– Saving Raven
Gar charged into his room, unable to contain his fury. Partially morphing into the beast he bellowed a roar that was heard through the Manor. After morphing back into his human form he sat down on the bed, bent over, cradling his head in his hands. Despair washed over him as he forced himself to wait, as Batman had insisted. He knew the Dark Knight was right, they would use Raven as bait to trap him.
Garfield stood up and removed his Bat Clan costume, throwing it aside. He rummaged through the chest of drawers and found his Titans uniform. He stared at it for a moment before also tossing it away. He then stepped into the closet, emerging with his Jedi tunic.
He quietly put on the tunic, then the boots. He then attached the Jedi battle armor to his arms, legs and torso. He stood up and slipped on his Jedi robe, with the hood up. He attached Mace Windu's lightsaber to his belt.
He walked to the door to exit the room, but stopped. He stepped back into the closet, retrieving a small metal case, which he unlocked and opened. From it he retrieved the 3 Dark Jedi lightsabers he kept after defeating Vixx and his cohorts. He attached the one with the largest grip to his belt and returned the other two to the case, which he closed and locked before returning it to the closet.
He stood and looked at himself in the full length mirror on the wall. He was ready.
-( - )-
The entire extended clan was in the Bat Cave when Garfield entered, including Barbara and Victor. Except for Terra none of the inner Bat Clan had ever seen Garfield dressed as a Jedi Knight. Barbara gasped at his sight. He looked awe inspiring.
"Going somewhere, Garfield?" Batman asked him.
"I'm going to save my wife." Gar replied. "Do you have a problem with that?" His eyes glowed red with the dark side of the Force. The Titans knew what that meant and looked fearful.
"Please Garfield, do not leave now! We will help you rescue Raven, I swear by X'hal!" Nightfire cried.
"You know you are walking into a trap." Nightwing added.
"I can't stand waiting anymore!" Gar seethed. "I have to do something!"
"Please BB, if you leave now we'll lose both you and Raven" Terra implored him.
"Be patient, Garfield. We know that you are powerful, but they know your weakness, your love for Raven". Batman reminded him.
Gar collapsed into a chair, and began to weep. Nightfire hugged him in consolation. "Remember dear friend, we love her too and are willing to give our lives to save her. But we won't let you or anyone here throw away their lives in a vain rescue attempt. You are most powerful Garfield, but you cannot defeat them by yourself, not even with the dark side of the Force. And you cannot use the lightning; you promised Raven that you would never use it again. What good will it do to rescue Raven if you lose yourself?"
Garfield pulled the SithSaber from his belt and ignited it. It came to life, its red blade glimmering evilly. Gar could feel the dark side flow thru its grip. This lightsaber had many masters in the past, and Gar decided that there would be no more masters in the future. He shut it off and tossed it into the air where it remained levitated. He drew Windu's lightsaber and sliced the SithSaber in half, destroying it. As it fell it released a burst of dark side energy, stunning everyone in the cave.
"What was that?" Asked Jinx, her face contorted in disgust from feeling the evil that had escaped from the destroyed weapon.
"It contained a Force imprint of every dark master it's ever had, which were all released when I destroyed it. I'm sorry, I should have warned you."
He turned to Batman. "So what's the plan?"
"I need to know where we are going, so I can tell The Doom Patrol where to meet us."
"They're hiding in an abandoned steel mill on the north side of town. I was able to feel Raven through the Force."
"The old Gotham Steel plant. It's a maze of old buildings, a perfect base for them. We will meet half a mile south. We and the Doom Patrol will attack first while you wait behind. On my signal you will sneak in and rescue Raven. Once you have her retreat back to the Bat Cave and wait for us. If we need you we will call you, but plan on staying with Raven. If she needs medical attention Alfred and Victor will help."
Gar nodded in agreement "Let's do it".
-( - )-
The teams met at the rendezvous point south of the abandoned steel mill. Batman looked somber, even more than usual.
"They are expecting us. We should expect the unexpected. We will enter in three different locations. Doom Patrol, you will take the western entrance, Titans, you take the eastern side and the rest will come with me through the main gate. Gar, you come with us. I expect there will be gunfire. You can help us get past that. Once we are in you will wait at the main entrance until someone locates Raven, then we will call you so you can rescue her. Are we ready?"
Everyone nodded.
"OK then, let's move and stay sharp." The Dark Knight ordered.
-( - )-
Vic stayed behind with Oracle in the Bat Cave, monitoring the rescue team's progress.
"I can't stand not being there to help, Barbara." Vic complained. "How do you cope with it?"
Barbara Gordon sighed and spun her wheelchair around to face Vic.
"I don't. I die a little every time they go on a mission. Alfred does too."
"That's how I feel." Victor replied. He paused, as if deliberating something. "You and Dick, you were close, weren't you?" he asked.
"Very close." She replied.
"Yeah, I figured that. I always wondered why he took so long to make his move on Starfire. He went back to visit you a lot didn't he?"
"He did. We talked a lot about our future, at least until it happened."
"You mean when The Joker shot you in the spine. I remember that. Robin took a leave of absence."
"He was by my side until I was discharged from the hospital. There had been some hope that I might recover the use of my legs. I knew that my days as Batgirl were over, but I never expected it to be like this. That's when we broke up."
"You mean he dumped you because you were paralyzed?" Vic asked indignantly.
"No, I dumped him. You see, I'm not just paralyzed; I have no feeling whatsoever below my waist. Dick told me it didn't matter, he would marry me anyway, but I couldn't let him, it wouldn't have been fair to him."
"Whoa! I didn't know any of that. Now I see why he was so slow to approach Star."
"I'm really happy for him, Vic. Star is a nice girl and I know they will be happy. But I'd be lying if I said that it doesn't hurt to see them together. It could have been me Victor, had it not been for The Joker's bullet."
"I'm so sorry, Barbara, and embarrassed. I was feeling sorry for myself and now I realize that you would trade places with me in a heartbeat."
She took his hand and squeezed it tight. "It's hard being an ex-superhero."
He squeezed back.
-( - )-
As the Bat Clan stormed the main entrance they were greeted by a rainstorm of laser and blaster fire. Gar led the charge, attracting most of the fire to himself and deflecting it with his lightsaber. The rest of the clan made it safely past the gauntlet of fire and had safely entered the building. It was quiet inside, until a smooth, monotone voice broke the silence.
"Well if it isn't my old friend Batman, and he brought his children with him. But where is Robin?"
"I'm right here!" Tim Drake replied.
"No, not you boy. I want your predecessor. Nightwing. I have unfinished business with him." The voice replied.
"You're going down, Deathstroke!" Batman snarled.
"I no longer go by that name. Just call me Slade."
Slade emerged from a shadow, followed by dozens of replicas of himself.
"Slade, you cheating bastard!" Phoenix howled at him.
"Terra." a voice replied from the crowd of Slade look a likes. "How nice to see you again. So it's true that you are a member of Batman's harem now. I thought you had more class."
Batman, Batgirl, Cassie, and Phoenix drew their bat weapons. That was when the army of Slades charged, opening fire on the Bat Clan.
Gar stayed in the shadows at Batman's request, but he was able to feel Raven's presence through the Force, which told him that he could reach her through the door on the far side of the room. He decided to charge through the crowd of Slades which he knew were SladeBots. He ignited his lightsaber and charged. He took down a dozen SladeBots by the time he reached the door. The SladeBots appeared to ignore him, focusing only on the Bat Clan.
-( - )-
As the Titans entered through the east they found themselves facing The Joker and the rest of the Gotham villains.
"The Joker is mine!" Nightwing shouted. "Star, you take Scarecrow, Jinx take Harley, Flash watch out for Poison Ivy, Hot Spot you take Mr. Freeze. Titans Go!"
-( - )-
Garfield followed the Force as it led him to Raven. He opened a door that led into a large empty warehouse. He saw a small figure in the middle of the room, slumped on the floor.
"Raven!" he shouted as he ran to the supine figure.
As he reached the middle of the dark room the figure, a small woman, got up with her back to him. She ignited a lightsaber, with a green blade, and turned around. She was wearing one of Slade's power controlling collars and her eyes were glowing red.
"Raven?" Gar called to her, his voice and face mired in confusion.
Raven's mouth opened, but it was Brother Blood's voice that came out.
"Time to die, Beast Boy!"
-( - )-