7. Powerless

Hello once agin! Thanks for the reviews (even if I didn't get as many sigh>). Anyways, this chapter is considerably longer than the previous one. I hope y'all like it. Only four chapters left, are you on the edge of your seat yet?

Umm, I don't know. I was hoping I'd have more stuff to say. Well... REVIEW! REVIEW OR DIE!


Nobody spoke. They should've been all at the hospital. Especially since half of them were dying. The other half had just killed something. The Titans kept running and never looked back.

Cyborg wasn't functioning, at all. 30 of his circuitry was utterly destroyed. Not to mention the massive amounts of memory and motor skills he had lost from the EMP grenade.

Beast Boy was unscathed, save the AK bullet lodged in his left shoulder. He sighed. Just another scar the world would never see… He looked out over the barren landscape. So many things happened here tonight that seemed beyond their control. But, it was about time the Titans faced the cruel, pitiful truths. It was all their faults. If the "grown-ups" had handled this, there'd be an extra hostage walking away.

Raven was by far the most scarred from the battle. Not a scratch on her, at least, not on the outside. Instead she was forced, once again, to carry the death of innocent on her soul forever. A wound from which healing was impossible. The worst part was she had no real excuse for it. That's not true, you were saving Beast Boy… Beast Boy wasn't in trouble, you did this all by yourself, they're dead because of you, congratulations…


The Tower was about as welcoming as a tomb. Darkness became less like the absence of light, and more like a thick layer of dread. The failure that the Titans had suffered today was unforgivable. Their only choice had been to turn and run, and even that would not solve a thing.

The Titans all shuffled off to their respective rooms, nobody wanted to have to face those which they have failed.

Immediately, all the TVs in the Tower switched on simultaneously. On the screen was the last thing any Titan would want to see.

"Hello, kids. I must say, I was a little disappointed when I was informed of your recent failure." Mr. Abelard's old, wrinkly face had appeared on the screen, and his quasi-friendly outlook had gone out the window. "Your recent utter lack of an effort failure!"

They couldn't stand it. There was no defense to his onslaught of blame, and criticism. There was simply no denying it, the Titans had failed.


Raven broke down. She had no clue anybody could be so heartless and uncaring. She ran from her room. A TV in the hallway was broadcasting the same horrible image. No matter where she went, he was there, haunting her, verbally doing what the criminals earlier had done.

She ran, and ran, and ran. It was like a nightmare, no escape, no remorse. She ended up in the living room, where the giant image of Mr. Abelard's big-screen image stood before her like a behemoth, an evil pile of pixels spewing harsh rhetoric. She couldn't take it anymore. She fell to the ground and curled into a ball.

She had faced countless villains: demons, and robots, and monsters, and terrorists. But the tactic this decrepit old man was using was untouchable. Raven simply couldn't defend from his onslaught and swarm of images.

Her whirlwind of torment calmed for a few choice seconds. The world was coherent just long enough for her to hear the transmission's final words.

"Titans… you are finished." The attack ended with a synchronized crackle of static all over the Tower. The only Titan to have escaped unscathed was Cyborg, who was clinically dead anyway.


Two weeks passed in a blur. The Titans complained incessantly while technicians came in to salvage the Tower. The Titans' complaining soon turned to bitter stubbornness, which bled into childlike pouting, and finally into acceptance.

There was simply nothing they could do. The dream was over. They'd given it a good run, and now there was nothing left to do but never look back.

Raven awoke in the afternoon. She was sleeping now. There was just nothing to keep her up anymore, nothing to worry about. After all, her worst nightmare had already come true.

It was really her fault that the Titans were going out of business all of the sudden. If she had just learned to control her powers… Or, if she didn't have any powers at all…? She shook the thought away, knowing that she had powers for a reason, to protect the city. That's not your job anymore… She once again ignored her feelings and went down to the Tower's kitchen, or… what was left of it.


The living room was practically empty. Various boxes lay around the place, some empty, some filled to the brim with priceless possessions, and everything in between. There was also the arbitrary ladder and scaffolding setup here and there. They weren't just moving out of the Tower. It was being deconstructed.

Beast Boy was sitting on the counter, with a scraggly piece of paper in his hands. He was extremely absorbed in it, and paid no attention to (or just didn't notice) either Raven's entrance or the scruffy movers carrying boxes around and taking down roof panels. What kind of sick old man takes the roof panels?

Raven walked down to the kitchen area and opened the fridge. It to was almost empty. A reflection of the world outside itself. Out of all five shelves there was only a couple sodas, some paint thinner, a block of tofu, and a yo-yo…?

Raven grabbed a soda and stood for a while, pondering what to do next. She didn't really have anywhere to go. She looked around and saw Beast Boy, still sitting on the counter, still totally absorbed in his paper. I guess I got nothing better to do.

She sat next to him on the counter, and attempted to read over his shoulder. It was a note… from who? To who? She leaned in a little closer and brushed against Beast Boy's ear. He jumped five feet into the air.

"Raven! Whoa… I didn't see you there."

"I've been sitting here for like, five minutes. What's that you got there?"

Beast Boy attempted to hide the paper behind his back. A futile attempt since he kept fidgeting so much.

"Umm, well…I dunno, but… I guess I better go." He finished, quickly, and scampered away.


Raven wandered the slowly deteriorating hallways of Titan's Tower, soda in hand. It seemed like nobody was here. Robin had refused to give up the hopeless act of complaining to Mr. Abelard, but he was running out of complaints. Starfire was packing. She was preparing to leave for her homeworld, whether she liked it or not. Cyborg had been repaired just enough to live, then promptly shut down again. His garage lay in hopeless ruins, like a broken mirror reflecting its once former self.

Beast Boy was in his room all the time now, so for once, Raven had the Tower all to herself (and a group of scruffy movers). She didn't care, she would rather just get it over with than being slowly tortured by loss after loss. The Tower was crumbling, Beast Boy was running from her, and she had virtually no where to turn, worst of all, she was completely powerless to stop any of it.. Where's a good razor blade when you need one?


A window shattered. The alarm clock imploded on itself. The bed flipped over. Raven's room was in utter chaos. Everything was all her fault. Soon this would all end and she would be left back on the streets, alone again. All because she had to be special. She had to be one of the super-powered kids. That wouldn't be so bad, if she could actually control what she was doing, instead decimating whole room at the first sign of a panic attack.

So now, she cried. After all, she had nothing better to do. The loud destruction outside her own little protective bubble was like music to her ears.


"It really is all your fault, you know." The Red Raven said, casually considering the implications of her statement.

"Yeah, you told me about… I dunno, I think we're up to thirty by now." Raven could afford to be brutally sarcastic up here, after all, there were no serious repercussions.

"Why, look who's in a particularly jaunty mood today." The Red Raven said in a pathetic attempt at a terrible Southern accent. "Get any good love note confessions recently?" She said, with the same stupid smirk Raven hated in Mr. Abelard.

They were at a table in the depths of Raven's mind. Away from the distractions and emotions. Back to the basics for something deadly serious.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Raven said, staring at nothing in particular.

The Red Raven narrowed her four red eyes. They cut into Raven better than any razor blade ever could.

"I think you know exactly what I mean. Sorry, I know you know what I mean." She grew taller, temper clearly rising, until she towered over Raven. "We're the same freakin' person!"

Raven looked away. Obviously she had known. She had known all along. It was so obvious. She wondered if she was the same way, if Beast Boy knew.

"You and I both now that we can never be together." Raven argued, barely audible; not that it mattered, the Red Raven heard everything.

"Why, because of your 'dysfunction'?" The other Raven scoffed and shook her head.

"I… I just don't want to hurt him."

"No, that's exactly what you want, because that's exactly what I want." She smirked, that same stupid smirk. "We're the same freakin' person." She whispered.

Tears streamed lightly down Raven's cheeks. How could she do this to herself? The other Ravens were suddenly there. Regurgitating their own form of painful rhetoric. The noise was unbearable, like she was in a crowd of people who knew and hated everything about her, which wasn't far from the truth.

"Wait." The real Raven said, and the noise stopped immediately. "Do you remember, in the fifth grade, Lawson Bright?"

"You know the answer to that."

"Then you know that I never wanted to hurt him. You did. All of you." Raven stood up, her voice growing louder, more powerful. "This is all your fault. I'M NOT YOU!" She screamed, eyes closed, arms outstretched. She opened her eyes and looked around. All around her, emotionless emotions, not knowing what to do or think.

Suddenly, the Gray Raven spoke up. "No, it's all my fault."


Raven couldn't take any more. She lashed out. She stretched her elbow back, fist clenched, and gritted her teeth.

"Nope… the fault is mine." She brought her fist forward, and ended her suffering.

Raven awoke with a start, breathing heavily. She sat up, to get a better look at her surroundings. Her room was a mess, the dresser was on its side, torn pillows and scattered pillow innards lay around an overturned bed, and her alarm clock was in hundreds of tiny pieces, she wouldn't miss it.

Had the movers been here, or… never mind. She stood up and looked down at her feet. It was her mirror, shattered into dozens of shards. Raven was once again powerless. Only this time, it was good… for the moment.


Okay, one final note. The last chapters are going to take me a while at least a week per chapter... sorry.