Chapter 14 - Confrontation.
Do not own any property belonging to DC, WB etc. or maybe… Nope. No. I don't.
Clue
Long black hair flowed in the subtle yet strong wind.
With it, small white and pink flower petals that passed by her little green dress.
There she stood in the dark, balancing gracefully on the rooftop, as if she had done nothing else her whole life.
She watched.
Her face pale from the white paint, covering her masked face.
Earlier that day, she had found this little sheet of blue fabric, with a small tracer on it.
And now, she was staring at the owners of the rather difficult to back-trace bug, that she had used hours tracking down.
With a cats smile painted on her face, she observed the two titans as they enjoyed their meal.
'How nice' she thought to her self, there was almost a little family dynamic going on down there.
'Well… lets see how long it lasts…' she thought to her self as she took forth a small telecommunication device and dialed.
"… Hello?" a dark raspy man's voice answered.
She smiled.
17 Hours Later.
Robin was sitting in the living room area fixing the communicator, when Raven suddenly passed him almost rushing-ly.
She had been walking hastily back and forth for a while now, and he couldn't help but speculate as to what would make her do so.
He thought about asking her, but decided against it. Instead he secretly began following her with his eyes behind his mask, hoping that she wouldn't take notice, while he occasionally fixed the communicator.
But he could tell something was off.
So after a while, knowing that she normally would have noticed him paying attention to her by now, he got worried.
Usually when she caught him "snooping" in her business, she would have called him out on it, typically with a snappy or sharp sarcastic remark, but during the thirty minutes he had been watching her, she hadn't as much as looked at him, and It worried him a little, her eyes seemed searching… troubled.
"Hey Raven…"
Raven stopped in her tracks.
"Robin." She quickly stated her voice sounding clear but hesitant.
"You look a little… upset, is something wrong?" he asked.
"I feel like we keep having this conversation." Raven thought out loud.
She hadn't meant to say it, and Robin, quick as he was, quickly caught on, as she hastily placed a hand up in front of her mouth.
"Listen I don't know what's bothering you, and to tell the truth I can understand if you need some time to process it, especially with what's happened the last couple of days. Even I have had a rough time piecing myself together. All I can do, is just focus on the mission and trust that I'll have time to deal with it all later… but Raven, I'm worried about you, you seem more tense then normal, and I get that you don't want to talk about it, but we can't let this affect the mission."
"It wont… and you don't need to be… I'm …fine…" she said, hiding a clenched hand in her cape.
Robin grimaced on the inside while keeping a calm expression on the outside.
"Why do I get the feeling, that you don't believe me…" Raven asked crossing her arms.
"Would you? Raven, I'm no empath, but I can tell when someone isn't telling the truth, even when it's you."
Robin rose and walked over to her.
He looked deep in to her eyes, with a concerned look, his hand reaching for the upper part of her arm, lightly stroking it in a supporting manner, before he let it fall to his side.
Meanwhile Raven's eyes traveled to the side escaping his straight yet slightly sympathizing gaze.
"Raven I can't help but worry about you, we are… like family, and I can tell that something is bothering you, all I want is an opportunity to help you, it's nothing I can just turn off, I care about you."
"Robin… It's not that I don't want to tell you, I do, but some things are… personal, my problems are problems that I have to deal with, on my own, things that no one else can help me with…"
"I used to think that way too… just before I joined the Titans, heck even the first couple of years I spend with you all, I kept believing that, I could do everything on my own, if I tried hard enough… but Raven that is not true, sometimes we need other people, especially at the most crucial of times, you yourself taught me that, when you went in to my mind… saved me, so please, Raven, let me help you, I want to, if you will just let me."
Raven gritted her teeth.
She hated doing this to him, hated seeing him in pain, lost. She hated that it was her doing, and that she couldn't tell him why, but she was doubting her self, doubting her plans, doubting that her plan would work, and that the titans could help her, as she had first seen in her vision.
Because help was the reason she formed the titans in the first place, came to them, came to him.
So it wasn't fair that she kept him in the dark, it wasn't fair to any of them.
But she cared about them, which was why she didn't want any of them to get hurt.
Raven knew, that if she did as the original plan suggested, they would suffer, more than she would ever want them to.
Some could even die, and Raven didn't want to take that risk, she didn't want to loose her family, the only family she ever felt like had. And Robin… she couldn't loose him, not now, she wasn't strong enough.
So she searched for a way out, another way that would let her escape her fate, get her father off her back, and be able to live a normal life.
But this meant keeping her past a secret, especially from Robin.
Just a little longer, maybe… maybe she didn't have to tell him after all.
A grim expression struck her face as she imagined how he would look at her, if he ever was confronted with the truth about her, about what she was.
'I…I can't tell him, it'll change everything. He doesn't know. If he did… he wouldn't be able to look at me the same… I can feel it, he would… he would look at me like they do, with fear and disgust, loathing who I am, who I might still become… no! ... Not him, anyone else… just not him. If I tell him… it'll surely happen, and I'm so close, I can fix it, I just need this one hour, and everything will be okay… yes, I won't have to tell him, I won't have to tell a soul, I will have sorted everything, yes! Robin just give me an hour.' Raven argued with her self, leaving Robin to speculate while she was lost in thought.
As Raven came back from her inner monologue, Her expression turned bright in an almost unnatural manner.
Uneasiness struck Robin, as memories of Raven caressing his face, from the previous battle against Doomsday, crept up on in his mind.
He quickly took a step backwards, his expression a little frightened, as he tried to size up what was going to happen.
"Robin I need the bathroom, to my self. For about an hour… is that okay?" Raven suddenly said in the same oddly cheerful manner as the expression on her face.
She hadn't noticed that he had moved, nor the emotions he was feeling, something was definitely off.
"What? Now?" he answered, slightly bewildered, and trying to give as natural a response as possible, so that she wouldn't begin to notice his conflicting emotions.
"I need to… meditate…" she answered, hoping he would buy in to her reason.
It wasn't long until they needed to leave, Robin knew that Black Mask had to be hot on their trail, and time was running out.
They could stay another hour… but the longer they staid the more of a risk they had of being found.
"Raven how important is this?" he asked her in a very serious tone.
"Very."
Robin observed the determination mixed with slight desperation hiding behind her challenging eyes, as she confronted him.
"Okay." Robin sighed, accepting that this was important to her, and that it would be better just to trust her... clearly remembering the last time he didn't. "Go ahead."
Raven forced a small smile, but the fact that he didn't ask any further questions, trusted her… made her eyes lighten up a little.
She took a few steps towards the bathroom before she stopped and turned halfway towards him. "Robin…?" she was about to ask him, but he cut her off.
"Yeah… I won't disturb you..."
She blinked confirming the truth of his comment and turned back to her path.
As Raven began walking she felt her body become more and more stiff as she walked away from him.
It was the guilt, she hated that she made him feel helpless, left in the dark, alone, but it was for the best… that, she was sure of.
She continued in to the room, and hastily closed the door behind her, locking it, and standing with her hand to the door leaning up against it.
She let out a deep sigh.
Raven turned her back to the door and let a small moment pass before her eyes narrowed and she decided it was time to begin… to take action.
She waved her hand in the air, her fingers falling one after another in a wave like motion staring from her little finger and ending at her index finger.
Out of thin air, her brown fabric bag, from her storage void, appeared, levitating just over her open palm.
It landed in her palm with a small puff.
Raven felt as the weight of the bag settled in to her hand, and a strange sense of responsibility came over her, as the weight finally settled.
This was the moment she had been waiting for.
She could hear all the different items rustling in the bag, as if to play her a small melody, reminding her of the dangers her further actions brought.
She gritted her teeth.
This was her one chance, her final chance.
With this she could make everything right.
She just needed a little time to prepare, since things could get quite ugly from this point on. She was facing him after all.
Raven hesitated as she opened the bag and took out a glass jar filled with a strange light blue, almost white powder.
She wasn't looking forward to this, to meeting him again, but desperate times, called for desperate measures.
Even if that meant a power battle with the darkest forces of the inter-dimensional realms, the very forces that she was shaped from.
Raven opened it carefully, feeling the pressure that was on her, with every turn of the lid.
A sigh escaped her.
This was it.
Her delicate fingers reaching for the finely powdered crystal dust, sensing its floury softness as she closed her fist around a handful of the residue.
Raven drew a magic circle on the floor with the crystal dust, then placed a red crystal at the end of the eight spikes outside of the circle to add the extra and desired effect.
She had to perform two spells that night.
One to break her curse, and the other to break off any, if not all, contact with her father.
When Raven had sprinkled a few herbs and leafs, she placed some amulets, and lit candles, before levitating herself to the center of the circle, and placing herself in her meditative pose.
'This has to work' she thought to herself, tightly shutting her eyes, as she prepared to chant the spell.
She just had to wait a little while longer… just till the sun disappeared behind the horizon, and day turned to night.
Raven watched the window intensely as the sun went further and further down, turning from a bright light yellow to a deep orange red.
The sun had become half and was now staining the sky with purple clouds and a deep pink sky.
She was only moments away now, as soon as the last ray of sun hit the horizon, she had to begin.
Raven got in to position, levitating in the middle of the magical circle.
She cast one last look at the window.
3…
2…
1…
…
The sun disappeared behind the horizon and the sky turned dark.
Raven started chanting in a dark, hollow, tone, that echoed throughout the bathroom.
"Triath frivium tagh, Anung xiath vestrus al fameros vex."
The seal, began to light up, and Raven felt as the heavy presence slowly but surely began entering the room.
A strong wind appeared, out of nowhere, circling strongly around Raven's seal like a hurricane, frivolously forcing every loose object it's way, and making Raven's hair whisk in the wind.
A deep blue light that shone within the cylinder that Raven stood in, quickly turned a dark red, until it finally reached a deadly shade of black, that in a way still seemed to shine a light.
A dark raspy ominous growl threateningly presented itself, overshadowing all the noise of the wind, and leaving Raven with no doubt, whom it belonged to.
She felt the hair in the back of her neck rise as his voice began to fill the room.
"Foolish child, you really think you can seal me out? There are ways I can haunt you, that you can never even Dream, exists." The cruelty in his voice, was so bone piercing that it left Raven unable to do anything but stare in horror.
Trigon now stood outside her barrier, smiling at her cruelly.
He was tall and powerful, even stunning looking, which surprised her quite a bit, since she hadn't expected him to be.
The last memory she had of him was as nothing more then a dark ominous frame.
But now here he stood, his long white hair caressing his cheeks, as it blew softly in the strong wind, displaying his intense control of his environment.
Trigon looked at Raven then at the barrier between them, and laughed viciously.
"You think this can keep me out?" he asked her, in a tone that would make anyone doubt them-selves.
She didn't answer, just hoped dearly that he couldn't.
Raven watched him intensely, as he walked up to the barrier that shielded her from him, and placed a hand on it.
His hand lightly caressed the barrier, and like a glass wall, the barrier held its place.
It didn't hurt him, it didn't bend, it just stood, like a see-through shield, guarding her from him.
Trigon's expression became soft, then within milliseconds changed in to a wicked one, as he began pressuring the barrier with his powers, pushing his way through to where she was.
It was a strong barrier, and in the beginning, it held its own against him, as it was supposed to, but suddenly, it was as if it began melting in a sense, acting like a membrane, allowing him access to the inner part of the circle where Raven stood.
Her eyes wide and frightened, like a rabbits seconds away from being caught and eaten by a predator.
She couldn't believe it, it should have been impossible for him to get through the barrier, but he was there, inside the circle, and walking straight towards her.
Raven was now face to face with her father, for the first time, in a long time.
Her face pale and empty from blood, as she stared in to his vile eyes that almost drilled their way in to her soul, as he did his best to influence her with his presence.
Raven took a few steps backwards, wanting dearly to escape, but he followed her every step, making sure she faced him.
"Are you running? But you were the one who brought me here." He said smiling, as he kept walking toward his daughter.
Raven who hadn't stopped walking backwards, had now reached the edge of the circle, and she knew, that if she left the circle, all of her hard work might have been in vain.
She had used so much time to research this spell, to find a loophole in the old texts that would free her from her duty as the reaper of worlds, the half blood crown-princess of evil incarnate, that she knew this opportunity was one that would seldom represent itself ever again, if she broke the spell right here.
"Raven, Raven, Raven… my little girl, whatever you are plotting, it wont work, but I can only applaud you for trying.
This spell…
Many in your position would have ripped the very fabric of existence to shreds, do to their lack of power, knowledge, and skill.
But you… you almost made it work, almost….
You failed to take one thing in to account.
I am timeless.
I am not bound by the flesh, nor the bones I carry for the sake of display.
I am here before you, because deep in your heart, you can't deny me.
Deep in your heart, I am a part of you, and you know it."
"no, NO! you will never be a part of me, I will succeed, I will expel you from this existence. From me. " She moved a shocked hand up in front of her mouth.
Her voice had changed, in to a demonic sounding one, and her vision had improved significantly with the extra set of eyes that appeared in her forehead.
"Silly girl, how do you think I entered this circle?" he asked.
"You shouldn't be able to." Raven answered, her voice shaking.
"But it did, and all thanks to you.
You see, you were the one to let me in, because deep in your heart you can't deny me, I am your father, and as much as you would like to hate me, you still love me."
Ravens eyes widened at the realization, it was true. He was her father, and as much as she should hate him, as much as she did hate him, a part of her couldn't.
"It doesn't matter how much you try Daughter, you will fail, and I will take over. There is no choice. There is no compromise. No negotiation.
I will seize everything, and you will do it for me.
You are destined to destroy the world, and hand it to me.
You will bring upon this world, as any world, pain and suffering, death and destruction.
You have no say, it is fate."
It is my will.
And I will rule all…"
That was when Raven realized, she was being sedated by his demands, the words he spoke… they didn't have to be true, she just believed them because Azar had said the same thing, but that didn't have to mean that they were true, as Robin often told her, "Just because someone who have authority says it's true, doesn't mean it has to be. Trust yourself, trust what you believe to be right!"
Raven clenched her fists, and looked defiantly up at her father.
"You are wrong, I do have a say, and I refuse to listen to you, all you want is death and destruction, power and glory, don't you have enough? You rule the underworld, you own most of the multiverses, when will it end?
You won't have this place, I won't allow it, I will seal you out for good, and change my fate, I will no longer belong to you, and you will no longer have any power over me." Raven said her voice filled with rage.
"We will see…"
Raven attacked him trying to force him out the circle, but he wouldn't budge, instead he counterattacked and sent her flying out of the circle.
Raven screamed as pain filled her body and rage almost consumed her.
This was what her father wanted, he wanted rage out so that he could control her, but Raven refused.
As she hit the bathroom wall and fell to the floor, she groaned.
Raven whispered something under her breath before, she slowly picked her self up.
At first Trigon smiled, but then he realized… Raven was smiling.
"Seal." She ordered, and Trigon's eyes widened.
The symbols of the magical circle began to glow a deadly white, as they rose from the ground and circled the outer edges of the magic barrier completing the spell.
It was a trap.
She had lured him in, and by pushing her out he had fallen for it, allowed him self to get caught.
"NO!"
The energy of the circle wrapped around him and forced him down in to the floor of the magical circle, where he was trapped as if he was chained to the markings of the floor.
A hole in the circle opened and forced him down in to it, like a black hole greedily sucking stars in to its core.
A strong broad light beam emitted, and the magical circle was once again reduced to being mare crystal dust on a bathroom floor.
For a second, Raven held her breath.
His presence it was gone, and the eeriness with him.
Raven sighed heavily.
It took a small second for her to realize what she had just done, and joy filled her body.
A small victorious smile spread out over Raven's face.
Finally!
She had sealed him away from her for good, and Raven raved internally at the thought.
The mirror cracked.
She looked at it with wary eyes, it was probably just the happiness she felt that had let some of her powers slip, and mistakenly broken the mirror.
She took a deep breath.
It wasn't over yet, she still had to perform the second spell to be completely free of her curse.
Raven sat for approximately half an hour chanting till her head felt light and woozy.
Was the spell working? Could she finally call herself free of this misery?
The red crystals exploded, the herbs and leafs turned to ash and the crystal dust turned in to a fire storm that was now surrounding her.
It was hard to breath as she watched the mark of scath being carved in the middle of the circle.
"No! this cannot happen, this can not be true." She whispered to herself.
"I told you Raven, you will never be free from me, I am a part of you, and you of me, it is only a matter of time… ALL shall be mine!"
In the mean time
Robin had finally managed to fix the communicator, and as soon as he turned it on he got a call from Batman.
"Dick I found something."
"Must be disturbing for you to call me at this hour, what did you find?"
"I went through some of the files your teammate send me, and I'm currently headed for the hidden lab at the cave you were in, not too long ago."
"Bruce be carful, I mean it! Avoid it if you can, its not a place to venture in alone, the zombies that roam down there seems to be some of the very first, and they were barely human at the time we entered, I dare not imagine what they would be like now."
Batman avoided his warning and continued on.
"It looks like they have research labs in at least 7 different locations around the World.
The information is widely scrambled and they really turned up the rhetoric's and coding on these files, making it close to impossible to backtrack the sources, but I seem to have found a few leads as well as what looks to be a blueprint for global population reduction plan."
Robin's eyes narrowed, at the news.
"I'm sorry… I don't think I heard what you said." Robin was in complete shock, and he didn't know how to respond to the news.
"You heard exactly what I said, don't play dumb Dick, I'm as unhappy about this news as you are, but it's a fact, and therefore we need to deal with it… fast."
This doesn't make sense… Joker could not have come up with this, his game is… mind breaking people, not mass wipeout…" Robin lightly shook his head as he took in the news.
"Joker doesn't have a pattern, and there is nothing to suggest that this is his plan… but if it is, there is no way he is acting alone, no way that he didn't have help executing it this… but what I don't see is… which villain that would gain anything from doing this?" Batman placed a reflecting hand at his chin.
"Who, indeed... I can't even begin to wrap my head around how this all came together."
"One thing is for certain, you better be careful when you finally face him, he just heightened his games to a whole new level, the Joker you might face, will probably be nothing like you recall him, so don't expect anything from him, and always stay on your guard."
"This is beyond crazy."
"It's more then that... But it's not all, as I searched through some other documents that I thought were unrelated, I found one that could be potentially dangerous.
I found out that they have taken up an old formula for venom, that they were plotting to make super soldiers with it.
Project snakebite.
The researchers in the facility were originally testing it on criminals and prisoners knowing that a few casualties within the system wouldn't look suspicious, or rather that the population wouldn't care enough about a few prisoners dying in jail to suspect a thing…
They seem to have shut down the facility and moved it to a place in Saudi Arabia approximately close to where you are, but I can't be completely sure before I access the facility mainframe.
As you said the data was corrupted and halfway destroyed, probably because they were in a hurry to leave the project.
I will try to revive most of what your friends couldn't, and then return to you."
"Are you sure about heading in there alone?" Robin asked, he wasn't prepared to loose Bruce, not yet.
"I need answers."
"Still… we barely escaped alive." He tried warning.
"It is better than dragging much needed league members with me. Everyone is busy, and when I say everyone, I mean everyone. I'm only doing this because I believe there is some valuable information linked to the current situation, that might be able to solve the crisis that we are in."
"Okay be careful."
"Robin, about what happened with Superman…"
Robin gritted his teeth.
Batman gave him a look that said, 'spill it.'
Robin hesitated, but then decided to tell him what had happened.
"He was lashing out at Raven, after she had practically done her best to save millions from Doomsday, I know what she did was potentially dangerous, but what other choice did she have? It was Doomsday, and Superman wasn't conscious to deal with the problem by himself, so are you seriously telling me that I should just stand by and watch as a bystander, while he unrightfully blames my best friend for being irresponsible?." Robin asked, an underlying furry apparent in his almost shaking voice.
"I know you want to defend your friend, and I do understand, but that is not your battle, I just want you to be careful around him, he isn't quite himself after what happened with Lois in Metropolis, and though he doesn't mean too, he can lash out… don't let him get to that point Richard, I trust him as a league member, but further then that, and he has the potential to become one of the biggest threats that the world has ever seen, I don't want something to happen to you, because he couldn't control himself, remember Dick, you have the power to change the situation, gain the upper hand."
"I know… but as Raven's leader, I am completely reasonable for her, and what ever her actions are, I have to take full responsibility for them.
I have to protect her from whatever harm comes her way, same as for the rest of my team, and I don't care how unstable Superman is, he needs to deal with his issues, and not blame other people for doing the job that was his to begin with."
Batman didn't answer for a while; he only looked at the image of Robin's stern expression on the screen in his jet.
Then a small proud smirk appeared on his lips.
"I'm there in a minute, I'll end it here."
"Wait… enter from the secret entrance through the waterfall, and bring a gas mask, I'll have Cyborg send you the coordinates, and map information."
"Thanks."
The screen became black, and Robin was once again left to himself.
Robin send a quick message to Cyborg, then placed his com, with the screen facing downwards on the dark wooden table.
He turned in his chair, letting out a small breath, wondering how long Raven was going to be.
It had already become dark, time was running short.
He had packed most of their stuff, and was now only waiting for Raven.
Robin rose from his chair, it had been awfully quiet in there, and he was a little tempted to check up on her.
It had been over an hour, and Robin was wondering what the strange light and darkness were that came from under the bathroom door.
Most of all it reminded him of the lights from many nightclubs he had been too, with his fake ID, when Bruce had been on, lengthily overseas missions for the JLA.
But he was more then sure Raven wasn't having a party all by herself in there.
Robin turned away from the door when a sudden sharp light, that reminded him of the light from the Bomb in Paris, engulfed him and everything around him in a bright cold aura of white, blinding him for several minutes, and leaving him in a state of edginess.
Things weren't as they were supposed to be, he could feel it.
There had been a few noises from in there, but none of them really sounded like Raven.
Robin went up to the door, his hand about to knock on the wooden door, when he remembered the promise he had made to her… that he wouldn't disturb her, he remembered her smile as she trusted him to uphold his promise, and he let his hand fall to his side, sighed and walked away from the door.
Time passed, Robin had finally finished packing and all that was lacking was a certain blue caped sorceress, when she asked for a whole hour, he just thought it had something to do with what happened the day before, but now... He wasn't so sure.
A huge roar sounded from the bathroom, and Robin practically jumped, at the loud sound.
'Raven!' was his first thought.
Robin rushed to the bathroom door.
A strange light shone from under the door, but Raven hadn't screamed or said a word, so he decided knocking on the door, was the best action for now.
He waited a few seconds.
No answer.
He knocked again.
Still nothing.
"Raven are you alright in there?" he asked through the door.
She didn't reply.
"Raven can you hear me?"
Another roar sounded.
Why wasn't she answering?
Normally she would have responded even while she was meditating.
But he hadn't seen her meditate a whole lot lately, ever since the time in Paris, things had been difficult, and with the constant pressure of the mission hanging over their heads, there wasn't a lot of time to get herself together.
Had something gone wrong?
Robin couldn't wait any longer, he had to know.
"Raven I'm coming in there" he warned; yet still she remained silent.
Robin busted the door open and what met him as he entered made his eyes widen in horror.
Dancing light in the form of tall flames formed a perfect circle around an unconscious Raven, who was scratched all over and filled with strange red markings he hadn't seen before.
Robin hurriedly placed an arm up in front of himself trying to shield himself from the heat wave that came at him like a pressure pulse, trying to push him back.
How had this happened?
Who had done this too her, and why hadn't she called for help?
Why did she keep on refusing to talk to him, to lean on him for support.
Did she really consider him that... Untrustworthy?
Robin was a little hurt by his own conclusion.
Whatever the reason, it wasn't important now, now he had to save her, to get her out of the burning circle, and away from here.
It wouldn't be long before Blackmask would be there, and with Raven in that condition, fighting him and whom ever else he had probably brought with him was no easy task.
All Robin could hope was that, he could get to Raven in time, escape, and find a place to let her heal, so that they could continue their mission.
Robin ran for the fire extinguisher.
As he tried to use it on the flames, nothing happened.
He cursed under his breath, slamming his fist against the wall, he was running out of time and he needed to think up a new plan, quickly.
Then an idea popped into his head.
Robin saw the showerhead at the other side of the room
He Snuck past the flames and across the room, he grabbed the handle and turned on the cold water trying to extinguish the fire.
But regardless of his efforts the fire just kept burning.
Robin wanted to slap his forehead, of course… the freaking fire had to be magical. The only way he was going to get to Raven was if he broke through the fire barrier.
Robin hesitated, this could be risky, but he had to get to her before it was too late.
Robin decided to test the wall of fire by putting his hand through it, but however he tried, it was like his hand never reached the inner circle on the other side of the barrier.
This didn't make sense to him, so he decided to enter, one way or another he had to get to her.
Robin put his arm in front of his eyes and entered the barrier, running to get through.
As his whole body was immersed in the fiery barrier, he began to feel the heat that gradually build-up the longer he stayed.
Having run for about 20 seconds, he began to wonder… why hadn't he reached the other side yet.
Robin opened his eyes, and finally saw the reason, he hadn't gotten any further, the same reason his hand hadn't reached the other side of the barrier.
Between him and the inner circle was a good 800 meters.
What had before seemed like a thin walled barrier of fire, had soon changed dimensions to a whole area that he needed to pass.
Robin began running.
As he ran, he hoped he would reach the inner circle, before the fire would begin to seriously hurt him.
But he had never been more wrong in his life, as he ran through, he felt his skin begin to burn. Slowly but steadily his skin was covered with an ashy crust, covering his entire body.
It hurt like nothing else he had ever experienced, and as it all happened, he wondered... Why... Why hadn't he died yet.
But Robin being the disciplined and focused person he was, continued on towards the center of the fire circle, to Raven.
As Robin got closer to the center of the circle, he felt as his body became slower and weaker.
His run, which could barely called a run anymore, it was more like a weak desperate walk of a person, whom had been trapped in a merciless burning hot desert for days, and whom were now so far out, yet still so fixated on surviving or reaching what ever goal they were heading for, that they lost all sense of everything else.
A few meters before the barrier Robin felt as his knees wanting to buckle under him.
Robin gritted his teeth, he simply refused to fall to his knees, he was so close, he could almost touch.
'I can do it, Just a little more… I'm almost there-' Robin thought to himself breathing heavily. 'I can't give up now, she is right there.'
Robin by share will stood on his legs, and forced one leg ahead of the other.
And it worked, he was getting closer, it might not be as quickly as he wanted to, but that didn't matter, as long as he got there on time.
The tip of his fingers reached the center of the circle, shaking they pushed them selves beyond the barrier, and the before darkly crusted tips of his fingers, became as if it had never been in the fire.
As Robin's body followed, his eyes widened as the pain and all the bad that came with it, disappeared as if he hadn't ever been burned.
Robin fell to his knees.
This was by far the hardest thing he had ever done, and he could tell that he needed a moment to collect himself.
Robin felt the cool from the bathroom tiles as his ungloved hands leaned against them, supporting the weight of his body.
Robin took a deep breath of relief.
He did it, he made it through… but it wasn't over yet.
He straightened him self up, sitting while supporting his hands on his knees as he looked at the unconscious Raven.
She looked so peaceful, so beautiful.
But what had happened?
As Robin looked around, he saw no one, could Raven have been doing a spell? Was it because it went wrong, that this happened?
"Raven...Raven!" He almost yelled, as the sound of the fire close to overshadowed his voice.
She didn't seem to respond.
He tried lightly shaking her but even then he was left with no response.
Time was narrow, and though he dreaded it, he knew he had to carry her back through the void.
Robin took a deep breath.
He carefully picked her up, hugging her close to his body, so that no matter what happened, he knew, she would be with him.
As he held her in his arms, Robin couldn't help but notice how the fabric of her blue cape, softly stroked his cheek, as he readied himself to run them through the fire barrier.
He took one last look while gritting his teeth.
All he could ever hope was that Raven wasn't going to experience the same excruciating pain he had just been through, but there was no other way, they had to pass through to get to the other side.
He took another deep breath as he looked at the fire that had caused him so much pain, and gritted his teeth.
It was now or never.
He held on to Raven as tightly as he could and ran for the barrier.
As soon as he entered Robin noticed the excruciating pain again, it was so bad that his entire body urged him to forget everything and just let Raven go.
But he refused, every fiber in his body refused, and that is when he noticed, the pain was disappearing.
He was now able to move faster, the distance was the same, but something had changed.
He wouldn't describe it as the reverse effect, but it was more as if… was this because he was holding Raven?
Raven still seemed to have the same unconscious state as before, nothing about her had changed, she wasn't even hurt, that was when Robin noticed her chakra, it had begun to glow, and what ever protection it seemed to give, it was projecting on to him as well.
Robin now felt free of the pain, and as quickly as he could made his way to the end wall of the fire barrier.
As soon as they both left the barrier, the circle became unstable, and the before so controlled fire spread wildly as if chasing them.
But not only that, Robin could also tell that the fire was beginning to spread to the rest of the building.
'Damn' Robin thought.
He had to get both of them out of there, before the fire spread too much and the building would come crashing down on them.
Robin had no other chance, there was no reaching the door, he had to create his own escape.
Seeing the outer wall, Robin saw his chance to create an escape for them.
As quickly as he could, Robin threw a grenade-disc at the wall, blasting a large hole in it, filling the whole room with smoke and dust.
With Raven in his arms and the dust from the concrete wall headed towards them, like a heavy blanket of dust, he shielded them both in his cape and buried his head in to Raven, as he ran towards the hole, the explosion had just created.
As he reached the end of the room, he reached for his grappling hook and shot it at the nearest rooftop, and swung them both down to the ground.
Both landed heavily on the ground.
The dust cleared, and Robin sighed.
Finally safe.
With Raven still in his arms, Robin looked down at her face.
He felt his heart beat faster as she was about to awaken, and he could feel the corners of his lips curl up to a pleasant smile as she opened her eyes.
With hazy eyes, that focused more and more by the second, she looked up at him.
Robin was just about to ask her if she was okay, when he discovered the look in her eyes.
At first, as her eyes began to focus she had a soft calm look in her eyes, and was just about to give him a small weak smile, but then, as her eyes went past him, a look of terror reflected in her dark navy blue eyes.
"Well whom do we have here?" Blackmask took a few solid steps towards the two.
This was a moment he had been waiting for, seeing Robin's desperate face.
A small smirk appeared on his face.
"What are you doing so far from home, don't you have an underground drug ring to take care of or something?" Robin snared, as he held Raven ever closer to himself.
"Now, now Robin, things seems to have changed a bit, people aren't as they used to be, they seem to lack a certain sense of… self control… and Normally I would say this would be a perfect time… was it not for an offer made to me, one, that I absolutely could not resist." Blackmask answered with the coldest most gut-wrenching smile Robin had ever seen.
He was angry and focused, Robin could tell, and that was never a good sign, what ever it was that had made him come after them, it wasn't good.
Something was pulling at Blackmask, something or someone that had an edge over him, someone, that wanted the two of them.
"Tell me did Slade put you up to this?" Robin asked.
"Slade? Ah… you mean Deathstroke? Isn't he dead?" Blackmask asked not caring.
'Dead' Robin thought, so Slade wanted to remain hidden?
Then if it wasn't Slade whom had send Blackmask after him? There was only one option left, the only person whom would be able to send him at a time like this, It had to be the Joker.
It was the only thing that made sense, whom else would wish Blackmask to cause this kind of commotion.
This wasn't good, Robin had estimated that they would have had a little more time to make an escape.
That Blackmask had found them so quickly, was nothing short of a disaster, especially when Raven was as weak as she was.
It made it way more difficult to escape, and Robin didn't know if he had what it took to take them all on.
But he couldn't leave Raven here, while he fought, because Robin knew that Blackmask never arrived alone, he would always be sure to bring a whole army of his goons to take down whom ever he faced.
And when he got serious, one could expect it not to be just the standard ones either.
As Robin watched his prediction come true, more and more of Blackmask's goons began surrounding them.
With limited time to react Robin tried to put all the imaginable scenarios together in his head, but how ever the outcome, it didn't look too bright.
If they got caught, they would probably be taken right to the Joker.
The problem with that was, that if they were taken to him, there was nothing to insure their safety, anything and everything could happen, and Robin wasn't in favor of gambling with their lives. Especially when it meant that it wasn't his life only.
But could they afford to loose the opportunity?
With Raven this weak, him alone, and with no way of protecting her, no way of escape, unless he fought… how were they going to escape this situation?
Robin gritted his Teeth, 'why now! How had they even found them this quickly?'
But then he remembered, the newspaper, the incident.
They were the ones causing it, just by being there, they had send Blackmask looking for them.
And now, he must have seen the explosion.
Damn.
Raven wasn't in any condition to fight, and to tell the truth neither was he.
They had just been through one of the toughest fights they could ever have faced, let alone imagined, and neither of their conditions were close to anything that were ready to fight an army of gangsters and assassins.
So the questions remained, what could they do?
Blackmask took fourth a gun and pointed it straight at Robin.
Robin gritted his teeth.
There was no choice, he had to take them on, if he could just manage to get Raven to some kind of safety, then perhaps he could take them on by himself, and if he was lucky, he might win.
Running was out of the question, there was no way they could escape so many highly trained assassins.
Robin lightly let go of Raven, making sure she was able to support her self, before he slowly rose.
Instantly he noticed that the gun Blackmask was holding was following his movements.
And since he hadn't shot yet, It meant that he probably wasn't supposed to kill them just yet.
Robin slowly reached for one of the back pockets of his utility belt, grabbing a couple of small silver balls.
"Forget it kid, your nine lives are up, if you struggle, I won't hesitate to put a silver bullet right between you eyes." Blackmask warned.
"What's wrong scull face, here I thought you were going to shoot me? Gone a little soft on your old days haven't you?" Robin tried teasing, as he with gambling movements walked forward towards Blackmask.
"Your attempt to distract me won't work, I have one job, and I'm not going to screw it up because of some dumb brat."
"Work with this." Robin said as he stunned Blackmask with one of his electrical escrima sticks, Robin then quick as lightning threw the silver smoke bombs, disappearing behind the screen of smoke.
Blackmask by instinct shot on to the smoke, as he tried to regain control of his body after the stun.
Though the bullets were close Robin luckily avoided them, heading for Raven, before the smoke faded away and assassins would begin to set out after them.
He finally reached her.
Robin swiftly placed her arm over his shoulder and put a supporting arm around her waist as he readied her for their grand momentary escape.
"Raven, listen to me, this time, you won't have to fight, I'll take care of this." Robin whispered to her.
Raven nodded but didn't say a word, there were no time for arguments, and she could feel her body both aching and drained, she just hoped that Robin would be fine on his own if just for a little while.
Robin took forth his grappling hook gun, and shot it at the nearest tall building he could find, before pulling Raven up with him, to the nearest rooftop.
Blackmask who had finally gotten him self together caught a glimpse of them and immediately shot after the line as they elevated them selves towards the top.
At the rooftop Robin found a small convenient worn wall that he could hide Raven behind, hoping dearly that no one would, be able to get close enough to find Raven, while he fought.
"Raven, I'll be right back, wait for me" Robin said, as he gave her a last look and turned.
"You better come back alive, don't you force me to come down and save you from the underworld." Raven weakly smiled at him.
Robin must have known because a playful smirk suddenly came over his lips,
"You would go to the end of the world for me?" He slightly turned towards her.
Raven's cheeks lit a slight pink as she almost hid further in to her hooded cloak.
"Hey birdbrain, I don't think the assassins appreciate waiting for our conversation to finish, and at this rate they will surely find us."
"Okay, okay, I'm going." Robin laughed, but at that moment he was sure, that if he died tonight, however possible Raven would come for him.
With a smile Robin ran towards the edge and jumped off, the wind wildly ruffling his hair, as he got closer and closer to the ground.
"Be safe" Raven whispered.
Almost all of Blackmasks men were now taken down, and there was only Blackmask and a few men behind him now.
Robin though exhausted, put on a little smile, the rush was getting to him, and he could feel him self get in to the zone.
It wasn't good, getting in to "the zone" meant that he was becoming reckless, and carelessness in his kind of business wasn't great, it often resulted in really lucky victories… or death.
'Robin, I have taught you better then that' Robin heard the voice of his former mentor scold at him.
Robin grimaced at the thought.
Blackmask took a shot at Robin which he elegantly avoided, by running toward him turning his back to him and in a fluid motion, flipping over his head landing with his back to Blackmask before quickly spinning a half circle, ready to hit him with his electrifying staff.
Blackmask blocked, and Robin regained his stance awaiting the fist Blackmask was sending him.
The second Robin was about to block a small, shining, silver and white thing, suddenly caught his eye.
It was coming at him with incredible speed, making it hard to avoid, but he managed, just in time to avoid Blackmask's fist too.
Robin back flipped backwards and landed in a sliding motion about three meters from Blackmask.
His eyes trying to locate where the silver streak had come from.
His eyes scanned the area, but nothing but Blackmask and the unconscious bodies of the defeated gangsters and assassins, occupied the scene.
Blackmask shot at him wildly, as he avoided every shot with hit acrobatic moves.
Robin got closer and closer to black mask, he was almost about to kick him in the gut when he felt a cool blow on his neck.
He wanted to turn around, but was kicked in the ribs sending him straight to the ground.
It hurt sickeningly, and Robin quickly turned to get up from the ground, but as he jerked himself in to a sitting position, an overwhelming pain entered his ribs.
Robin groaned.
But he quickly got a move on as he saw a black shoe trying to kick his head in.
"Better be careful Cheshire, that short dress isn't fit for a lady." Robin said as he finally laid eyes on Cheshire.
"Why if it isn't the little Robin, where have you left your companion?" she smiled behind her mask.
"None of your concern." Robin answered angrily.
"As it is yours."
"Cheshire why are you here?"
"What an uneducated question, but I'll answer it anyways, I'm here for you, we all need to make a living, its not like we are all multi millionaires in this profession."
"So you are working together with him?"
"What can I say times change, but lets not talk any more, its time to end this."
Cheshire sent a few silver darts after him, followed up by quick and powerful punches and kicks.
Most of the attacks Robin avoided, but others came like a surprise tsunami, hitting him harder then he thought he'd be.
It didn't take long for Robin to realize that, fighting Cheshire, wasn't the best solution in his current state.
But she wasn't leaving any opportunities to run.
Cheshire took fourth some string, and used a secret string technique that Robin had only seen, but never mastered, during his training with the master on the mountain.
Luckily he was a master of avoiding any kinds of attacks, and masterfully avoided any string that were chasing after him.
He could feel himself panting now, all the fighting was taking its toll on him.
He tried to move his legs to avoid Cheshire's attack, when he suddenly stumbled to the ground.
Robin looked down at his feet and noticed that his legs had been tied together.
Cheshire grabbed him by the collar and shoved him up against a building, kicking him in the chest, making sure that he would neither be able to rise, nor catch his breath regularly for a while.
Robin spat blood as he struggling to breathe.
"He is all yours" She stepped back from Robin and let Blackmask take the lead.
"You better hope that chick he was with doesn't come to save him. I spend an hour looking for her, and she was as if whisked away by the wind."
"And why should I worry about a her?" Blackmask asked looking at Cheshire with intense eyes.
Cheshire grimaced. "As far as rumor has it, she it the one who just took care of Doomsday… but that is of course just a rumor."
"I heard Superman was there." Balckmask answered.
"Yes but you weren't the one who found him sleeping, while Doomsday, ravaged an entire city." Cheshire said. "You told me to look for them, I did."
Robin remained quiet, so even then they knew where they were… then why wait till now to attack?
Cheshire's eyes fell upon Robins snoopy eyes, and a cruel tone filled her voice, as she addressed Blackmask "Look who has big ears."
Blackmask looked at the beaten boy, and smiled.
"Seems like I wasn't thorough enough on my beat down of him, why don't you take over? Since Boy Wonder here seems to have such a fast recovering rate."
Blakmask stepped forward crackling his knuckles as he looked straight at Robin's wheezing frame, as he choked slightly on the blood filling his mouth.
"Pathetic brat, you have no idea how lucky you are, when he is done with you, and if you live, I'll find you, and send you peace by peace back to Batman."
'That a promise?' Robin thought, but he couldn't answer, he just stared with vile eyes at Blackmask.
Blackmask pointed his gun at Robin, slightly caressing his cheek with it, before hammering it hard in to his temple "I might not be able to kill you yet, but that doesn't mean that I can't hurt you." He whispered in to his ear.
A black void opened up under Robin, letting him fall in to it.
Blackmasks eyes widened in terror, as he saw the void that kept growing by the second.
Blackmask tried to move away from the void, taking quick steps backwards, but quickly fell over a stone.
Cheshire realizing that the void would probably swallow him whole hurriedly jumped in and caught him before he fell, saving him, and dragging him away from the pit.
The pit was beginning to close up and she noticed a black bird heading straight for it.
Blackmask rose with a frightened expression, looking straight at her.
Cheshire in the midst of all of this, took forth her bamboo blowpipe, and aimed several silver darts at the bird's neck.
But while Blackmask rose his path interfered with the darts.
A small gasp escaped Cheshire, but she brushed it of with half a laugh.
Thinking about it, Perhaps she should have, let Blackmask fall in to the pit after all.
"Move!" she yelled at him, but it was too late. If they hit him, he would die instantly.
Cheshire watched as the darts made there way towards Blackmask.
Blackmask took a step forward cocking his head slightly as he looked at her.
The silver darts flew by him inches from his neck, before heading straight for the bird.
Cheshire turned to see Blackmask recovering from his resent encounter with supposed death.
"You let them escape!" Blackmask said, still slightly in shock.
"Must I really do everything for you?" Cheshire asked with a hand on her hip as she walked towards him.
"You almost hit me!" Blackmask said angrily.
"I never miss." Cheshire said, with a monotone that carried a little whisper in the end.
Narrow Escape.
The dark energy released them and they landed with a thud.
"Arrrrggh…." Raven almost whispered, as she felt a sharp pain from the side of her neck.
It was dark, peach black, and there was no sign of light anywhere.
As they had landed, Robin had lightly hit his head against something hard, cold and metal sounding.
But Robin didn't think any further about it and quickly rose, calling out for Raven.
"Raven!"
Raven felt a dizziness take over her body, and her legs began to crumble under her, what was this, it couldn't be normal, neither psychedelics, nor sleeping drugs worked on her, what was this thing.
Raven wanted to call out to Robin, but to no avail, her lips would barely move, and her control over her body had vanished.
"Ro…b…" Raven gathered the last of her willpower as she tried to scream his name with all of her might, but what came out, was nothing more then a faint whisper.
She wanted to warn him, but it was too late, she could feel herself glide further and further in to unconsciousness.
Robin turned on a flashlight, so that he was able to see.
Robin had heard her small outcry and followed the direction it seemed to be coming from.
Robin walked for a few minutes, seeing as the light seemed to be swallowed by the darkness, and as he continued walking the flashlight lit up a bunch of blue metal chemical containers, stacked side by side.
He tried looking for a label, but there was none.
They seemed to be in a warehouse of some sort, and what ever was in those containers must be linked to why he and Raven had landed there.
Robin was about to open one up to take a test of what ever was in the can, when his flashlight, lit up something strange looking.
Robin looked closer at the strange figure on the floor a few hundred meters in front of him.
His eyes widened.
There she was, lying on the ground a hand reaching towards him with her eyes slightly open.
Robin ran over to her, quicker then he had ever run before.
Panting he dropped to his knees to check her condition.
"Raven" he called out.
No response.
She was still breathing, and her pulse was normal, but there was no contact, almost like she was… unconscious.
But her eyes were open…
Robin waved a hand in front of her eyes to see if they responded, but nothing, even when he tested her pupils with the flashlight… nothing.
Something shiny caught his eye, and Robin placed the flashlight over it.
It was a small silver tube, almost like a needle buried deeply in to her neck.
Robin placed two delicate fingers around it, and pulled.
He closely inspected it.
What ever it was, it must have been the cause of her becoming this vegetated.
Robin suddenly felt a sharp pain in his own neck.
'What…' Robin thought to himself as he reached for his own neck.
But it was too late, his body was already unresponsive, and he could feel himself falling to the ground.
"Well, well, well… who do we have here." A man said turning on the light.
That was the last thing Robin saw and heard, before all became black before him.
AN:/
Sorry everyone for the incredibly long wait on this chapter, I have been through a very busy time, and have had next to no time to write, at all. :(
The time to come will be somewhat similar, so there will probably be some waiting time for each chapter, which I'm terribly sorry about, but there is nothing I can do.
I will of cause try to upload as often and as frequently as I can.
Other then that I hope the chapter was okay, and that you will leave me a little review, to tell me how I'm doing.
(I know the pace is kind of slow, but I'm working on it.)
Thank you so much for reading and following, it means a lot, and I am happy about each and everyone of your wonderful views, reviews, fave's, and follows.
Thank you so much.
- Limitless Darkness
Special thanks to:
Taimurpro
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Regin
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Shinigami no S
JSS42
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alxman
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Blacktherose
And Sara
For following, favoriting or giving me the wonderful reviews that I keep receiving.
And to Blacktherose, for being amazing, and helping me out!
:)
And also a special thanks to all who read and reviewed Old Times! I am so happy you liked it, though it was quite the sad story (there is another oneshot on the way, one that I had wanted to complete since a little over a year ago.. that was actually supposed to be my fist oneshot, but… yeah it is taking me quite some time to actually sit down and try to finish it… I hope to have that up soon as well)
Thanks to;
TheBlueMask
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For following, Favoriting and or leaving incredible reviews, it brings a smile to my face every time. Thank you. :)
(And before I leave you completely… I have a bit of good news; I've already begun writing Chapter 15 so I hope to have it up as soon as I possibly can.)… in about 3 years time… (just kidding, but I will try my best to get it up as fast as I possibly can.)