Red Shifting: Chapter 3
(Authors notes at the end.)
Circumstances
Raven was sad.
She knew it was not her own sadness, but the runoff from her contact with Starfire's mind, yet that didn't make it seem less real. It just rationalized what she was feeling. And no matter how much she might act like the depressed Goth, she did not enjoy being unhappy. So she was on her way back to her room, intent on finding her mirror and crushing these extra emotions into it. Granted, she'd probably get stuck with another errant personality running around in there, but she could deal with that. She was passing Beastboy's room when she heard the giggling.
She started to dismiss it when she heard the room's owner speaking.
"So what do you think?" His voice was a barely audible whisper, but something about it caused Raven to stop, her head tilting to the side much like a cat does when listening.
"It's too big! It won't fit." Terra's voice was as loud and irritating as Raven always found it to be. But that definitely made her tense, fingers twitching. What are they doing? No...they couldn't be…could they?
"Sure it will. We'll just force it in slowly." She heard Beast-boy grunt as he finished speaking, and suddenly Terra yelped.
"Ow! BB, that hurt."
"Sorry, sorry," both unseen teens giggled. "We'll try it again. Careful…" As Beastboy spoke, Raven felt her feet settle to the floor, her concentration vanishing as the emotions from Starfire boiled to the surface, combined with a few of her own she pretended didn't exist.
"It's going in!" Terra squealed, and Raven felt something inside her snap. Her power flooded from her body like a black wave, rippling and writhing as it crawled across the floor to Beastboy's door. Raven floated after, pausing as the black energy seeped up the sides of the door, pouring into the crack between frame and door. Once the entire surface was covered, she glanced away and the door ripped itself free, hurling across the hallway.
She ignored the small, rational voice deep beneath her emotions, her eyes burning with white fire as her power flooded into her teem-mates room. Twin cries of surprise were met by the flood of Raven's power ripping them from the floor by their clothes and slamming them against the far wall, covering Beastboy's mouth when he tried to talk.
"What the hell are you DOING?" Her eyes were focused on Terra, and she floated within two feet of the stone-manipulator, staring directly into her face. "I let you into our home and you…you crawl all over MY Beastboy like some Harlot!" As Raven fell silent, her breathing heavy, no one moved.
Terra lurched against Raven's power suddenly, growling deep in her throat. "You crazy bitch! What is wrong with you?" Raven's power slammed back against the struggling girl, who grunted as she hit the wall. "We weren't doing anything. And he isn't yours."
The rational part of Raven's mind managed to claw its way to the surface, making her pause to stare more closely at the struggling pair. Clothing. She was holding them up by their clothing. They're completely covering, full-body clothing. Raven's eyes widened and she turned slowly to the place they had been when she picked them up.
On the floor was a stone puzzle, square, with a single piece sticking halfway out of the center. On a sharp corner of the piece was a small red blood stain, slowly drying to black.
"Oh god…" She whispered, the fire in her eyes fading as she turned back to Terra, staring at the small gash on her left hand. Just about the right size to have been dragged across the edge of the stone puzzle block. Her power just vanished, the two teens dropping to the floor with twin thuds. "Oh GOD!"
"What were you doing, you maniac-depressive FREAK?" Terra balled up her fists, shouting as she started towards Raven. "You wrecked the door! And where do you get off calling him YOUR Beastboy?"
Beastboy just stared at the both of them, blinking slowly.
Raven tried to speak, stopped, tried again, then let out a sigh and stared at the two of them. Between the artificial emotions from Starfire and the now raging embarrassment and guilt, the Goth teen could barely see. "I…need to go." She whispered, turning from the two and dashing towards the door.
Terra let out a shout and started after her, but the Goth disappeared into the shadows of the doorway. The blonde let out a growl and stomped her foot, the tower quivering as her powers unleashed for a moment.
"Did she…" Beastboy was snapped out of his daze by the vibration. "Did she say HER Beastboy?" As Terra spun around to say something both Titans were knocked off their feet as the tower shook violently. "Terra, cut it out!"
"That one wasn't me!"
* * * * *
It had taken some doing, but Robin had managed to find a way for Starfire to be comfortable without having her eye-beams destroying the tower. Which lead him to be seated at the head of the infirmary bed, his back against the wall while Starfire sat in his lap, her arms around his neck and her chin resting on a pillow, which was resting on the edge of the hole she'd created in the wall. With her gaze turned down towards the bar, she was safely destroying nothing but water.
Robin would have been smiling, had circumstances been different. He'd wanted Starfire in his lap for as long as he could remember. But instead he was gently rubbing her back and whispering reassurances as she sobbed softly and clung to him.
This was the way Terra and Beastboy found the two when the entered the infirmary a few minutes later.
"Oh…we interruptin' something, Robin?" Beastboy said as he slid to a stop at the head of the bed, before noticing the giant hole above the sitting Titans. "Oh wow. What happened?"
"Starfire can't turn her lasers off. She's been shooting them at the bay for almost ten minutes now." The boy-wonder shifted the alien girl slightly in his lap and she clung to him tighter.
"Will she be alright?" Terra walked around the bed to peer at Starfire.
"I don't know. And she doesn't know, either. But we need to find a way to turn them off, so…can the two of you find Cyborg for me? He should be somewhere in Gotham tonight and tomorrow."
"Of course!" Beastboy nodded quickly, then walked around to the side of the bed opposite Terra and reached out to give Starfire's shoulder a squeeze. "Hang in there Star."
"I believe I am hanging out of here, I believe," came the slightly sob-ridden response.
"Er…well…anyway, we'll be back!" Beastboy scratched at the back of his head sheepishly as Terra ran around and grabbed his arm to drag him towards the door.
"Oh wait!" Robin shifted, eliciting a squeak of protest from Starfire, and pointed at the chair where had had hung his cape before he had set up Starfire to hold. "Give me my communicator? I need to speak to Raven."
"Yeah, sure…" Terra grabbed the Com and handed it to her leader. "But she went nuts a few minutes ago, not sure she'd be of much use to you."
Robin frowned, taking the Com and setting it on the bed beside him. "Went nuts?"
"Yeah. She wrecked BB's door and started screaming about how I was violating her Beastboy or something. Can you imagine! Her Beastboy!" Terra shook her head angrily, and Robin glanced from the blonde to Beastboy and back slowly. "But then she ran off."
"Well...damn. I hope she still has her com on. Look, I'll deal with it. You two go get Cyborg."
"Yes Boss," the two teens vanished out the door, leaving Robin holding the sobbing Starfire and staring at the com on the bed. He knew Raven was jealous of all the attention Beastboy was giving and receiving from Terra, but the Goth girl was always so controlled…what could have happened?
He reached for the machine again. It didn't matter. Whatever was wrong with Raven, she'd have to get over it till they found a way to fix Starfire.
* * * * *
Raven stared at the horizon, the pink and orange hints of sunrise beginning to tint the clouds. Her attachment to the night usually prevented her from being awake for this particular display, and the few times she managed to catch it had always taken her breath away.
Pity she couldn't stop crying.
What had she been thinking? There was no way they could have been doing…that. Oh hell, she was sixteen years old. She could say Sex. There, she thought it. Well, it didn't matter, because there was no way Beastboy and Terra would have been having sex. Well, they could but neither of them seemed mature enough to really consider it.
Yet she had snapped. She had almost killed them…she was sure that she would have if they had been doing…that.
The Goth took a breath and shifted in her seat on the edge of the roof, folding her legs beneath her. She just had to regain control. She just had to stop crying.
She tugged the end of her cloak up to rub at her eyes for a moment, sniffing. That's it; just stop crying and you can get control again. It's not like she and Beastboy had ever really had a chance. They were much too different, and Terra was definitely perfect for him.
The clasp on her cloak started blinking, and she reached a pale hand up to peer at it for a moment. Maybe she would…no. She tugged it off, tossing it a few feet away. It was probably Beastboy asking her what was going on, since he was always so dense. And if she spoke to him, she'd have to talk to Terra…and she really didn't want to talk to Terra.
It was odd. She'd actually started to get along with the blonde girl, when she had first joined. But over the following months things had gotten…strange. Raven knew, logically, that it had something to do with the…friendship…that Terra and Beastboy had formed, but she thought that she was more capable of repressing her emotions then this. And yet now she could barely stand to be in the same room as the stone manipulator. And when she saw the pseudo-couple together she was constantly breaking things.
"I just need to focus," she whispered to the sky, which remained steadfastly silent. And her clasp beeped again. Dark eyes settled on the offending machine, and she entertained the notion of hurling it into the bay…but then let out a sigh and held out her hand, a black tether flashing out, scooping up the clasp, and yanking it back to her.
She clicked it on with a sigh. "Beastboy, I don't want to talk abo…Robin?" She stared at the image of the team leader's face…and what appeared to be a large quantity of Starfire's hair.
"Raven…you alright? I heard what happened."
She reached up and rubbed at her eyes quickly, then nodded. "I'm fine. What do you need?"
"Something is wrong with Starfire. She can't turn her eye-lasers off, and I don't know what to do about it…but I can't leave her. I need you to see if you can find that girl. Prism, I think her name was? We need to know more about her to figure out what she did to Starfire."
Raven smiled, a disturbing little half-grin. She could use a good fight…sometimes it was almost as good as meditation. "I can do that. As long as she isn't hiding in Slade's base, I can find her. You want her back here." It was more of a statement then a question, but Robin nodded.
"Yes…but don't fight her if you can avoid it. Wait for the others. I sent Beastboy and Raven to bring back Cyborg. I didn't think they would be much help to you anyway."
"No, they wouldn't. I will…see you in a while, Robin. Take care of Starfire."
"Thank you Raven. And…"
"What it is?"
"Don't beat yourself up over those two. You'll find someone."
Raven just stared at the tiny image of her leader. No, I won't. I can't. It's just the price that I pay. "Whatever. I will speak to you later." She clicked the clasp off before Robin could reply and tucked it back onto her cloak as she stood.
At least this would be distracting.
* * * * *
"Robin…"
The boy-wonder was snapped out of his daze when Starfire started to speak…she hadn't said a word since Beastboy and Terra had left, and he was almost hoping she'd found a way to fall asleep.
"Star, shhh. Just relax." He felt her shift in his arms and resumed rubbing her back.
"But I can not relax, Robin. Perhaps if you used those medicines that Raven told me I was using before…I may fall asleep and my eyes will turn off."
"Yeah, but..." With a sigh, Robin turned to look at her…well, her neck. He didn't think he had ever been quite this close to her neck before. A number of thoughts, all of which made him blush, flashed through his mind, and he took a breath and choked them back down "But I will have to move."
"Oh," Starfire sounded disappointed, and for a few moments there was silence. "Then you must move. If I am still awake when the sun reaches this side of the building, and I begin to gather more of the light from the sun I may become worse."
"I know," Robin had thought of sedating Starfire before she had mentioned it, he simply did not wish to move. "Here…stay still. I'll go and get the stuff." He began to shift out from underneath her gently.
* * * * *
Several hours later, Raven alighted on a rooftop across from the mall. Something had drawn her here…she'd been passing nearby and just felt this massive emotional yank, as though someone were pulling on her brain with a string. She'd managed to calm down, losing herself in the search for the blonde criminal.
The emotions from Starfire were actually helping, driving her on in ways that her usual calm mind never did. Of course, the side affect was that she kept accidentally blowing up windows, but she could live with that.
She crouched down, eyes narrowing as she watched the mostly empty parking lot, a few cars she assumed belonged to night stock crews the only things in sight. This didn't make any sense…what was drawing her here? It was too early yet…
The large glass doors that marked the main entrance to the mall suddenly buckled and collapsed outwards, crashing to the ground with a sickening crunch of metal and glass.
Raven stood and leapt from the roof, hovering towards the mall…as Prism came running out through the now-destroyed entranceway. She was dressed in a tank top and jeans, and was carrying a large backpack from her left hand. Without her cloak, Raven could tell that the other girl couldn't be much more then a year older then her. Interesting.
The Goth Titan resisted the urge to grin as she released her grip on her powers and dropped down, landing with a soft thud in front of the retreating girl. "Hello Prism."
The other girl came up short, a look of surprise crossing her pale features, before she smirked. "Raven…I did not know shoplifting earned a visit from the Titans. I'd have stolen something more expensive." She swung the backpack onto her shoulder.
"I am not here about that. I'm here for you."
"Ah…huh. Well, that's not gonna work. So just get out of my way and I won't hurt you." Prism pointed a glowing hand at her opponent.
"Trust me, Bitch, that isn't a concern." Raven was surprised at her own language, yet couldn't help but smile. Maybe some of these emotions weren't all bad. Her feet left the ground, and she braced herself for the coming attack.
(Well, the next chapter has a lot of fighting in it, obviously. Oh, and for all you SF/R people out there, I know there wasn't a ton of it in this chapter…but just look at the cute image of Robin holding the sickly Starfire! In fact, any of you art type people want to draw that for me, that would rock.
Review Responses:
Squall: While Prism might seem similar to the Titans version, it is not the same person. Vaguely similar powers, but nothing else is the same. This Prism is pretty much my creation for this story.
Tamaran Girl, Flying Star, Lawn Gnome, Empress, Hyperactive Forever, Greend, StarfireLover: Thank you and keep reading and reviewing! And there will usually be several days between chapters since I have other obligations too.
OCDSugar: Immature, huh? Well, thanks. Being mature seems rather boring ;)