A.N.: Okay, it's still technically this week, so I didn't lie when I said I would get this chapter up later in the week. And this one is nearly 12,000 words long! Added almost seven pages to it just today (so I'm sorry if there are any errors).
To Mia222: I too am grateful that you found this story, as I love sharing my stories with people, and I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it so much. As for the characters and their comic book selves, I really only know what I discovered through research, so I hope it's at least mostly accurate. Thank you for your review, and pleas enjoy this new chapter!
The following morning, Kate was sitting at the mouth of their small cave, observing their surroundings and doing everything in her power just to stay awake. Raven had opted to take watch a few hours before, granting Kate two hours to sleep. She would have refused, but she could hardly keep her eyes open at that point. With two hours of sleep shortly behind her, at least the brunette was then able to keep a closer watch on their surroundings, allowing Raven to reenter her mind.
Just as Starfire drew her weapon, intending to confront their new and hopefully final enemy head on despite the uneven numbers, four portals swirled to life in the space about their trio, momentarily giving pause to her charge into battle.
This day was simply full of surprises, the Tamaranean Princess realized. Four figures, identically clad to Knowledge save for the color of their cloaks, rose from their individual portals, each standing in a way befitting their personality. The cavalry had arrived not a moment too soon as Happy, Rude, Timid, and Affection joined Knowledge, Starfire, and Zippy in facing off against Rage and her clones. All Ravens were present save for the still corrupt Cunning and Brave. Starfire took this to mean that the close-quarters mage was still in the process of healing herself, Beast Boy still with her and doing the same.
"Hey, Star!" Happy greeted her friend from Knowledge's other side in a chipper manner that held true to her name despite the group's current predicament. "Long time no see!"
"Um, hello." Starfire replied in obvious surprise in response to the appearance of the unanticipated cavalry. Now, the Tamaranean would be the first to admit that meeting a chipper Raven, one who wore pink nonetheless, had given her pause originally, but it was nice to see her friend expressing her happiness so openly, even if only for a while.
The relatively blissful reunion was brought to a swift end when their enemy added into the conversation for the first time.
"I do hope you realize this is not merely a game of numbers." Rage, the one in the middle, spoke as she held that same cracked grin on her face as before. Starfire quickly noticed an oddness to her voice, almost like Raven's was being echoed by that of another. Rude, off to the side, gave an ill-mannered scoff, folding her arms with a huff and an annoyed roll of the eyes.
"Says the frickin' pot. You started it." she grumbled, clearly not at all concerned to offend their daunting foe. Starfire nearly winced at the tone. This could not end well.
"Please, I don't think you should-" began a concerned Timid, only to be cut off by her orange-clad counterpart.
"Oh, lighten up. She already wants to kill us. It's not like my taunting will drive this loon further over the edge than she already is." Rude dismissed the cautious mage's worry with a simple shrug.
"But-"
"Next you're gonna' tell me I shouldn't use sarcasm
sarcasm 'has no place in a civilized conversation', particularly with an enemy that wishes us dead." Rude continued sarcastically, clearly not believing that ideal one bit.
"Well, actually, now that you mention it-" Timid murmured, and Rude palmed her forehead in agitated indignation.
"Oh, you've got to be-"
"Enough!" The argument was brought to a swift end with Knowledge's stern reprimand.
Starfire, trying her best to keep her attention on their strangely still opponents, did not believe that she would ever get used to these conversations. One Raven speaking to another was simply an odd idea in and of itself, but when they began to argue, she could not help but be concerned. She had sometimes heard humans speak of the voices within one's head. Was this what they had meant?
"I do agree. All of this senseless bickering is grating on my nerves." Rage unamusedly put in. On a plus side, she no longer wore that somewhat terrifying grin.
"Oh, it is, is it?" Rude, clearly unimpressed, quirked one eyebrow in mock inquiry.
"Okay, not helping!" Knowledge grit out to her unfriendly counterpart.
"What? Little demoness can't take a little mocking, or is this the part where we're supposed to rise above such-" Rude never finished her statement as one of the Rage clones was suddenly right in front of her, a fist encased in black flames poised to strike her in the face. The mage looked about to curse in surprise, a surprise mirrored by each of her allies, as she moved in an effort to defend. When she failed, the blow sent her flying back with a cry of pain. Though, she was able to regain her footing, so to speak. Correcting her position, she brought herself to a halt in midair, flying as she had a great deal during the team's fight with her possessed self.
The group stood stock still, as none had been able to follow their foe's movements before the strike. Such speed! The clone, in turn, simply straightened in her place a few feet from Starfire, seemingly calm once more.
But this aggressive action didn't seem to have sat well with a particular member of the allied group. Zippy, growling from where he'd landed on the ground between Starfire and Knowledge, lurked forward, vicious eyes trained on the Rage clone.
And, as he seemed accustomed to doing now, the small dragon began to grow, claws digging into the ground as his weight increased. Starfire had personally witnessed the little dragon's transformation twice before, but there were obvious differences she noted this time.
Whereas before he had gained a massive girth and armor that could probably rival that of a Tamaranean Dreadnaught, currently, it was really only his height that changed. His overall proportions remained greatly the same. Where the previous Zippy had been built for defense and bursts of incredible speed, his new form seemed to be more aimed toward speed and agility in and of themselves. Even hunched over as he was, he grew until he was a few inches taller than the Tamaranean Princess who stood stunned beside him. His claws had sharpened to razors, and a forest of bladed spikes had manifested atop his scaly back, neck, and tail in place of his wings. And Starfire could have sworn she saw some form of fluid oozing from the ridges in his spikes and claws. It sizzled, oddly enough, when it dripped to the ground.
Was that acid?
Zippy growled at his declared foe before him, and the Rage clone's cracked grin returned.
At a speed that seemed to match that of his enemy, Zippy darted forward, and they were off. Starfire could hardly follow their movements as the two seemed to take turns rushing each other, a clash of metal and magic erupting whenever they met.
But Starfire's attention was quickly drawn front-ways as a shadow loomed, and she didn't waste the time it would take to look up before leaping to the side. A split second later and Rage's heels would have driven her into the ground. As to whether this was the real Rage or not, the Tamaranean hadn't been watching, so she hadn't a clue on that front. The instant the mage's feet struck the ground, splitting it with the sheer force of the impact, a wave of magical energy burst from her, and Starfire was blown backwards before she'd even tried to tumble after her leap.
Somehow, she'd managed to keep a grip on her sword, but the blast had forced the air from her lungs despite the protective armor she wore. Her landing was made premature when another Rage, apparently lying in wait as the Tamaranean flew back, slammed her clasped hands into Starfire's stomach with frightening force. With no air in her lungs, she couldn't even give voice to the pain the blow caused. Momentum shifting instantaneously, Starfire struck the ground hard enough to become embedded in it several inches, the dry, gray stone cracking around her armored body. She could have sworn she heard something snap, and a severe pain now emanating from the lower part of her chest indicated a fractured floating rib or two. Her enemy stood above her as the Tamaranean simply lay there motionless in wide-eyed shock and pain, the other Rage approaching slowly from where she had sent Starfire flying.
Starfire knew of the plan these two had initiated. They had separated her from the group that was currently too engaged in a ferocious battle with the other five Rages, only one of them real, to offer any assistance to her. They would tag team to finish off Starfire and then move on to the next, taking the companions out one by one until none remained. With the overwhelming power they had just displayed, it was certainly a good strategy. The clone above her raised a fist to further said plan along.
But Starfire didn't have to make it easy for them.
As the clone drove her fist downward, likely for the kill, Starfire braced her hands against the ground and threw her feet up, ignoring the agony the motion ignited in her chest. This action served to both deflect the blow, sending her enemy off balance, and flip the Tamaranean out of her small crater and back onto her feet. Flamberge still firmly in her hand, the mage had to leap backwards to avoid being eviscerated by the heavy sword slash that quickly followed the warrior's absurdly swift backwards somersault.
Raven was not the only one to receive lessons in hand-to-hand combat from Robin. Though Starfire was more of a powerhouse fighter than they, she was capable of short but incredible bursts of speed and agility, a quality that had likely just saved her life as her foes appeared to have not foreseen such an ability from her.
Her luck in catching them off guard didn't last long, as Starfire was still outnumbered two to one. The Rage who seemed to specialize in attacks of power closed in the instant her flamberge completed its pass at her midsection. The Tamaranean could almost feel the skin and tissue beneath her arm bracer begin to bruise as she was forced to block the crushing attack with her forearm, a blow that dented the metal and left it uncomfortably warped.
The next thing Starfire knew, however, there was a rush of wind from behind, and she was lifted off her feet and blown forward several paces by a concussive blast of wind, courtesy of the seemingly elementally oriented Rage who'd first engaged her. As she had seen her ally, the Power Rage had ducked to avoid the blast, left unharmed and sure-footed. Not anticipating the intervention of the Elemental Rage, Starfire couldn't correct her footing in time and was sent tumbling across the dead landscape as her foes charged in.
Managing to regain a little control of her tumble, Starfire landed in a crouched position and began to rise, only to have her chin struck by the Power Rage's knee. The blow sent her reeling back, but Rage closed in again. The flamberge was ripped from the Tamaranean's grasp and thrown away, clattering across the stone between them and the group battling it out twenty yards away. Clutching the collar of Starfire's armor with one hand to keep her from dodging, Rage then threw the other knee into the alien warrior's stomach.
Eyes wide and mouth agape in a silent pain as she had yet the opportunity to breath properly, Starfire doubled over, that hand on her collar keeping her from collapsing fully. It was almost all Starfire could do to remain standing as she could almost feel her knees begin to shake from the force of the blow. One more hit like that, and she might very well be down for the count. But, the strength of a Tamaranean did not long remain waned, even in fatigue.
And Rage didn't hit as hard as Blackfire did.
Muscles tensing, Starfire snarled as she grabbed the Power Rage's shoulder and the wrist of the hand supporting her, standing just fine on her own after she'd pried said hand from the collar of her armor. Apparently dumbstruck by her continued ability to fight, the mage didn't have the time to respond before Starfire had slammed their foreheads together to stagger her foe and then followed up with a swift but powerful armor-plated knee to the gut, just to spite her foe for the blow previously given to her.
Swordless she may be, but defenseless she most certainly was not.
Rage crumpled into a heap when Starfire gave her a light shove, hands clutching her stomach in agony for the damage the strength of a Tamaranean could cause. If she'd had anything in her stomach, Starfire was fairly certain Rage would have just emptied it onto the dead, gray ground.
Biding her time until then, the Elemental Rage flew around from the side and threw her hand out. Barely able to catch her breath after the blow to her own stomach, Starfire was forced to hunch down low to avoid being blown off her feet by another gust of air, though she was still pushed back several paces. Oh, what she would give to have her starbolts back in that moment.
The attack was only another distraction, for, when Starfire lifted her head upon the wind's easing, the Rage of strength had seemingly regained her bearings and was closing in fast with a fist rising. If anyone had any doubts as to whether this truly was Raven's aspect of Rage, those doubts would have been mercilessly silenced for the expression that twisted the mage's four eyed visage. Fortunately, that rage made her more predictable in her movements and attack style.
Starfire twisted to avoid the foreseeable lunge strike, though it did jarringly glance off of her shoulder. Planting her feet, the alien warrior then grabbed her foe's extended arm and the cape at her shoulder and lifted Rage off of the ground. With all of the strength of a Tamaranean, she reversed the mage's momentum and slammed her onto the ground. If she'd thought about what this would do before she'd done it, she certainly would have hesitated.
For, the audible snap that reached her ears as the entity that resembled on of her closest friends hit the ground with her neck at an odd angle, actually made Starfire cringe as her insides rebelled with the knowledge that she'd just taken one of the few lives she ever had.
Rage crumpled into a heap as she had done before, but, this time, she did not get up. She simply lay there for a moment, her vertebrae oddly disjointed at the neck. Starfire felt the growing need to empty her stomach of its contents when the prone body slowly began to turn to dust, almost as if it were burning without being lit on fire, and the remaining ashes were blown away on a wind the Tamaranean could not feel.
It was soon as if the body had never been there in the first place, and, before she had the returned state of mind to realize it had been one of the clones she had just killed, the rustle of a cloak from behind was a quick reminder that there were many more foes on this battlefield.
Starfire spun quickly, raising her fists as the elemental Rage oddly enough charged in for actual melee confrontation rather than relying on her previous tactic of wearing her opponent down from afar. Starfire successfully parried a few swift strikes until the four eyed mage double-palmed the air between them. A smaller concussive blast than those before was released from her palms, and it staggered the Tamaranean for both its close proximity and the echo of ever-growing fatigue in her limbs.
Her opponent's defenses down and lagging, Rage flexed both of her hands, and they were engulfed by fire as though they had been doused in oil and lit with a match. Without hesitation or remorse, she moved in, thrusting her hands and thus the blue flames covering them, forward. Starfire could feel the intense heat radiating from the flames as they drew nearer to her face, beginning to burn her tough Tamaranean skin even as they were still a foot away. The extreme heat and the presence of the fire conjured flashes of memories and the accompanying sense of terror Starfire now possessed and would be ashamed to admit to anyone about having.
Images of her hands, black as charcoal and no sense of feeling anywhere in them, blinked through her mind's eye in rapid succession to accompany the sickening memory of the stench of her own burned flesh.
Panic began to set in swiftly, bringing both her mind and body to a screeching halt, defenses dropping as terror took hold.
Starfire almost didn't realize it when a figure flew into view over her head, two familiar wrist blades encased in black energy flashed in the crimson light of the strange stars in the sky. Those blades did what her paralyzed mind would not tell her to in parrying Rage's fire infused hands. Having flipped over Starfire, a now upside down Brave landed a perfect downward heel-kick on the corrupt mage's head. Her opponent doubled over at the blow as the rambo mage landed between the two combatants, and it wasn't a second later that Brave slammed both arms into Rage's stomach to further stagger her opponent. A quick palm blast to the face that emitted a blast of dark energy followed and sent the evil mage flying backwards with surprising speed.
Or perhaps it was the lagging in Starfire's mind that made the mage's forced retreat seem so swift. One moment, she'd been there, and, the other, she was flying through the air half a dozen paces away.
"Hah! Who said you could start without me?!" Brave exclaimed, confident smirk well in place as she fell back into a defensive stance with her bladed, open-palmed hands at the ready. Starfire, her mind still partly recovering from her previous panic, was both greatly stunned and relieved to see the still hoodless mage.
In no understatement, her timing could not have been better.
"Brave! It is good to see you are well!" The Tamaranean gave a short-winded cheer of relief as her figure slumped forward slightly to allow her muscles a moment to relax. She took the time now granted to catch a much needed breath. Said mage half-turned to her, showing that same confident grin she'd put on for their foe.
"Not a hundred percent, but well enough!" she agreed with a assured thumbs up. But, her eyes then drifted a few inches to the side as if noticing something behind Starfire, who groaned internally.
The Tamaranean heard the familiar rushing of wind through fabric, and her instincts intervened. As she moved to duck, fueled almost exclusively by a burst of adrenalin, Brave shifted her stance from one foot to the other. It was a good thing the close-quarters mage was light on her feet.
Her foot connected with the head of the Elemental Rage just after Starfire ducked to avoid the enemy's energy encased fist. She almost wondered if it would have appeared comical were the exchange of blows to have been viewed in a motion slower than that in which she bore witness. The look on the evil mage's face would probably be considered "priceless" just before and after Brave's foot made contact with it.
With a low growl of frustration and anger, Starfire, now positioned underneath her enemy, slammed her forearm into Rage's gut, sending the mage soaring upward from the force of the alien warrior's mighty strike as a fly would when struck with a swatter of insects.
"Nice!" Brave cheered as she thrusted a fist in Starfire's direction. The Tamaranean had seen the exchange between Beast Boy and Cyborg enough times to understand what it was, so she hesitated only a moment for her surprise at seeing such an odd action from Raven before she connected her fist to the mage's. Apparently it was some form of expressing camaraderie amongst humans.
And, with that, Brave was off, running in Affection's direction to assist the purple-clad mage in facing another clone.
"Starfire!" came Raven's voice, though from a different direction, and said alien girl turned to see her sword soaring at her encased in a film of black energy, courtesy of Timid a dozen yards back. Catching the handle-first blade and hearing the familiar rush of wind, Starfire tumbled backwards. The clone she had just sent flying landed on the ground with enough force to crack it and form a downward indentation in the rock, though the mage herself appeared unharmed.
Rage, clearly furious, then launched herself at Starfire, and the Tamaranean could barely get her sword up in time to block the ferocious mage's glowing fist, though it still managed to push her back a few inches.
It would seem she had angered her foe greatly.
Beast Boy was ashamed to admit that he was rather useless in this fight. With his left arm at less than 100% ability and his current lack of any form of supernatural ability, all he was really able to do was help defend Timid as she offered the group long distance support in the form of hurtled boulders that were aimed to either hurt the enemy or simply distract them.
Being useless was something the changeling quickly became frustrated with. Beast Boy wanted nothing more than to leap into battle with teeth bared and swords flashing if nothing else. But more than that, his limbs had an odd itch in them, as if they were pleading for him to mutate and transform him into a beast that could quickly gain some advantage on this battlefield.
He could turn into a cheetah and assist Zippy as his friend, a friend in a new wicked form of his own that Beast Boy had quickly dubbed 'Assassin Zippy', chased and traded blows with a Rage that seemed to be moving two speeds faster than the rest of them. Though, that acid dripping from Zippy's ridge spikes might give him pause in getting too close to the transformed lizard. If that didn't work, though, he could turn into a pterodactyl or some other large creature of flight and assist either Rude or Knowledge, both of whom were engaged in brutal aerial combat with two Rages. He could even turn into an ape and assist Timid in her ranged warfare as she threw large boulders at any and every target that came within her range. Or maybe he could turn into an indestructible gelatinous mass and absorb one of the Rages into himself when they least expected it, not letting them go until they passed out from lack of oxygen.
An image of a creature with thick armored skin and four arms seemingly made of the blade of a scythe then flashed through Beast Boy's mind, but the changeling quickly pushed that thought down the instant it surfaced. The Rak'naw had been powerful during the brief moment in which he had taken the form of one those few weeks ago, one of the most thrilling creatures he'd ever had the pleasure of turning into. But, he would not take that form in this fight even if he had the power to do so. The consequences were too unknowable and potentially disastrous for him to risk. If the creature had rendered a rampaging Raven immobile in just a few short moments, what would happen were one to appear within her own mind?
Beast Boy couldn't know, so he wouldn't have hazarded a chance even if he'd had is powers.
All of this proved irrelevant, however, seeing as how he was sidelined and could do nothing but deflect a few flying rocks that came back their way courtesy of a few of the battling Rages, clones or not, whom Timid saw fit to assault with her own hurtled chunks of stone. The single Shamshir Beast Boy held in his right hand felt painfully inadequate, he couldn't help but think as he sent another rock sailing wide with a quick slash. His second weapon rested dutifully on his back, but he didn't yet trust his faulty left hand in wielding anything with any sort of point to it. His fingers could lose their grip on the weapon mid-swing and send the blade in a direction most undesired—say towards one of his friends. So, he had to settle for aiding Timid one-handed as the rest of the group slowly but surely seemed to be gaining ground in this fight.
It had all started just as he and Brave had arrived. In fact, things turned when Starfire managed to defeat one of the two Rages who'd been ganging up on her by pile driving it into the ground. Upon their arrival, Brave had gone to assist, thankfully saving Star from a presumptively fatal blow from the other half of the tag-team, and was now helping Affection finish off another Rage, probably a clone if the red-clad mage's specialized use in barriers was any indication. Turning the odds of numbers on their enemy certainly seemed to be helping, at least for a time.
But, then Rude fell to her powerful aerial combatant. Though she had managed to defeat her foe, she too was in no condition to continue fighting, left unconscious in the wall of one of the small mesas just off the battlefield that would have reminded Beast Boy surprisingly of Africa were the landforms not made of the same stone of a dead gray color that all landmass in this part of Raven's mind possessed.
And, then Starfire had nearly fallen. It hadn't been difficult to see her exhaustion, and that exhaustion had been concerning Beast Boy since Brave had teleported them to the group—she'd said something about conduits being two-sided, but most of the explanation had gone over Beast Boy's head. Only when Starfire had actually dropped her blade did the changeling realize just how tired she really was. She hadn't even been swinging the weapon when it had fallen from her grasp. She'd simply lost her grip on it and then collapsed onto a knee, breathing in ragged breaths as her shoulders sagged low. She hadn't been able to defend herself when her opponent held a hand to her face and blew her backwards with a point blank gust of wind.
"Starfire!" Beast Boy was only vaguely aware that it was his voice calling out as he watched her fly backward and skid to a halt nearly a dozen yards back. She lay their frighteningly limp as her enemy approached with a snarl and the obvious intent to kill. The changeling somewhat recalled turning to Timid, words of pleading for her to help on the tip of his tongue as he wouldn't make it in time, when he realized she was already melting into the ground.
As both Timid and Rage approached Starfire in their own ways, a shrill and enraged screech informed the combatants and onlookers alike that Zippy had bared witness to the continued assault on Starfire and had not taken to it kindly. He veered from his path in pursuing the Swift Rage and instead charged full speed for the Elemental Rage with a frightening display of ferocity. His previous opponent moved to follow but was instead intercepted by Brave and three of her own clones who, though not as fast individually, were able to keep her on her toes through interpersonal coordination.
The Elemental Rage, seeing the incoming danger thundering her way, quickly shifted her attention from the defenseless Starfire to the 500 pounds of rampaging lizard that was closing in fast. As she parried Assassin Zippy's clawed strike with a glowing hand, though she was pushed back a couple inches, Timid rose from the ground beside Starfire while their enemy was distracted. They vanished into the ground in reverse fashion, Rage none the wiser of their escape.
Beast Boy was relieved when the pair rose beside him, and he hastily knelt down to check on his fallen friend. With the back of his mind telling him to thank Happy the next chance he got when she intercepted an incoming Rage, he helped Timid roll Starfire over and took in a heavy breath of relief when the Tamaranean groaned in pain as the action jarred her obvious injuries.
"Star!" he breathed out, "Are you alright?" It was a rather stupid question, he knew, but he had to ask. Starfire grimaced lightly as one of her hands rose to rest above her abdomen.
"I-I'm fine." she gritted out, though her uncharacteristic use of a conjunction told Beast Boy that this was certainly not the case.
Back in battle, Zippy was relentless in his assault of the Rage who had wounded Starfire so severely. The mage had no time to breath between dodging one swipe to another. She barely even had time to do that. She tried blasting him off of his feet with a gust of wind, but he was so heavy that it really only served to slow his next strike. She couldn't get close enough to use her hands without running the risk of being eviscerated by the enraged lizards claws, and any fire she threw at Zippy was simply deflected by his hard reptilian hide.
When one such blast hit Zippy in the face, however, the normally small reptile had seemingly had enough of the mage's ranged combat tactics, because he returned it with his own fireball. The ball of flame took the mage by surprise after he had resorted to melee confrontation for so long and struck her in the shoulder. She would have been thrown to the ground if Zippy hadn't taken the opportunity to cross the distance between them while her guard was down and stabbed her in the chest.
As that Rage disintegrated, Happy and Affection finished off another. They had been battling two on one since Happy had distracted their enemy from going after Starfire, Timid, and Beast Boy. For the most part, their opponent seemed to focus on defensive tactics. She would wave a hand through the air and a strip of red energy would be left behind as if it had been drawn in the air. This shields came in handy when deflecting Happy's stone attacks or Affection's fists.
This ended, however, when Affection managed to catch the mage's wrists, and Happy didn't hesitate before making an uppercut motion in the air. The ground beneath the clone reacted to her command, and a pillar shot upward to strike the clone in the chin. The blow lifted her off her feet, but the clone disintegrated before she hit the ground.
The victory was short lived.
"Watch out!" came Knowledge's shout of concern, but Happy didn't turn fast enough. She saw Rage briefly over her shoulder, and then there was a flash of red light and a scream before Happy was blasted away. Unable to fly even if she had been conscious, she could not catch herself before she was sent over the edge of the platform.
Affection, after watching her comrade fall, turned to the new assailant. Somehow, she could just tell that this was no clone of Rage's. This was the twisted counterpart herself. When Rage turned her four red eyes to the mage clad in purple, Affection thought she was about to follow Happy into the abyss below the floating pathways, to be defeated in another battle, but a sudden shadow above them brought those thoughts to a sudden halt.
Rage ducked and strafed backwards just before Knowledge, who had been unable to stop the mage whom she had just been battling from assaulting the now fallen Happy, landed where she had been. Knowledge threw her arm out, and Rage took to the air to dodge the blast of black smoke that wrapped itself around the embodiment of intelligence's arm from inside her cloak and shot forward. The yellow-clad mage took to the air in continued pursuit.
Affection would have said Rage was fleeing were it not for that grin that hadn't faded since the battle had begun.
Unaware that another of their comrades had been defeated, the attentions of Beast Boy and Timid were drawn when the clone who had been battling against Brave and two of her clones—one had apparently been destroyed—veered for their small group.
Alarmed, Beast Boy rose to his feet with his shamshir well in hand to defend Starfire who also tried to stand. Both of their actions were proven moot when a black barrier rose from the ground in front of Beast Boy and surrounded the three companions, and the incoming clone's fist struck it instead of the changeling. Unsurprised by this turn, the clone opened her fist to lay her hand on the barrier and mirrored the action with her other. Sparks flew as she battled against the wall of black energy, but, eventually her hands seemed as thought they began to eat away at the barrier. Beast Boy took a step back and readied his shamshir as, slowly, her hands began to slip through the barrier as though it had been liquified.
But, she was so distracted by her efforts to get through the barrier and get to them, the Swift Rage clone didn't notice Zippy come up behind her. With her hands now stuck in the barrier, she realized too late her mistake. She was defenseless and unable to move when he raised his claws, and she too turned to dust when the lizard stabbed her in the back.
The enemy now gone, Timid lowered the protective shield, relieved by the intervention when the clone had made it clear that she would have been able to simply walk through the barrier. Now on her feet, Starfire approached the large lizard who had now taken down two of their assailants.
"Thank you again, my friend." she said as she placed a hand atop his snout. In turn, an odd rumbling reverberated from Zippy's chest that reminded Beast Boy strangely of the purring of a cat.
"Yeah, Zippy! That was awesome!" the changeling cheered as he joined the injured Tamaranean beside their friend. "One more baddie downed by Assassin Zippy!" The lizard seemed to grin, a little alarming to witness as it displayed his razor sharp teeth, and said something to Beast Boy, his chirps now much lower in his larger form.
But then the battle raging between Knowledge, Brave, Affection, Rage, and what had to be her final clone drew their attention as a small explosion rocked the platform, and Zippy was then running off in that direction. Beast Boy made to run and assist as well, but he stopped when he noticed that Happy was nowhere in sight. He turned to Starfire and Timid and voiced his concern, asking if they had seen where she had gone.
They didn't know either.
Where had she gone?
Knowledge searched desperately for the Rage she knew to be real as she avoided another explosive strike by the final clone that had yet to be destroyed. One moment, she had been battling the real mage, and then the clone had attacked to distract her, and Rage had vanished while Knowledge was looking the other way.
She growled as she ducked below another strike, the orb of energy the clone summoned in her palm exploding outward with violent force. The yellow-clad mage then thrust her and forward, and lightning erupted from her fingers. Unfortunately, in such close aerial quarters, it was easy enough for Rage to knock her wrist aside and send the attack harmlessly wide.
Having been thrown by her two remaining clones, Brave then joined the two aerial combatants, surprising their foe enough to land a heel kick on the back of her head. The clone then dove to avoid a fireball, courtesy of Zippy, as the large lizard leapt to catch a then falling and unable to fly Brave.
Instead of continuing the battle in the air, Rage's clone landed on the ground and stood, her arm extended not to those who had just attacked her but to the trio currently standing off to the side. A glowing orb of energy was summoned in her palm. When she released the energy, it wasn't the explosion that now approached the trio as Timid summoned another barrier that worried Knowledge.
It was the figure rising from the ground behind Timid that made her afraid.
She knew she wouldn't be able to warn them. Her voice would be drowned out by the roar of the explosion as it neared them. As she made to fly for them, though, she was stopped by the clone who had taken to the air after her attack. Knowledge was forced to avoid an uppercut as the clone flew up from below and watched from her helpless distance as her view of the titans within the dome soon became obstructed by the explosion that crashed upon the barrier like water on rock. What she saw before the dome was overcome was Rage, anticipating the use of the protective barrier that would keep her safe and the attack that served to distract the titans from her presence. She raised a hand that became encased in a glowing, red film of energy.
And now Timid had essentially sealed them in with her.
The roar was deafening as the fiery explosion washed over the protective shield, and beast Boy fought the urge to clap his hands over his sensitive hears. He noticed out of the corner of his eye how Starfire flinched back at the sight of the fire that now surrounded them. He thought this odd, as he had never seen her shy away from fire before, but then those sensitive ears of his picked up an odd and horrifying sound that drew his thoughts from this matter. The sound was almost like the breaking of bones and a pained, surprised gasp that followed, and the changeling turned.
He wasn't prepared for what he saw.
Timid stood stock still, eyes wide and head reared back as her mouth was agape in silent agony. The dome around them began to fade as her concentration on it broke, but by then the explosion was already dissipating. Their friend clad in gray coughed, a horrible sound escaping her as blood sprayed with her breath. More blood filled her mouth, and it seeped out of the corners of her lips to slide down her pale chin.
Because sticking out of her stomach was a hand, covered in her blood and glowing red with a sinister energy.
Rage stood behind Timid, had impaled the mage as though her hand was a blade, and she wore that cracked grin as her gray-counterpart's blood dripped from her own fingers. Timid's eyes faded to white as her arms fell limp at her side, and Rage ripped her arm out of her back, blood spraying with the action. Timid fell to her knees, eyes empty as she began to fall forward.
She turned to ash before she even struck the ground, and tears slipped down the cheeks of a stunned Starfire as she and Beast Boy watched.
. . .
The changeling, on the other hand, saw red, and it wasn't just because of the crimson starlight that once again reached them as the dome collapsed the rest of the way. He had thought Timid had protected them from the real danger, but it had only been a decoy, something to draw their attention as the real threat snuck up behind them.
And now Timid was dead.
Beast Boy screamed in a fit of uncontrollable rage as he charged this enemy who was so much stronger than he, especially without his powers. He didn't care. He just wanted to hurt this thing, to kill it without mercy as it had just done to a piece of Raven.
Rage dodged the wild slashes of his lone shamshir with ease, not even forced to deflect them with magic as she moved too quick for him to keep up with the single blade. Then, as if she was taunting him, she side-stepped a lunge and stood close, as though she was saying he wouldn't even be able to hit a stationary target at this range. She expected him to just slash at her again with his sword.
She hadn't expected him to drop that sword to instead throw his fist in her face, but that was exactly what he did. His knuckles connected hard with her cheekbone and sent her reeling back. Dazed, she didn't see the follow up coming until after he had punched her twice more across the face, the final knocking her hood free from atop her head to let it fall to her shoulders.
The sight of Raven's face, despite the four demon eyes that stared back at him, gave Beast Boy pause in his assault, enough pause to allow retaliation. With an expression of pure, unbridled fury, Rage lifted her hand—the same one she had used to stab Timid—to his left shoulder, and her palm became alight with a glowing red energy. It flashed, and the changeling was thrown back a couple yards as though he'd been struck by Plasmus or Cinderblock.
He screamed in pain as he struck the ground and eventually rolled to a stop, his hand clasped tightly to his injured shoulder.
"Beast Boy!" Starfire called as she ran to him, slow in her fatigue and state of injury. She moved to roll him from his side and onto his back, but he rolled onto his stomach before she could, and hurled, emptying his stomach of its lack of contents for the sickening amount of agony the blow had caused him.
Seeing the assault on Beast boy as she continued to evade the clone's attacks, Knowledge too became enraged. She strafed to avoid a lunge and tapped the mage on the shoulder. The clone was sent flying downward, struck by the same unseen force that had caused the team so much grief during their fight with Insane. Extending her arms outward and then thrusting them back in, Knowledge summoned a black crystal. It split the ground and rose directly in the clone's descending path, and the mage became impaled on the pike of black crystal before dissolving into dust.
Knowledge turned and flew for Rage at a speed that was twice as fast as Zippy as he, Affection, and Brave ran to assist as well. Lightning crackled to life in the yellow-clad emotion's palm as she neared her twisted counterpart. Raising the ball of lightning, Knowledge thrust it forward as one would a fist.
Rage simply held her hand up, and the sphere of electricity struck her palm, halting the mage's forward motion, and the two began to battle for control as sparks flew high and wide, charring the blood on the red-clad mage's hand. They stayed their for a moment, stuck in a stalemate with neither end willing to give up their hold on the sphere of lightning that jittered between their open-palmed hands as if it couldn't decide which direction it wanted to go.
That is, they were at a stalemate until a roar sounded, and Rage turned her eyes to see Zippy charging in fast with his claws and jaws at the ready. Her grin actually faded when she was forced to send the ball of lightning to the side and retread to avoid being eviscerated. But, then the lizard lunged again, forcing her to flip over him. On her way over his back, though, her cloak got caught on his spikes and ripped, the acid then beginning to eat away at the fabric.
Rage landed, forced to discard her cloak before the acid reached her as well, and the piece of clothing seemed to sizzle as it was slowly eaten away.
Brave caught up to them then, and Zippy held his clawed hand out to her. She jumped, landing on the offered appendage, and he launched her into the air over their opponent as Knowledge charged in from the side.
Off to the side, Affection joined Starfire and Beat Boy's side, as the changeling rolled back onto his side. His hand was still held tight to his shoulder as he tried to his teeth through the pain and pained groans escaped him. The tendons were bulging in his neck and left wrist for how hard he was clenching his fist and jaw.
"Beast Boy, it's okay, I can help." Affection tried to console him as she knelt down behind him. She placed one hand on his arm and the other, glowing blue with healing magic, over the hand he had pressed to the injury on his left shoulder that hadn't quite healed completely after their battle with Insane. Affection continued to whisper things to him to calm the the agonized changeling, and Starfire pretended not to notice the way the mage caressed Beast Boy's hand with her thumb in an effort to comfort him. The intimate action came from the normally distant mage so naturally that Starfire wasn't even quite sure she knew how to process it.
It wasn't long before Affection had seemingly finished her work, and Beast Boy relaxed, breathing in heavily.
"Thanks." he said wearily to the mage who then gave his hand a comforting squeeze before she helped him sit up. Starfire wondered briefly if he'd even noticed. "So, apparently, getting hit on the shoulder isn't a good idea."
"It would appear not." Starfire helped Affection in assisting the changeling to his feet, and they all turned to the raging battle, none of them really in any position or condition to battle the flying opponent. They were all grounded, Starfire was greatly injured and fatigued near the point of passing out, Beast Boy had the proper use of only one arm, and Affection had no really effective method for ranged attacks. At least Zippy could shoot fireballs at Rage, and one Brave or another could be launched into the air by the others. Knowledge herself was the most outfitted to combat this enemy.
But it would seem she was outmatched. Understanding this, she was forced to take to the air again lest she be defeated, and that left the others behind with Zippy launching fireballs that couldn't hope to hit their target who then became more and more distant.
For a time, Knowledge evaded attack after attack that was thrown at her, but, after everything that had happened in this battle, she was clearly becoming drawn ragged. Her evasions became slower and slower, and she attacked less frequently.
Zippy tried to follow, but they flew back and forth too quickly, leaving him panting beside the group of companions on the ground that now included Brave as well. Knowledge tried to lure Rage past there to give Zippy a clear shot, and he once even got close to nicking her with one of his ridge spine when they flew low enough for him to jump at her. But, Rage caught on quickly to this tactic, and the companions could just tell that this was the end of the battle, Knowledge having exhausted all of her ideas.
And then, in one last ditch effort to succeed, Knowledge had turned, hand crackling with electricity, and shot a lightning bolt at Rage. It was desperate and predictable, and Rage reacted faster than any mortal should have been able to.
She caught the lightning in her hands and then spread them wide. The lightning split at her command, arcing out and back towards Knowledge in an instant. The yellow-clad mage couldn't react quickly enough. When Rage clapped her hands together, the bolts of lightning converged on their target, and Knowledge screamed as she went rigid, her own attack turned on her.
She was falling then, cloak charred and tattered and limbs loose and unresponsive in her unplanned decent.
"Knowledge!" was Beast Boy's worried cry, his concerns only multiplying when it quickly became apparent that she wasn't slowing down And so he ran, pushing his weary legs forward even as they begged for rest. He didn't notice when Affection and Brave vanished. He just know that he could reach Knowledge before she hit if he moved fast enough. He was so focused on his target, though, that he didn't notice an obstacle in his path until he ran into it.
It was a wall: a wall of shadow that was rising from the ground to form a protective shield around him. Raven had certainly done this before, shielded the team in their time of need. But, the last time she had done so to prevent the team from helping her had been when. . .
. . .
Images of red glyphs flashed through Beast Boy's mind, and his eyes snapped back up to Knowledge in time to see her flip in the air and land on her feet, skidding back a couple yards before coming to a stop. She seemed fine. The only difference was her cloak. Now undamaged, it had shifted from a vibrant yellow to a deep blue.
Raven.
She'd come again when they needed her most, when their last hope at defeating Rage had fallen. She seemed to have a knack for intervening in the most opportune times now, but. . . Why did this feel different?
Instead of feeling relieved as he had been before and as he expected himself to feel at the sight of her, Beast Boy was filled with an odd sense of trepidation and unease. The only thing he could chock it up to was that it reminded him of the bad feeling he got in his bones before a particularly violent thunderstorm. Animal senses, he'd come to think of it as, which, given his DNA, was undoubtedly the case.
All he knew was that something wasn't right. Perhaps it was the grin Rage still wore as she looked down on them all from the sky, but. . . No, it was something else.
. . .
There. . .
A low growl, one that was barely audible, even to him. He'd heard it before, he knew. Whatever had happened to their familial link when the team had defeated Trigon, Raven was still his half-demon daughter.
Because it had come from her then too.
Beneath her blue cowl, four red eyes snapped open, and Raven took a step forward, the air around her seeming to rush into her hands. The wind from the blast of shadows she released a moment later would have surely knocked Beast Boy from his feet were it not for the protective shield surrounding him, and the beam struck the flying Rage with the force and speed of an out of control cargo train. Their foe, though, seemed to have been prepared for this, because the beam of energy split as it struck her, its dissipation revealing her outstretched hand as well as that same grin that rarely left her face.
With a snarl, revealing a full set of familiar demonic fangs, Raven took to the air with murderous intent. Rage grinned before snapping with her already extended hand, and flames birthed into existence before her, hurtling towards the mage who was now rapidly approaching the fire in turn.
Just before the inferno overtook her, however, Raven's entire form turned black as if it had been soaked through with ink, and she than shrank until there was nothing left. The flames burned only air, and the mage reappeared in reverse fashion behind Rage, one hand in the air. As if amplifying the limb, a giant arm of shadow extended upward, its fingers ending in sharp points.
Rage actually seemed surprised by this. She strafed quickly as Raven brought the shadow limb down, but she didn't move fast enough to avoid the attack entirely. Two large gashes now marred her right shoulder. With a grunt of pain, the possessed mage dove quickly through the air, leveling out once she was a few feet from the ground to fly parallel to it.
Raven, instead of pursuing, raised her hands. Both of them were enveloped in shadow, and a large chunk of gray rock than made the ground was engulfed in the same shadow about a dozen yards behind her moving target. She then clapped her hands together, and the ground split in half, both halves rising to clap together just as Rage, eyes wide as she noticed this too late, reached them.
The stone slabs burst from within just as the they met, but again a partial blow had been dealt, Rage sent tumbling to the ground in a haphazard fashion unlike anything the companions had seen from her previously. She struck the ground hard, bouncing a couple of times like a skipped stone on a lake before finally skidding to a halt.
Beast Boy couldn't believe it. She was doing it! Raven was doing what they combined couldn't. She was actually fighting Rage head on, had even manage to deal damage to their foe.
So, why did he still have a bad feeling in his gut?
Rage slowly lifted her upper body, movements lethargic as she did so, and her breathing was coming in a little ragged. It was then that Beast Boy was able to notice the bleeding gashes on her right shoulder and her newly bleeding lip and temple. Their enemy was injured. Even if it was only a little, it proved, as the saying went, that their enemy could in fact bleed. She wasn't invincible.
Against his better judgment, Beast Boy turned his attention, tearing his eyes from the fight as the unease in the back of his mind hadn't even dissipated a little with this realization. He wasn't surprised to see that Raven had shielded the others as she had him. But, what did surprise him was the fact that only Zippy and Starfire were present. Brave and Affection had been there before, so where had they gone?
. . .
His surprised green eyes snapped back to Raven, now understanding the terrible feeling in his stomach. He couldn't believe it.
What was she doing?!
She had actually come there? Raven had told them of the dangers of entering her own mind! Why was she risking fighting their enemy in her deteriorating mental condition?
While part of Beast Boy thought that it was only to protect he and Starfire, the other part of him disagreed.
This seemed more. . . desperate, almost, than before. Yes, she'd aided them in battle before, usually through one of her embodiments, but to actually come there after she had expressed how dangerous it was for her. . .
That was when the obvious struck Breast Boy.
Raven was tired.
A headache could be bad enough when it only lasted a couple of hours. But, from what he'd seen before they'd entered her mind a couple of weeks ago(1), Raven had had one killer migraine the entire time they'd been fighting, even before that. He couldn't even imagine what that would be like, the unrelenting pain she must be in.
A growl from Raven drew Beast Boy back to the fight, and he looked up just as said mage dove. Her target—or 'prey' as she in her current condition likely viewed Rage—was vulnerable, injured and moving slowly.
But, she wasn't powerless. Two Rage clones rose from the ground, once more solidifying from liquid rock, and they flew at Raven, banking slightly to enter flanking positions. Raven didn't seem surprised by this.
She raised her hands again, and again they were enveloped in the dark energy of her powers before she thrust them back to her sides. Tiny pieces of rock, each smaller than a penny, were pulled from their places on the ground below the advancing duo and shot upward like bullets. The two clones were forced to veer from their paths lest they become pin cushions for the tiny pebbles. Each was still left with a number of cuts and scratches, unable to veer quickly enough.
Her path now clear, Raven continued straight for her target, not having slowed in the slightest in the face of her previous obstacles. Rage, standing by that time, tensed in anticipation. She placed a hand on the ground beneath her as Raven neared, and leapt back just before the half-demon landed. When she did, it at first seemed like nothing had happened. But, as more and more of Raven's weight was put on the stone, her feet actually started to go through it, almost as if the ground had been turned into some form of thick liquid or gelatinous substance.
Rage drew back as Raven sank farther, finally stopping with her legs knee deep in the ground. Though now immobile, the half-demon opened her mouth as spit out a plume of what looked like black smoke. It engulfed Rage's hand and forearm just before she became out of reach, and the possessed mage grabbed the appendage in pain with her other as she landed.
"Impressive, progeny of Trigon." Her tone was actually rather honest as she stood straight, eyes remaining on the partially imprisoned mage before her. This comment surprised Starfire, though not because it was a compliment. If Rage was simply a corrupted piece of Raven, why would she refer to a shared parentage in such a disconnected manner?
Why specify, 'progeny of Trigon'?
Raven didn't respond to the odd compliment, instead snarling as she attempted to break free of her prison. Any ground she gained was quickly lost when the gelatinous stone pulled her back in. She even tried phasing through it with her powers, but to no avail. She was stuck, it seemed. Still an intelligent mage, even if she did currently seem to be more of a wild animal, Raven realized the pointlessness of her efforts and stopped as the two Rage clones began to circle her in the air above, almost like vultures waiting for their prey to tire out.
They weren't used to fighting this part of Raven, though.
Where the human part of Raven would have relied mostly on counterattacks, Raven's demon side preferred all-out offense, sometimes to a fault. As the clones were still preparing to attack, Raven threw her arms out. Shadow shot from the depths of her cloak, snagging the two Rage clones before they'd even known what she was doing. The shadows whipped them harshly through the air a few times before veering and slamming them into the ground. They left small impact craters by the sheer power behind their forced landings.
Raven raised her arms again, and, the next thing Beast Boy, Starfire, and Zippy saw was fire. And lots of it. It was like a flamethrower had been fired in 360 degrees around her all at once, igniting, again, from within her cloak. It overtook the two clones, engulfing them each in a roaring torrent of fire.
It was very good that Raven was not their enemy, the two observing Titans had silently decided.
Being slammed into the ground may not have defeated them, but, when the fire cleared, both of Rage's clones were nowhere in sight as the shadows slithered back beneath their mistress's cloak. She was left standing, unharmed and deadly, as her vicious gaze turned back to the real Rage in front of her.
"Very impressive." Said mage, unlike Starfire and Beast Boy, was not unnerved by Raven's continued displays of power. She almost seemed. . . pleased by it.
As if not wanting to disappoint, Raven raised her hands palm-down, the appendages tense as if resisting a great force pulling them downward. The ground rumbled for only a moment before a proverbial forest of spikes, each made of the same dark crystal that had almost crippled Beast Boy before, erupted all around her, splitting the stone previously containing them as their jagged forms broke through solid rock.
With a snarl and a series of flourishes of the arms, Raven sent spike after spike flying at her foe, and Rage took to the air. Mostly, she relied on sheer evasive maneuvers to save herself, though she was forced a few times to repel one of the crystals with a blast of magical energy.
Starfire, Beast Boy, and Zippy attempted to shield themselves on instinct when several of the flying crystals, both ricocheted and thrown, crashed into the shields surrounding them. Through this, another of Raven's reasons for the barriers seemed revealed as she hardly seemed to notice in her current state. She had probably wanted to make sure that she, not only Rage, could do no harm to them.
As expected, the Warden could see them waiting as he approached the cave. The battalion of troops that had accompanied him had stayed back in the clearing with the ferocious Trydimir. The Ophythians were not afraid of it as the members of the cult had been. The lizard men and the giant beast had come from the same world, after all. Even were they to be wary of it, however, his task wouldn't take long.
When he passed, the two figures outside the cave stood rigid, their eyes fogged over and remaining still and unresponsive. The once clear eyes of the Justice League's tracker team simply stared forward as their pursuer, their enemy, passed by them. They stood as sentinels as he approached the ally they had worked so tirelessly to keep from him.
Perfect. The binding had worked without flaw.
The Warden stepped up to the half-breed, seated on the floor of the cave against the rear wall. The mage looked withered, dark circles under her eyes and pale cheeks gaunt with fatigue and lack of nutrition. The byproducts of months of exhaustion while on the run. If the deep creases of concentration molding her brow were any indication, he shouldn't have any troubles from her himself.
She was undoubtedly preoccupied.
From his robes, the Warden drew two small rods, each about half a foot in length. Inscribed on the surfaces were a number of glyphs, each speaking to the magic endowed on the otherwise unimpressive pieces of metal. The time for the signal had come.
Raising the bars, he held them before the half-breed, and three times he tapped them together. They rang with an almost surreal chime, their ghost-like tone bouncing off the cave walls, and Rorden knew they had worked.
Now, he simply had to wait five seconds, and victory would be theirs for the taking. The byproduct of years of planning would finally come to fruition.
Everything suddenly stopped, even the rampaging Raven, when the sound of metal being rung, almost like metal striking metal, reverberated through the sky. The shear volume of it forced Beast Boy to cover his sensitive ears with a cry of alarm. Twice more, it rang, vibrating the ground each time with its deafening sound.
The third was when everything started to go wrong.
A roar drew Beast Boy's attention backwards to Zippy. Seemingly enraged, he ran at the wall of the dome that was shielding he and Starfire. When ramming into it didn't break him through, he shifted tactics to slashing with his claws, though this succeeded no more in freeing him from his protective prison.
Another roar came from Raven as she charged at her enemy with renewed vigor and ferocity. Whatever that sound had been, it couldn't have been good. It had sent both she and Zippy into a desperate frenzy. Rage simply avoided every shadow-infused strike, each missed attack on Raven's part setting Beast Boy's teeth on edge as his nerves rose higher and higher.
The possessed mage then managed to palm Raven in the gut, a burst of red energy sending her flying back a couple of feet. Not loosing her footing, Raven planted her feet on the ground, lunged forward with a fist raised behind her, and vanished. She reappeared a few feet from Rage, her punch aimed right for her foe's head.
Only, instead of landing, it went right through her foe's head! The Rage illusion vanished, surprising even Raven.
Like a chameleon shedding it's disguise, Rage appeared next to her, calm and composed as if everything had gone according to plan. Raven didn't have the time to react before her enemy placed a hand on the back of her head.
Red sparks flew, and Raven screamed. She screamed a terrible, agonized scream that cut Beast Boy to his core.
"No! Raven!" Starfire had run to the edge of her protective dome, now beating on it to aid Zippy in the effort to be freed despite her state of injury and exhaustion. After a few of her powerful blows, cracks spread from beneath her mighty alien fist, so she continued on. Beast Boy knew he should be doing the same, knew he should stop at nothing to get out and help.
But he couldn't focus on anything but that scream, so filled with pain. In six years of fighting the worst Jump City had to offer, he'd never heard anyone sound like that. It sent a cold shiver of horror down his spine, and the fact that it had come from one of his closest friends, had come from Raven, only made it that much more heart wrenching.
Rage had now lifted Raven by the neck as the half-demon's body was wracked with spasms, and, after a few more moments of screaming, Raven went suddenly, terrifyingly limp and silent, her now normal eyes wide and fingers twitching as if from the after effects of one of Overload's attacks.
"Zippy!" Starfire cried as said lizard's eyes rolled into the back of his head, and he collapsed mid-slash, landing heavily on the ground with a sickening thud. As this happened, Beast Boy watched as a hole appeared in the dome over his head, spreading rapidly as the shield seemed to disintegrate. The same thing was happening to the other, and it was a matter of seconds before both were gone completely.
But, Beast Boy stood frozen to the spot.
What could he possibly do to help? Raven had been the only one capable of really fighting Rage, and now she was. . .
Another distressed cry drew his attention, and the changeling turned without really feeling himself do so. Starfire was kneeling beside Zippy, a look of utter helplessness on her face as she could only watch as their fallen friend slowly seemed to disintegrate just as Timid and all of the clones had. It started with his tail, moving slowly up his limp form to his head, which soon joined the rest of him in oblivion. Tears escaped Starfire's eyes as she lifted a handful of that ash in her hands, watching as it was picked up and carried by the same empty wind that had taken their foes and then their friend.
Beast Boy felt a cold numbness spread through him as he watched.
Zippy was. . . gone?
. . .But. . . How could that- . . .
He'd wanted to introduce him to Cy and Robin. He'd wanted to show him all the coolest spots in Jump City: the pizza parlor, the arcade. Zippy could have been a member of the Titans! He could have helped them fight crime. He could have helped Beast Boy get into even more trouble around the tower with all sorts of new pranks. He could have joined their group of friends! He. . .
. . .
And now he was gone. . . He was gone, and there wasn't even a body to bury.
The two Titans were permitted no more time to grieve for their fallen friend as the ground beneath their feet began to shake violently, and Beast Boy was knocked from his feet, the air rushing from his lungs in the form of a grunt when he landed on his back.
When the rumbling finally subsided, his eyes snapped over to the other two in the area in time to see Rage place a hand on Raven's back. The mage was sent flying as if she'd been struck, but she seemed to split apart as she flew. The unconscious forms of Knowledge, Brave, Rude, and Affection hit the ground in her place, each lying limp and unmoving.
Above, one by one, those red stars in the sky blinked out of existence. Soon, the only light that remained emanated from the tower in the distance, the ridges of light that rose up its surface now revealed in the absence of the crimson light that had bathed the land from up above. The sky was left empty, and Beast Boy never thought he would hate to see them go. It was as if the the absence of the lights emphasized the absence of Raven herself.
Ahead, Rage then lifted a hand, and the fallen mages strewn upon the ground before her were each somehow transfigured into floating, glowing orbs of the color that made their cloaks—all save for Brave, who was left prone on the ground. And then Rage vanished, the orbs disappearing with her.
Beast Boy stood frozen, unable to comprehend what had just happened in only the past few, short moments.
He had thought she had been exaggerating, even a little. He'd thought things wouldn't, couldn't, be that bad. She was merely being her usual, overcautious self, or perhaps it was more of her dry humor.
He should have known better. After all, she rarely made jokes and never with matters so serious. He should have reminded her when she'd come, told her to leave when she'd shown herself there.
Because Raven had told them what would happen were she to personally enter her own mind.
A.N.:
(1) I can't recall if I have ever mentioned this, so I simply will now. Time moves differently in these two realms. Time inside Ravens mind moves slower than time outside of her mind, sort of at a 1:3 ratio. Where several weeks have passed for Starfire and Beast Boy, several months have passed for Raven and everyone else not inside her mind. For every hour inside, three pass outside.
I was a little sad to discover there was only one review this time. Was last chapter just unspectacular, or was there just no time for anyone to leave their thoughts? I'm sorry if it seems snooty to point this out, but reviews really do inspire me to write, and I love hearing peoples' comments.
So, please review, and I'll see you all next chapter! :D