Author's Note: I know what needs to be done in this fic, but I'm trying to make the characters not incredibly OOC, which I feel like I'm failing abysmally at. L Are Raven and Cyborg acting out of character? Please tell me honestly. Now… on to Wednesday!
Chapter 4: Wednesday
"Azarath. Metrion. Zinthos."
Raven floated peacefully in the familiar dark expanse of her mind, calming herself and gathering control of her powers.
"Azarath. Metrion. Zinthos."
Raven's petite figure bobbed up and down in the air, suspended by the strong force of her mind through meditation. Her blue cloak brushed the floor, making a soft swishing sound each time. She held her hands upward but relaxed, chanting the words that called forth her powers.
"Azarath. Metrion. Zinthos."
It was Wednesday, and three days had passed since Robin, Starfire, and Beast Boy had left for Bruce Wayne's mansion and a weeklong vacation. She vaguely wondered what her friends were up to.
"Azarath. Metrion. Zinthos."
Raven cleared her mind, breathing deep and exhaling. Control was everything. Hiding her emotions deep inside her soul so that she didn't have to worry about exploding or shattering things. Her extremely sensitive, emotion-driven powers could only be tamed by concentration and meditation.
"Azarath. Metrion. Zinthos. Azarath. Metrion. Zinthos."
"Raven?"
Raven opened one eye.
"Yes?"
Cyborg opened his mouth to say something, changed his mind, and started over. Raven drifted down from her levitated place in the air and sat Indian-style on floor.
"Raven, I really like you, and I want to know where we stand."
Raven started, but covered her surprise well. She knew this was coming, and she dreaded it and wished for it to come at the same time. She started to speak, but was cut off when the lights in the room flashed red and the alarm sounded.
"Trouble," Raven said, hurrying over to the consol and scanning the map displayed over the screen. "I thought the police were on it this week!"
Cyborg nodded grimly, then gave Raven a halfhearted grin.
"Hey, since my man Robin isn't here, I might as well say it for him. TITANS, GO!"
"Run!" Screamed a woman to the crowd around her. She followed her own advice, heels clicking on cement as she ran as fast as she could. Behind her, a cackling roar could be heard, followed by sharp bolts of electricity arching through the air. People around screamed as the electric monster sizzled everything in its path, and an ambulance could be heard in the distance, growing louder as it approached. Law enforcement vehicles surrounded the area, but were forced to draw back as Overload made his way toward them. Helpless, the police retreated alongside scared citizens, much to the outrage of the latter party. One of citizen stood his ground and declared over the noise that his tax dollars better be going to something worthwhile if this was all he was getting from the government safety-wise. Overload cackled and made his way through the panicking streets, burning and scorching everything in his path.
"Where are the Teen Titans?!" A woman cried, seeking refuge inside a store selling tires.
"Right here." Cyborg said, cannon raised into the air and charging blue. He was about to shoot when Raven yelled.
"No, Cyborg! The beam only feeds into his energy. We need another way to defeat him."
Her dark powers captured a fire hydrant and ripped it open, directing the pressure of the water toward their enemy. The pent up pressure pushed the water forward with amazing force, colliding with the side of the creature's head. Overload bellowed, but instead of dwindling to a steaming chip, he merely doubled in size, seemingly swallowing the onslaught of liquid.
"Uh-oh." Raven said unnecessarily as Overload turned toward the two lone Titans.
"MOVE!" Cyborg yelled, pushing Raven out of the way as Overload sent a tentacle of static electricity toward his foes. Cyborg cried out as the electricity ran through his body, mechanical and not, sending him slamming into the glass display windows of a nearby shop. There was no movement within.
"Cyborg!" Raven screamed hoarsely. She turned to the monster, eyes glowing red and hands encased in the dark powers she possessed.
"You'll pay for that one." She said murderously. She raised her hands into the air. "YAHH!" She yelled as she sent everything she had, all her emotions, at the monster in front of her. It stared stupidly at Raven as her hate, joy, anger, sadness, love, and more hit it head on. Shrieking, Overload melted to the ground, hit by something more than just the force of the black voltage that came from the blue-clad enchantress. Raven wearily slipped from the air to the pavement below, breathing heavily.
She stood and made her way through the broken scene to the shop window. The display was shattered, glass showering everything within the vicinity. Raven gingerly advanced past the shards of glass, coming upon a dark line of skid marks that indicated where her cybernetic roommate lay. She looked up and saw him on his back, eyes shut. Running over, she knelt by his side and shook him roughly.
"Cyborg. Cyborg, wake up." She said vehemently. She grabbed him by his broad shoulders and shook him again. "Wake up, Cyborg. Wake up!"
She mentally berated herself for never asking any one how to bring a robot back to consciousness. More specifically, a half-robot, half-human who she was feeling more than infatuation for. Much more. She didn't even know what was wrong with his systems! The smart choice would be to contact Robin, who undoubtedly did know. But who knew if Cyborg would be okay for that long? Gotham City was too far away.
Throwing caution to the wind, Raven summoned her strength and placed her illuminated hands on Cyborg's chest.
"Here goes nothing," Raven muttered.
She released her hold on the black void in her palms. It hovered over Cyborg's chest and, strangely, absorbed into the metal that covered it. Cyborg levitated a moment and then fell heavily onto the hard linoleum of the store floor. His eyes opened slowly (or rather, one eye opened and the other winked on and off before glowing a steady red) and he blinked a few times, Raven's face swimming into view. He sat up and rubbed his neck.
"Ugh, I feel like I just got hit in the head with a ton of bricks." He groaned. He saw a weary Raven kneeling beside him and said, "What happened?"
"You jumped in front of Overload's shot and got hit by his electricity." Raven said, helping Cyborg up. "I didn't know what to do, so I tried to fix you with my powers. I… I guess it worked." She added sheepishly.
Cyborg grinned and flexed his fingers.
"Yeah, but you know you probably coulda just plugged me in somewhere to recharge me."
Raven flushed and Cyborg laughed.
"Oh well. So where's Overload?" Cyborg asked.
"Uhhh." Raven said uncertainly, but glad to be off their previous subject. "I think I killed him."
A bright light grew offensively brilliant and flashed and sparked. Three bolts of electricity sparked and burned with incredibly heat, uninvited and horribly close to their target. Raven and Cyborg gasped, and Cyborg shoved Raven behind him protectively.
"Wait, hey!" Raven exclaimed before glaring evilly at Cyborg and pushing him away to stand her own. He looked at her with an apologetic smile, which she didn't return; having other people protect her just wasn't Raven's way.
Overload had miraculously revived, and was approaching the store. But before the Titans could strike, Overload seemed to overload on himself. Hiccupping and coughing, Overload staggered backward, falling down and gurgling deep in its invisible throat. The brilliance of electricity that made up the villain faded as the creature coughed and sputtered, retching with each breath he took.
"What the…" Cyborg trailed off, backing away.
"Something's affecting him." Raven level-headedly spoke. "I don't know what it is, but it's stopped him in his tracks."
The two stood by uncertainly as they watched Overload gag and choke, slowly shrinking and diminishing in intensity.
"The most," – gasp – "powerful," – choke – "emotion –" Overload ground out as he died, unable to finish his sentence. Silence reigned over the empty, half-demolished street. Cyborg and Raven looked at each other, and then Cyborg reached out and broke the chip in half.
Back at the Tower, Raven made herself some herbal tea to calm her nerves after the fight. She stirred slowly, breathing in the soothing scent of chamomile and lavender as the metal spoon clinked melodically on the sides of the mug. She dunked the tea bag twice before scooping it out and tossing it into the garbage. She blew on her drink once, and was almost surprised (but not quite) when she saw Cyborg sitting at the table.
She sat across from him.
"You're wanting an answer to your question?" She murmured, sipping her tea.
Cyborg wasn't surprised any more that she practically knew what he was thinking. He sighed inwardly; he wasn't a mushy guy, but something had made him fall for Raven and he couldn't not tell her.
"Rae… I think…" Cyborg stopped, correcting himself. "No, I know it… I'm falling in love with you."
Raven's beautiful violet eyes widened and she set down her tea. She got up from her seat and stood in front of him. Her heart beat fast and she looked into Cyborg's eyes.
"I was waiting for you to say that." She whispered. "Waiting for a long, long time."
Cyborg stood and took her in his arms, and the two kissed passionately, bumping into things as they blindly made their way out of the kitchen and to the horseshoe couch. Raven pushed Cyborg over, and he fell over the back of the couch with Raven on top of him. The lights in the city lost power as Raven's abilities went haywire momentarily. As the room turned dark and flickered back to light five minutes later, Raven nervously laughed at Cyborg, who was staring at her.
"Umm… accident?" She joked dryly before kissing him soundly. Locking lips once more, the two lovers rolled off the seats and onto the floor, lost in each other's arms.
Farther away in Gotham City, Starfire, Beast Boy, and Robin were enjoying the halfway point of their vacation. The Wayne mansion was beautiful and spacious, luxurious and comfortable, and the three friends were having lots of fun. Currently, they were dining with Bruce Wayne, also known as Batman.
"…And basically this is the coolest place I've ever been to aside from the fact that it has no babes." Beast Boy finished happily. He gestured with his fork and splattered Starfire (who burst out laughing) with a bit of gravy.
Bruce smirked at Beast Boy's last statement.
"Yes, my home does seem to be a bit… babe-less." He joked with surprisingly Raven-like humor.
Suddenly, the lights flickered violently on and off.
Robin looked around.
"Weird." He said. "Power surge, I guess."
Author's Note: Please review! Next chapter coming as soon as possible! I'm trying to make them longer.