Howdy howdy, Folxxxx !
Once upon a time there was a co-written story that got so delayed, but sooooo delayed…
Okay, let's that Skychild101 deserves a good retribution for her carelessness about it… don't ya, dear Ana ? I modestly propose one thousand hours of detention…**wink at ya wz a sadistic grin** Those in favour of that punishment, please raise your hands ! **all raise their hands but one…** Deal ! **evil smile to Ana**
Hum hum… so things weren't that wonderful for our teams lately, were they ? Much bad occurred to them all, and they were close to losing Danny and / or Beast Boy (if that isn't a hint as to who are the fav' characters of Ana, eh…!) Now the question is : will things improve or continue worsening ? Oh, we all know what you hope for… but, honestly, don't ya secretly wish for them to get worse, mmmmh ? Now c'mon, be honest, guys, be honest ! Don't ya ? Eh ?
… (silence in the audience)
Well, thanxxxx a lot for this absence of answer… which, actually, IS an answer in itself ! ;) (I so knew you sadistic folxxxx would actually be excited if things got darker… I start to know ya well, dear audience, uh ! XD)
Alright, enough teasing, more crafting !
So here goes, Mates !
N'JOY !
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
(THIRTEEN) _ THE "LAKE" _
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
There were seven persons gathered in the old boat, and such an amount of people would normally have produced a certain amount of words, not necessarily a continued discussion, but at least a few verbal exchanges between various members of the group…
…yet the whole party remained unusually silent, with not even Danny complaining or Cathy making one of her weird comments.
Instead, all of the fourteen eyes – since there were seven people in the boat – kept observing their surroundings, trying to make out anything at all through the light mist floating over the dark waters.
But they couldn't discern any detail, any approaching shadow that would have hinted at a rock in the water, an overhanging tree on the bank of the lake.
Nothing at all.
There was only water all around, with mist hovering all over, and the only sound that could be heard was the regular rowing sound.
But after a while…
"Something's wrong, Robin ?"
Samantha was observing the other team leader with visible disquiet, for she had noticed he was making more efforts than before... as if he found it harder to maneuver the oars.
"Well… for some reason… I'm having a hard time at rowing. I don't know why, it just seems more difficult all of a sudden. So either I'm growing tired or…"
He paused, trying to find the best way to put it, but someone completed it for him :
"…or there's something in the water."
They all looked at the pink-haired sorceress who had just managed to express the acrobat's thoughts.
"What ?" she asked as she looked around. "That's what he was thinking about, no ?"
Her vertical pupils were back on Robin, waiting for his confirmation.
"Yes, that's precisely what I was wondering about. Well, either that, or the water has suddenly got thicker…"
"Mmmmmmh… never heard of water suddenly getting thicker… but since we're in an alien world, I guess anything's possible !" conceded Chris.
"Here, let me try it !" proposed Cyborg, his arms stretched towards his leader, hands open to receive the oars.
Boy Wonder hesitated for a few seconds, but finally accepted to let his robotic friend test it by himself.
Raven, who kept a close eye on the boat while flying, stopped and observed as Robin handed the oars to Cyborg. She could sense their thoughts and thus knew that their leader was wondering what the matter was with the water, and after considering the possibility to telepathically ask Robin what exactly was wrong, she eventually dismissed it and decided to see how things would evolve once Cyborg was "in charge of" the boat.
The African-American guy began rowing at a good rhythm, with apparently no great effort, which wasn't surprising since he was way more muscular than Robin.
"Hum, it could be easier to move, but I expected worse…" admitted the new oarsman.
"You're the strongest, Cy !" Jinx complimented him, with a sexy wink in his direction.
The black teenager gulped and gave her an awkward smile, as a wave of heat rose inside him.
Everything seemed to go better, until…
"Are you alright, Cyborg ?" asked Cathy, noticing how the athletic boy visibly made more effort.
"Damn ! It's… it's getting… really… tough… !" he replied, putting all his strength into it.
Sam frowned.
"Please stop rowing !" she required from him.
That surprised him but he complied and put the oars down, yet keeping them in hand.
"Mmmmmmh…" the MBC leader mumbled as she carefully gazed at that dark surface which all of a sudden caused them so much trouble.
"What do you have in mind, Sam ?" wondered Robin as he intently observed the brainy girl.
She turned to him with a serious look on.
"I think that this lake is hiding some trap. That's why we are having a hard time crossing it."
Then, turning to the Tech Guy :
"Chris, can you please make a scan of this lake ?"
The freckled boy opened his small backpack, where he kept his devices, and looked for the A-scan.
The three flying Titans flew down and hovered by the boat, looking at their teammates and wondering what was happening.
"Is anything troubling your ride of the boat, Friends ?" asked a perplexed Starfire.
"Something is making our progression difficult, like something is blocking the oars underwater…" explained Jinx.
"Well, I didn't have the impression that they were blocked, but rather that… it will sound almost crazy, I know, but… it was as if the water was getting thicker ! And that it became therefore more difficult to maneuver the oars inside of it !" Robin set it straight.
"Quite my feeling, Man !" agreed Cyborg. "Not someone actually holding the oars, but a change in the water, exactly as if it had gotten… thicker, as you say !"
Raven's eyes narrowed and immediately "sank" to the water, now narrowed out of suspicion.
"Oh gosh ! That's… incredible !" suddenly exclaimed Chris, whose eyes were goggling at the A-scan.
Sam's attention left Robin to focus on her teammate.
"What is it Chris ?" she almost demanded, her eyes alert, her mind ready for everything.
Raven focused her empathic sense in direction of the lake…
Chris slowly turned the electronic alien-locating device towards Sam…
The Azarathian's eyes widened…
Sam's eyes also widened when she saw the screen of the alien scanner…
IT WAS COMPLETELY YELLOW !
Which implied that the whole lake was…
…was…
"We must leave NOW !" half-screamed Raven, as a white light filled her eyes, showing that she was focusing her powers.
"What -"
But Cathy never got to finish her just-begun sentence : water, or what at least looked like water, suddenly wrapped around the sticks of the oars and very swiftly rose around the handles in a helical pattern.
Everything happened in a flash of lightning : before anyone could react, that liquid they had thought to be water got into the boat and extremely quickly got to the bottom.
But by then, it looked more like a tentacle than like real liquid !
"WHAT'S THAT STUFF ?!" yelled Danny, pulling out his blaster.
"Azarath Metrion Zinthos !"
But just as black magic was leaving her hand, a kind of wave, created God knows how since there was no wind, submerged the boat…
… which suddenly started to get pulled downwards !
The substance had actually covered the skiff and, instead of filling it, had remained over it, like some kind of blanket.
That's when they realized that what was below their transportation mean wasn't liquid, but solid !
It wasn't water !
And therefore… it wasn't a real lake !
The black power reached the mysterious substance and Raven made a certain motion.
That removed the black-encased stuff from the deck of the small boat.
But immediately afterwards, another mass emerged from the "lake", covered the deck of the boat again and applied pressure on it, in direction of the bottom.
"It's trying to sink the boat !" screamed Jinx, as she got into position, her eyes now shining pink.
"Not if we have our word to say !" replied Sam, evolving her blaster into the Alien Flasher, the most powerful MBC weapon.
"BOOYAAAAAAAH !" shouted Cyborg, concluding their resolute attitudes, as he pointed his own weapon at the now slimy stuff that had mislead them to navigate on it.
The next minute, the black substance received a powerful blue plasma shot from Cyborg, large pink hexes from Jinx, green rays from Starfire, white beams from the MBC team, black spheres from Raven and black batarangs from Robin.
And green tentacles whipped the "water" as a certain morpher had turned into a giant octopus and was doing his best to attack their hidden enemy.
"We must get that bastard out of the water !" yelled Cyborg as he kept firing.
"It's not an enemy hidden underwater !" screamed Raven over the din of the attacks, as she kept up sending black orbs forward. "The enemy IS the water ! It's the whole lake !"
"Exactly !" shouted Chris between two shots. "My A-scan clearly showed it : the alien is the whole lake, and not some hidden under the surface !"
"'twill be tougher, but by God, not impossible : we can take that scum down ! I know we can, all together !" proclaimed Jinx.
But just then, a sudden movement shook the boat : the level of the water briskly sank down, putting the skiff in a liquid depression, like a small valley of water… and immediately afterwards, a whirlpool appeared at the bottom and began drawing the wooden vehicle downward, exactly like a plughole would.
"It's trying to suck us in !" warned Cathy, kinda stating the obvious.
"Man, it stinks always more and more here !" yelled Danny, who certainly enjoyed those adrenaline shots… but not quite that much when life itself was at stake !
The mean of transportation rapidly slid down the whirlpool, threatening to disappear down the "invisible drain".
"We will save you, Friends !" exclaimed Starfire as she rushed to help them.
"WAIT, STAR !" warned the half-demon.
The Tamaranean turned around to look at her dark friend, wondering what the matter was.
"I shall take care of it !" simply replied the female wizard, before effectively taking charge with only three words : "AZARATH, METRION, ZINTHOS !"
But those three words "only" actually harboured an incommensurable power !
The boat got encased in dark power and lifted off the water.
Raven then moved her hands to the other side, using her powers to determine when there was dry land below the skiff – since the mist still blocked her sight - and when the latter could therefore be safely landed.
"I put it in safety, over there, on the bank of the lake" announced Raven once it was done, making a rapid finger gesture in that direction (being well educated, she never stretched her arm to point, as this unconsciously showed a certain lack of education).
Beast Boy started to fly towards the current location of the boat.
Starfire, as for her, beamed at her gothic teammate.
"Oh, thank you so much, Friend Raven. What would we become without your precious help ?"
"Don't mention it, Star." humbly replied the emotionally-restrained girl, a small smile briefly stretching her lips, happy to get such kind attention and consideration from her alien friend.
The red-haired female turned away and took off… but then a large mass of water abruptly rose from the lake and headed up towards the extraterrestrial !
Raven's eyes widened but she kept her self-control and promptly raised her arms to recite her mantra.
A black flat surface appeared right below Starfire and blocked the water, preventing it from hitting her.
The alien princess, hearing the loud sound of the water crashing against the magical shield, stopped and looked down, realizing only then what had happened and how Raven had saved her.
The empath rushed to her teammate and didn't notice another surge of water narrowly missing her as she flew so quickly to reach Star.
A third attack shot up from a different angle, aiming at the redhead, but the sorceress briskly stopped and created another protection for the Tamaranean.
"Thank you for your help, Friend Raven !" shouted Star from a short distance as she realized that the half-demon had just saved her.
"No problem." simply replied the helper.
The alien smiled at the enchantress then resumed her flight in direction of the bank, where the boat was waiting, and this time, Raven flew nearby, ready to counter any other attack.
But no other assault occurred, making it seem as if the danger was gone…
Their friends were finally in sight, and Starfire's face was lighting up… when a new surge of water tried to reach her !
Naturally, the cloaked sorceress immediately summoned her black energy as a shield in front of her teammate…
…but being focused on that task, she naturally didn't notice the huge spout which had risen behind her and which, after making a turn in the sky, was falling back…
…right on her !
The sixth sense is often there to warn us at the right time, short before the catastrophe happens, and therefore helps us avoid it.
But in Raven's case, and although her sixth sense was more developed than her friends', that wasn't sufficient, all the more since Raven's attention was focused on Starfire being attacked … and intuition came too late, this time : suddenly sensing danger close-by, the half-demon quickly looked around, saw nothing, then turned her head up…
… her eyes opened wide…
…she opened her mouth…
…started an upward movement with her arms…
…but the powerful spout knocked her down, dragging her away from her friends in that liquid prison !
"RAVEN !" screamed Sam, goggling at the dramatic event she was witnessing and that alas left her helpless.
"RAE !" was Jinx's shout.
"NO !" yelled both Cyborg and Cathy.
Robin, teeth gritted, cold sweat in his back, couldn't believe his eyes !
Starfire, when hearing the rush of water pass by behind her, turned around… just in time to see the water column hit the surface of the lake and dissolve into it, getting back where it belonged.
And then she heard the others scream something in the distance, and turned back to observe them, standing on the saved boat.
She didn't understand what they were saying, but it sounded like a warning… or perhaps the reaction to some terrible event that had just occurred ?
She turned once again and began : "Can you hear what they are saying, Friend…"
But then she stopped and looked all around her.
And saw nobody.
"Friend Raven ?"
The voice sounded slightly worried.
No reply.
"Friend Raven ?"
This time, there was real anxiety in the Tamaranean's tone.
Still no answer.
"Where are you, Friend Raven ?"
Panic showing the tip of its ugly nose.
Silence as the only "reply".
She recalled the last attack that had been aimed at her, and which had been once against countered by the black magical protection of her powerful teammate. So Raven was obviously still there with her at that moment.
And the next thing had been that rush of water hurrying downward to the lake after passing close to her.
And after… no more Friend Raven !
Satrfire's eyes widened as she made the connection : the rush of water… behind her… just like her dark friend had been flying behind her right before…
She looked down to the exact spot where the spout had crashed into the lake.
"Oh no ! NO !"
She flew down towards the lake and stopped at a respectable distance.
"FRIEND RAVEN, ARE YOU TH-"
She got cut short by another rising shot of water, avoided it, but then had to face another one, and another one.
The alien princess tried to remain around the place where the empath had vanished, but the ongoing attacks prevented her to, so she flew away from the dangerous area, still having to dodge incoming assaults which were regularly launched at her as she flew, and she soon reached the bank, where her friends had left the boat to approach the water and were staring, distressed, at the remote spot where the Azarathian had disappeared, imprisoned into the water falling extremely rapidly into the lake.
"Friends, I'm not sure but I think that Friend Raven has disappeared !" started the red-haired one.
"Yes, we all saw it happen, Starfire ! A large gush flew up from the lake, then fell back down… right on her ! She got caught inside of it and dragged to the bottom. And then the gush crashed down into the lake… and she hasn't reappeared since then !" explained Sam, and as she finished, her face suddenly lost its seriousness to gain a worried expression.
"But nothing proves she's dead, so we must find a way to probe that fucking lake and see if we can get any trace of her !" said Jinx, her face a mask of determination.
"Hey Chris, maybe the A-scan can locate her ?" proposed Danny.
"Oh yes, it's true ! After all, she has non-human genes, so maybe…?" suggested Cathy.
The MBC tech quickly pondered this, his brain functioning at its full capacity.
"Mmmmmmh… this device is for aliens, and Raven is a demon, so technically… it's slightly different, even if both clearly refer to non-humans. But I will do my best with the A-scan !" the indigo-haired boy replied.
"And as for me, I'm gonna try to get some reading of hers on my analyzer !" Cyborg added.
The others waited while the duet of technology masters were on it, all hoping that at least one of them would come up with something positive, something encouraging.
But none of them did.
"I'm sorry, but I can't get any location on the A-scan ! Yet as I said, Raven is not exactly an alien, but a demon, so this would explain that I can't get a reading of her. And so it does not mean she isn't there !" Chris reluctantly told the group.
"Right, but the thing is that I can't locate her neither on my own analyzer. Which means it confirms what your scanner shows ! She is not there ! It's like she really disappeared, like, physically, you know !" exclaimed a frustrated Cyborg.
Hope wasn't on their side… at least for now…
"But where… where can she be ? One doesn't just disappear in a lake !" observed Jinx who, after the two negative scans of the area, had now become really worried about their missing friend.
Sam was biting her lower lip, her eyes suddenly fixed in a vague point, as if magnetized by that point.
Robin noticed her stare and put a hand on her shoulder.
"Everything alright, Sam ?"
Her gaze focused again, then she turned to him and yes, she definitely was anxious.
"If we can't find her… it means we can't locate her vital signal… and if we can't… that could mean…"
She swallowed with difficulty and although she had a dark skin, she nonetheless knew that she was paling when she felt her temperature abruptly sink.
In her generally courageous eyes, there was deep worry.
There was… fear.
"No, Sam, don't say that !" exclaimed Robin. "We don't know yet. It might be that something is blocking our devices and preventing us from locating her. For all we know, that lake might jam the sensors of Cyborg's analyzer and Chris's A-scan. So just don't let panic overcome you. Be confident. Raven has had much worse to face, and she always survived. So please trust her. I do."
Sam opened her mouth to say something… but it was Beast Boy who spoke instead : "DUDES !"
They all turned to him, saw what he was looking at, and it was Cathy's turn to scream out her fright : "JINKIES !"
Their widened eyes saw with incredulity as several tentacles of water were heading their way.
"Clear off !" yelled Jinx, as she jumped backwards and made several back flips to distance herself from the incoming danger.
Cyborg shot at the liquid mass closing in, and the latter backed away. It tried to launch a new attack, though, but the half-robot having increased the energy of his weapon, the beam managed to destroy the tentacle on the spot.
Starfire's eye-rays were so powerful that the hostile entity couldn't approach, being instantly liquefied.
Beast Boy, in the form of an eagle, was diving on and on through the "water arms", efficiently cutting them.
Jinx also severed several tentacles thanks to immense hexes made from pure concentrated energy.
Although he couldn't use any power of his own, Robin used his staff with both such rapidity and such strength that he could shatter these liquid things lunging at him with just as much effectiveness as the Bad Luck Charm, the Tamaranean, the Half-Robot or the Morpher.
As for the MBC, their Double X proved pretty good weapons against water tendrils.
The group of heroes therefore had the upper hand over the huge enemy… until the latter decided to "move up a gear" !
As the battle continued, the "water" surreptitiously gathered at the lake's edge by which the humans and aliens were standing… and it started pushing up.
And just as imperceptibly, it began overflowing.
And continued overflowing, but slowly, gradually, silently…
At first, none of the fighters paid attention to the discreet phenomenon, as all were obviously too focused on the tentacles emerging from the liquid mass and aiming at them to detect the stealth event that had just begun.
But after a while, the liquid spilled out with more force, more evidently, and this time, it didn't go unnoticed.
"Team, look ! There is water coming out of the lake !" Robin informed the others.
But right then, as if the false lake had perceived its being "unmasked", it suddenly overflowed greatly and noisily, no longer trying to hide its intentions, the water-looking substance now rushing rapidly over the edge and constituting an expanding pool that was nearing our heroes as it quickly increased in size.
"But why is that happening ?" screamed Chris, his scientific mind always alert.
"Dunno, but frankly, who cares ? Let's back off !" yelled Danny in return.
That's what they all did, some running, some flying and one jumping backwards – the latter being Jinx, the willowy girl often doing back flips when a danger was approaching fast.
The liquid continued to massively come out of its natural pool, as if being pushed out by some invisible force. But once it had come out, it didn't just spill and flow away, like normal water would : rather, it gathered into several solid-looking shapes that slowly but surely headed towards the various people standing around.
They battled on, and our heroes still had the upper hand, but the alien substance, every time it was defeated and thus retreated, soon emerged again in a neighbouring spot of the liquid mass, so that the enemy was never really beaten, and so the fight never ended but merely evolved over minutes.
The "lake" hadn't stopped overflowing and, quite the reverse, the phenomenon did escalate, with the full mass of "water" now moving as one and crawling up the pool to head for our heroes, who were desperately trying to destroy or defeat it once and for all.
"It's no use !" Jinx ended up screaming between two of her immense hexes. "That motherfucker does get damage, but continually regenerates, and it's now coming out always more ! We must get away from here, or it'll surround us soon !"
"I hate to admit it, but we will have to do that !" replied Sam, just as loud, so that she could possibly be heard despite the hullabaloo of the battle. "If that thing can't be destroyed for good, and on the contrary is close to getting us, we won't have a choice but get away from here and continue exploring elsewhere !"
Robin's eyes were narrowed behind his mask, and his jaw contracted by the concentration… and the frustration !
He was clearly putting things in balance, being reluctant to give up a fight – something he rarely had ever done, after all… - but was on the other hand aware that, although the team's attack took their toll on the monster, they couldn't succeed in taking it down definitely. And the alien creature was threatening them for real now, as it approached more and more.
Busy as he was thinking and hesitating, the Titan leader didn't notice a liquid tentacle suddenly lunging at him !
A scream, a fall, and he was helpless before the menacing "arm" ready to strike again.
He tried getting back up but the disgusting substance they had thought to be real water immediately rushed at him and nailed him down on the rocky ground.
"ROB !" yelled Cyborg, who spotted it out of the corner of his eye, and turned his armed arm (A/N : yeah, okay, couldn't help that pun… hope I'm not gonna get booed too much for that… XD) in direction of his leader.
But someone reacted more swiftly and a powerful white ray hit the hostile fluid that was blocking the masked teenager. The dirty stuff disintegrated in a wink, and Robin was able to rapidly get back upon his feet.
Boy Wonder looked at whom his robotic friend was already staring at, eyes wide because of the quickness of reaction of that person : it was Sam, whose Double X was still up and pointing in Robin's direction, although the young black girl was no longer tense and gritting her teeth but now a tad more relaxed, as she smiled at her fellow leader.
"Thanks a bunch, Sam ! I owe you one !" the caped boy said aloud.
"Don't mention it !" she modestly reply, smiling at him, glad he was safe and not injured.
"So you're in favour of retreat ?" he asked her.
She made some kind of pout with her mouth.
"I'm not used to abandonment, just like you, I'm sure, but that weird being cannot be destroyed, as it seems. Well, at least, not yet. We haven't found a way. So if we continue to fight, this might last really long… and given that we will probably lose concentration at some point, we will be vulnerable and may end up badly hurt by that monster. As soon as we'll lose our focus, that thing will get us and try to kill us, which it could potentially do, while we can't defeat it for good."
She broke it off for a few seconds, time for her to shatter a liquid tentacle hurrying her way and that she had spotted out of the corner of her eye.
"So, as things are…" she continued "…I don't think we will win eventually, because that stuff regenerates and returns to the fight too fast… What else can we do but leave and try to think of a way to locate Raven ? I'm sure that, sensible as she is, understanding that none of us can get rid of that creature, she would have advised you just the same : give up the battle and continue our journey. We still have a goal, and that's to find and neutralize the evil mastermind behind that dream theft !"
Robin thought this over quickly and finally nodded.
"You're right, that's what she would have wanted us to do : retreat if we can't win, and after all, defeating that enemy may not even be necessary, as our primary goal remain to find the evil leader in here. So we must have as many teammates as possible for that, and thus avoid battles where we would get uselessly hurt, and lose precious forces before the final confrontation !"
He paused and hesitated to finish his utterance, but felt that he had to.
"And Raven would have wanted us to continue at all cost… even without her !"
That was a tough blow for Sam who, although fighting on, still felt great sadness about the empath's disappearance. But she knew he was right, and was forced to agree.
"TEAM, LET'S RETREAT FOR NOW !" screamed Robin.
"GUYS, LET'S GO !" screamed Samantha.
They all suspended their current gestures to take a look at both.
"You're kidding me ?!" yelled Danny, addressing the black female. "Giving up ?! You're joking, right ?!"
The yellow MBC member discreetly sighed. She knew that, if someone on the team were reluctant to retreat, it would definitely be Danny.
"We have no other choice : we can't beat it ! It's continuously coming back into the battle and nothing seems to have a definitive effect on it. We can fight for hours and still be in the same situation at the end. If we can't win, then we must leave. And besides, that monster isn't our primary goal : finding and defeating the enemy leader is the priority, so if we can avoid a useless battle in which we'll waste strength and energy, then so be it. We'll only be stronger once we get to the mastermind."
All this was true, and Danny couldn't contradict her, although he would have liked to.
"Aaaawww Duuuude! I just hate giving up a fight !" remarked Beast Boy, who had morphed back to his original shape.
"I second that : hate it too ! Do we really have to ?" added Cyborg.
"Yes we do !" simply said Robin. "I fully agree with Sam, although I'm certainly no more satisfied than her to get away from a battle…"
"I hate it too, but I must admit Sam is right. No other choice. That stuff seems to actually enjoy being hit by my hexes !" observed Jinx, ending on an ironical note that recalled Raven.
"Ah, schnerps ! That's too bad, really…!" bitterly said Cathy.
"It is, but Friend Sam is correct, and if Friend Robin agrees with her, then we must accept their orders and follow their lead." noted the other alien.
That was very well said.
They all ran away behind Robin, with Samantha bringing up the rear, so both chiefs checking both extremities of their group.
All of them climbed a steep hill nearby and, once on top, turned around to see the "water" slowly returning into its pool, and finally resuming its deceptive lake shape.
"Stuff's creepy !" mumbled the morpher, frowning at the disgusting substance below.
"Tell me about it !" admitted Jinx, who had crossed her arms over her chest and also frowned down at their apparently unbeatable foe.
The calm surface of the "lake" was almost inviting, and really no one would have guessed, watching it, that the same surface had tried no less than to kill them earlier.
The golden-eyed female turned to the indigo-haired one.
"Chris, can you try again with your A-Scan ?"
He returned a perplexed gaze.
"What do you mean ? What should I…"
But he stopped mid-sentence, alerted by her sad stare.
He reflected a few seconds and understood.
"Yes, sure."
He pulled the device out from his small backpack and started a new reading of the hostile entity.
There was silence as all had their eyes on the MBC tech and waited for his answer, secretly hoping that…
Sam involuntarily bit the inside of her lower lip as she observed him, ready for a negative result.
Ready for hopelessness.
For grief's hurtful and cold embrace.
Chris's face didn't unexpectedly light up.
His eyes didn't suddenly widen.
His mouth didn't briskly open.
His whole expression didn't change.
At all.
And when he raised his blue orbs to meet her golden ones, she already knew. And therefore had anticipated the slow head shake he gave her to indicate that she wasn't there.
The usually strong and brave alien fighter swallowed her saliva, but it wasn't as easy as usual.
Because of that pain in her throat.
That unbearable acute pain.
Robin was watching her, feeling so sorry for her. So sad to have maybe lost Raven for good.
Because there WAS a 'maybe', since they hadn't found her dead body.
He suddenly realized that, the fact that it wasn't a certainty, and what it implied : that there was still a flickering flame of hope !
He was about to tell it to the others, but someone piped him to the post.
"NO ! She can't be dead ! I don't believe that shit ! Raven, the most powerful sorceress around, dead from a gush of water falling over her ?! NO, NO AND NO ! That can't be ! She can't die so easily ! Perhaps she's battling underneath, perhaps she was sucked in somewhere else, but I know deep inside me that she is still alive ! I KNOW IT ! I JUST DO !"
They all gazed silently at the pink-haired girl who sported the same grey skin as their dear half-demon.
"I was about to say something similar" began Robin, and after a panoramic look, he continued : "I find it really hard to believe that Raven would die in such a… hum, trivial manner, could I say. She's the most powerful of us all, and one of the mightiest beings I have ever encountered. I really can't believe she would be killed that easily ! And after all, we have no proof of her death. Did one of you spot a body surfacing from the lake ? For if she was dead, her body definitely would be floating on the lake, and after taking a long, I couldn't see Raven on its surface. And therefore, we still have no evidence of her demise. So, as for me, I won't consider her gone until I'm proved wrong !"
That said it all.
"I agree. As long as nothing shows us she's no longer alive, then we should remain hopeful about her survival !" wisely advised Chris.
"Definitely !" exclaimed Cyborg.
"We will not let appearances take us down !" added Cathy, who once in a while could be serious and leave her happy-go-lucky nature aside for a bit.
"And I'm just as hopeful as you all to have her back. I bonded with her since our staying at the Tower, and I really would be devastated if we lost her. But you mentioned valid points : given her great power and the absence of a death proof, we can have indeed good hopes that she's alive. Perhaps she was dragged to some other place, perhaps she's fighting a monster underwater… And as for why we can't pick-up her vital signs, it could well be that this… hum… "lake" is causing some interference or blocking said vital signs, making it impossible for our devices to get them. So, you see, there can be an absolutely logical explanation to our failure at locating Raven, and her still being alive nonetheless. But we all agree on keeping hope, and given that we still have a mission to continue, I say we all walk forward, and I wouldn't be surprised if Raven joined us later on."
Jinx was both relieved and happy that her teammates were all so confident that Rae was still alive, and especially grateful to Robin and Samantha for their positive speeches.
"Thanks for keeping hope, guys !" she told the group, looking around to each of them, but her gaze finally stopping and lingering on the two leaders.
Robin nodded.
As for Samantha, she modestly gave a small smile and replied : "It is our moral duty to remain hopeful. I know Raven can surprise us all. And by God, she may well do so indeed later on !"
There was a short silence.
Which was broken by Beast Boy : "So what do we do now ?"
"As Sam said, we should continue our mission !" replied Chris.
"Where do we head to, Friend Robin ?" asked Starfire.
Boy Wonder took in his surroundings, then turned to Sam.
"How about that way ?" he asked her, deciding to share the lead with the black girl, whom he found very efficient, determined and courageous, and refused to consider "inferior" in the direction of the operations, during that common mission of theirs.
"Let's try it !" she replied, nodding back with a serious look on.
The two teams set out for the next part of their journey, unaware of the forthcoming dangers but all being determined to face them bravely… and all hoping that the cloaked sorceress would indeed return !
Robin was once more walking in front, with Sam once again bringing up the rear.
But after she had allowed everyone to pass her by, and was getting ready to follow them all and watch their back, she couldn't help giving a prolonged stare at the nefarious monster looking like a normal lake, and that long stare told so much about her current worry, and current hope…
Come back, Rae, come back, please…!
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Wait, WHAT ?! 6'461 words ?!
REALLY ?!
And me who was wondering if I had made it long enough…
(Okay, I'm a dunce… granted ! XD)
So we end this chapter on a cliffhanger – which all my long-time readers have always LOOOOVED… isn't it, Ana ? ;P Watcha think, guys ? Is Raven still alive ? Is she underwater, fighting some monster ? Or was she teleported / did she teleport elsewhere ? Or… what else ?
Well, I guess we'll have to wait a bit… until SC101 publishes her own chapter. Ana, without further wait, I hand the "ball" back to you ! ;)
Take good care of ya, Folxxxx, and till soon !
Oh, and for those of you who are fans of Nick Cave : just listened to his latest LP SKELETON TREE (never actually listened to NC before, TBH…) and jeez, it's such a splendid album ! Magnificent from beginning to end ! I highly recommend it ! (well, except for the depressive ones… ^^'' )
May Happiness keep ya'll wrapped in its comfy embrace !
Peace, Love, Ecstasy !
(Dixxy)
