If it struck at her or Robin, she would have to give away the fact that she was a meta-human.
"Nooooccttuurrrrnnnuussss. I….iiiii…..waaannnntttt…...diiiiiicckkk…...gggrraaayyssson." it muttered in a wailing sound that sent shivers of fear through her.
"Well, you can't have him," a voice chimed out. Raven shot a look to her right and saw Psycho standing there waving a flare gun at the creature. "He's our friend, and you can go suck a dick for all I care."
"Psycho," Raven hissed.
The screech was deafening, and Nocturnus leaped forward like a banshee from hell charging psycho. Raven reached out and grabbed a deck chair with her soul-self and flung it at the creature, the dark energy flinging it like a hand.
Psycho dodged out of the way while Robin drug her out of the fight. Nocturnus banked and came back towards the boat with a screech and a yell. It must have sensed the magic as it was coming straight for her. The energy blast that came from Nocturnus was violet in color and struck Raven's shield she manifested with enough force to send her rolling down the deck. She gasped trying to breathe back the air that had been knocked out of her lungs and blink away the tears streaming down her face.
The next blow was without the shield and sent a blast of agony through her arm and slammed her body into the side of the ship.
"Yoooouuuuuuuuu aaaaaaaaarrrrrrrreeeeeeeeee wwwwwwwwwweeeeeeaaaakkkkkk," it taunted.
Raven pulled herself to her feet and turned to face the creature.
"Bitch."
Ignoring anyone around her, she summoned her power, and the magnitude of it lifted Raven off her feet. Honing the energy into a beam, she blasted it out, and it struck Nocturnus full sending it screeching out of the sky and through the bridge of the yacht. Raven fell to her knees gasping, her energy spent.
The world swam around her, but soon she felt strong hands and smelled Robin's cologne. She looked up to see him with an in-depth look of concern on his face. Psycho slid right beside him and tried to help her up.
"Raven, are you alright?" Psycho pleaded.
Robin started at the use of her name, and she quickly stepped in.
"She recognized me from online videos, Mister Grayson. My cover as your bodyguard has not been blown."
Raven could see the confusion in his eyes, but he stepped away and the alert hero faded back into the millionaire playboy.
"Rachel, you're bleeding," Psycho said quickly grabbing a napkin from an overturned table and dabbed at the sorceress' nose.
'Bleeding?'
She had been hit hard but nothing to her nose. She closed her eyes and quickly sent a check through her body; her aura was studying her physical form. Raven's relief, she detected it and suddenly opened her eyes.
"I need to go to my quarters."
"I'll take you," Robin said, and the two helped her as the rest of the crew came out bewildered trying to assist the others.
Robin helped her sit down on the edge of the bed while Pyscho paced back and forth in worry. Raven had gotten the bleeding to stop and at quick glanced saw it was blacker than it should be.
"What is it?" Robin asked. Raven cursed to herself. There was no way to hide it from him.
"Necrotic damage," Raven answered simply. "Nocturnus is some sort of necroid."
"Like a demon or something from the astral plane?" Psycho asked curiously.
Robin gave her a look, and she raised her hands in surrender. "What? I like to read."
"No, it's human...was human. A necromancer maybe who got in over their head," Raven continued.
"How did you become hurt?" Robin responded ignoring the rest of the talk.
"When I hit it with my soul self. It came in contact with the necrotic field that holds it together. This nosebleed is how it is manifesting itself." Raven said.
"Do I need to...get help?" he asked. The question was simple, but she knew what it meant. Did they had to involve the other meta-humans.
"No, I need to meditate and let it heal. It's not bad, Richard. I promise." Raven emphasized the last two words to get him to relax. The leader of the Teen Titans was coming out again.
"I'll have them head to port and start a guard rotation. Once we get back, we'll talk to Bruce and see if he has any ideas."
Without a response, Raven folded her legs underneath her and began to meditate.