Chapter 28: Heart's Blood
"Laugh." Raven said to her mirror.
A couple of days had gone by since Trigon had been banished. After the sweetest kiss she had ever had in her life, Raven had withdrawn again, but this time for a reason. Indeed, Noel seemed to understand, as he had not protested, or felt pain or sadness when she had left.
But she hadn't had the time for her reason until now. The past couple of days had been all cleaning up the Tower, telling various people what the hell had happened, and dealing with new crimes. Ah, humans. Only they, after literally being in the grip of a true devil, could go right back to damning their souls with their foul deeds.
But night had fallen, and at last she had the time. She was alone.
Really. Robin and Starfire were treating themselves to a night out, while also testing a device that allowed Starfire to appear as a human. It worked pretty well: even Raven hadn't recognized Starfire when she had turned it on. Beast Boy and Cyborg, on the other hand, had left to see the finals for an arcade tournament. It was just her…
And Noel, but he was leaving her alone. It warmed her. After all they'd done to each other, he seemed to posses a great understanding of her.
But what she needed to do now was understand herself.
She had noticed that when she had kissed him, nothing had happened. And it wasn't because she wasn't feeling anything. Indeed, the passion that had roared through her when she had finally given in was so intense she almost thought she was going to explode.
And nothing had happened.
What was this? A gift from some higher power? Or…just a coincidence of what had happened?
Her emotions were the strongest link to her father. And the closer he got to her reality, the stronger he grew within her. Indeed, once he had had almost been out of the Nether-Verse, he had been able to exert enough influence on her so that her demonic side had taken over.
But that side was gone now, literally torn from her body and banished alongside her father. Blood had said that eventually Trigon would return, and assumingly his influence would as well, but it could be years and years before it happened…
Did that mean…she could finally feel?
That was what she had to find out.
"Laugh." She said to the mirror.
She wanted to do it too, but it was alien to her. She was just so used to repressing anything she felt, that her body did most of it automatically. But she NEEDED to feel something. She had to see what happened.
She tried to think of funny things…and realized that could take a while. Noel made bad puns on purpose, Kory's innocence was more annoying and sad then funny to her, Robin was usually too serious, and Beast Boy made so many bad jokes that any humour was quickly replaced by…
Wait, she remembered something.
A battle a few months ago, Beast Boy had actually gotten off a really good line. It was inevitable she supposed: if you keep throwing seeds eventually one is going to sprout. But really, it had been a good line, a well-executed pun with impeccable timing. She had cracked a grin, though he hadn't seen it, and she had quickly beaten down the reaction before something bad could happen.
So she thought of the situation, and the motion Gar had made, and the line…
"Hee..ha ha…" Raven said as it started bubbling out. She thought of it some more.
"Ha ha ha…ha ha…" Raven said. Man, I'm turning into the Joker! Raven thought. The thought made her giggle, and then recalled a story Robin had told in which something genuinely funny had happened with the Joker: a crazy surgeon, to get revenge on the lunatic, had performed a surgery on the Joker that had put his mouth on the back of his head! And Joker had run around yelling how Batman had stolen his smile! Ok that was actually very disturbing but the idea of Joker's confusion as he tried to figure out what had happened…
And that was it, as Raven cracked up, pounding on the desk as tears came from her eyes. She remembered another amusing conversation where Savior and Cyborg had been arguing about something and Noel had ripped into a view that science had only been discovered in the last 2000 years. Noel had ranted about how if this was true, a lot of other things didn't make sense because science would have been a necessary factor in their creation. He had referenced the pyramids as an example, pointing out that to build such a complicated structure with such primitive tools would have required a very keen grasp of science, and if science had not been discovered, what had the Egyptians been doing? It hadn't been the argument but a supposed "guess" on what these non-science-knowing Egyptians had supposedly been doing while building the pyramids that had been so funny, as Noel had gotten up, slumped his shoulders like he was holding a very heavy object, and then walked forward. The following sentence he had spoken as he continued his example may not have seemed all that funny, but the way he said it and the tone he used had struck her as extremely amusing.
"Put the stone on the block. Put the stone on the block. Some day this will make a thing." Noel had said, describing at what these supposed non-science using Egyptians must have been doing if they hadn't been using science to build the pyramids . Something in the way he had said "make a thing"…you just had to be there.
Raven went from laughing to howling, barely being able to keep up her observations. When her mirth finally faded, she looked around the room.
Nothing. No damage. She blinked, amazed. After all these years…
She needed to do more tests. She had to test her anger.
That came easier. Raven just thought of some of the villains they had fought recently. Asphyxiation, and his cocky arrogance on how he had every right to kill "the pretty birdies". Killjoy, and the way he had wanted to kill her friends just because…it was something to do. Her own father, the bane of her existence, and the reason she had to deny her feelings for Noel and everything for so long…it didn't take long before Raven was absolutely seething. She looked around.
The Tower was not shaking, OR breaking. Indeed, even the desk she was sitting at remained still. She looked at a pencil sitting on the desk, and for a moment it levitated up and then fell, unharmed, as it rolled off the desk. Raven felt her self-induced anger fading as she marveled.
She was free.
What was her father doing? Was he curled in some corner licking his wounds? Or trying to stave off another ambitious dark power that would love to claim Trigon's power for his own? Whatever he was doing, it appeared he was too busy to exert any influence on his daughter. So, for the time being, she was free.
But how long would it last?
Raven gave that some thought, and then decided that she didn't know, but she was going to enjoy it as long as she could.
She picked up her mirror from where she had set it down, gazing into it. Now that she knew about herself, she wondered what to do next. She had never been in a relationship before. Hell, she had never really had a close FRIENDSHIP before. Her need to keep herself in control had always raised barriers. But now…
Emotions…
Such strange things. She had seen the marvelous things they could do…and the terrible things as well. Which would be her path? Her…and Noel's…
Then she knew what she had to do. So many people could go through their lifetime, and never really KNOW their partners…but she was different…
Raven got up, walking towards the wall, and as she vanished into the shadows, another thought occurred to her.
Was she bringing a gift…or a curse?
The T-Tower, as mentioned, was empty except for Noel and Raven. And while Raven was testing herself, Noel was hanging out on the still not fully repaired roof. A few days had passed, and though he had recovered from the Trigon experience, he didn't much like expending effort. So he lay on his back and looked at the stars, as he quietly sang to himself.
"In heaven there is no beer…" Noel sang. He hated alcohol: the taste was terrible and he didn't like the idea of putting poison in his body for a few brief moments of escape from whatever pain he suffered. But he liked the song, and so he quietly sang it to himself.
"That's why we drink it here…and when we are gone from here…our friends will be drinking all the beer…"
"Oh great. Just when I think I know you, you turn into Arthur."
Noel sat up as Raven appeared out of the shadows, holding something.
"Hello Raven."
"Hello Noel." Raven replied. "Can we talk?"
"Certainly." Noel said, and Raven sat down next to him. Raven looked down at what she was holding, and Noel saw it was a mirror. It looked familiar, but Noel couldn't put his finger on why.
"I've…never done anything like this…" Raven said, suddenly feeling very shy.
"Hey…" Noel said, taking her hand. "I didn't go through all this just to blow it now. We'll move at whatever pace you want Raven. I'm just so glad…you feel the same way I do."
"Noel…" Raven said, looking up. "I'd…like you to do something. For me. Or us."
"Name it."
"Noel…the thing is…well, the expression that comes to mind is "'Be careful what you wish for, you might just get it'…I…but you see…you claim to love me…"
"I do."
"Yes, I know, I don't doubt that…" Raven said, trying not to hurt Noel: he was beginning to look confused. "But…I don't think you really know me…or I know you. And I don't want to start and have something you never saw or expected come along and derail this. You don't deserve to have your heart broken, Noel."
Noel looked at her solemnly, and then nodded his head.
"What do you want me to do?"
Raven blinked, and then, hoping that she was doing the right thing, held out the mirror.
"Touch this."
Noel looked at the mirror, then at Raven, and then he put his right hand on the surface.
"Azarath Metrion Zinthos…Azarath Metrion Zinthos…Azarath Metrion Zinthos…" Raven chanted, as dark power began swirling around Noel and her. "AZARATH! METRION! ZINTHOS!"
There was a bright flash of dark light.
When it faded, Noel was gone. And so was Raven. All that was left was the mirror, floating in the air, and a silent witness to what had passed. For a moment, it floated there.
And then it lowered, vanishing into the shadows on the ground.
Noel was in Raven's mind, and he knew he was in Raven's mind.
Cyborg and Beast Boy had spoken of their little mishap, how they have stupidly gone into Raven's room and touched her mirror, the mirror that allowed them to manifest themselves in a physical state inside Raven's brain. There, they had met some of her emotions, all manifested in absolute terms. Happy was only Happy, Brave was only Brave, and so on. Indeed, the problem had been Raven's Rage, having gotten out of control and manifesting itself as Raven's father. Raven had united with her other emotional "selves" to defeat it. Indeed, when given some thought it was all very confusing, with metaphors laying on metaphors. If one thought of Raven's brain as a separate dimension of sorts, it helped. Somewhat. Damn, even THAT made Noel's head hurt, and technically he didn't even have a head any more. Or did he? Or…argh, forget it!
He had no idea what Raven wanted him to do. He had begun on a creepy dark landscape with various rocks floating around, and with ultra creepy looking ravens which would have looked cute had they not had such big red eyes. And their voices had been creepy too. All they had said was "What will you be?" over and over. (What had they said to Cyborg and Beast Boy? "Turn Back"? Well, they hadn't been invited there, and in that case the Rage was out of control, so maybe it made sense). In any case, Noel had walked forward until he had entered a rift.
He wished he hadn't.
First of all, the place stank. Second, it just seemed to be composed of unpleasant colours, mostly browns and greens. Plus, the ground didn't seem all that solid. It felt like Noel was walking on mud. At least, he hoped it was mud.
After walking for a minute, he finally found something. Or someone. Raven. Well, not Raven. True, it looked like her, but instead of a deep purple, her cloak was orange. She was sitting on a rock, and she was…picking her nose?
Indeed she was, and Noel's jaw dropped as she removed her finger and did something rather disgusting with whatever she had removed. The orange Raven looked up.
"Oh, you must be Noel." She said, and went back to digging for gold. Noel blinked a few more times to make sure he was seeing correctly.
"Uh…what am I supposed to be doing here?"
"Beats me. I just work here." Orange said, and then burped. Noel arched an eyebrow.
"Who ARE you?"
"I'm Raven!"
"I know THAT. What PART of Raven are you?"
"What, don't like what you see? Well, live with it. The human body can make many a mess, and someone has to deal with it. Perhaps you find it crude, but it's who I am." Orange Raven said. Apparently she represented Raven's Crude side.
"I…see. Great, uh well then, which way should I go?"
"Any way you want." Crude said. She lifted a leg and made a VERY unpleasant noise. Noel almost started laughing due to the sheer surreal nature of it.
"Look, I have no answers for what you're doing. Maybe you should go speak to Joy. She's more in the know these days after what happened."
"Uh thanks."
"No problem." Crude said as she lifted her hand and began picking at her teeth. Noel made a hasty exit. He knew that humans had to do bodily functions, and that included Raven, but being confronted with such a strong example was not comforting.
Still, he knew it was just a small part of her. Just HOW small…well, small enough.
Well, he had an idea what to do, but what was Raven doing?
What Raven had done was something she had never done before.
The mirror was woven from special spells, performed by her grandmother Azar. It had been done so she could look into her mind in a way deeper then meditation, in order to keep herself in check. With her father defeated, and her emotions finally free to express themselves though, Raven had decided to tap into its magical nature to test something.
It had been hard, but she had done it: she had brought Noel into her mind, but she had also managed to project herself into HIS mind.
Now…she would see what she found there. Perhaps she might find what she feared…and what she hoped for.
But at the moment, she just wanted to find a place anywhere but here.
Noel was somewhat disciplined, but nowhere as much as she, and hence the portals of his head were more confusing and dangerous. Indeed, she had been attacked by what looked like dollar bills not two minutes into her journey, but they had been quickly shredded by a single blast of her power. But no sooner had she dealt with that threat then a new obstacle came along.
Noel's emotions, in this state, would manifest themselves in his body with the appropriate colour. But unlike hers, which tended to be in more "absolute" forms (Happy was Happy, Sad was Sad, etc), Noel's were split and fragmented. She could technically meet twenty different versions of the same emotions, each representing a small part of Noel's happiness, for example.
What she had run into was part of his love for her. But it wasn't a good part. Coloured an unpleasant yellowish-white, Raven had quickly dubbed him Doormat. He had nearly kissed her feet when she had approached him and had followed her, chattering away inanely about how great she was. Raven wasn't surprised this part of Noel existed: with the kind of father he had, part of him surely craved affection. But it wasn't pleasant looking at an absolute manifestation of that craving.
"You know what I like here! The colouring!" Doormat said as he continued nipping at Raven's heels. They were walking through what looked like a fancy office.
"Myself, I like the furniture." Raven said. She really didn't, but she needed to demonstrate something.
"You're right! The furniture is the best part!" Doormat said.
"But, I thought you just said the colouring was." Raven replied.
"It is! No it isn't! LOVE ME! JUSTIFY MY EXISTENCE!" Doormat wailed, throwing himself at Raven's feet. Raven sweatdropped.
"You want me to do something for you?"
"Yes! ANYTHING!"
"Ok. Please be a very small part of Noel's feelings for me."
"Gotcha! I'll be as small as an atom! Hardly there at all! You will love me, right?" Doormat asked.
Raven ran for it. She wasn't scared, she just wanted away from this aspect of Noel.
"COME BACK! LOVE MEEEEEEEE!"
Raven dove through the first door she found.
"HI-YAH!" the green Raven said, as she smashed a stone statue apart with a powerful jump kick. "WHOO-HOO! I AM THE BEST!"
Noel blinked. Was this Raven's Bravery or Confidence? Maybe both? He had already met her Timid side: she had been so scared and weak-looking that Noel had felt an overwhelming desire to protect it. Though her constant apologies for all the pain she had caused him got annoying. But his heart had truly ached when she said that he would never like her after all the things he would see. His declaration that he would always like her seemed to be genuine though, as it had made her feel a little better. Or maybe that was just him.
He passed by Brave, who was too busy kicking stuff apart, and pulled himself up on a cliff.
"NOEL!"
And then a pink Raven was hugging him. Noel started.
"Thank you! Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou…!" Pink Raven said.
"Uh…you're welcome…for what?"
"I can finally express myself fully! You took away the chains that always bound me! You gave me back everything! You somehow made me happier then I already was!" Pink Raven said. Noel assumed this was Joy.
"Glad to help…"
"Thank you again!"
"Well then uh…why am I here?"
"My, uh…greater self is a bit scared. She's never felt this way before, and she's not sure how to deal with it…so she wants you to see her, all of her, and decide if this is the right thing…"
"But I know it's the right thing! I don't need to see this!"
"It's good to see it anyway. There's so many aspects of myself that you should know exist…especially considering what's happening." Joy said.
"What's…happening?"
"Noel, we have been kept under tight control for a long time. Indeed, some of your friends have seen what happens when one of us gets out of control. But with Trigon gone for now, we are finally free. But that also means that some of us have to, how shall we say, be higher on the totem pole then others."
Noel blinked, and then Joy pointed. Noel looked over the cliff and his jaw dropped.
"I assume you are Happy." Raven said, looking at the Savior in Pink.
"Life is great! I get to save people, hang around with superheroes, be known to the general public, and if I show up in costume, I get 10% off Taco Bell!" Savior's Joy said, dancing around happily.
"But what about…the blood and stuff…" Raven said.
"Oh, you want him for those things." Savior's Joy said, pointing to a Savior in dull grey.
"Life is so pointless. The people we save are so stupid and worthless. I can barely tolerate the public. Most of the time I just despise them." Grey Savior said. Raven assumed he was either Grim or Pessimistic.
"They're not all that bad…"
"YES THEY ARE. You were there. You saw what they do. Idiotic, worthless sheep, all of them. Should just leave them to the slaughter."
Raven frowned.
"Hey, keep in mind that's all he CAN do. I can list the many many good things that I love doing as a superhero and as a man!" Joy said.
"I'd love to hear them, but not now. I have to…find something…"
"I know just what you mean! Come this way!"
"Your love will end in pain and tragedy. That's all love is good for!" Grim called after them.
Raven, much to her surprise, flipped him the bird in response.
Two armies of Ravens had appeared out of the proverbial nowhere. Indeed, Noel could see Brave on the front lines of one side and Timid hanging around near the back of the other. Two Ravens were at the front: one a bright, flaring red, and the other a more subdued red.
"That's Id and Superego leading the way to decide which side gets control of Raven." Joy said.
"Freud was RIGHT?" Noel expostulated.
"You whatted?" Joy said.
"Say a sentence in confused realization…what a minute, what am I talking about?" Noel said. "Look, is this a good thing?"
"Not really something you can define as that. We can't kill each other, this will just decide which side gets more influence over Raven."
"Which side are you on?"
"I'll side with the winner. In fact I was thinking of changing my name to Opportunist." Joy said.
The armies charged at each other.
"I think you still want some answers, Noel. The best bet is to look in the deepest side of Raven's mind. You may find what you want there…but then again, you may not like what you find." Joy said.
A door suddenly appeared behind Noel and opened. With a laugh, Joy pushed him into it.
"Have a nice flight!"
Noel fell. He wasn't afraid. In fact his thoughts were more consumed with another question.
I wonder what Raven's doing…I think she really wouldn't cotton to the idea of myself seeing her sexual desires fighting for supremacy…
Raven had other things to think about. If she had to be embarrassed, so did Noel, because she had run into HIS manifestations.
"Hello there. I know you!" Id Savior said. His red was much like Id Raven's. "Superego and I have made a LOTTA dreams about you. My favorite was the one where I was the teacher and you were the naughty schoolgirl."
Raven blushed deeply. She had thought too much of the purer aspects of love: she had forgotten the biological aspects. It wasn't surprising that Noel was having fantasies about her, especially in his unconscious mind.
"That was great fun. Wasn't it, Superego?" Id said, snickering.
"LIES! LIES AND SLANDER!" Superego yelled. Raven felt a bit better: at least Noel's hormones seemed to be tempered.
"No it's not! It's what I want! Life is about having fun, and I'm SURE we can have some REAL fun now together, eh baby?" Id said, waggling his eyebrows at Raven in a lecherous way.
Raven would have retorted, except someone beat her to it, as Superego roared and grew to ten feet tall, stomping on Id.
"THINKING ONLY OF PLEASURE LEADS YOU DOWN THE ROAD JACK TOOK! I WILL NOT ALLOW IT!" Superego bellowed. Raven sweatdropped again. Maybe Noel's feelings were tempered a bit TOO much. Then again, maybe that was good: she was unsure of how she wanted this relationship to go.
"Ow…ok…I can sense what you want though Raven…besides me that is…" Id snickered under Superego's boot. Superego stomped on him again. Id groaned.
"My cruder side speaks the truth. You wish to know the true depth of Noel's feelings. Well, the answers you seek are behind that door." Superego said, indicating a door that had appeared in the wall. "But beware, there are things behind there you may not want to see."
"Then that's exactly where I have to go." Raven said, walking to the door. That was the whole point of this exercise: she needed to see Noel's deepest darkest emotions. She needed to know if their love could work…and whether it did or didn't, what Noel might become.
Noel landed on his feet, finding himself back in the floating realm of rocks and black space. And a Raven nearby him.
She wore robes of both pink and red, and she was sitting on the ground, staring off into space. As Noel walked up to her, she noticed her robes were dull, as if they had been washed a few hundred times, and her face was sad.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"I…am not sure what I am." The Raven said.
"Are you Love?"
"Is that what I am? I suppose…yes, it does sound right…but still…I do not know what am I." Love said. Noel blinked. A manifestation of Love that didn't know what it was: yeah, that sounded like Raven.
"Hey, look at me." Noel said, kneeling down. "What do you feel when you see me?"
Love looked at him, and after staring for a few seconds, she smiled a bit, and her colours brightened slightly.
"You are Noel. You…let me exist. In a way I never could…but…" Love said.
"What?"
"I do not know how to be…myself…I am afraid…"
"Hey…just do what you feel is right. That's all I ask." Noel said.
"But…I…"
"You what?"
"I could never exist before because of…"
"Trigon? He's gone. And if he comes back, I'll deal with him again."
"Trigon is just an aspect…but I…may not be able to be anything…because…" Love said, and then a scream filled the air. Noel started, but Love just looked up as her colour faded again.
"I fear that if I let myself be…what I think I can be…I will let her be free as well…"
A new Raven appeared then, falling down from the ceiling. This Raven wore a blood-red cloak, and she had four eyes. That was enough of an indication: Noel knew he was looking at Raven's Rage.
"DAMN YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" the Rage cursed. "I WAS IN CONTROL! I HAD FREE REIGN! AND YOU TOOK IT ALL AWAY! TOOK AWAY MY POWER! TOOK AWAY MY CONTROL! YOU RUINED EVERYTHING!!!!!!!!!!!" Rage screamed, black power crackling on her. Love whimpered.
"I will never let you have what you want! I will destroy you FIRST!" Rage screamed, and then her body expanded outward and exploded as it manifested itself as Trigon again. Noel stared, his eyes strangely blank.
"You think you can have love? Raven, I, am not meant to love. Rage will always be her dominant emotion. By the will of her father, and by my will, I DENY YOU!!!!! YOU HAVE NO PLACE HERE!!!!!!!!" Trigon-Rage said, and attacked.
Statues.
Endless lines of white statues.
Well, actually, busts. They were stone carvings of a person's head and some of their upper profile, and then went on and on.
Some, Raven recognized. One in twenty was clearly Jack Djinn, and occasionally Raven found one of one of their other foes. The rest were all of a man she didn't know…yet he seemed oddly familiar. She walked on, dreading that she may find a bust with her profile.
She didn't. Instead she found him.
Him was a Savior coloured a light black, who was destroying every bust he could get his hands on with his Shimmer and bare hands. Raven blinked as he tore more of the statues apart, heading towards her.
He stopped when he saw her, and then he snorted and continued.
"You won't make a damn bit of difference." He said as he passed by. Raven blinked, turning around to watch as he kept on smashing busts, and then turning back.
She took a few more steps before she saw the new one. He had literally appeared from nowhere, and was wearing reds and pinks. She knew this was Noel's Love, but…what was he doing here in the "part of him she may not want to know"?
Love looked at Raven, and his face lit up.
"Raven…" he said. "So, you finally dare to look at me…it makes me feel good…" Love said, those his tone wasn't one of complete conviction.
"It won't last." Said a new voice behind Raven. Raven spun. Another Savior, also wearing black, a much darker shade then the previous one. "It never does. You're fragile and fleeting. Only I am eternal."
"Who's that?" Raven asked Love.
"That's Hatred." Love replied. Raven shivered.
"Why are you here?"
"This is where I belong. Myself and Resentment." Hatred said, as he smashed some statues. Resentment was working his way back up, and Raven noticed he was skipping a few statues as he went on his wrecking spree. Hatred had no such compunctions: he smashed everything he saw.
"But why…are you…" Raven said, looking back at Love. Love lifted his hands, and for the first time Raven saw the tethers. They flowed from his wrists, down to the ground…and into Hatred and Resentment. Raven looked back and forth between the three, and her eyes widened in horror.
"No…you don't…"
"Hate you? Resent you? Well, just a little…but that is a part of all love. We humans are flawed by nature: perfect love is beyond us. But my feelings for you greatly outnumber those against you…"
There was a rumbling behind Raven.
"But you see, all feelings must be taught, and my feelings for you…they are bound by resentment and hatred. Not because of you. Because of my life. And I fear…that what I was taught may destroy me…and you…and I don't want to do that…but I fear it's inevitable…"
"No. No. I was wrong Noel. But…I know now. I'll let you love me…because I love you." Raven said.
"You do…and it gives me happiness…but it doesn't change who I am. I am Love, bound by my life. My nature may yet be overcome by my nurture…and I fear that in the end, I will not be the dominant side…he will…"
"I will."
The new voice behind her was followed by Hatred and Resentment hissing like animals, and she turned to see. In the corner of her eye, she noticed that the statues Resentment had not touched were the ones of their enemies. All he had destroyed were those of the strangely familiar man. Now she looked at the third Savior in black, this black as deep as pitch, as midnight itself. Indeed, his hair was also different, sweeping more outward then up. Hell, even his pose was different from the other Saviors, making him seem more like Jack then Noel. The cocky arrogance in the new Savior's eyes was only matched by a cold indifferent gaze.
"I am what Noel Collins is meant to be. I am the legacy of Maxwell Collins." The new Savior said.
Raven looked back at Love, looking sad and defeated, and at Resentment and Hatred, who both looked upon the new Savior as if he was their worst enemy, and suddenly she knew what she was looking at.
"Cruelty." She said.
"Well, so you have some brains. Not that it matters, or changes anything." Cruelty said.
"I'LL KILL YOU…!" Resentment screamed, leaping at Cruelty. With a bored sigh, Cruelty whacked Resentment aside like he was made of paper.
"I don't know why he bothers. You can fight against me as much as you like, I will eventually win out. It is inevitable. I am what Noel Collins should be, if not for that bitch whore of a mother."
"YOU BASTARD!" Hatred yelled, trying his attack. He failed just as badly as Resentment.
"They're persistent, I'll give them that. They've been fighting against me since I came into being. But they can't fight forever. I'll win eventually." Cruelty said.
"This is why I'm down here, Raven." Love said. "I am in the deepest parts of myself…but so is he….my love for you, my essence…it is tainted by how I feel towards him and what he represents. It may always be that way, and I fear that one day it will be like he said…and for all the passion and fury I feel for you I fear he may be able to rot it away…"
"WILL rot it away. You stupid little delusion. You think you were put on this Earth to be happy? No. You were put on this earth to build an empire, and crush anyone who got in your way. THAT is your destiny, not in arm with this little bitch."
"Noel despises his father. He will never become like him. Like YOU." Raven said.
"You think that? Well, perhaps I must have been seeing things when I arranged it so that my greater self would forcibly remove the hands of Jack Djinn via a subway train. You think a kind person could do that? The only reason that happened is because I DO EXIST, and I WILL be him."
"No…" Raven said, not knowing what Noel had done to Jack. She looked back at Love, hoping to find some answers, but Love had shied away, cowering from Cruelty's harsh words.
"You think you can change him? Whore, he is BEYOND change. You learn all you can when you are young, and I was taught well. Very very well. True, the whore mother undid some of my work, but my influence was as certain as the sun rising and setting. I AM Maxwell Collins's son, and I will become what he meant for this world."
"You're the delusion." Raven said.
"YOU THINK SO!??!?!?!?"
Cruelty suddenly bulged outward and then exploded up into a new figure, the one on the busts. And Raven finally recognized him. She hadn't seen Noel much out of Savior form, but she remembered what he looked like. Adding twenty-five years, silver hair, and a beard made the man in front of her: Maxwell Collins, Noel's father.
"You don't realize how much you yourself have contributed to my power. Your own cruelty in refusing Noel when you had feelings for him. Give him all the logic you want, with your father and your emotions, it doesn't matter. We humans are not ruled by logic, we are ruled by emotion, and in this body and soul, I am destined to be king!"
"I won't let you." Raven snapped.
"What are you going to do, attack me? I am a part of the man you profess to love. You may as well turn around and attack that cowering piece of shit behind you. Your LIFE, as a so called "superhero", gives me power. Your exposure to the so called "supervillians", not to mention the human scum you stop, just makes me stronger. We become what we are exposed to, one way or another. In the folds of Maxwell Collins, or as a member of the Titans, my destiny is assured. I AM Noel Collins, I am the king, and YOU HAVE NO PLACE IN MY KINGDOM!" Maxwell-Cruelty bellowed, as it drew back its fist.
In the shadows of Raven's room, the mirror emerged, floating above the ground. It stopped, and then the mirror seemed to split as twin images appeared on it, one side Noel looking at Raven's Rage, and the other side Raven looking at Noel's Cruelty, each in the forms that resulted in the manifestation of each: the respective fathers. And it seemed the sins of the fathers would truly be visited upon the sons and daughters.
How fitting the final scenes be played out on a mirror, for they both truly mirrored each other: both Noel and Raven standing in front of their Love, as the powerful forces inside their minds, their dark sides vying for supremacy, set out to destroy them, as both Trigon-Rage and Maxwell-Cruelty swung massive fists at the couple.
Neither moved.
Neither attacked.
But both spoke, and in a weird twist of fate, their words echoed the other.
"You may have power here…" Noel/Raven said as the fists swung at them. In their eyes the same fire burned.
"BUT YOU HAVE NO POWER OVER ME!"
The fists connected, and then shattered like glass, as both Trigon-Rage and Maxwell-Cruelty recoiled, roaring in pain.
"No! What did you do! I am Raven/Noel!" the emotions bellowed.
"Maybe you are a part of him/her. Maybe more so then they realize. But you have no power over me, and as long as I draw breath, YOU WILL HAVE NO POWER OVER HIM/HER!"
The emotions screamed, and then their giant forms shattered, falling apart like cheap crystal.
"Maybe Raven will forever be tainted by Trigon's evil. Maybe my relationship with her is doomed. But I love her, and I always will, and no matter what happens between us, I will make sure you never overwhelm her again. This is my promise. No, this is my CURSE!" Noel snapped at Rage, who was on one knee. Rage looked at Noel and wailed her anger (or perhaps more accurately, herself) and then she sank back into the ground, rejoining the rest of Raven, her last chance at dominance foiled.
"Maybe Noel is the son of a cruel and merciless excuse for a human being, and maybe those traits are his by learning and perhaps even genetics. But he did not just learn from you. He learned from his mother, a kind and decent woman you couldn't destroy no matter what you did, and he learned from us, and I'll make sure he learns from me. And everything he learned from you will be put to good use, whether our relationship works out or not. This is my promise. This is my vow. NOW BEGONE BACK INTO THE DARKNESS THAT SPAWNED YOU!" Raven yelled.
"This isn't over! I will not…be…NOOOOOOOOOOO!" Cruelty wailed as he was pulled back into the shadows behind him.
And like that, the emotions were gone.
Noel turned back to the sitting Raven-Love as she got up, and Raven turned back as Love-Noel put his hands down. The two manifestations looked at their reasons for being.
"Thank you." They both said.
The colours on their clothes suddenly exploded into vibrant life, and the beyond, throwing off magnificent rainbows of light. The each offered their hands, and Noel and Raven took them.
"Whatever may happen…" the Loves said, as light filled the visions of both Titans.
"Know this. You let me…be me…"
The mirror glowed brightly, and then light exploded from it, filling the room. When it faded, Noel and Raven were back, standing before it, each holding each other's hands. The mirror finally lost its flight and fell to the floor, its mission done.
For a moment the two just stood there before they realized they were back in reality, and then they looked at each other.
"So…did you find out what you needed to know?" Noel said.
"I think I already knew it." Raven replied, and leaned up, bringing her lips to Noel's. He sighed slightly, taking her face gently between his hands and bringing her up to him. The kiss was calm, quiet, and peaceful.
For the moment, as the passion roared back through Raven, repressed for so long but no longer, and she deepened the kiss, not knowing what she was doing or where this was going but not caring for anyone or anything except Noel.
Noel returned her passion, as the woman he had admired and loved from afar for months finally opened up for him. Without really being aware of it, he scooped her up and carried her over to her bed, laying her down, not breaking her kiss. It wasn't until he had started taking his jacket off that he realized what he was doing, and broke the kiss.
"How far…" Noel got out before Raven leaned over and pressed her lips back to his, pushing him back and laying down on top of him. Noel was swept back up for little longer before his damn sense of responsibility came knocking again, as he broke the kiss again.
"Any time you want me to stop, say so."
"Don't stop." Raven gasped, and renewed their kiss. The two rolled over, as Raven surprised Noel by slipping the jacket off his shoulders. The sense of responsibility started speaking up again, but a whole bunch of other emotions yelled at it and it went away.
Despite the fury of their kiss, Noel's hands still had enough sense to reach up, unhooking Raven's cloak and shrugging it off to the floor. The two rolled over again to help get it off, and then rose up to a sitting position, not breaking the kiss.
Noel found the small clasps at Raven's wrists and undid them, and then reached behind her and start pulling down the zipper on the back of her costume. Raven sighed and reached down to pull Noel's shirt off of him, marveling at how his bare chest felt beneath her hands. Breaking the kiss momentarily, Noel gently took the material of Raven's costume and began pulling it down, slipping it down off her shoulder and arms. He nuzzled at her neck, and she sighed at the light touch. He looked back up into her eyes, once again seeing if she was changing her mind.
She answered him once more with a kiss, and he embraced her as her mouth opened up like a flower to him, She truly did taste sweet. He reached down and unclasped her bra. It fell in her lap.
Raven sucked in air through her teeth as Noel touched her in a way she had never been touched before, and she let out a little gasp, closing her eyes in bliss as he nuzzled at her neck again, feeling the warmth and gentleness of his hands on her as he sent shockwaves through her body. Could it get any better then this? She was sure it could, with Noel, as she opened her eyes…
And screamed.
Noel recoiled at the sudden explosion of noise. This wasn't a scream of pleasure, they hadn't got that far yet, and it wasn't fear either. It was more surprise and shock, and he wondered if the Titans had come back and caught them. But…
"Well well, looks like I was accurate in the end."
And then Noel's body tensed up with the same surprise and shock that Raven had expressed verbally. No…
(Writer's Note: Sorry, I wanted to say earlier that this wasn't a lemon scene, as lemons are not allowed by FF.Net anymore, but I didn't want to say anything before to indicate this scene was just lime because I didn't want to interrupt the flow or spoil the surprise. But it ends here, FF.Net, no lemon so DON'T BAN THIS FIC PLEASE).
Noel turned around, his shock fading into anger as the Lord of the Night strode out of the shadows, looking at the couple.
"Oh I'm sorry. Did I interrupt something?"