Surprise.
Inside the mall all hell truly had broken loose.
When Raven had first burst through the skylight, it had been a good sized brawl; Gear and Gizmo had been trading arsenals for several minutes, Mammoth and Superboy were throwing each other through walls, Robin was trading blows with Private Hive and a handful of Billy's, Miss Martian was chasing Kyd Wykkyd around while dodging Billy's, and See-More was unconscious on the floor. Oh, and Starfire was trying to bandage a bloody gash on Martin's forehead.
If Raven wasn't mad about her interrupted nap, she was most certainly angry about the last part.
"You. Did. NOT." She had hissed in an otherworldly tone that ceased all combat immediately. Villains and hero's alike paused as Raven seemed to grow, her eyes splitting into four crimson shards of rage. Her shadowy form quadrupled in size within seconds, her shadows stretching across the ceiling and blocking out all sunlight. Tendrils streaked down from her aerial assault, each one reaching for a different villain.
In unison, the villains shrieked in terror and tried to flee.
Instantly a dozen Billy's were snatched up and flung in different directions. Some hit other Billy's, some smashed into walls. Mammoth was bowled over as a handful of the copies hit him, which turned out to be a good thing since another tendrils lashed out right where he had been seconds before. The impact split the marble floor like it was kindling, sending the huge man screaming in the other direction as he scrambled to get away. Some feet away from him Kyd Wykkyd was teleporting from place to place as a dozen tendrils sought him out, forcing him to use rapidly draining stamina to avoid the wrathful half demoness. Off to the side, Private Hive was attempting to combat the tendrils, going as far as to use his shield to cut one in half only to watch it reattach itself.
Gizmo wasn't having much better luck, seeing as he had taken to the air in an attempt to escape. But Raven herself was guarding the skylight, forcing him to rocket around avoiding the tendrils as he frantically looked for an exit. A roar down below him drew his attention. Apparently Mammoth had found an opening and charged. Gizmo watched as the gargantuan man burst through a wall to the outside and pause to orient himself. The dwarfish child figured that would be a great place to get out, so he angled himself to jet out after his comrade, making sure to hit his emergency thrusters. He arrived at the hole just in time to see Mammoths' legs get wrapped in shadows. The big man was dragged back into the mall, shrieking in fear.
And then tendrils ripped Gizmo right out of the air and pulled him in too, screaming.
A little below the raging Raven and off to the side of the stunned Robin and Starfire, See-More sat up with a groan. Upon hearing the screaming and demonic roaring, he opened his eye and looked around.
"Nope." He said as he lay back down and pretended to be unconscious.
Meanwhile…
"You know, you'd think there'd be just one freaking exit, not several that dip under the mall." Rose panted as she leaned against a dumpster.
"So we are lost." Jade said in irritation.
"Hey, I didn't know these damned things were here!" Rose said defensively. "I thought this was a normal mall, not one that had delivery routes under it!"
"It is a fairly odd concept." Jade reluctantly agreed. "And what was with all the extra support beams? They expecting earthquakes or something?"
Rose looked at Jade for a moment before it dawned on both of them.
"Ohhhh." They said in unison. "Terra."
"Knew I shoulda stabbed that little flat chested bitch the first time I saw her." Rose grumbled.
"That's irrelevant right now." Jade snorted. "Come on, lets go."
They got a whopping twenty feet before a wall to the left simply exploded outwards.
Both girls reacted instantly, of course, with Rose's sword coming out and Jade's tiger claws seemingly appearing from nowhere. Mammoth stood before them, covered in debris and dust, a wild and terrified look in his normally dull eyes. He was breathing heavily as he looked around, trying to find the quickest way out.
He took one step in the same direction the girls were headed and then had his legs encased in what appeared to be living darkness. His limbs were jerked from under him, sending him crashing to the ground. He shrieked and dug his hands deep into the concrete street before he was drug back into the mall. Seconds later Gizmo appeared, his little jet backpack sputtering as a more darkness grabbed him and pulling him, screaming, into the dark.
"Rose, you're not paying me enough to deal with this supernatural shit." Jade muttered as she slowly edged away from the hole in the wall.
"I'm paying you?!"
Jade shook her head, frowning underneath her kabuki mask. "Forget it and lets get the hell outta here."
And so they ran, leaving the sounds of terrifies screaming behind them as they made their way through alleyway after alleyway. Rose had known that the mall was big, but now it felt huge, but that was probably due to the direness of the situation. She hadn't expected Raven to react so quickly (or violently!).
She must not have gotten any nookie this morning. Rose thought as they rounded a corner and spotted something shining in the distance.
"The parking lot!" Jade said, pointing that way.
"Finally!" Rose grumbled. "Never thought I'd be happy to see that."
A couple of hops over some wooden pallets, a cartwheel between two forklifts, and a jump over a very startled cat, and they were there. There were a good hundred cars with just as many people out there, cops crawling all over the entrance, setting up barricades, and ambulances for those that injured themselves as they fled.
"I wonder if I still have to call in?" Rose wondered aloud as the girls ducked behind a grey Mercedes-Benz parked next to the curb.
"Not sure how that's relevant to us getting away from her before someone notices." Jade said as she peeked around the car. "The loop I put on the cameras will only last so long."
"It's totally relevant! If I don't have to go in and see that lazy motherfu-"
"Quiet!" Jade said, slapping her hand over Rose's mouth. Rose raised a covered eyebrow at her friend as she shook her hand off and listened.
THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP
"What the hell is that?" Rose whispered. Jade shrugged.
They got their answer seconds later as Cyborg, singing at the top of his lungs, thundered by while carrying his car above his head.
"Oh she'll be coming around the mountain when she coooomes, she'll be coming around the mountain when she coooomes! She'll be riding six white horses when she cooomes, she'll be-"
Whatever else he said was lost as the distance between them grew, his caterwauling drowned out by his footsteps. Rose and Jade traded glances.
"What the hell was he singing?" Jade asked.
Rose shrugged. "No clue. Let's-"
"YOU MADE ALL THE WAY HERE AND NOW YOU THROW UP ON MY BABY?!" They heard Cyborg shout in the distance.
"DUDE, I SAID I WAS SORRY! YOU KEPT SHAKING THE CAR LIKE IT WAS A FREAKING MARACHA, WHAT DID YOU EXPECT?!" Someone shouted back.
Rose's hand came up to hide her grin. Beast Boy had barfed on Cyborg's car! Oh, she'd never let him live that down!
"Let's go!" Jade said urgently. Rose nodded, and together they fled the parking lot for the safety of the city alleys.
Some distance away…
"Maaaaan, how could you do that to my baby?" Cy lamented as he grabbed a jug of water from the trunk and darted up to the hood of the car, where he emptied it out onto the vomit. "Do you have any idea what acid does to paint jobs?!"
"Not the slightest." Kid Devil groaned as he knelt and held his head to stop it from spinning. He'd never had motion sickness before, but there's a first for everything.
Cyborg grumbled to himself as the last of the water washed away the vomit. He didn't stop to inspect it, he just tossed the bottle in the car and took off for the entrance to the mall. "Come on man!"
"Yeah yeah." KD stood up, swayed a bit, then jogged after Cyborg. "First day back to the land of the living and its going great."
It took them a moment to get there, but fortunately the civvies parted ways for them to get through as they saw Cyborg. Most of them looked at KD warily, but he paid them no mind; he was used to the stares.
"Who's in charge?" Cy shouted as they reached the police barricade. A man in his forties stepped forward.
"I am."
"Sitrep?"
"The guards in the security room say they can't get the cameras working, they're set on a loop of some sort. Apparently someone wasn't paying attention." The officer spat, glaring at a nearby mall cop. That man, more than a little overweight, looked away shamefully. "Eye witness reports say that the other Titans, along with some other kids no one recognized, are fighting the Hive Five."
"Those are our new recruits, we're setting up another team in Dakota City. Today was their first day together." Cyborg said as he ducked under the caution tape nearby. "Just do what you, officer, we'll take the Hive down as usual. Oh, and the red kid is with me."
"Roger." The officer said as he eyeballed the devious looking Kid Devil. Eddie smiled meekly at the man before he followed Cy.
"Well that was pleasant." The red skinned guy remarked as they jogged to the mall doors.
"They looked at all of us like that for a long time when we first started." Cy replied as he opened the door and entered. "BB was the only one really bothered by it."
"Don't really care much for it myself." Eddie muttered. Cy heard him and shrugged.
"It is what it is man. Now lets go, I can hear the fighting!"
Fighting might have been a strong word for what was going on when they arrived. It was more like a one sided screaming match, with a crimson eyed Raven yelling at the top of her lungs at the entrapped Hive Five. She wasn't even speaking English anymore and she was far louder than anyone had ever heard her be before. Standing off to the side were the other Titans, Robin holding Martin as Starfire put a Band-Aid on his head. The newcomers were standing behind them and it was obvious they were more than a little scared of Raven.
And then there was Beast Boy, hopping up in down at the foot of Raven's shadowy…whatever…yelling and trying to get her to calm down.
"Raven!" He shouted. "You got them, they're beat! You don't have to traumatize them!"
"-VALASHÜ NARARA KELBRO-UKE?! DÄHJ MAHKLÉOM-
Needless to say, she wasn't listening.
"Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…." Cyborg said as he stopped and stood next to Robin.
"No, I don't know what she's saying." Robin shook his head. "Not sure if I want to know either."
"You don't. It's a little…" Kid Devil cleared his throat nervously. "Unpleasant."
Cy and Rob looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "You understand her?"
"Yeah-well, most of it." He shook his head. "Demonic is a little complicated and I didn't learn all of it while I was in Hell."
"So what's she saying?" Superboy asked, edging in front of Miss Martian a little more. He was clearly on edge with the way Raven was acting.
KD shook his head. "I am not repeating any of that."
"What is friend Beast Boy doing?" Starfire asked. The other Titans tore their gazes from Raven to the resident shapeshifter to find him on his cell phone.
"Yo, BB! This ain't the time to be texting!" Cyborg shouted at him. "I didn't fix that dang thing so you could-"
"It's called Google, chrome dome!" Beast Boy shouted back. He tapped away for a moment, read something on the screen, then snapped it shut and stored it in his utility belt. They watched him look around a moment before he shifted into a bird and took flight, veering towards the closest second floor landing to Raven. He landed on the rail and turned towards her, shifting back to his human form.
"What is he doing?" Static asked.
"I'm not sure." Robin and Cyborg both said as they watched him reach out to Raven. He couldn't quite reach her since she was moving around while she yelled at the helpless villains. It also appeared that he was trying to grab her shoulder, but for why no one could guess.
After about the fifth or sixth time he missed, Beast Boy huffed and let go of the rail. He leaned out, arms wide, to grab Raven from behind. Only….he didn't grab her… he fell through her shadowy cloak and disappeared inside it with a yelp.
Within a heartbeat Raven's four demonic eyes widened to the size of dinner plates and she stopped speaking completely.
Within two more heartbeats she dropped all of the Hive Five, all of them landing with this hard enough to crack a bone or two. Mere seconds after that and she had shrunk down to her normal size, albeit still cloaked. Beast Boy was no where in sight though.
"You have two seconds to explain yourself." Raven said in a low and dangerous tone.
"Hehe, sorry. I didn't know I was gonna fall through."
This the changeling said after he had pulled himself from back of her cloak. He took a step back and put his hands behind his back, an embarrassed blush on his face. Raven let her cloak fall away and she crossed her arms over her chest. The other Titans could see that she was blushing. But why?
"You're lucky that I can tell that you're telling the truth." She said as she turned and glared at Beast Boy.
"Hey, I said I was sorry." He pouted. Raven rolled her eyes and glanced at their fallen foes, none of which had gotten back up. Her glare turned deadly in an instant.
"If any of you ever targeting children again, you will regret it for the rest of your lives. Understand?"
There was a loud clamoring as each of the Hive swore up and down that they'd never do it again. Raven snorted and walked away from them towards her friends. He ignored them all and headed straight for Martin. The boy, sniffling, was rubbing his Band-Aid while clutching his fathers neck.
"Martin, I'm going to heal you now." She said gently to the boy. Martin looked at her with big teary eyes.
"Itta hurts, fra'nok!"
"Not for much longer." Raven promised before she gently removed the Band-Aid and set her now glowing hand upon his wound.
Off to the side, Static and the other new Titans took up guard around the Hive Five, not that any of the villains wanted to move around. Beast Boy could hear a bit of pained moaning and grumbling as he walked up to Cyborg.
"Dude, how did you get here last?" He asked, cocking his eyebrow at his best friend.
Cyborg grimaced. "Traffic. What the heck were you doing a minute ago?"
Beast Boy chuckled sheepishly. "I googled how to calm your girl down when she's really angry and hugging was one of the answers I saw. I thought it would work."
"Uh…huh…" Cyborg said slowly. "You're lucky she didn't send you into orbit."
"Hehe…yeah."
"Static, have you done police reports before?" Robin asked as he eyed the villains. Raven glanced at him, feeling the sheer hate rolling off of him. She herself was still very angry about their attack, but Garfield's intervention had broken Wrath's hold on her and let her think clearly once more.
"Not really, I usually just let the cops handle it." Static shook his head. "Why? I gotta fill them out now?"
"Yeah. You're not a freelancer anymore, you're affiliated with us, and we do the same paperwork the police do."
"Greeeeaat."
Robin shrugged before looking about and giving orders. "Cyborg, you're with me and Static's team. We'll show them our containment methods and the standard paperwork. Star, take Martin home. Beast Boy, you and Raven head home too to be on standby in case there's another call, but Raven please double check Martin to make sure he doesn't have a concussion."
The departing Titans nodded before Raven opened a portal to the tower, allowing them to return home far quicker than had they flown. Robin waited exactly thirty seconds after the portal closed to turn around.
"Gizmo." He said coldly. "I do believe its time you and I had a talk."
"Garfield, check on Emelia please." Raven said as they exited the portal, stepping into the common room. He nodded and headed straight for the door. Raven turned to Starfire to tell her to put Martin on the table, but the alien princess was already floating over to the table to do so. The empath followed quietly, her mind reeling in the wake of her overwhelming rage. As soon as Star had moved out of the way, Raven pressed a glowing hand to Martin's head and began to magically probe his skull, looking for anything she had missed before. Starfire was quiet for a few minutes and when she spoke, it wasn't anything Raven wanted to hear.
"Slade sent the Hive Five after Martin." She said softly.
Raven looked sharply at her friend, her eyebrow raised. "Are you sure?"
Starfire nodded. "Yes. Gizmo demanded that I 'give them Slade's brat' after Robin arrived."
"So Slade is finally making his move." Raven murmured. "I wonder why he waited so long?"
"I do not know, friend Raven." Star shrugged. "But should someone attempt to take my bumgorf from me again…"
Raven didn't need her empathy to tell her what would happen to that helpless fool, the promise of violence in Starfire's eyes said more than enough.
"We'll need to be on our guard more." Raven sighed a moment later. "And just when I thought things were getting better."
"At least you have Beast Boy now." The alien princess said with a small smile.
Raven nodded, a smile of her own on her face. The little time they had been actually together was actually nicer than she thought it would be. She felt good about herself and how things were going between them. A couple of kisses here and there, some cuddling, and spending more time together than they ever had before. It wasn't too much and it wasn't too little. It was…just right.
How about how Gar grabbed our b-
Shut it! Raven mentally snapped.
"You're alright Martin." She said a moment later, ruffling the boy's hair. He smiled up at her, then hugged her.
"Thank chu fra'nok!"
"Thank you Raven." Starfire said as she scooped her son up and held him close. The boy squirmed in her arms, but he was no match for her inhuman strength.
Raven nodded at them. "You're welcome. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a nap to return to."
She departed from the room within a minute, but didn't head to Beast Boy's room right away. Instead, she went to her own room and closed the door. She took one long and deep breath and exhaled it. She needed to meditate the lingering rage out of her system right away. She wasn't used to this much emotion during these times and it had overwhelmed her. That meant the source needed to be dealt with now.
I regret nothing. Rage spat in her mind mere minutes later when she arrived in Nevermore.
I know you don't. Raven spat back. But do not EVER do that again. I do not kill and I do not do permanent damage. Understand?
Be thankful it was not Emelia who was attacked. The crimson clad emotion growled darkly.
If I have to lock you up again to keep other people safe, I will.
Rage snarled and gnashed her teeth, but said nothing more, casting her gaze to the side. Raven sighed mentally. Anyone else have an issue?
I would like more cuddling and some more kissing! Desire piped up immediately.
Hmm…after a day like this, that doesn't sound bad. Raven said thoughtfully. Okay.
How about a butt rub too? The emoticlone teased.
Oh for Azar's sake-
Hey, don't get mad at me! Timid is the one that wants it! I'm just expressing what she wants!
There was silence in Raven's mind as she struggled to process what Desire said. Her timid side wanted this?!
I-I'm sorry, it's just…his hands…they're nice and warm. Timid sputtered with a blush. A-and it felt nice last time...
Raven was quiet for a moment, her own face warming up as she thought about the cat incident. She pondered it before nodding once. I won't push for it…but if it happens, I won't fight it.
Timid nodded back and Desire fist pumped, her chain rattling. The other emoticlones looked amused, but didn't request anything, so Raven left Nevermore. Although it was one of her shortest trips, she felt at ease upon reentering the real world. Well, as at ease as she could get during this time of the month. She took several more deep, calming breaths before she left for the bathroom. After that she headed for Garfield's room once more.
Upon entering his room, Raven spotted a rather curious sight. Mr. Spooky, Emelia's creepy Heartless doll, was sitting on the edge of the bed looking at her. Raven distinctly remembered putting the doll on the top bunk before they lay down the first time, telling Garfield that it was too creepy to sit with them. Said boy was engaged in some handheld game, the volume off, laying next to Emelia, who was still asleep.
"Gar, did you really have to put it back in the bed?" She asked, a little annoyed.
He looked up. "It? What it?"
"That." Raven pointed at Mr. Spooky. Garfield raised an eyebrow.
"I didn't do it. It was on the top bunk when we left, but it was down here when I came in. I figure Emmy did it." He shrugged. "It doesn't really bother me."
Raven rolled her eyes and grabbed the doll, tossing it back on the top bunk. She would get it down later. She then carefully climbed back into bed and Emmy snuggled up to her immediately, Mr. Spooky clutched in her arms. Raven pulled a pillow behind her head as she sat up and looked at Garfield.
"What are you waiting for? Hit play, I want to find out what happened to Kikiyo."
Elsewhere…
"Did you get the footage?"
"No, someone hacked the security system and set it all on loop before I could."
"What am I paying you for?"
"Hey, its not my fault those Hive Five idiots jumped the gun, Slade! You said Adonis would be the first to act just to piss you off, not them!"
"…that I did." Slade sighed in irritation. "Salvage what you can, Control Freak, and keep a better watch on the others. I need all the footage I can get."
Control Freak snorted as he dug his fat, piggy hand into a bag of pork rinds. "Yeah, yeah. You'll get your video Slade, keep your mask on."
Slade said nothing as he left. Control Freak waited until he was absolutely certain the mercenary was gone before he tossed his pork rinds to the side and pulled a sheaf of papers from an inner pocket of his coat. He flipped through more than a dozen pages before he stopped to read something.
"Man, Foamy…you got some screwed up stuff coming…" He muttered aloud as he flipped through more pages. "Seriously! What's this about Rose and Eddie…and what's this about Subject Number Nine? Who's Rampage? Who's Felicity? What's the Red? Is this all in Emmy's copy of the script that I gave her? Wait! BB and Raven get m-"
Will you shut the hell up?!
"Stop with the fat jokes and I will!"
…deal.
And just like that, the copy of the script Control Freak had disappeared. The rotund villain snorted and went back to his computer.
"I don't even know why I'm a villain in this story, I was way cooler as a hero in Accidents Can Happen." He complained. "I even got a kiss from Starfire!"
A big, happy, and somewhat creepy grin filled his face as he reached for a drawer on his desk. Upon opening it, he pulled out a bottle of lotion and a picture of Starfire-wait.
For Christ's sake dude, this is still a T rated story!
"I'm not apologizing."
And thus the chapter ends, far far away from Control Freaks room, where we will never visit again.
