9
Each of the combat robots stood about fifteen feet in height. They were equipped with motion sensors, composite armour plating, shoulder-mounted laser cannons and AP missiles; the works. They were the most dangerous training devices the Hive Institute had ever constructed. But the Hive had never intended to dispatch them in anger, the androids were built soley to train their would-be agents. Whether someone had acted outside of authority to release them or if this was some freak computer glitch was not important. Eight of the Robots now rampaged through downtown, and that was the only concern of the Titans.
For Robin, the real danger was their numbers. Two robots had already been destroyed with considerable difficulty, but the other six were still in tip-top form. They had managed to separate the Titans, and for the first time since the battle began at dawn,
Robin stood alone in an alley against one of the malfunctioning machines.
Robin readied himself as the bot raised himself up to full height from underneath a pile of loose bricks. His last attack had barely damaged it at all. The red sensor in the middle of the "head" blinked twice to indicate the next attack. Robin threw himself backward, away from the volley of missiles that detonated on his former position. The machine advanced with impressive speed, bringing a giant claw to bear on the boy. It smashed harmlessly into the pavement as Robin lept over it's path. He landed on the forearm, ran up the slope to the shoulder and placed a swift boot to the armoured head. It made little more than a dent, and Robin was again forced to dodge the second claw attempting to swipe him off.
Robin landed in front of the droid, which attempted to crush him with it's foot. He jumped away again, this time grabbing the railing of a fire escape and hoisting himself up. Now standing at eye level with it, he hurled a exploding disk directly into the machine's iris. The blast sent it reeling backwards, the red motion sensor destroyed.
Blind, Robin imagined the AI would initiate a self-destruct or simply fall over. No such luck. Upon regaining it's balance, the disabled weapon began to spin wildly,
firing off it's entire loadout of missiles and laser cannons in every angle. Debris and smoke filled the alley as the buildings around it were turned to rubble. Robin covered his face and body with his polymerised-steel cape, which could at least deflect the laser blasts. It could not, sadly, keep the support structure he stood on from snapping under the impact of a missile. Ejecting from the falling platform, he directed himself toward a solid piece of wall wreckage and rolled for cover.
The missiles and beams continued to spray in every direction, keeping Robin where he hid. Robin could only peek out far enough to see a green boa constrictor throw itself from the top of the building into the line of fire. The snake twisted and weeved through the random attacks, setting it's fall directly on the robot. It wrapped it's giant body around the machine, entwining it's legs, arms and weapon systems and bringing it's barrage to a grinding halt.
Robin jumped from his cover. He catapulted himself at the immobilised weapon's head and kicked with all his weight. His blow shorted out all the remaining circuits and gave enough force to tip it's centre of gravity. As the machine began to fall over, the snake changed to a green young man and jumped away to stand shoulder to shoulder with Robin. Tremors rippled through the ground as the robot hit the ground,
now nothing more than a metal mannequin.
Robin let out a relieved wheeze "Thanks."
Beast Boy scratched his head. "Whatever happened to those robot puppies everybody was so nuts about?"
"How are the others doing?"
A shrug came off Beast Boy's shoulders. "I was fighting with Cyborg and Star when they insisted I come find you." Robin nodded, showing his gratitude to that decision. "I haven't seen Raven all day."
"Me neither," Robin suddenly realised. Where was Raven? She hadn't responded to the Titan alert. Robin hadn't seen her since he confronted her last night. Maybe he was too hard on her, or maybe she had more problems to deal with than any of them knew. "I hope she's all right."
Beast Boy had turned around, fixing a dumbfounded stare towards the entrance of the alley. "I'd be more worried about us right now."
Two more of the surviving Robots now stood a few yards away. Moaning with exhaustion, Robin drew his extending bow as the machines began to advance. Their footsteps shook the ground, and Beast Boy and Robin defensively backed away. Several missiles readied themselves on the two boys as the approach continued.
"We could sure use Raven's help," Robin muttered.
>
There was much she could probably leave, so Raven decided packing was a waste of time. She loaded her backpack with some essentials, food, her favourite book, and her mirror in case she was ever able to meditate again. Her Titan alarm was disabled and placed neatly on the foot of the well-made bed. Her clothes and books were packed away, everything seemed ready to be abandoned.
Well, not everything. Raven's trash can was still full. It still held every poem Starfire had wrote, and every picture of the two Raven owned. She could not bring herself to dispose of them completely, but also did not want to bring them with her. She was leaving to get away from Starfire, after all. Raven did not want to forget completely,
but she did not want to be reminded of her.
The Titans were gone. They would only be outside the Tower this early if there was trouble. Whatever it was, Raven was sure the four of them could handle it without her. Seeing Starfire again would only complicate things, and what happened between them last night was something Raven did not want to go through again.
"I love you." Starfire's words throbbed in her head like a terrible migraine. They seemed louder now than when they first fell on Raven. Why? Why did Starfire have to say it? Was it true? Had Starfire grown to love Raven as Raven loved her?
Raven shook her head. No, it was not possible. Not after the way she had treated Starfire. It was not true. Raven desired that it could not be true.
What tortured Raven was that she would never know for sure. She would be gone before the Titans returned, and staying any longer was too much to bear. Last night was the last time she would ever see Starfire. It was time Raven accepted it and left.
Her backpack slung over one shoulder, Raven closed the door to her room behind her for the last time. The rooftop seemed like a million miles away, and she did her best to take the first heavy steps.
The walk was difficult. Her strength waned with every step, but not her resolve. Where Raven would go, she had no idea. If she could not meditate, then she would have to seclude herself from all others. It would not be long before the demons that lay dormant in her mind awoke and took over. Raven did not know what would happen then. She may have to destroy herself, or she may be too insane to even realise what was happening.
The prospects brought no sadness to Raven. In fact, they brought a small amount of comfort. Comfort in that she would not stay this way forever; a forgotten hero mourning the loss of a love that could never be. It was only a matter of time before she left it all behind.
Something was off as she walked. It was more than her anxiety and pain. Raven felt a presence. The halls of the tower lay completely still, the sound was nothing more than her own heartbeat, but she was certain she was not alone. Raven dismissed it,
attributing it to her lack of sleep. Possibly her mind had already begun to falter, in which case there was no time to lose.
As she hastened her stride, she heard something. A sound that followed the only one she made. Footsteps. Behind her, something was moving along her path. They were close, whoever they were. Raven did not turn around, not wanting to alert her stalker and continued on.
The pauses between the foreign steps grew shorter. What followed Raven was moving faster, trying to catch her. Still Raven did not turn to meet it. She readied herself as she continued on, waiting for it to come close. She guessed by the sounds that it was not much bigger than her, and if she could catch it by surprise, she could overwhelm and defeat it.
Raven focused herself on a fire extinguisher that hung a few feet down the hall. As the steps came dangerously close to her, she spun around suddenly, sending the extinguisher hurling down the hallway. It hit nothing, it mearly passed through the one who pursued her. Raven tried to surpress her surprise with fervour as she looked at a far too familiar face.
"Hello again, Raven," said the girl in platinum.
Raven lowered her defensive stance. She was hallucinating, dreaming, or doing something that kept her from reality. It was impossible for her emotions to enter the physical world. After all, they were just thoughts.
Her confusion escalated as the walls of Titan's Tower silently disintegrated before her roused and very awake eyes. She felt no alarm, as she knew she was entering a state of meditation. It was, as it happened in the battle with the lizard, effortless and involuntary.
The walls, floor and the very light around her faded into nothing. Raven could only watch the expression on the girl's face with silent curiosity. The emotion was happy, even giddy. She looked right back at Raven, eyes shimmering, a bright smile hidden behind anxious hands.
Raven felt no desire to speak to her, although she did wonder what there was to be so cheerful about. She was simply relieved that she was entering meditation. Raven would at last get a chance to cleanse and ease her mind. Whatever this emotion had to tell her, it would wait until Raven had conducted a full and extensive patrol.
But what revealed itself to Raven next, upon entering the landscape of her mind,
floored her. She thought she may never walk again. Where there had once been blank space with clusters of blood-red energy, there was tranquil blue skies dotted with white clouds. The platform the two girls stood on was covered with luscious grass and white flowers. It was the same with every other floating piece of earth that littered the sky. All had been transformed from barren wasteland to fertile gardens. Some even sprouted trees.
Aghast, Raven lowered herself to her hands and knees, smelling and running her hands though the green carpet. It was not a hallucination. The grass was more real than any she had ever walked across. Even looking to the sky, she saw there was no sun. The light, rather seemed to come from every direction and no direction at all. There was no unpleasant heat, and not one solid object cast a shadow. Nothing of Raven's new world hid from her in any way.
Raven saw the feet of the girl in platinum stop beside her lowered head. When a hand lay softly on her shoulder, Raven began to cry. Raising herself only to her knees,
she could not even bring herself to look at the architect of the paradise. "No more chaos," Raven whimpered. "No more... darkness?"
"No more," the girl answered.
Raven squeezed the hand of Love so tightly, her fingers turned white. Struggling in vain against the tears, she squeezed out a final "thank you."
"No. This is none of my doing. It is merely more of what brought me here. There is only one who would rightfully receive your gratitude."
Raven peered into the girl's tender focus. "Starfire and I..." She hesitated to speak her hope, fearing the devastation if it were shot down. "...we may be together?"
The girl's tone dropped from angelic to dire. "That has yet to be decided."
Puzzled, Raven moved to ask further. She only began to open her mouth before The Silver Girl threw open her cape, revealing the prophetic image inside. Seeing it, as she did with the first time she found the emotion, Raven's stomach overturned. An icy hand grappled her heart as she comprised the picture. "No..."
It was Starfire, not joyous as she had once been in past visions. She was on her back, her eyes lay closed. Her head was in a twisted, unnatural position, her skin like sandpaper. Raven almost did not recognise her. Starfire's lifeless body was like a candle with the light out.
"No!" Raven emptied her diaphragm with a scream. Shooting herself through the tiles and roof of Titans Tower, she broke free of her mind.
