Chapter 6:- Reunion
Animal Man served Raven her breakfast of waffles and soup, then sat down directly opposite her, completely silent and somber.
"I heard you screaming last night," said Raven.
"Bad dream," Animal Man replied, barely looking up from his soup.
"Are you OK?"
"Yeah… It was just a bad dream."
"Sure?"
"Positive."
"Then why is it that a huge fist shaped dent appeared in my wall at three in the morning?"
"I was angry."
"And that's why you were yelling my name at the top of your lungs?"
Animal Man stayed silent.
"Gar?"
Animal Man looked up, surprised. "You remembered my name?"
"It came back to me last night."
"Oh…" said Animal Man, returning to his soup.
"Well?"
"Well what?"
"Why were you yelling my name?"
"I told you. Bad dream."
"Really?"
"Just drop it, Rae!" said Animal Man slightly angry, getting up and pouring the rest of his soup down the sink.
Raven was silent for a minute, then changed the subject. "We're still going to find Cyborg, right?"
Animal Man sighed. "Yeah."
"How we gonna get there?"
"I'll fly you there."
"You can do that?"
"Who do you think I am? Some mediocre shape-shifter?"
"Well…"
"It was a rhetorical question. You weren't meant to answer it."
"I know. That's why I answered it," said Raven, stalking out of the room.
Animal Man shook his head and smiled.
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A loud knock came at the door. The African-American man, made half of metal stood up from the couch.
His red eye blazed and the TV shut itself off.
A shortly cropped beard hung from his chin and his muscular figure was more streamline than it used to be, though had lost none of its pure power. Now as agile and as fast as it was strong, Cyborg's very body was a weapon of mass destruction.
He walked over to the door, when another knocked rattled its hinges.
"Alright y'all! Hold your horses!" He yelled, reaching the door and pulling it open.
Outside, Animal Man stood tall, with Raven behind him.
"Gar? What the hell are you doing here?" asked Cyborg, slightly drab.
"I can't believe she talked me into this…" Animal Man replied, obviously not enthusiastic.
"Raven!" exclaimed Cyborg loudly, pulling Raven into a hug. "Oh, man. It's good to see you again."
"She wanted to see you, not me," said Animal Man.
"That much is obvious, Gar."
"What happened to you two?" asked Raven confused. "You used to be best friends."
"Yeah, well one of us decided to start murdering people," Animal Man shot at Cyborg, not taking his glare off the mechanical man.
"I work for U.S. Intelligence. I have a license to kill," Cyborg shot back.
"Sorry, Vic, but the fact you can get away with it doesn't make it any better in my book."
"What don't you understand, Gar? I kill terrorists, murderers, rebels. People who kill other people for fun! I save dozens of lives!"
"There are other ways to save lives, Vic!"
"What? Like hiding in your own personal forest and coming out whenever yet another super-villain breaks out of prison? Is that what you mean?"
"Well, it's definitely better than blowing people's heads off for a living!"
"I don't have to listen to this crap, Gar," finished Cyborg, taking a step back inside. "It was nice to see you again Raven," he said quietly before slamming the door shut.
Animal Man growled and shifted into a tiny insect, before flying through the keyhole, leaving Raven alone outside.
"Curse you Vic!" Animal Man yelled after shifting back to human form. "She just woke up from a fifteen year long coma and all you can do is slam the dang door in her face!"
"Don't use her as an excuse Gar! All you came here to do is have another shot at me!"
"You know what? Fine. Be a jerk! See if I care! It makes me look better anyhow!"
"Oh, like you ever had a problem! Have you forgotten what her last words were, you imbecile?"
"I haven't, but she has!"
"What?" said Vic, suddenly lowering the volume of his voice and filling it with concern.
"She doesn't have any memory Vic. Not even of me," Animal Man sunk a few inches.
"Oh, man… I'm so sorry Gar."
"The point is we came here so she could find out more about her past and for your help."
Cyborg stayed silent for a moment before saying: "What with?"
Animal Man smiled. He couldn't help it. "Someone's put a price on Raven's head and without her powers…"
"She hasn't got her powers?"
"No. But anyway, without her powers she can't stop these guys. Mod's already tried and who knows who else will "
Suddenly, a scream echoed from outside. Cyborg and Animal Man shared a quick glance at each other before running towards the door. Animal Man shifted into an insect again and flew through the keyhole, moments before Cyborg simply ran through it reducing it to splinters.
Raven stood gagged and bound by two shining bands of bright white light. Beside her, a man, well into his high forties stood, dressed in black body armor, with two large gloves with illuminated globes on the wrist. On his chest, a large light bulb emblem showed.
"Dr. Light?" exclaimed Cyborg.
"Very good, Cyborg. Full marks," said Dr. Light. "But I'm afraid your brains alone won't get you through this."
"Let her go," said Animal Man.
"Heck, no. I can kill her, and then kill you two afterwards. The boss will be very proud."
Animal Man roared ferociously, and jumped towards Dr. Light. Dr. Light raised his hand and a wall of white light appeared in front of him. Animal Man collided with it and was sent flying backward into the wall of Cyborg's house.
"Uh-uh-uh…" said Dr. Light.
"I know I've told you before Dr. Light…" said Cyborg.
"Said what?"
"Sounds pack a bigger punch," said Cyborg, pointing his finger. A device shot from the end of it, and attached to Dr. Light's forehead.
Dr. Light looked up at it foolishly, then a high-pitched whine emitted from it, sending Dr. Light to his knees clutching his ears in pain. The bonds of light holding Raven dissolved.
Cyborg ran, grabbed Raven and ran back towards Animal Man, who clumsily stood up, rubbing his ears. "Ow…"
Dr. Light ripped off the device. "What is this?"
"Hypersonic generator. Emits a sound so high only those in very close vicinity can hear it."
"Dogs can too," said Animal Man.
"What?" asked Raven.
"Trust me, some animal can. Ow…" said Animal Man, sticking a finger down his ear and twirling it a few times.
"It doesn't matter," said Dr. Light. "I'll still get what I came for."
Two large hands of light came from Dr. Light's gloves and reached for Raven. They grabbed her, but Animal Man moved quickly and grabbed her too.
"Cyborg! Get Dr. Light!" Animal Man grunted, trying to hold on to Raven.
Cyborg nodded and ran forward, fist up. He swung barbarically, but Dr. Light ducked and retaliated with a blow, backed up with a boxing glove of pure light. Cyborg went reeling upward from the blow, before coming crashing down onto the pavement.
The hands that grabbed Raven dissipated and Animal Man pushed her behind him to protect her.
"No matter how much it's resisted against, light always prevails," said Dr. Light walking steadily towards Animal Man and Raven as light crackled like electricity around his gloves.
Animal Man growled and picked Raven up under the knees and around the waist, before sprouting two massive bat wings from his back and flying upward with Raven in his arms.
Dr. Light grunted and made an upward gesture with his gloved hand. Light shot up like a whip and ensnared Animal Man's leg. The green hero grunted and struggled to break free, but without success. Within moments, Dr. Light was pulling them down towards him.
Suddenly, Cyborg appeared and pummeled Dr. Light with a mechanical fist. The villain flew into the wall of Cyborg's house, right next to where Animal Man had crashed into moments before. The light that ensnared Animal Man dissipated, and he flew upwards, Raven safely in his arms.
Cyborg called up to him. "Get Raven somewhere safe! I'll deal with old light-bulb!"
Animal Man looked down at him concerned for a moment, then nodded and continued his flight.
Dr. Light pushed a large piece of rubble off of himself and stood up clumsily. He looked around to see Cyborg, cracking his knuckles.
"Hello old man."
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Alright. That's all I have done so far so now you have to wait for me to update and I'm really bad at doing that….
