Chapter II
Starfire paced around the living area of the Tower impatiently, holding in her hands a bowl full of what look like a thick green slime. It had been at least three hours since the battle against Slade and the alien wished to share the pudding of thankfulness with her dark friend. Cyborg took one look at the slime and instantly sorry for Beast Boy, listening to him barf his guts up in the bathroom. The poor changeling was the unlucky taster of Starfire's pudding of thankfulness, making his face turn a paler shade of green before he rushed off into the bathroom.
"Is he still in there?" asked Robin as he looked up at Cyborg from his paper, making his metal friend give him a look instead of a word answer, "Yikes I'm glad that wasn't me tasting that stuff then" said Robin as he glanced at the bathroom door himself before returning to his paper, making Cyborg nod in agreement as he sat down facing his friend.
"Anything good on the TV tonight?" asked Cyborg as he watched his friend read the paper, making Robin smile slightly as he handed him the TV listings.
"Not much" replied Robin as he looked at his friend from his paper, "A few films but that's about it" he said as he returned to his reading leaving Cyborg to read the TV listings as he walked towards the couch.
"I wouldn't use the bathroom for a few hours" groaned a much paler Beast boy as he staggered out of the bathroom, half throwing himself half dropping onto the couch as he groaned even more.
"That bad huh?" asked Cyborg as he eased himself down beside his friend, being careful not to make Beast Boy vomit again.
"Lets just say the toilet is now a nice shade of green" replied Beast boy from the cushion as he tried o turn and look at the TV, "Is there anything good on?" he asked weakly as he looked at the blank screen.
"Nothing but a six hour long comedy movie marathon" replied Cyborg with a smile as he turned the TV on just in time for the opened credits of the first movie.
"SWEET!" cheered Beast Boy as he leapt up into a sitting position, his face had returned to its usual; 'healthy' shade of green, "I hop they show Monkey Madness part three, that film rocked" he said as he waited for the credits to end.
"That was a quick recovery" remarked Cyborg as he looked at his 'sick' friend in disbelief.
"You know what they say dude laughter is often the best medicine" smiled Beast Boy as he gave Cyborg a quick look before returning to staring at the huge TV screen.
"Right" smiled Cyborg as he stood up again and began to walk towards the kitchen, "But in order to help you make a full recovery we need one thing" he said as he rummaged through the cupboards, staying as afar away from Starfire's pudding as possible.
"POPCORN!" he cheered as he lifted a huge bag of popcorn out of the cupboard and held it in the air like a trophy. Beast Boy whooped in excitement before breaking down into laughter as a large monkey threw a custard pie into the face of some unsuspecting police officer. Cyborg occasionally looked over at the screen and laughed as he waited for the popcorn to finish, cursing under his breath at the slowness of the microwave.
"Finally" he smiled as the machine beeped, allowing to pour the warm popcorn into a large bowl and carry it back to the living area couch, just in time to watch the monkey get covered in green paint, "You know he looks a lot like you" said Cyborg as he handed the bowl to Beast Boy, making the green changeling give his friend a look as the green monkey chased the painter around the place with a custard pie in its hand. Needless to say the painter got hit with the pie, making both Beast boy and Cyborg roar in laughter as they watched the carnage begin to unfold.
"Aww man that monkey cracks me up" laughed Cyborg as the said ape chased another man around the room with another of the now infamous pies in its hands, making both Beast Boy and Cyborg once again break down into a laughter fit as it fell face first into the said pie.
"Custard pies…I mean what could be funnier?" laughed Beast Boy as he shoved another handful of popcorn into his mouth, making his laughter become muffled as the monkey threw even more pies around the room. Robin listened to his friends laughter, laughing quietly himself as he heard the pies hit against peoples faces. He stopped as Starfire paced by him for about the twelve time, still holding the main pudding bowl in her hands.
"Relax Star I'm sure Raven will be here any minute" he said as he folded his paper and looked at Starfire, making her stop and look at him with a slight smile.
"Bt what if she is in trouble and needs our assistance, she had been gone a very long time and I am…." but her words where cut off as Robin placed a single finger on her mouth, making her turn to putty on the inside as she felt him touch her skin.
"You know your problem Star?" asked Robin as he removed his hand from her lips and smiled at her, "You have a big heart" he smiled as he looked at her, making her smile slightly more as she looked back into his mask.
"Is that a bad thing?" she asked out of curiosity, blinking once with her emerald eyes.
"No" replied Robin with a small smile as he stood up, "It's the part of you I like the most" he winked before he walked over to the couch, throwing himself between beast boy and Cyborg, much to their annoyment as he grabbed the popcorn bowl.
xxx
A large black bird erupted from the roof of the Tower before it faded away leaving Raven standing on the Tower. She looked out at the city with her four red eyes, snarling as she sensed the disease her father called life.
"Soon it shall all come it an end" she said in a distorted voice, laughing as she turned and walked towards the roof excess door. She cast her glamour spell once again before she entered the Tower, returning her eyes to their original human form.
"I'm home!" she called out as she entered the living area, making Starfire shot up from the table and fly towards her with a huge grin on her cheerful face.
"RAVEN YOU HAVE RETURNED!!!" she cheered as she grabbed hold of Raven, making the half demon brace herself as she expected another of Starfire's bone shattering hugs. She was surprised as the alien hugged her gently, doing her best to keep her incredible strength hidden as Raven return the hug.
"Hello…Starfire" replied Raven as she returned the hug, delaying her reply slightly as she tried to remember who she was talking to. The commotion made Robin look up and smile as his saw Starfire hugging Raven, he was surprised to actually see that raven was returning the hug making his bad feeling return as he flipped over the couch and walked towards them. Raven broke the embrace with Starfire and watched Robin walking towards her, looking past him at the large window with the moving images on it.
"Hey Raven I see you decided to come back" smiled Robin as he stood in front of her, making her look at him again with a slight smile.
"No place like home" she replied as she took her hood down, brushing her hair away from her face in the process.
"So where did you go?" he asked as he folded his arms and looked at her, his mask made it impossible for her to tell if he was just asking or interrogating her on her whereabouts.
"I was at my depressing café if you must know" replied Raven as Trigon scanned through her memories, hoping that the masked teen would fall for her lie. She was relieved to see him smile and walk back to the couch, rejoining Cyborg and Beast Boy as they watched the monkey attack and pie an entire army of penguins.
"Friend Raven do you wish to share the pudding of thankfulness with me?" asked Starfire as she held the slime covered bowl to raven's face, smiling as she watched her friend look at the bowl suspiciously.
"Maybe later Starfire" answered Raven before she walked away, melting away into the shadows as she made her way to her room. Starfire watched her friend leave with a sad heart, she did her best to hide her tears as she floated towards the fridge and placed her pudding into it, feeling even more upset when she closed the door once again.
xxx
A pair of grey eyes glittered in the dying light of the street as a single figure silently stepped out of a shadow. The corpse slave looked around itself at the near quiet street, looking for more victims he could introduce to the church of blood. The sound of laughter caught the creatures attention as its head snapped round towards a brightly lit building, it smiled as it heard the laugher once again making it stalk towards the building in complete silence. The building looked run down and had boards nailed over all the windows, making the corpse smile as it placed one of its dead hands on the boards nearest to it.
"Humans are they ever safe?" it asked itself cheerfully as it pressed its hand against the board, making it seemingly phase through it with no resistance. A woman screamed as the creature phased through the wall, making everyone in the room jump up from where they where sitting and stare at the strange creature that had seemingly passed through the wall. The corpse slave took a quick look at the people in the room, smiling as its dead eyes looked each of them over. The first was the screaming woman, she was slight in build and wore what looked a black wedding dress. The second was a larger man but still slight in build, in his hand he held a rusted knife and wore a worn down leather coat and old jeans. The last was clearly the largest of the men, with a build to match. He wore a simple white vest and jeans as he tried to stop his legs from trembling. The creature then moved like lightning, grabbing the woman by the throat and pressing her against the wall behind her. The smaller of the men reacted instantly and stabbed his knife into the creatures side repeatedly as he closed his eyes and screamed. The creature ignored the pathetic attacks and continued to squeeze the woman's throat until its hand completely crushed her windpipe, making her body go limp before it dropped it to the ground.
"SAM!" yelled the larger of the men as he rushed at the creature, intending to tackle the thing to the ground. The creature smiled as it side stepped the man and pushed him into the wall, much to the horror of the smaller man as he watched his larger friend's head smash into the wall. The creature then turned its attention to the smaller man and leapt at him, batting away his knife as he forced him against the nearest wall. The smaller man kicked and screamed as the creature held him against the wall, intending to do the same to him as it had done to the woman. The man coughed as he felt the creature grip his throat but instead of crushing the mans wind pipe the creature simply jerked its wrist to one side, breaking the mans neck in an instant. The man ceased to move as the creature dropped him to the ground turning its attention the larger man once again. The man had now gotten back onto his feet and had a board with a large rusted nail in it in his hands, making him feel a lot braver as he glared back at the strange creature.
"You want me then come get me" beckoned the man as he looked at the creature, making it look down at the board with amusement.
"As you wish human" it smiled before he leapt at the man, making him close his eyes as he blindly swung his weapon at the creature. The creature avoided most of the wild attacks but a few managed to tear pieces of its dead flesh from its body. With a single movement it had grabbed the man by the throat and had hoisted him into the air, smiling as it watched his feet kick about in the air. The man knew the creature was trying to do the same thing it had done to his friends and quickly hit the creature in the face with the board, driving the nail into the creatures right eye. The man laughed as the creature dropped him to the ground, making him smile as it watched it stagger about the room in pain.
"That's what you get when you mess with the Bull" smiled the man as he stood back up and watched the creature flail about. The creature suddenly stopped and looked at the man, smiling as it tilted its head slightly. It continued to smile as it pulled the nail free from its eye, making the blood gush out from the hole that used to house its right eye.
"What are you?" stammered the terrified Bull as he looked at the creature, not noticing that his pants where now soaked in his own urine. The creature didn't reply as it pounced on the man, forcing him to the ground as its blood fell onto the Bull's terrified face.
"Scream if you want" whispered the corpse as it smiled at the man. A blood curdling scream was heard echoing out from the building before it was abruptly cut short returning the street to silence once again. After a few moments the creature left the building, only this time it wasn't alone…this time it was being followed by three others.
xxx
Raven closed her door behind her quietly and looked about her room, dispelling the spell that made her eyes look normal. Her four eyes filled the room with a strange red glow as she walked towards her bed, running her fingers along the books on her bookcase as she past them. She looked at the various objects in the room, studying some of them before she put them back where they belonged.
"Master" said a voice from the darkness behind her, making Raven turn and smile as she saw a single eye looking back at her.
"Yes Sebastian?" replied Raven as she looked at her first corpse slave, making the creature dip its head low as she looked at it.
"I have come to inform you that three others have joined your cause" spoke Sebastian as he looked up slightly, the blood continued to drip from the place where it's eye used to rest.
"Excellent" smiled Raven as she turned away from her slave, "But four isn't going to enough…I need more" she said as she looked over her shoulder at Sebastian, making the creature smile before it melted back into the shadows once again.
"Soon father you shall be returned to this realm" she whispered as she looked into her nearest mirror, smiling as four huge yellow eyes appeared on its surface, "And then all shall end by your hand" she smiled as she ran her fingers along the surface of the mirror gently.
xxx
Cyborg yawned as the end credits began to scroll up the screen, marking the end of the six hour movie marathon much to the disappointment of Beast Boy.
"It's over it can't be over it's like only twelve thirty!" he complained as he stared at the end credits with teary eyes, making Cyborg sigh as he tapped his friend on the head.
"Yeah twelve thirty at night" he said as he showed Beast Boy the clock on his cybernetic arm, "Besides I'm beat" he yawned again as he walked towards the control panel on the wall. Beast Boy sighed again a he turned the TV screen off, instantly yawing as the screen went to black.
"It was a wondrous race of movies yes?" asked Starfire as she floated next to Robin, yawing slightly herself as she looked at him.
"It was surprisingly" smiled Robin as he scratched his head, trying his best not to yawn.
"Well Titan's Tower is all locked up and I'm going to bed" said Cyborg as he closed the control door, "Goodnight guys" he said before he walked towards his room, stretching his arms into the air as he disappeared into the darkness.
"I also wish you all a fond night" smiled Starfire sweetly before she floated off to her own room, making Robin smile at how innocent she made everything sound.
"Nite dude" said Beast Boy as he patted Robin on the back and walked off to his room.
"Yeah nite BB" smiled Robin as he yawned, stretching both of his arms into the air. He took one last look at the empty living area before he walked towards his won room, turning off the light as he left.
xxx
Raven did he best to sleep but Trigon wasn't used to resting, always making her wake up again a few minutes after she seemed to have nodded off.
"Are you ok my master?" asked Sebastian as he appeared from the shadows at the foot of Raven's bed, looking at her with his only working eye.
"I am fine" replied Raven coldly as she swung her feet out of bed and walked towards her large wall mirror, "I am just having trouble with this sleep thing" she admitted as she looked at the mirrors black surface. Sebastian didn't dare say a word as he watched Raven look at the mirror, his dead eye didn't blink as he knelt in the shadows.
"Your slaves are bringing more to your cause, soon you will have an army" said Sebastian after a moment of silence, bringing a smile to Raven's face as she turned and looked at her first born slave.
"You have done well Sebastian" remarked Raven as she looked at him, making the unholy creature smile as it dipped its head to her.
"It was an honour master" said the undead being as it looked up at Raven again, licking the blood off its face as it dribbled into its mouth. Raven was about to say something to her slave until she heard a knock on her door, making Sebastian instantly melt away into the shadows once again. She straightened herself and cast the glamour spell once again before she walked towards her door.
"What?" asked Raven almost coldly as she opened the door and saw Robin standing there, looking at her as he leaned on the wall beside her door.
"I heard voices" he replied almost instantly, "So I decided to see if you where ok" he said as he pushed himself off the wall and looked at her.
"I'm fine it was just a nightmare" replied Raven as she looked at him, hiding most of her body behind her door.
"You ok Raven since you got home you've been acting kinda…weird?" asked Robin as he looked at her, his faced showed her that he was concerned for her safety.
"My father's presence has been getting harder to keep under control" said Raven as she looked at him, doing her best to look sad as she blinked with her amethyst eyes.
"You wanna talk about it?" asked Robin as he looked at her, becoming lost in the beauty of her gently eyes.
"I would rather try and get some sleep if you don't mind" answered Raven as she smiled slightly at him. Robin smiled back, hiding his sadness from her as he scratched the back of his head.
"Well you know where I am if you need me" he smiled as he walked towards his room, making Raven smile that little bit more as she closed her door, allowing her eyes to return to their normal demon form.
xxx
"The boy suspects something" she hissed as her powers made a lamp explode in a black aura, "He must be made blind from my true goal" she said as she looked around herself for something else to destroy.
"Temper temper" said a voice from the shadows behind her, making Raven turn quickly and growl as she saw a set of yellow eyes looking back at her, "Your trying to remain undercover remember" said the eyes as they floated in the darkness.
"What do you want?" demanded Raven as she looked at the eyes, her power was flowing about around her gently.
"I am here to help you blind their vision" replied the eyes as they blinked once, "But my help would require a sacrifice" they said as Raven's power began to die down.
"And I have the perfect person in mind" smiled Raven as she chuckled to herself, making the eyes blink before they faded away into the shadows once again., "Sebastian come to me" ordered Raven as she looked back towards her bed. Sebastian obeyed instantly and appeared, bowing low as he stepped out of the darkness.
"What will you have me do?" he asked as he looked at Raven. Raven motioned for the creature to come closer, whispering something into its ear as it knelt down in front of her.
"Your wish is my command" smiled Sebastian before he melted away into the shadows once again, leaving Raven alone in her room once again. She smiled at her plan and walked back to her ed, intending to get used to this idea of sleeping every night.
xxx
Robin turned and looked at his ceiling, resting his head on his arms as he looked at the ceiling with unmasked eyes.
"Dam Beast Boy" he cursed as he looked over at his alarm clock and saw it was constantly blinking '12:00'. with a sigh he pushed himself out of bed, shivering slightly as his bare feet touched the cold ground of his room. He walked towards his open wardrobe and lifted out one of his costumes, putting it on with ease as he looked about for his mask. He sighed as he looked in the mirror, taking the time like he always did to see what he looked like without his mask on.
"Pity I can't always look like this" he whispered to himself before he put his mask on, turning him from Dick Grayson into Robin the Boy Wonder. Silently he left his room, taking his time to sneak down the corridor that lead to the living area. He suddenly stopped as he heard slight whimpering from Starfire's room, making him peek round the door as he opened it silently. Starfire was lying in her usual sleeping position, her legs where on her pillow and her head was hanging off the ed of her bed. Robin noticed she was tossing about a bit and moved closer to her placing his hand gently on her forehead as he knelt beside her.
"Shhh Star it's just a dream" he whispered to the alien girl, making her smile as she seemed to calm down slightly. He smiled as he saw her return to a pleasant sleep, allowing him to remove his hand from her and walk towards the door.
"Robin" said Starfire as she shifted in her sleep, making Robin freeze as he turned and saw that she was still sleep.
"Yes Star?" asked Robin as quietly as he could, not daring to move from his spot incase she woke up.
"Please be careful" she whispered before she returned to her dream, making Robin smile as he finally escaped from her room.
"Don't worry Star" he said as he pushed the R - cycle past Cyborg's baby, making sure he didn't scratch it, "I'll be careful" he said as he put his helmet on and sped into the city, leaving the Tower in the distance.
xxx
"The boy has left the Tower" reported Sebastian as he appeared at the foot of Raven's bed once again, waking Raven from her much sought after sleep.
"Follow him and make sure he never makes it back to this place" replied Raven harshly before she lay back down, closing her eyes as Sebastian disappeared from the room.
xxx
Robin sped through the city, wishing he could just take his helmet off and feel the wind blowing against his face, but experience had taught him not to take chances that could ultimately kill him. He turned round the corner with ease, flying down the street as his mind was swarmed with thoughts and questions. He had always done this, when he couldn't sleep he would take a ride around town, it helped him clear his head of all the thoughts and questions he asked himself. A cat looked up from the dustbin it was in as Robin sped past, the poor creature only saw a red blur before it returned to looking for something to eat for the night. Robin shot round the next corner and barely missed skidding out of control as the rear of the bike smashed into a parked car, making its alarm system blur into life. He smiled as he looked back at the flashing light, not noticing that someone had stepped out in front of his bike suddenly. His bike struck the person, sending Robin down the street as it flipped up into the air.
xxx
Robin groaned in pain as he took his tattered helmet off, thanking his lucky stars that he had decided to keep it on. His vision was swarmed with colour as he shakily stood up, shaking his head as he staggered towards the flaming remains of his bike.
"What did I hit?" he asked himself as he approached the bike, holding his head in his hand as he tried to make everything stop spinning around him. He was suddenly struck in the chest by a powerful force, making him bend over and cough as he felt his lungs being deprived of air. He fell onto his knees gasping for air as he looked around for the source of the attack, rolling out of the way as a fist flashed before his eyes. Robin rolled backwards and flipped up onto his feet, pulling out his bo staff as he looked at the person who had attacked him. The person pulled its hand out of the hole it had made in the ground and looked at Robin, making Robin gasp in horror as he saw the person who had attacked him was already dead. The creature moved with blistering speed and launched into a series of punches, making Robin skip away before he stabbed out at the creature with his boot, sending it skidding away from him.
"Don't know you are but I should warn you" said Robin as he twirled his bo staff around his head, "You picked the wrong kid to mess with" he smiled before he threw himself at the zombie, striking out at the creature with the tip of his bo staff.
xxx
Robin was to busy blocking and attacking the mysterious creature that he didn't notice the wreckage of the R - cycle begin to move. Suddenly a blood covered hand shot up from the wreckage, soon followed by a head and body as another of the strange zombie creatures pulled itself out of the burning wreckage. The creature watched the battle going on between Robin and its fellow corpse for a moment before it picked up a large piece of flaming debris and ran towards the fighting duo.
xxx
Robin parried another attempted punch from the creature and pushed it away before he leapt into the air, throwing several of his high explosive bombs before he even began to fall back down to earth again. The creature was sent slamming into a nearby car by the force of the explosions, making it groan as he tried to stand back up again. Robin acted quickly and rushed forwards, smashing the things head through the cars passenger window with a fierce jump kick. The creature slumped to the ground as blood seeped out from wounds in the back of its head making Robin smile before he rolled away from a wild slash from the creature that had appeared behind him. Robin swung out with his bo staff and sent the creature's face slamming into the ground as he swept its legs out from under it. The creature quickly got back to its feet and threw itself at Robin, slashing at him with its hands as Robin did his best to block the attacks. Robin finally push the creature away and swung his bo staff at its face, making it stagger away as the metal pole broke its lower jaw. Robin shot straight at the creature and rammed his knee into its chest as he grabbed hold of its collar, smiling as he threw it over his head into the zombie he had already dispatched. Robin stood back up again in time to receive a punch in the face by another of the creature, this one was a woman however, blood dripped from it mouth as it punched Robin in the face again, sending him spiralling down the street. Robin spat some blood onto the ground before he stood back up, rubbing his cheek as he looked at the new creature, growling as he watched the two he thought he had beaten standing beside it. With a defiant roar he shot forward, intending to take the things head of with a powerful swing from his bo staff. He was stopped in his tracks as he felt something stab into his chest, making him look down and go wide eyes as he saw a metal dart sticking into his chest just above his rapidly beating heart.
"What the?" asked Robin as he started to feel dizzy, shaking his head as the world around him started to spin . He looked forward again and saw the woman shot forward, trying to punch him again but missing as Robin ducked away from the attack. Robin gritted his teeth and hit the creature in the chin with an uppercut, before he rammed both of his fists into its chest, sending it flying away from him as he dropped down to one knee panting heavily. He winced as he tore the dart out of his chest and discarded it to the ground, taking short fast breaths as he tried to stop his vision from spinning. He was about to stand back up until he felt another of the darts hit him in the chest, making hi gasp as he felt it pierce the flesh of his chest. He was kicked in the back of head suddenly, making his face slam into the ground as another of the zombie creatures leapt into the air, intending to drive its knee into his lower back. Robin managed to roll away at the last minute and stabbed out at the creature with his foot, smashing the creatures nose as he repeatedly kicked it in the face. The creature tumbled away from the masked teenager, blood poured out from its ruined nose as Robin somehow flipped back up onto his feet. His arms felt heavy and his head felt light but he still managed to find the strength to block any attack that was thrown at him and reply with a punch or kick of his own, making him only pant heavier as he felt his strength being stolen away from him. A third dart struck him in the chest, making him cough as he looked down at the small metal device in his chest. He felt his eyelids getting heavier making him smile as he fell to his knees, taking short fast breaths as he looked at each of the creatures.
"You going to be sorry when I wake up later" he smiled before he fell onto the ground face first, closing his eyes as his bo staff rolled away from his sleeping body.
"Is he the one the master wanted?" asked the corpse slave with the ruined nose as it watched Robin sleep peacefully.
"He is" replied Sebastian as he stepped out of the shadow filled alleyway, putting his blowpipe back onto his belt as he walked towards Robin, "Bring him to the seal" he commanded as he looked at each of the corpse slaves. The taller of the three picked Robin off the ground and slung him over its shoulder as Sebastian walked back to the alleyway, melting away into the shadows closely followed by its brethren.