Woohoo, another chapter! This one with a little bit of action in it. Glad people are liking the story. It won't be long now before Harbinger's evil plan is revealed! Isn't that exciting!
Anyway, enjoy!
Chapter 12: Nightfall
Vivian remained sequestered alone in Beast Boy's room for the rest of the day, only coming out to use the bathroom a couple of times. The mood in the tower was uneasy and unusually sullen. Cyborg and Beast Boy busied themselves playing the GameStation, but their normal kibitzing banter back and forth was strained. Raven sat reading nearby, though her mind was not on the words that her eyes grazed over. Even Starfire wasn't her usual bubbly self, cooking an alien dish nearly silently in the kitchen.
"The sun's setting," Robin stated as he walked through the door, "We should go get Harbinger now. I've spent the day looking over the plans for the Wayne warehouse. There's only two entrances: one used for the harbor entrance and the other used for trucks to transport goods on land. Looks like we'll have to cover both of them to make sure the cultists don't get away."
"Excellent idea!" an overly cheerful voice stated as Harbinger walked into the room and gave a wide, vicious smile to the assembled Titans, "I can see why you're the leader, my little birdy." Harbinger stretched her arms over her head and strode further into the room, placing a hand on her hip, "Might I suggest that you and Starfire keep watch of the port access, while Beast Boy and Cyborg keep them from running via the trucking door? Raven and I will go in and attack the cultists."
"Care to elaborate why you've chosen such pairings?" Raven asked dryly, arching an eyebrow at the dark woman.
Harbinger shrugged absently, "The port will need both aerial and ground support, while the truck loading doc only really requires big bodies blockading it, of which Cyborg and Beast Boy both excel. Raven is likely quite resistant to the cultists' investments and I know the most about how things work. It seems to make sense to me." She grinned impishly and winked, "There's always methods to my madness."
Raven frowned, about to protest, but Robin spoke first, "Those are good points, Harbinger. We'll play things your way for now."
"How gracious," the dark woman replied with a faint smirk, "Well, it's nighttime. We should get going. They're likely already there as it is." Harbinger began moving towards the exit.
As the group of teenaged superheros moved towards the exits, Robin quickly pulled Raven to the side and spoke with her in hushed tones, "Raven, I need you to keep a close eye on Harbinger. She seems helpful on this part, but I have a gut feeling something is wrong here. Make sure she doesn't do anything that might be... unusual."
"I'll watch her like a hawk," Raven stated flatly with a nod, "Believe me, she won't breathe without me knowing."
"Good," Robin smiled with a nod, "Let's go."
An eerie calm had descended over the docks where the last artifact has being held, the three groups of titans concealed at various points, watching their respective assignments.
"I don't see why we don't attack now," Beast Boy grumbled to Cyborg, "I mean, they're already in there, aren't they?"
"Yeah, man, but not the head dude," Cyborg replied, staring at the truck depot, "If we take out the scrubs now, we'll miss our chance to take down the entire cult. I sure don't want to have to go through this again a few months later. It's the same reason we don't have the police with us right now."
The green titan sighed, "Good point. I just wish they'd hurry up."
"I do not like the idea of leaving friend Raven with Harbinger," Starfire murmured to Robin from the crates they were crouched behind.
"Neither do I, Star," the masked teen replied with a faint frown, "But Harbinger's explanation made sense. Raven and her have the best chance to deal with the cultists on their own terms. We have to keep them from escaping."
Starfire sighed dejectedly, looking across the dock and listening to the gentle washing of waves against the pier.
Harbinger yawned absently, lounging in the shadowed rafters above the assembled cultists below. Raven sat beside her and glared at the other woman disapprovingly, "I would have thought you'd be taking this a bit more seriously."
"Why?" Harbinger asked curiously, arching an eyebrow and smiling wryly at Raven, "This isn't my world, so what do I care if it gets destroyed? Besides, everything is going to plan. We just have to wait for the moment to strike." Her eyebrows arched as she leaned forwards, peering down at the assembled group, "And speaking of which, here comes the MC now."
A tall man in a goatee, swathed in robes with a gold length of cloth around his shoulders. The other cultists all bowed reverently to the man as he pulled up a hood over his head. Moving to a dias on which a lectern was placed, the man began to speak, though the words were in some strange other language.
"What are we waiting for?" Raven hissed, already moving her hands to prepare for an arcane motion, "Let's go!"
"No!" Harbinger hissed back, placing a staying hand on Raven's shoulder, "We wait for the ritual to begin."
"Why?" Raven asked suspiciously, narrowing her eyes at the other woman.
Harbinger sighed in exasperation, "Really, you need to learn how to trust more."
"Trust is earned."
"Whatever," Harbinger grumbled, "But we must wait until the ritual begins. We have to make sure he's brought all the artifacts. You don't want to be responsible for one of them being missing, do you?"
Raven frowned, but lowered her hands to watch the ceremony unfold below her. One by one, the missing artifacts were revealed to the hushed awe of the assembled cultists. Again, the priest spoke, this time with more authority and vigor, gesturing wildly.
"Okay, let's go!" Raven stated, rising and preparing herself, "Azarath, Metrion--"
"No!" Harbinger stated, placing a hand on Raven again and dragging her back into the darkness, "Not yet! Let me do something first. I'll cast a spell to make sure they can't complete the ceremony until it dissipates. It won't last long, but at least we can fight without worrying that they'll complete the sacraments and bring about Armageddon."
Raven scowled deeply, "You seem awfully concerned for someone who doesn't care if the world is destroyed."
Harbinger ignored Raven and began to chant, moving her hands in an angular, arcane rictus, "Somnobulus retrivi est." Each of the artifacts began to glow faintly, a sparkling aura of purple surrounding them. Several cultists sat gasped and even the High Priest looked surprised. Soon, though, he smiled and looked towards his followers, speaking soothingly to them and holding up his hands in a placating motion.
Harbinger smirked slightly as the glow quickly began to fade, "Idiot. He thinks the glow is proof of their holy work."
"Can we get this over with now?" Raven asked in a deadpan voice that still somehow managed to convey a metric ton of irritation.
"Whenever you're ready, sugarcakes," Harbinger stated with a wink, standing up on the rafter and spreading the black wings on her back out, "Ready? Go!" In an instant, the woman had leaped from the rafter and was gliding down towards the stunned cultists. Several broke and run in a panic, Harbinger grinning viciously as she buzzed them.
"Azarath, metrion, zinthos!" Raven called out, floating up, her eyes blazing white as dark spires thrust from her hands, moving towards the High Priest. With an arcane motion, he held up his own hands in a protection motion, Raven's energy slamming against them with a crackle of dark energy.
As Raven tangled with the high priest, Harbinger was amusing herself harassing the fleeing and panicked lower order cultists. Laughing with ghoulish amusement, the shadow woman plucked a couple of cultists from the floor and then slammed them together with a flourish of her hands, knocking them out.
"Harbinger!" Raven cried, grimacing as her tendrils of power began to be pushed back by the concentrating leader, "Help me!"
Swooping away from the screaming, frightened cultists running for the exits, Harbinger flew back around and made a bee-line to the High Priest, intent on hitting him from the side. He looked over to see her coming then moved one hand in preparation to cast a spell at Harbinger, but was too late. He was rammed by the dark woman and went sprawling backwards. In an instant, Harbinger had grabbed the priest and forced him against the wall, one hand clutched tightly around his throat. "And now for the coup de gras," she murmured with a sneer, raising her free hand and red claws in preparation to strike the defenseless man. He screamed in terror as her hand moved to eviscerate the cult leader, but was stopped at the last moment by a dark energy surrounding her hand, holding it still before slicing into the man's skin.
Hissing, Harbinger looked over her shoulder and glared her red eyes at Raven, "What are you doing!"
"Stopping you from killing him," Raven replied, her eyes still glowing faintly, hand outstretched towards the other woman.
"Why?" Harbinger asked, eyes narrowing to slits, "If you let him live he'll just cause more trouble later. He's not even human, not any more. At least, not by any reasonable measure."
"We're not murders, Harbinger," Raven replied dangerously, "Let him go. Now."
"It's hardly murder," Harbinger countered with a scoff, "Remember, he was planning on destroying your world. It's simply the elimination of a threat. Really, what's the deal with all this compassion and mercy? Hardly what I would have expected from the daughter of Trigon."
Raven glowered, but before she could reply another voice cut through the night. "Harbinger! Put him down!"
Harbinger's red eyes swiveled to regard Robin and Starfire hovering nearby. Soon after, Cyborg and Beast Boy entered. All eyes were on the slumped, scared man and the dark lady. A flickering smile oozed on Harbinger's features as she shrugged and let go of the high priest and stepped back, folding her hands behind her back. Cyborg immediately ran forwards to secure the dropped man.
"Really, I'll never understand you heros. First you want to stop the guy, now you want to protect him. No wonder you have so much trouble with recurring villains," Harbinger mused before craning her neck towards the docking area, "Didja capture the others?"
"Yes," Robin replied with a nod before looking towards Beast Boy and Cyborg. Beast Boy grinned brightly and gave a thumbs up, "Dude! They didn't know what hit them."
"Well, then, it appears that my work here is done, then," Harbinger replied matter of factly, her wings folding about her, "I'll be seeing you again soon." Her eyes glided towards Beast Boy and the dark woman winked impishly, an enigmatic smile on her features, "Some sooner than others. Goodnight, now!" With that, black smoke swirled around her and she dissipated with a faint gust of wind.
"That was... quite abrupt," Starfire stated, blinking at the place where Harbinger once stood.
"Yeah," Beast Boy with a slight disappointment in his voice, "She didn't even really say goodbye."
"I wouldn't worry," Raven stated dryly, "She'll turn back to Vivian tomorrow, right? You'll see her again."
Sirens could be heard in the distance and Robin frowned thoughtfully, "Anyway, the police are coming. Let's get the criminals rounded up for them when they get here."
The titans began to retrieve the various captured cultists, but Raven paused briefly, looking over her shoulder at the artifacts arranged neatly on the dais. She felt something... the aftereffects of Harbinger's spell? Shaking her head, the dark teen turned away, forcing the feeling from her mind and went to aid her friends.