We all came here to witness this
To watch you fall and see nothing new
But I've got some news and this war is on
Destined to take it all
One year older
One year meaner
One year uglier
One more reason
One more riot
One more left to go!
Go!
Dont be afraid of the future
It doesnt include you, it only removes you
Dont be afraid of the future
It doesnt include you, it only removes you
Wake up
Its time to go
You better leave now
Wake up
Wake up
Its time to go
You better leave now
Wake up
~~
The gymnasium of the Teen Titans was the most advanced recreation room built by man. It had the latest in superheroic exercise equipment, perfectly designed to continuously provide optimum training levels for the Teen Titans no matter how strong, or fast, or durability they became as their experience and natural abilities grew. There were weight machines, drone generators, and automated isometric units. But out of all these gadgets and gizmos, Terra felt the old fashioned punching bag was the best for getting rid of stress. Because you could imagine you were punching somebody you didn't like, and it really added something to the work-out.
"He was sleeping next to her. I found him in bed with her!" Terra slammed a fist into the punching bag and grunted to accentuate her force, then proceeded to pummel the bag with everything she had. When she and Starfire finally got home last night, they frantically searched for Raven for their own reasons. Starfire wanted to see if her dear friend was safe and sound. Terra wanted to apologize since her conscience caught up to her. They both found her at the same time, sleeping in her room with a canine Beast Boy in her arms.
Starfire thought it was cute. Terra burned like an erupting volcano. She would have pounced on the both of them and ripped them to shreds, but Starfire informed her that it was rude to wake up people who were sleeping. The alien grabbed the tiny Titan by the collar and carted her away to cool off, and she reminded Terra to apologize in the morning.
"Raven..." WHAM! WHAM! The punching bag would have begged for mercy if it could speak.
More and more, Terra wanted to rub Raven out like an ink stain. This wasn't just a matter of criminal loyalties now. Terra wanted Raven out of the picture forever. No matter what Raven did, Beast Boy found it cute. It was unreal. It was like the old adage about opposites attracting. He was the average kid – she was a goth chick with personal issues and a magically induced multiple personality disorder. What the hell was drawing them to each other!? Terra was ten times funnier and a thousand times cuter than Raven would ever be, and yet she felt like she was losing this romance game!
Terra side-kicked the bag with a loud yell, nearly knocking it off its chains. The bag stretched and bounced back, and Terra resumed the beatdown with a rapid series of punches. Finally, she slammed one last fist into the bag and collapsed against it. Terra held on for support as she caught her breath and let herself calm down.
"I thought you liked me, Beast Boy," she muttered to herself. "Why are you doing this to me?" It was like Slade said when they first met. Beast Boy can't keep his mouth shut forever. Sooner or later, he would tell the things he wanted to keep a secret. And it looked like this secret would soon be public knowledge. Beast Boy liked Raven... more than her.
"Beast Boy's never slept with me when I was sad," she grouched. Terra turned to find another work-out to wear herself out with. Her downcast eyes saw a pair of boots connected to a uniform. She quickly looked up and saw Beast Boy standing there, hands in his pockets.
He'd heard every word.
Terra's glare intensified as the source of her stress presented itself. "Tell me the truth. Why have you been teasing me all this time if you really like her!"
Silence. Beast Boy simply frowned at her, as if bored by the subject. Terra felt like a knife had just gone into her heart. He wasn't even concerned!
"Fine. I hate you, you son of a-!"
Beast Boy grabbed Terra's arm and yanked her close to him before planting his mouth on hers. Terra's eyes nearly doubled in size from the sudden surprise of finding Beast Boy's tongue in her mouth, doing things she didn't know a human could do! But the passion (!?) behind the kiss drained away her resistance and her surprise until she was focused on nothing more than prolonging the contact.
Terra felt her anger draining away, as if she'd been drugged in preparation for a dental extraction. Beast Boy's kiss was making her body feel like mush. She could barely hold onto him for stability.
Beast Boy finally backed off, his hands letting go of her arm and sliding around her exposed midsection. Terra's eyes were closed, her lips still half-open from the almost violent interaction between her tongue and his. Beast Boy – being little more than thirteen – had never done anything close to a kiss like that. Whenever they went out, he and Terra held hands and pecked each other on the lips or the cheek when they were really romancy. What just happened was... unbelievable.
"Your anger tastes good," Beast Boy said in a deep, serious voice. There was a sparkle in his eye, and his confident smile made him look like one of the predators he could change into. "Now... what were you saying?"
Terra struggled to remember. But her head was a jumbled mess after the hormone rush her body went through in that intense moment of passion (!!??). She couldn't bring herself out of her stupor. "I... don't... remember."
The green teenager grinned. "Good." He made a sound like a tiger's growl (a real tiger's growl) to show his approval, then turned to leave the room. At the doorway, he stopped to add something. "I wouldn't worry about Raven. I can handle both of you. Heh heh heh."
Terra snapped out of her stupor. "What!?" But by the time she said it, Beast Boy was already gone. She put her hands on her hips indignantly. "That jerk! Who the hell does he think he is!? Get your butt back here you two-timer!" Terra stomped out of the gym to put in her two cents worth, but he wasn't at either end of the hallway. Terra remarked on how fast he was, and picked a random direction to pursue.
Beast Boy appeared from the shadows of the hallway, as calmly as if he'd been there the whole time. He smirked and lifted his fingers, which flowed with red light like a candle that gave off colored smoke. He chuckled softly to himself.
"Well... this is interesting." Beast Boy twirled his fingers around, watching as the trail materialized into the vague shape of a circle, only to become a hole in reality that led into the deepest, darkest pits of Hell. He blew on the hole gently, and the wisps of smoke disappeared along with the magical hole.
"This body will do for now," Beast Boy murmured, still mesmerized by the smoke trailing from his fingers. "All I have to do is prepare the ritual, and I'll be my old self once again... heh heh heh." He blew out the tips of his fingers, then turned to disappear into the nearest shadow.
~~
Raven opened her eyes to see the darkness of her own room. There were no windows in the Tower bedrooms, meaning that sunbeams couldn't peek into them to disturb sleeping teenagers if they wished to sleep until nine A.M. or later. Raven yawned and stretched her body loudly. She smacked her lips like someone chewing a piece of gum and scratched her stomach.
"'Bout time I woke up," Raven complained. "I want to get my kicks before 'big sis' decides to pass out again. There's so much to do." Raven sniffed her underarm and found the interesting odor of dog mixed with body sweat. She shrugged nonchalantly and headed straight for the door, not bothering to get a change of clothes or head into the bathroom for a shower. Like any disgusting child, 'Raven' felt sprucing up again was unnecessary. Once a week sufficed for anybody.
Raven walked through the halls sluggishly, her morning weariness not yet dissipated. That changed when her nostrils were touched by a pungent aroma far different from the sterilized smell of the cold steel surrounding her. She took a deep whiff and inhaled the fresh scent of breakfast, courtesy of expert chef Cyborg.
"Pan~cakes!" she shouted. Raven raced headfirst into a wall where a shadow blanketed the side. But seconds before she reached it, the lamp turned off to perform an automated maintenance routine. The lamp's light disappeared along with the shadows it cast at its edges. Raven slammed into the wall with enough force to knock the wind out of her and send her teetering backwards like a drunken mule.
"Oww..." Raven glared at the lamp. "Puke-smelling piece of crud!" Raven obliterated the tiny device with her magical abilities, showering the wall with glass shards. Raven found a different shadow, pounced into it, and disappeared instantly as if it were a toon's rabbit hole.
Raven popped up in the den within the shadow behind one of the comfort chairs. She crouched behind it and listened to the speaker above her. The calm, mildly masculine voice was Robin's, and he was talking to some young lady on the televiewer wall screen about replacing a faulty gear in the outdoor training course. The other conversant had to be a S.T.A.R. Labs techie – and from the sounds of it, she was an uptight dweeb, probably with huge glasses and plenty of zits to complement her geeky looks. This situation was ripe with possibilities...
"So you would like a replacement XFC-900 bi-rotary gear?" the girl asked. Robin confirmed it. "Will that be cash or charge?"
"We'll pay for it in trade!" Raven shouted. "Here's your piece!" She used a little magic and flicked it at Robin. Suddenly, the stunned hero was standing in the middle of the room as before, naked save for his ever present mask and a pair of green speedo-looking underwear. The girl on the televiewer gasped and covered her eyes in shock, while Robin jumped behind the nearest couch. He grabbed the remote there and quickly thanked the lady for her time before turning the screen off.
Raven cackled evilly behind the chair. "Score! One for me, zero for- *gak!!*" Robin had one hand firmly around Raven's throat before she even knew he'd crossed the room.
"Let me go, you snot-eating puke head!" she shouted as she struggled. "Azarath, Metrion- *gaaak!*" Robin tightened the grip on the last part of the chant, cutting it short before it could materialize. He placed his thumb firmly on the base of Raven's neck, where the spinal cord connected to the brain.
"My thumb is on your Tetra Quarzan chakra," he said grimly. "You can't cast your magic – only undo it. Now give me back my clothes."
"Can't you take a joke?" Raven said with a scratchy voice. "I'm just clowning around."
"Little tip, 'Raven'. Never say joke or clown to a kid from Gotham City. Now gimme back my clothes."
Raven snapped her fingers, and instantly Robin's uniform materialized on his body again. Robin let go of the struggling magician, who staggered to the couch and plopped down, her voice wheezing as she reclaimed her ability to fully breathe.
"Geez, it was just a... I was just saying good morning," Raven grouched. She gave her aching throat one final inhalation, and seemed to accumulate a loogie because of it. She opened a dimensional hole beside her and shot the loogie through the hole with expert skill before closing it up again. Robin looked on with disgust. He wished he hadn't seen that.
Cyborg walked out of the kitchen area, pan in hand and spatula in the other. His massive robotic body was obscured by his 'Ladies like heavy metal' chef apron. He even had a chef's white cap on his head. "What's all the ruckus out here?"
"Robin went medieval on me just because I gave one of the techie chicks the thrill of her life," Raven complained, still rubbing her throat. "And not in a lesbian way."
Cyborg scrunched his nose. "Thanks for clearing that up." He then looked over at Robin, who looked as angry as a short caucasian boy could look. "Who do we have the pleasure of?"
"Either Raven has a really irritating and disgusting side to her," Robin said. "Or she's trying to become Micheal Keaton from the movie Beetlejuice."
Raven scratched the side of her head with her middle finger, making sure that Robin saw her doing this. "You wish, bird boy."
"You're making bird jokes?" Robin countered. Raven stuck her tongue at him.
"That's enough you two," Cyborg snapped. Both teens crossed their arms and huffed. "Now look, we agreed to help Raven through her difficult time. So why don't you just kiss and make up."
"Works for me!" Raven said. She leapt like a panther across the room and pounced Robin so that he fell back into the chair she phased from. Now she was straddling the hapless hero and wrapping her arms around him, trying to keep him from escaping. "Kiss me, big boy!"
Cyborg sweatdropped as Robin wrestled free and escaped. Raven pursued him like a bird of prey. "This... is going to be an interesting day."
~~
Breakfast was interesting from a spectator's perspective. It started with everyone gathering in the den as usual. Cyborg was already there preparing his world famous homemade waffles and setting the table. Robin was trying to keep the smelly Raven away from her, as she kept making lewd comments about his uniform and his "pecking ability". By the time Starfire showed up to greet the gathering, Robin was thoroughly annoyed and Raven was in the middle of one her many glomp attempts. So Starfire went ballistic. An argument ensued between Raven and the alien about Robin, but it was cleverly disguised as an argument about "being nice to people who don't want to be touched".
Terra and Beast Boy showed up around the time this was settled. Terra was arguing with Beast Boy at some comment he made, while the green teenager was vehemently claiming that he didn't remember saying that to her. He claimed that the first thing he remembered was waking up next to Raven, then going to his room to shower. Then he ran into Terra in the hall on his way to the den for breakfast. Terra yelled that he rammed his tongue down her throat this morning, and that opened up an even bigger can of worms. It took the use of Cyborg's sonic cannon to control the riot and force everyone to sit down at the breakfast table like decent human beings.
"Al~right!" Cyborg proclaimed as he brought out the first few plates of waffles. "No day can start without my patented Blueberry-Cherry Waffles!"
"But many days have begun without us partaking of your waffles," Starfire mused, her cheeks glowing sweetly. Cyborg sweatdropped and dropped one of the plates in front of the alien, who thanked him obliviously before digging in.
"Here you go, kids," Cyborg said, following up with Raven's and Terra's plates. Terra grabbed her empty cup and poured some Sunny D into it, while Raven grabbed her utensils and started devouring the one waffle on her plate. Cyborg and Terra stared wide-eyed at the girl between them. Raven ate hardly anything, and it took her forever to eat because she always cut her food and chewed it slowly. Yet at that moment, Raven was sucking the plate dry like a starving orphan.
"More!" she said excitedly. Raven used her magic to grab three more waffles from the stacks in the kitchen and brought them to her plate. She dumped the three waffles in maple syrup, then knifed butter between every layer as if it were jelly. Raven went to work on this stack as well. It was painful for the others to watch.
"Uhh... you know Raven..." Cyborg started.
Starfire cooed excitedly as her fork struck something in her waffle. She fished it out and quickly cleaned off the waffle material with a napkin. Starfire happily displayed a Neopet statuette. "I found a prize in my waffle!"
Robin smiled. "Cy told you he'd do it."
"Thank you, Cyborg!" she cheered.
Cyborg was still staring at Raven's plate. "...I made one for Raven too. But... I don't know where it went."
Raven froze, half of a waffle snaking down her throat. "What?" The table blinked at her.
"Did you swallow your prize?" Starfire asked. "Is that possible for the human throat to do?" Robin and Cyborg sweatdropped even more. Technically, swallowing a Neopet would kill most people unless they were extremely lucky.
Raven looked at the plate of half-eaten waffles, and shrugged. "Eh. I'll get it when it comes out the other end."
Cyborg face-palmed so hard that a spark flew from the metal half of his face. "Oh man, I did NOT want to hear that!" The rest of the table showed similar sentiments. Raven continued scarfing down her waffles, her lips and cheeks covered in syrup and food flakes thanks to her sloppy eating.
Terra leaned over to Beast Boy, who'd been quietly eating the entire time. "This is the girl you're in love with?" she whispered with sardonic disdain.
Beast Boy threw his utensils down. "For the last time, I am NOT in LOVE with RAVEN! How many times do I have... to..." Beast Boy realized a little too late that he and Terra weren't alone anymore. Raven glanced up from her waffles at the sound of her name. The other half of the table looked on.
"I uh... I mean... I didn't mean it that way."
"What're you talking about!?" Terra shouted. "How are we supposed to take that! Either you LOVE somebody or you DON'T! There's no in-between!"
"Do you guys want some time alone...?" Cyborg asked. Both teens shouted 'No!' in response, knocking him back into his chair with the wind behind their voices.
"That's okay kid," Raven said as she finally took a napkin and wiped it across her face as an afterthought. "I'm not all that fond of you either."
Beast Boy and Terra stopped in mid-argument and stared. "Wh-what?" they said in unison.
"I kinda have the hots for some other superhero," Raven said, sneakily grinning at Robin. "One who fills out his suit much better." Robin glared back. Cyborg shook his head and lamented over the way this day was going.
Beast Boy blinked loudly and scratched his head. "Uh... huh?"
Terra couldn't stand it. WHO ARE YOU!? No matter how loud she yelled it in her head, she couldn't bring herself to ask it in real life. All she'd get is a stupid answer, like 'I'm Raven'. But Terra was quickly learning that there was more to that statement than one could possibly imagine.
Terra pounced on Raven's statement nonetheless. "You see! She likes Robin, not you!"
"She does not like Robin!" Starfire proclaimed, hugging said-hero in a death grip. "She said she likes 'some other superhero'!"
Robin sweatdropped. "Uh, Star..."
His sentence was cut off by the Titans communicator. Everyone's alarm piece went off and started blinking rapidly to indicate a super-crime going on within the city. The teens drew their comm devices and activated them to find out the situation synopsis.
"Whoa... this isn't good," Cyborg said, reading the synopsis in his eyepiece. "Two bad guys for the price of one."
"One's down by the old tile processing plant," Robin noted. "The other's at the stadium. That place is filled to full capacity right now!"
"The one at the stadium feels like some sort of magical force," Raven said, her voice returning to her 'normal' monotone flavor. It seemed that her emotional occupant had taken a backseat during this moment of seriousness. "The fact that I can feel it from here means it's really strong... or its source is nearby." Raven paused thoughtfully at that.
"Should we split into two teams, then?" Starfire suggested.
"This kind of force can't be fought with physical combat," Raven said. "None of you guys can really help me here. I'll go alone."
"Are you sure you'll be okay?" Beast Boy asked. "Even if we can't fight it, at least we can watch your back."
"I'm an empath," she said icily. "I don't need you to watch my back."
"She needs help watching her mouth though," Terra muttered. Raven glared at her.
"Fine, you handle the magical thing," Robin said. He cracked a smile. "And take your time. I really don't want to see that other side of you for a while."
Raven's expression changed into one with a lot more attitude. "Hey, I heard that you~!" Raven quickly covered her mouth to prevent the rest of the outburst. She reasserted herself and regained control of her body – specifically her mouth so that she wouldn't say anything else out-of-character.
"Oooo-kay," Cyborg said. "We'd better get going before the party starts without us."
"Right. Titans, GO!" The team raced to the hangar to board their deployment jet, then sped off into the morning sky towards the danger. As Raven waited for them to reach her drop-off point, she muttered to herself about cleanliness and tried to magically clean herself while Gross was incapacitated.
Raven looked up from her spellcasting to see Terra staring at her. She frowned lightly. "What?"
The blond girl shook her head slightly. "I don't know what to think of you. I mean... this you now is as different from the others as they are from each other. Which of you is the real you?"
"... I don't know," Raven muttered dismissively. "I'm still trying to find that out for myself." She looked up when she felt fresh and clean, thanks to an improvised, but effective cantrip. "Why do you care?"
Terra blushed slightly as she prepared to admit something personal. "Well... the whole point of this is to find the real you, and then be her. I was just wondering if the real you would... end up liking someone else. I can't really hate the real you, because you'll be a lot different from who you are now. We won't be at odds anymore."
Raven scowled a bit. "I guess. Nice to know I'm so loved by my teammates."
Terra's gentle expression turned cold again. "I'm trying to make peace with you. Don't you understand what I'm feeling right now?"
"Well, duh. I'm an empath."
"You know what I mean," she scowled back. "We've had problems from day one because you're a heartless goth who enjoys teasing my boyfriend with your 'I-like-you-but-I-don't-have-a-heart-woe-is-me' bit. The truth is that you don't deserve his attention, and I'm sick of competing with someone whose not a real person. You're just a ghost that needs to be ignored – a shadow."
"I'm not heartless. Nor am I a 'shadow'," Raven said indignantly. As an afterthought, she added, "And Beast Boy isn't your boyfriend."
Terra stared daggers at her in reply. Once again, she'd remembered what it was she hated about Raven. It was her lack of continuity. Nobody could tell whether she was serious, or simply laying on the sarcasm as was her usual response to things.
"I hope you fail to find your true self," Terra growled. "Then things will go back to normal. I can go on hating you without feeling guilty about it."
Raven watched her wander to the front of the jet, leaving her alone in the drop zone. She knew she should feel sad, but her emotions lacked intensity in her normal state. She felt a twinge of guilt, a trickle of sorrow, and a moment of concern. Then they disappeared as easily as a childhood memory. Raven felt nothing.
I'm not a shadow, Raven thought. Because a shadow still needs light to exist. There is no light in a soul born from the Devil. There is no light in my life... without someone like him to comfort me.
She opened the rear doors to reveal the cloud-covered skies above the San Francisco stadium. She pulled her hood around her head, then fell effortlessly from the ship like a bird that'd lost its wings. When her eyes were closed and her body was angled just right, it felt like she was soaring upwards to Heaven instead of falling downwards to what lay there.
It was a feeling she cherished while it lasted.
~~
The stadium cleared out quickly thanks to the fire emergency system and its lighted walkways guiding everyone to their nearest exits. By the time Raven floated to the playing field within the stadium, almost every stand was empty except for a few workers checking to make sure their customers were safe and out of the way. On the field itself though, there were still people trying to be heroic even though it was more dangerous than they could imagine.
"Get back!" shouted a football player, wielding a wooden bench as a weapon. He and his teammates threw everything they could get their hands on to stall the enemy before them. The threat manifested as a hazy, mostly invisible force that was big enough to be an elephant but had the distinct outline of something humanoid. Everything the football players threw or swung at the creature passed through it like it was air. In truth, it wasn't even that. Magic had no physical form until it was "released" or "opened". In other words, the players were wasting their time.
The monster suddenly shot an arm at the football player with the bench and "grabbed" him with a telekinetic grip. The player gasped as his heart was clenched tightly by this invisible force to hold him still. The man screamed and cried for help as he felt his body losing its strength. His life force – the vitality that gave him his youth and the strength to play his favorite game – was being slowly drained by the invisible attacker. His friends tried to pull him free, but their efforts were futile. Only magic could fight magic.
And that's where Raven came in. With a wave of her hand, she launched a telekinetic force bolt that snapped against the creature's main body, knocking it back and making it stumble enough to lose its grip on the man's body. The creature rolled to its feet and reached out for the players again, but Raven pressed the attack until the creature roared and backed off to defend itself from the onslaught.
"Go," Raven hissed, walking to where the men gathered. "Get out of the stadium, now. I'll deal with this." The players hastily agreed and made a beeline for the field exit. The monster was about to pursue them, when Raven intercepted and blocked his charge with a telekinetic shield that hovered inches from her arm. The monster jumped back and roared in a way that could not be compared to any animal. It was an unearthly scream.
Raven released a wave of telepathic thought, intended to make unseen things visible to those who used the five senses of the physical world. The invisible monster materialized into the shape of a humanoid demon with violet-gray skin and burning orange eyes, and a mane of black hair around its face. The creature had four leathery wings protruding from his back, though they were too torn and misshapen to actually function. The demon had fangs that dripped ectoplasm across its chest and onto the ground, where it became invisible once again.
This thing... I recognize it. I've seen it before, but... when? Where? Raven gasped as she realized what made this creature so familiar to her. She'd seen it in her youth, when she was barely old enough to think and remember. This kind of monster attacked her home in Azarath, on that day long ago. The day Trigon attacked Azarath and tried to take her away. The day her mother died protecting her. The day she was told to never feel emotions again.
This is one of my father's minions! Raven parried a storm of claw strikes with her shield, each blow weakening her more and more. But that's impossible! Trigon was killed... or at least his physical body died. How did this one get to this dimension? Unless... I brought him here.
The demon balled up its fists and slammed them against Raven's shield, shattering it like glass and showering pieces of the magical barrier everywhere, which became invisible just like the monster's drool did when it left a certain area. The monster rushed forward and punted Raven with all its might, sending her flying towards the goal posts down field and through the two field goal posts. She managed to stop herself before she hit the ground.
"HA!" Raven telekinetically grabbed a handful of water coolers from the sidelines and threw them across the field to where the demon stood. The creature seemed to dim for a moment, at which point the coolers flew through it like he wasn't there. His color solidified once again, and he stalked towards Raven as she continued to throw things at him. Each time something came close, the monster either batted it aside or phased through it like a ghost. Nothing seemed to hurt it.
He can materialize and dematerialize at will, Raven realized. He's definitely an astral spirit... a 'Soul Self'. Could it have come here looking for me, like when I was child? Raven started to feel guilty. The timing of this event was too perfect. It must be because... I risked using my emotions more freely. This thing is here because of me.
The monster leapt into the air to grab her, but Raven swooped out of the way just in time. The creature landed and slid to a halt before rubbing against the edge of the stadium, then charged towards the goal post to grab it and use it like a pitchfork. Raven attacked from the air, throwing bolt after bolt to try and hurt the beast. But the bolts did nothing more than damage and eventually destroy the goal post in his hands. The monster remained unharmed, and was quickly getting angrier.
I can't leave this thing here, Raven said. I have to get rid of it. But... how? It's too strong for my bolts, and there's no way to attack it physically.
Why don't you fight fire with fire, genius? Gross said from within. She was still hovering in the limbo of Raven's inner monologue, the point at which subconsciousness and consciousness connected.
Raven frowned. I can't. I'm not strong enough.
Then I'll help you, you whiny puss bucket. The sooner we finish this no-count, the sooner I can get my hands on Robbie-poo's sweet ass.
There's no way we can be from the same soul, Raven muttered internally. She opened her palm and focused her mind. It was time to unleash her secret weapon. "Azarath, Metrion, Synthos."
A stream of blackness erupted from Raven's hand like smoke, then materialized as a gigantic, demonic raven at the center of the field. It was even taller than the demon spirit by five or six feet, and its wingspan was more than twice the size of the raven itself. Raven's soul-self dwarfed the demon easily. And yet, she was worried. If this didn't work, she wouldn't even have the energy to defend herself or fly away. She was taking a risk. But unfortunately, Gross was right. She had to fight an intangible spirit with another intangible spirit.
Okay, you said you'd help, Raven thought angrily. Now, help.
I'm going, I'm going. It's my first time, remember? I've never done this since you didn't learn how to do this until 'Daddy' came to visit 'Mommy' and us in Azarath.
Raven projected her irritation at Gross like a wave. It was like hitting someone in the head with a really, really big hammer. Gross figured out that she'd better shut up before Raven did something she'd regret.
Okay, here goes. Azarath, Metrion, Synthos! Raven opened her other hand, and this time a stream of orange smoke shot to the ground and coalesced into a second intangible entity – another soul-self. This one was a red demon with a humanoid shape and exaggerated female features that would make any low-brow man drool with delight. She held up her clawed fingers, flexed her demonic wings, and smiled a toothy grin.
...That's your help? Manifesting your own lustful negativity into a weak, little spirit?
Look, I offered you my help and you accepted it. If you're going to whine about it, we might as well throw in the towel right now. But if you're ready to get off your high horse, miss 'positivity only', then you'd better do it now before we get our asses kicked.
Raven growled, but agreed. She willed her avian soul-self to take to the sky, while the succubus spirit motioned for the demon to approach her. The demon gladly obeyed and smashed its fists into the ground where the succubus was moments before. The demons fought back and forth, while Raven guided her soul-self into firing position.
If nothing else, your spirit makes a good distraction, Raven noted.
Just hurry up and kill the damn thing, ple~ase! The succubus was crushed in a bear hug by the minion, and the pain of that attack transferred to Gross' spiritual self as well. Raven could only imagine what kind of pain she was feeling from a monster with that much physical strength.
Raven focused her magic and chanted her magic words, channeling all the magical power she had left into her soul-self. The giant raven's four eyes glowed with red energy as it called upon its own spiritual attack – an ebony flame made from the fire of Raven's soul. The spirit put all of its (Raven's) strength into one final attack and let it fly as a draconian breath.
The demonic minion crushed the life out of the succubus, turning it into nothing more than particles of magical dust. The monster turned around just long enough to see the instrument of its demise. The prepared flame scorched the monster's astral form and burned until there was nothing left.
Raven smiled victoriously as she called back her soul-self and gladly reabsorbed its energy. "We did it. I mean... 'I' did it."
Oww.... unnh... Gross moaned and groaned from the pain of having her spirit crushed to pieces and its pain transferred to her. I'm going to need a chiropractor after that close encounter. Maybe I can get Robbie-poo to gimme a massage when this is all over. Raven twitched at the thought of a guy she thought of as her surrogate brother touching her like that.
I'm worried about the others, Raven admitted. If this spirit really was one of Father's minions, then either He or one of his servants must be here. I would know if that thing came from my soul.
You mean 'Smarty pants' would know. She's the only one of us who pays attention to what goes on in your head.
Raven agreed. Smart – her motherly double – seemed to know when things went wrong in her head. And yet, releasing her emotional barriers was her idea. Something about that made Raven wonder if Smart knew what was going on. But she didn't want to ask her now. Raven wanted to find her friends and help them deal with whatever threat was at the abandoned plant first.
And before you ask, I'm not going to ask Smarty what the deal is. I don't wanna lose my place in line! I have an appointment with Robin's, shall we say, nice beak.
You're disgusting, Raven said in understatement as she flew away.
~~
Beast Boy slowly opened his eyes, which had taken on a darker hue and an even darker visage in the interim of a blink. A trickle of blood ran down his nose from the internal damage of having his minion destroyed. Raven had performed as expected. Everything was going according to His plan.
"There's nothing here," Cyborg said as he panned the vast, lifeless factory. "I've scanned on every frequency I've got, and all I found were a bunch of rats and an old box of noodles."
"That's because there is nothing here," Beast Boy said coldly. "Your communicator was easy to fool with one of my many illusion spells."
All the other Titans gave him a strange look.
"Eh, Beast Boy?" Robin started. "If you were trying to make a joke, it wasn't very funny."
"Whose joking?" Beast Boy gave him a solid right hook that took the Boy Wonder by surprise and sent him crashing through several crates as if a car had run into him. Robin disappeared under a pile of old tiles that crashed on top of his downed body.
Starfire and the other Titans gasped. "Beast Boy, what have you done!?"
"You knocked Rob' cold in one punch!" Cyborg shouted. "What kind of tofu have you been eating?" The metal Titan was knocked down next by a solid hit from Beast Boy, who ran the short distance to him with startling speed and clocked the armored teen as if he were nothing. Cyborg didn't skid quite as far as Robin, and he wasn't knocked unconscious because of sheer durability, but he still felt the punch nonetheless. Terra ran over to where he fell to see if he was damaged, but he sat up quickly and joined Terra in gawking at the estranged Titan.
Starfire grabbed Beast Boy in a tight bear hug to prevent him from moving. "Beast Boy, why are you acting so strange? We are your friends!"
"Call it a change of loyalties, babe." Beast Boy headbutted the tamaranean with startling force, knocking Starfire senseless and making her stumble backwards from the sudden shock. As she fell to her knees from dizziness, Beast Boy kicked her jaw with equally surprising strength, causing her to spit blood as she was put down completely.
Terra watched in fear, unsure of what to do. "Beast Boy..."
Cyborg unsheathed his sonic cannon and aimed it squarely at his pal. "I don't know what the deal is, but I'm gonna shut you up until we figure it out!" Cyborg's cannon blasted a sonic wave that catapulted through the air and shook the room with its secondary reverberations.
Beast Boy held up his hand and "caught" the wave, deflecting it in every direction as if a hose were spraying instead of the single deadliest weapon in the Teen Titans' arsenal. Beast Boy shouted an unintelligible word, and a red beam sliced through the sonic attack and punctured Cyborg's weapon-arm, causing it to short-circuit and explode. Cyborg fell sideways as his mechanical arm was reduced to rubble, leaving him short one arm and structurally damaged from the internal explosion. He tried to get back up immediately, but he needed to regain his sense of balance first. Beast Boy took this opportunity to walk over, hold up Cyborg by the front as if he were a rag doll, and punch his lights out with a solid right hook. Beast Boy dropped the limp Titan and set his sights on Terra, who was still paralyzed with indecision.
"Beast Boy... I thought..."
"You thought you were the only traitor in the tower," he said as he walked over, smiling and towering over the girl in terms of confidence even though they were the same height. "Well, I've got a news flash for you. Everyone has a dark side. And if you plant the right seed, you can bring out that dark side for the world to see. Just like Slade did with you."
Terra went pale. "Then... you know my secret..."
"I know your secret. But Beast Boy doesn't know," he said with a grin. "Not the 'normal' one, anyway. For him, this is like a dream. He probably won't remember this by the time I'm finally through borrowing his body."
Terra's body trembled as she realized, with frightening certainty, that she was way out of her league here. The rules of the game had changed. "If you're not Beast Boy, then... who are you?"
Beast Boy put a hand on Terra's cheek and leaned close. "I go by a lot of names – Satan, Lucifer, Beelzebub, Malebolgia... But for now, why don't you do the honors."
The girl was too terrified to move away. She wanted to scream, but her throat couldn't do it. She could barely whisper. "Oh my... God..."
Beast Boy smirked lightly. "Heh heh heh.... That's what Daddy likes to hear."
~~