Chapter 11
Beastboy stared up at the monster that only moments before had been Raven. The being continued to laugh at them. Slade laughed too.
"You see, Titans? I am successful"
"No!" Beastboy shouted. He ran forward.
"Raven? Can you hear me?"
But it didn't reply. The evil blasted him back. He tumbled head over heels, landing in front of the Titans. Starfire helped him up. Robin put down his bag of weapons from the tower and pulled out his pole and extended it, readying himself for a fight. Starfire seized the pole.
"Robin, no!"
"Starfire, let go!"
"That's Raven! You must not hurt her!"
Robin frowned and shouted,
"It's not Raven anymore!"
"It is! SHE is!" Starfire said, holding on to the pole.
Another blast of black light sent them spinning back. Beastboy picked himself up and stared up at her.
"Raven, I know you're in there!"
"NO! NO RAVEN… JUST ANGER!" The monster cried, red eyes flashing cruelly. Beastboy shook his head. He couldn't, wouldn't believe it.
"Beastboy, watch out!" Starfire screamed. He looked around and saw black light rushing at him. He jumped up and turned into a bird. Robin turned to Cyborg.
"Cy, get in there!" Then he turned to Beastboy.
"In my bag, I've got-" But another shot of black light broke him off.
The boy ran forward and blasted pale blue light at the monster. But the light was absorbed into the darkness covering the monster. Cyborg lifted his blaster again but green light knocked it away.
"Starfire, what're you doing?" He shouted at the Tamaranian. She prepared another ball of green energy.
"You must not hurt her." Starfire told him. Cyborg groaned.
"Star, she's going to kill us! She's not Raven anymore." Beastboy landed next to them. Starfire looked at him.
"What are we to do?"
"I don't know… I know she's in there!" He said helplessly. Robin put a hand on his shoulder.
"Beastboy-"
"YOU MUST DIE." The monster suddenly boomed and moved towards them. The Titans split up, diving in different directions to avoid the shot of darkness.
Starfire did not manage to avoid the black light entirely. Her lower body was enveloped in the darkness and she fell with a cry of pain. Her head hit the ground and she blacked out. Robin shouted angrily and threw himself at the monster while Cyborg sent columns of blue energy at it. Beastboy held back. He couldn't… it was Raven, HIS Raven…
"SUFFER!" It cried and Robin was slammed into a wall. He slumped to the floor, unconscious. Cyborg continued to attack but to no avail. He too was soon out of it.
The monster turned on Beastboy. He stared up at it and shouted,
"Listen to me! Raven, you've got to fight it! You did it before, you can do it now!"
"NO RAVEN. ANGER RULES ALL!"
"No! Raven, listen to me!" Black light pummelled his body and he fell to his knees, but did not lose consciousness. He pulled himself up and shouted,
"Raven, it's me. I'm here, I'll always be here. Fight it!"
"STOP!" Anger cried.
"I'll never stop! Raven…I promised! Remember? On the roof, when you left? I promised that I would try harder and I will! But YOU have to come back!"
Anger roared with fury and charged at Beastboy. He managed to dodge the blow and continued to shout.
"I didn't believe you were dead! Because you're not! I wouldn't do it, I couldn't do it. I pretended but I didn't believe it!"
"NO MORE TALKING!"
More light hit him but he managed to stay standing. He took a deep breath.
"Raven… a thousand words wouldn't have made you stay. But I'll say a thousand words to make you come back. A Thousand Words, Raven! Come back to me! Fight the darkness."
He fell to his knees and this time could not get back up to his feet. Dark specks blotted his vision but he could see the Teen Titans lying on the floor. Slade had vanished. The only other things moving in the room apart from the monster were the Emotions.
The Emotions… of course!
Beastboy called to them.
"Help her! Help Raven!"
They moved to join him. Timid clung to Happy's arm. Brave stood next to Beastboy. He shook his head to clear his vision. Blood trickled down from his head and he wiped it away. Anger glared down at them, menacingly.
"PAIN TO ALL."
The Emotions didn't move. Beastboy stood shakily.
"Help her!"
"We can't. There's nowhere to send Anger. We can't just unleash it." Said one of the Emotions. Beastboy. He stared around at them all. Even Lazy looked alert and scared.
Suddenly Brave spoke up.
"The mirror…"
"It's back at the Tower." Beastboy said. He ran a hand through his hair, and shouted as black energy bolted towards them. They scattered and regrouped at the other end of the room. Beastboy joined them and tripped over something. Looking down, he saw Robin's weapon bag.
"Didn't he say he had something?" Happy said. Beastboy nodded. Ducking down he seized the bag and emptied the contents onto the floor. Blades, guns, a spare pole.
And the mirror. Beastboy stared at it.
"If I wasn't so mad at him I would kiss that guy!" He said wonderingly. He looked at the Emotions.
"Let's go."
They spread out. Anger roared but the Emotions were spinning in a blinding circle. Beastboy watched, holding the mirror tightly.
Suddenly each of the emotions rushed forward, almost too fast to see, and joined together in the monster. White light shone brightly, blinding the changeling. But he kept on watching.
As the light faded, he saw the Emotions again. Anger stood in the centre of the circle, standing over Raven, who lay at her feet. The Emotions looked as one towards him. He held up the mirror.
Anger turned on him.
"You can not stop me!" She raged at him. He raised an eyebrow.
"Stop me."
The mirrors surface changed. It had been dark and deserted before. Now it gleamed and a shot of light came from it and hit Anger like a bolt of lightening. Anger screamed, her red cloak rippling.
Beastboy struggled to hold the mirror. It was if a great force was ripping through him. Finally Anger was sucked through into the mirror. Beastboy fell to his knees for a third time. Throwing the mirror as far from him as possible, he hurried over to Raven. He could hear the other Titans stirring and groaning but he couldn't look at them. All that mattered right now was Raven.
The Emotions crowded around him. He looked up at them.
"Why won't she wake up? Please, help her." They didn't answer. Beastboy blinked back tears. Happy smiled.
"OK, we'll help. Don't go getting all weepy on us."
Beastboy hugged Raven to his chest. Her head lolled forward and he held it, her dark hair spilling over her face. The Emotions formed the circle again and began to spin as they had before. Beastboy didn't notice as the Teen Titans stared at him, through the circle of colours.
The Emotions all rushed as balls of light towards Raven. Her body shook and fell still as they entered her. But she did not wake up.
"Raven?" Beastboy whispered. There was no response. Starfire gasped and started to sob. Robin stood behind her and she turned to weep into his shoulder. Cyborg stood, staring down at Beastboy.
He didn't see any of it. A tear leaked down his cheek and fell like a miniature diamond onto Raven's pale skin.
"Raven? Please wake up. Please… wake up…" He choked over the lump in his throat. Nothing happened. Overcome with grief he lifted her to his face and kissed her forehead. The single tear became rivers of grief as again and again he spoke her name, crying freely. The other three could only watch as he rocked back and forward, still clinging to the girl in his arms.