Sick

Chapter Four – Summoning

The room was dark and silent, except for the occasional beep from the monitor. Beast Boy and Robin laid side by side in the infirmary, but only one of them was awake. The other was restrained by heavy leather straps to the bed. As he lay in the quiet, trying not to put weight on his gashed back, Beast Boy stared at the sedated countenance of their leader. The only way to break to two up had been for Starfire to push the stone chalice on top of them. Beast Boy had barely squeaked out of the way when the heavy pillar came crashing down on the black wolf. In his unconsciousness, Robin had returned to his humanoid form, marked by Beast Boy's claws and fangs.

As the green teenager saw things, it was completely unfair; Robin's wounds had already healed but the changeling was forced to let them heal the old fashioned way. Beast Boy sighed and tried not to think that he might go insane in the dark; even though it was full daylight outside, the windows had been covered so Robin wouldn't spontaneously combust. The animal changeling had been laying in the same position for ten hours and was positive certain parts of his body simply wouldn't work the way they had before. His entire right half had been numb since breakfast. No one had come to visit either, they were too busy trying to decide what to do. That didn't mean the he was alone in a room with a blood crazy movie monster unsupervised though, the incessant beeping of the security monitor reminded him of that. He tried to roll over and gasped at the sudden bolt of pain from the fang punctures in his thigh.

Robin moved slightly as Beast Boy involuntarily sat up to cradle the wound, which caused the claw marks on his back to re-open. He let out a quiet yelp as the gashes broke open and Robin made the exact same yelp, trying to sit up. He looked immediately at Beast Boy and said, "Hey! Cut that out, will ya?"

"What do you - ?" before he could finish the sentence, the changeling remembered what Raven had said in the car. She and he shared a bond…did that mean the now he and Robin shared that bond too? He thought for a moment while gently lowering himself back to the sheets and balked when his realization hit home. If Robin could feel him, it was because he had taken some of his blood, and if he could feel Raven, it was because she had fed him as well. How long had he been this way?! He couldn't restrain himself any longer, he had to ask, "Dude, what happened?"

While that was a pretty open-ended question, Robin knew exactly what Beast Boy meant. How had his life been turned completely upside down in the span of only 48 hours? He had already recounted the story about the man in black in the alley and how he went back there because of the voice in his mind, but had left out the Raven feeding part. He turned his head, trying to act as if he was not restrained tightly to the bed, "I'm not really sure, it seems like a bad dream. One day, everything is normal, the next, I have become something I didn't even believe in. I have no idea what's going to happen next, and frankly," he paused, weighing his next words, "I'm a little worried."

Beast Boy nearly fell out of the bed when he heard that. He had never, even once, heard Robin admit to any kind of fear at all. He was the recklessly fearless one, the one to lead because he couldn't be intimidated by anything or anyone. They had seen him fight until he could have died, never giving an inch, and now he had just admitted to an emotion that could shake his whole foundation. Perhaps it was time to get concerned. Robin must have seen the look on Beast Boy's face because he added, "Don't sweat it, we'll get to the bottom of this, I'm not done yet." The two young men exchanged nervous smiles.

Both breathed a sigh of relief when the door slid open to reveal the other three Titans. Raven stepped up to Beast Boy and placed her hands gently on his shoulders. Before he could even ask, she had closed her eyes and started chanting, "Azarath, metrion, zynthos…azarath, metrion, zynthos." Beneath her hands, black energy began to flow into the changeling, forcing his injuries to knit and heal. He flinched under the spell, but was grateful when she finished, only minor marks were left were muscle rending tears had been only moments ago.

He stood and cautiously tested his skin by stretching and bending, when it passed his inspection, he turned on the unsuspecting Raven and wrapped around her in a hug. "Thanks, chica! I feel great!"

Starfire tried not to giggle at the sour face the witch made as she peeled him off, but her mood was abruptly sobered when she looked back at their leader. He also was trying to contain a smile, but he could only lift his head up to watch, the rest of him was firmly strapped down. "Oh, how I wish you did not have to be restrained so!" she lamented as she stood near his bed.

Cyborg laid a massive hand on her petite shoulder and said, "I know, I don't like it either, but you know why we have to." Starfire looked at the ground, and nodded. Cyborg moved to one of the monitoring panels and started typing. He addressed Robin, "We know you gotta eat, but the shipment won't be here for another three hours. Think you can make it?"

Robin and Beast Boy both cocked their heads to the side in askance. "Shipment?"

"Yes, friend Robin, from the Kent Foundation Blood Center in Gotham," Starfire looked hopeful, "that will take away your hunger, will it not?"

Cyborg looked a little queasy, so Robin didn't hesitate to answer, "Yeah, thanks."

There was a moment of uncomfortable silence while the Titans racked their brains for something to lighten the mood. Robin laid back and cracked his neck turning his head to each side. It was then that Raven noticed the mark on the back of his neck. It was different than before. She walked over and touched it, almost as if to confirm that her eyes had seen correctly. Robin tried to look at her but she stayed him with her hand. Her research had shown that the only reason a mark would change would be to match the changing power of the vampire's maker. Something must be happening. As an experiment, she charged her fingers with dark magic and touched the mark again. This time, both of them cried out; Raven pulled her hand back defensively, staring at the burn on her fingers.

"This is a bad sign," she stated, "the mark has turned evil." Robin closed one eye as the pain of the burn washed over him, then blinked a couple of times. She faced him, "You said you saw the one who made you in that room last night?" At his nod, she continued, "He was the one that put the marks on you, right?" When he shook his head no, Raven's brow creased. "Who marked you?"

Robin sat silent for a moment as he tried to summon the details from his pain hazed memory. "All I can remember is that the leader put some of his blood on my forehead and I couldn't move, after that…I was held down and whenever he would touch me, it was like I was on fire. When it was all done, I had the marks. I guess it was the one in red that did it."

Raven didn't let it show on the outside, but on the inside she was screaming. The initiation ceremony she had skipped over in her reading, the one done to the Chosen One, involved the master marking the vampire instead of the one who made him. It also involved marks all over the body instead of just the back of the neck. She would have to check for more information, but if she was right, the end of the world was right around the corner. A bulb out in the hallway burst. "We might be in trouble." Without another word, she sank through the floor to continue her research.

"Um…what does that mean?" Beast Boy asked.

Before anyone could respond, the power to the entire tower flickered out, leaving them in complete darkness. Robin groaned on the bed and arched against the restraints as the marks on his skin began to glow with an unearthly blue light. The brighter they glowed, the harder he gritted his teeth against the discomfort. Soon, the light was bright enough so the other Titan's could see each other's faces. Robin let a small moan slip before his body snapped ridged under the straps, and he closed his eyes. When he opened them again, they were also glowing, and he began to float up, straining against the straps. The leather creaked, then broke, allowing him to float off the bed and rotate to an upright position.

In her room, Raven dropped the book she had been studying and immediately cocooned herself in black energy when the lights went out. She could feel Robin calling to her, trying to summon her with a magic much more powerful than she had seen in a long time. She felt compelled to respond, her body suddenly filled with a longing for his embrace so powerful that it forced a gasp from her. A blue light filled her room and transparent tendrils caressed everything, searching for her. As soon as one of the filaments made contact with her shield, the room brightened with blue energy. There were a few feeble attempts to break her magic, but when they were unsuccessful, the blue mist wrapped around her, cocoon and all, and carried her to the infirmary. As much as she didn't want to go, there was no way she was going to come out of her ethereal shell.

The sight Raven was confronted with as she entered the medical unit filled her with dread. Beast Boy was laying on the ground, panting as if he had just run a marathon, holding his neck where dark blood ran from under his fingers. Cyborg had been affected by the power outage as well, so he was immobilized, the mechanical half of his body rooting him to the spot. His natural eye was wide as he stared at the levitating vampire and who floated with him. Under Robin's compliance spell, Starfire laid docile in his embrace, turned on her side so as to expose the artery that ran to her heart.

Fully intending to steal the alien from his arms, Raven took a deep breath and chanted, readying herself to strike out at her dear friend. She pushed against the blue magic and was a little surprised to find that it didn't budge at all. It appeared she was trapped in her cocoon. Robin's eyes changed from glowing blue to glowing red and he lifted Starfire to his mouth. With a wicked look at the captured witch, he gently slid his fangs into the alien's side, mere inches away from her hip where her heart lay. Raven cringed as Starfire let out a moan, she knew what was happening. It was the same when Robin had fed on her.

Through powers probably unknown to even him, Robin could fill the one he was feeding from with any emotion he chose. Apparently, with Beast Boy, and probably all males, there was a rivalry, so the poor men he bit would feel pain the same way the women would feel pleasure. A slight blush appeared on her cheeks and she arched a little in his arms, most likely her first, Earthly experience of sexual pleasure and desire. His own gratification showed on his face, his masked eyes were closed, he was flushed and the way he held his victim was almost tender. Raven felt an irrational surge of jealousy that caused her black bubble to push against the vampiric magic.

That broke Robin's spell, and as Starfire's consciousness returned, he pulled his fangs from her and gently laid her on the floor. He smirked when Raven pushed again, then went rigid as the blue magic took over again. Robin threw his head back and screamed, light emerging from his eyes and mouth. As abruptly as it all began, it ended. His scream faded into a gargle and he fell to his hands and knees, the blue magic completely dispersing. Power returned to Titan Tower and as the lights came up, Robin coughed and gagged as if he was sick. After a mighty heave, four objects fell from his mouth and he collapsed face down in a faint.

Cyborg shook his head to clear it after rebooting his systems and then slapped his hand over the bite marks on his neck. "Oww!"

Raven burst her bubble and immediately knelt at Starfire's side. She was breathing, but very quietly. Again chanting, the witch levitated her friend onto a med bed and placed a healing spell on her. The alien was resilient and it wouldn't take long for her to recover. A weak groan emerged from the floor and immediately the three standing Titans turned on the sound. Cyborg pointed his charged cannon at their weak leader, Raven held handfuls of black energy and Beast Boy turned into a crocodile, advancing slowly. Robin sat up and placed a green gloved hand on his head, a single drop of Starfire's bright yellow blood sliding from the corner of his mouth.

He looked up at Raven in a daze and tried to stand. Beast Boy immediately transformed into a giant anaconda and enveloped Robin in his coils, restraining him. The boy wonder looked around in confusion, "What are you doing? Why am I…ungh," his words were cut off as Beast Boy squeezed, hissing.

"That's enough, man!" Cyborg yelled, not lowering his canon. "Quit pretending you don't know what's goin' on!"

Robin wanted to respond but Beast Boy was holding him too tightly for him to do anything other than concentrate on breathing. Raven bent to pick up the objects Robin had thrown up, examining them closely. They appeared to be glyphs, and after a moment, she said, "I bet I know what these match." She held one up to the mark on the back of Robin's neck and they were identical.

"What are those?" Starfire asked from the bed, sitting up and holding a hand to the healing wound on her side.

"I don't know." Raven turned to show her when they leaped from her hand. They flew straight to each Titan, planting themselves firmly against the skin on the back of each of their necks. There was a blue flash that brought an exclamation of pain from each of them, then the glyphs broke apart, the pieces falling to the ground. Beast Boy bared his fangs at Robin and tightened his coils even more, forcing the vampire to remain perfectly motionless. On each of them, there was now a burn mark that matched Robin's. Raven tried to heal hers, but she was stung again the same way as when she had touched Robin's mark before. "This is bad."

"Explain, friend Raven," the alien asked.

"That was the third Summoning in the Prophecy of Krimjehf. I thought it had passed a long time ago, but apparently I was wrong." She waited until prompted to continue. "Only three more Summonings until the hand of Krimjehf closes around the earth…there will be no more sun, darkness will reign." Raven could tell by their expectant faces that the other Titans did not understand the magnitude of her last statement. "It will be nighttime forever, life as we know it will end."

One of Robin's ribs cracked under the snake's pressure.