(Holy Crap! Twenty Five Chapters!)
As the houses burned in front of them, the pair could only look on in horror.
Raven motioned to Dani and said, "This is bad news. There's only one terrible monster with that kind of horrible scream."
Dani nodded. "I know, but how could Courtney Love have gotten here?"
Raven did a cartoon-style facepalm. "No, that's not what I meant!"
Dani raised an eyebrow. "You do have to admit, the resemblance between the two voices is uncanny."
Raven groaned and said, "Dani, this really isn't the time for jokes. This is serious."
"I'm sorry. I still love you."
Raven groaned again and rolled her eyes. She just had to be stuck with the joker. "Look," Raven said, "the most dangerous creature in all of Azarath is probably no less than a hundred feet away from us! That's what's causing all this mayhem!"
Dani blinked. "Oh. Whoops."
"Yeah. 'Whoops'," Raven said cynically. "His name is Fenrir, and he's not exactly cuddly. Now, just stay here. I'll try to fight him off."
Dani shook her head disagreeably. "Wait, wait, wait. I think you're forgetting which of us is a ninth-degree blackbelt in Tae Kwon Do."
Raven looked at Dani quizzically. "I thought you were just a blackbelt."
"Nope. Nine fuckin' degrees, baby."
"Well, whatever. Fenrir will slice you into bits even if you have fifty degrees on your blackbelt," Raven retorted.
Dani backed away. "Okay, I'll leave you to get killed if that's what you really want."
Raven was going to say something apologetic, but she decided she didn't have the time as another of Fenrir's bone-chilling roars tore through the sky.
"I'll come back!" Raven yelled as she ran towards the inferno.
"You'd better, or else we're through!" Dani yelled back.
Ignoring her friend, Raven continued to run until she had reached the site of the attack. She was unable to see Fenrir immediately, however.
"Jesus Christ, it's hot in here," Raven muttered to herself.
"What did you expect?" a familiar voice asked from behind her.
'Shit, not again,' Raven thought to herself, knowing whom it was behind her. Still, she could not but turn around anyway. Sure enough, the enigma hovered a few yards behind her.
"Your friend must go," the figure said calmly. Raven's eyes widened.
"No! Leave her out of this! She's done nothing!" Raven yelled with intense fury as the flames engulfing the village roared beside her. The figure stood still.
"Don't hurt her!" Raven yelled again, picking up a burning plank of wood nearby.
The figure surely would have been smirking had a blanket of darkness not been covering his face. "Or what, you'll hit me with that…fish?"
In front of her eyes, the burning plank transformed in front of her eyes into a frozen fish. The figure just laughed.
"Yes! Exactly!" Raven said, chucking the fish at the figure's head, making direct contact. The figure, too busy to notice, was whacked right on the forehead with the frozen fish, knocking him off balance.
"Fuck!" the figure said, in an almost familiar way. Raven flew at him full speed, hoping to catch him by surprise. The figure, to her immediate dismay, caught sight of her and dematerialized before she could hit him. Screeching to halt, she looked around frantically. However, the only thing coming towards her was Fenrir, bounding with amazing agility. Reflexively, she ducked and rolled out the way, Fenrir sailing over her. Off in the distance, she heard an effeminate scream, followed by Dani's voice yelling, "Get your hands off me, you dirty motherfucker!"
Raven froze. "Dani!" she yelled, flying as fast as she could towards the source of the scream. Unfortunately for Raven, Fenrir's cat-like reflexes caught wind of her flight and launched after her. Even going as fast as she could, Fenrir was still gaining. Thinking quickly, Raven abruptly stopped and flew up, where Fenrir could not reach her.
The sound of wings flapping attracted her attention.
Turning around Raven saw Fenrir, with his black bat-like wings flapping after her.
Shit. She forgot he could do that.
"So, any idea where our resident green buddy?" Aqualad asked. Cyborg rolled his eyes and said, "Of course not, stupid, that's why we're looking for him."
"Sorry, asshole," Aqualad retorted angrily.
"Jerk."
"Bitch."
"Meecrob."
"What the hell is a 'Meecrob'?" Aqualad asked.
Cyborg laughed out loud. "Hah! He doesn't know what a Meecrob is!"
"Cyborg, you don't know what Meecrob is either. You made it up five seconds ago. Now will both of you, please shut up!" Robin yelled.
Cyborg fell silent. For a few moments, anyway.
"Are we there yet?" Cyborg asked in a whiny, childish voice. Robin groaned and said, "Cyborg, I will kill you one day."
"Pfft. I could beat your ass any time," Cyborg retorted. Robin was about to say something clever and witty, but then remembered he lacked the ability to do so.
Aqualad interrupted the argument, saying, "Hey, I think I might know a way we could find BB."
Robin and Cyborg simultaneously turned around, saying, "How?"
"Cyborg, is it possible for you to somehow adjust your scanner so that you can track recent body warmth anomalies or some kind of junk like that?"
Cyborg blinked. "No."
Robin jabbed him in the side with his elbow. "Yes you can, Cyborg."
Cyborg scratched his head sheepishly. "Well, it's no use unless we have a point to start from, where we know Beast Boy was earlier."
Robin glared. "Then we'll find some place."
"How about the Tower? He probably went there after he left," Cyborg said. Robin raised an eyebrow and said, "How do you know that?"
"Cause we live in a universe dominated by a writer who doesn't have the patience to make everything logical," Cyborg muttered under his breath.
"What was that?"
"I said, because he likes to go there."
Robin leered at Cyborg. "If you say so."
"Dude¡este hombre es el vete a la mierda cargado!" Menos yelled.
(Translation: Dude, this guy is fucking loaded!)
And indeed he was. The home of Brian Warner sat on the eighth floor of the apartment, and pretty much took up the entire eighth floor. With a 42" Plasma screen TV, a couch that could seat twenty, a dining table to match, and a multitude of gasp Rush Limbaugh posters, this guy was definitely putting bread on the table.
Rush Limbaugh. The voice of all the underrepresented white Christian males everywhere.
Brian Warner sat down nervously on the dining table, taking a drag of his cigarette every few seconds. He was rather rotund, which is a really nice way of saying he was a frickin' house, for God's sake. Bumblebee flipped through her notepad, looking over her notes as the guy continued to blow smoke into Starfire's face every so often.
Starfire leered at him, not saying anything for fear of the guy rolling over her and suffocating her.
"So, you say this portal appeared in the middle of your kitchen and took your refrigerator?"
"Maybe these portals aren't all that bad," Speedy whispered in Starfire's ear. "They gave the guy the opportunity to stop eating."
Starfire snickered quietly, replying, "That's not very nice, you know."
Speedy grinned. "I know."
The guy blew a huge cloud of smoke out and in a heavily Southern accent, "Yeah, the fuckin' thing stole my fridge."
Warner motioned over to the two twins. "Hey, could you get those fuckin' Mexicans out of my apartment?"
Bumblebee scowled, unable to conceal her rage.
"For your information, they are Guatemalan, and second of all-" Bumblebee began to say, but was cut off when Brian suddenly fell over onto the table, unconscious. Speedy was behind him.
"Whoops. I seemed to have 'accidentally' poked him with my tranquilizer arrow," Speedy said innocently. Bumblebee groaned and said, "Look, as much as I would have loved to do that, we still need information from him."
"You'll need no information," a voice said from behind the group. They all simultaneously turned around, and saw a dark, mysterious figure whom you should know well enough by now that you need no description for, since I am a lazy little bitch.
Bumblebee paused. "Who are you?"
The figure was silent for a few seconds, then said, "You are the loose ends. You must be exterminated."
Starfire glared. "What does that mean?"
The figure ignored her and merely disappeared. "You are all expendable," a disembodied voice echoed. The group looked around, trying to spot the enigma. It suddenly repapered behind Starfire, kicking her square in the spine. The Tamaran flew forward, tumbling onto Warner's couch.
Starfire jumped back up nimbly, throwing a dozen of starbolts at the mysterious target. The figure dodged them gracefully, until he was hit by an arrow in the back of the head, effectively paralyzing him.
Speedy grinned, twirling his bow around with his fingers. "Robin Hood's got nothin' on me!"
Not even a few seconds after the figure had been hit, he had fully recovered and had administered a blindingly fast blow to Speedy's stomach. The archer grunted and flew back into the wall, dazed.
"How? The effects of that arrow were supposed to last a half-hour!" Speedy said, bewildered.
Bumblebee yelled angrily, shooting a volley of bolts from her B-shaped weapon, all of which hit the figure, yet sailed right through his now intangible form. Más and Menos charged after him full speed, tearing up his carpet in the process. They unfortunately failed to notice, however, the figure's newfound unearthliness, and sped right through him, landing on the opposite side of the room. The figure resumed tangibility, and threw its hand out in Speedy's direction. The archer recovered and ran away from his opponent, taking refuge behind a dining chair. An invisible blast of energy charged at him, splitting the table in two and hitting Speedy full force. Speedy was sent flying, crashing through a window and falling through the open air. Speedy, reacting quickly, jabbed a steel arrow into the side of the building that prevented him from falling.
Starfire growled and attacked the figure with a flurry of starbolts. They made direct contact with the figure, although they barely seemed to daze him. Under the dark hood, a pair of eyes flashed a brilliant, angry, red color. With a prolonged grunt, the figure manipulated the couch underneath Starfire and threw it upward, sandwiching Starfire between the couch and the ceiling. With a blast of red energy from its eyes, the figure glued the couch to the ceiling, trapping Starfire.
While the figure was occupied with Starfire, Bumblebee charged full speed at it, knocking it over. As the figure fell, Bumblebee grabbed a stool nearby and swung it gracefully at her adversary. The stool smashed against the enigma, effectively earning a much enjoyed "Ooof!"
Before Bumblebee could do anything else, the figure began to shimmer, like a hologram. It looked at its flickering hands for a moment, and then sighed.
The enigma disappeared entirely a few seconds after, saying, "Another time."
An arrow with a rope tied to the end shot out from the window and hooked onto a chandelier. Speedy soon followed suite, climbing up the building wall nimbly. A simmering sound could be heard from above the couch, followed by an explosion from inside it as Starfire created an exit for herself. Más and Menos groggily rubbed their heads.
"¿Quién era?" Menos said, confused.
"No sé," Más replied.
Bumblebee pulled out her communicator. "We'd better inform the other guys about this," she said commandingly. She pressed a red button on the side and waited as it rang.
Shadowed by the unearthly demon, Raven weaved in between buildings, trying to lose her pursuer. Her attempts were fruitless, however, as Fenrir gained with each passing second, flying with absurd speed and agility. As the creature became nearer, he opened his giant mouth and roared obscenely, shaking the ground beneath him with the force of his scream.
Now the contracts out
They've put the word about
I'm coming after you
It's not the money I make
It's the thrill of the chase
And I'm coming after you
Raven ducked to the side, trying to evade the beast. Fenrir, with his amazing agility, screeched to a halt mid-air, and turned on a dime to continue the chase.
I watch your every move
Study the things you do
And the pattern of your ways
I watch the way you walk
I hear your telephone talk
I want to understand the way you think
Raven dived back down onto the ground, summoning a black protective barrier to shield herself. Fenrir slammed headfirst into the shield, the force of his blow sending Raven skidding backwards and dissipating her shield.
Better watch out, cause I'm the Assassin
Better watch out, Better watch out
Assassin
Fenrir roared again and charged after Raven, claws extended and his jaws open. Raven manipulated a large boulder nearby and threw it with all her might at the demonic hound. The boulder made direct contact, swatting Fenrir away like a fly. The beast stopped himself in mid-air, his eyes brimming with anger.
I'm in a cold, cold sweat
I taste the smell of death
I know the moment's getting closer
And as you walk to the light
I feel my hands go tight
Excitement running through my veins
The creature sailed through the air with ungodly speed. The Azarath was short of breath from her attack, unfortunately, and could not avoid the oncoming attack. With the force of a train, Fenrir slammed headfirst into Raven.
I've got you in my sights
I've got you dead to rights
The triggers waiting for my finger
I feel adrenalin rush
It's just the final touch
You can kiss your ass goodbye
Stunned from the impact, Raven stumbled around momentarily. Fenrir sat back on his haunches and was about to pounce when a small blur attacked Fenrir. When Raven regained lucidity, she saw Dani assaulting the beast with amazing fluidity. The beast roared and swiped at the girl, confused at this new target. Dani nimbly jumped up and delivered a blindingly fast jump kick to the side of Fenrir's head. The creature stumbled, becoming dazed, and attempted to bite back. Dani merely stepped back and sent a quick jab with her foot at the abomination's temple. Fenrir teetered for a moment, then fell back, unconscious.
Raven just gaped at her friend, amazed.
"How…how did you do that?" Raven asked with bewilderment. Dani smiled and responded, "Part of Tae Kwon Do is learning specific pressure points on the body where you can knock somebody out if you hit them there. I figured it was worth a shot."
Raven was silent. "Teach me sometime, will you?"
"Be glad to."
Dani smiled again. She felt all warm and fuzzy inside.
Raven looked around. "Did you do the same to the hooded person?"
Dani nodded. "Guy was pissing me off big time."
Not a moment too soon, a deafening explosion erupted from behind them, in the direction where they had originally come from. A spherical plume of energy rose above the ground, leveling off for a second, then dissipating back to the ground. With great speed, the hooded enigma swooped right up to them and released a blast of energy from his hand at Dani, throwing her to the ground and knocking her unconscious. Before Raven could react, the figure had grabbed her by her collar, hoisted her up, and slammed her into the wall of a nearby building. The figure was brimming with hatred.
"You! Why must you always be a thorn in my side! Why must you be the bane of my existence! Why must you ruin everything I do! Why?"
Raven would have responded, had the figure not been holding her in such a way that impeded any breathing.
The figure roared and slammed her into the wall again. "Why? WHY?"
Raven gasped, her lungs screaming for oxygen. Her face was beginning to turn blue.
The enigma roared again, and threw her to the ground. Raven coughed and sputtered, her lungs filling back up with oxygen.
The figure kicked Raven in the side of the head, throwing her to her back. With one fluid motion, the mysterious creature pinned Raven underneath his foot, a black and leathery boot squeezing her chest.
"We had some good times Raven. Let's not end it like this."
It was then that it hit Raven. Her memories, the figure, the mysterious illusion she was in- it all fit.
With a quick motion of her hand, Raven threw a bolt of black energy at the figure's head. The figure reared its head back and roared in pain. In slow motion, Raven could see the hood slowly fall down from the head from the force of the attack.
Izevm.
With the exception of large bags under his eyes and the new gash across his face from Raven's attack, Izevm was unchanged.
Raven jumped up and delivered a quick jump-kick to Izevm's chest, knocking him backwards. Raven summoned a dark ball of energy in her hand and stood at point blank range of Izevm's face.
"I want an explanation. Now," Raven said with surprising tranquility. Izevm sighed, and began to talk.
"When Trigon was defeated and everything came back to normal, I was brought back to life, among all the other people Trigon killed. But for some reason, I felt a newfound power inside of me…not power to level buildings or to raise mountains, but merely an ardent lucidity, clarity more powerful than any spell. But instead of the blind gullibility that consumed me before, I was filled with only one desire: revenge. And you happened to be the prime cause for all of my suffering. So, I donned an unseen identity, and went to work.
"The first thing I did was to create this illusion you see before you. I combined the memories of both you and me into this place. Not a real place, not an illusion…merely a manifestation of our recollections. An alternate dimension, if you will. All that was left was the find a way to lure you into this manifestation."
"So I created a few portals strategically placed around Jump City. And, eventually you found one. The only problem was that other people began to notice these. With no other option, I astrally projected myself to those portals and took care of anyone who had encountered these portals."
Raven stared. "You killed them?"
Izevm chuckled. "No. I will not condescend myself to killing anymore. When I died, I finally understood that."
Raven rolled her eyes, not buying it. But for some odd reason, she had a gut feeling he wasn't lying.
"I merely rendered them unconscious, knowing that they would wake up and assume it was only a dream. I was fighting some of your friends, actually, when your little friend attacked."
"Get on with the story," Raven said.
"Fine. Have it your way. As it turns out, your friend Dani ended up going inside one of the portals. She was the only one. But anyway, the problem with the portals was that they worked both ways. So, a few random, obscure objects ended up appearing on Earth. Which nearly ruined the whole thing, because if the press reported it en masse, people would begin to wonder, and my plan would be shot. Fortunately, there was only one story on it."
Raven scowled at him. "So you went through all that trouble just to kill me?"
"Heavens, no. I merely wanted you to take my perspective. Walk a mile in my shoes, look through my eyes, however you want to put."
Raven raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
Izevm sneered. "Raven, did you actually think I went around killing people cause I was pure evil?"
Raven paused.
Izevm snorted. "Typical. You heroes think that anyone who does something bad is pure evil and can never do good things. I was insane, Raven. Ever since I met your team, my mental health has been slowly decomposing. I didn't do what I did out of pure evil, I did it because I had no idea what I was doing, no idea it was wrong…"
Raven looked at him suspiciously. "And now you suddenly realize it? Just like magic, you're not insane anymore?"
"I told you before. When I came back, I was overcome with a new sanity, a new perspicuity."
Raven stared at him. "Forget it. Get on with the story."
"Fine. Anyway, I wanted to put you in my shoes, so to speak, by making you think you were going crazy. And you were, for a little while."
Raven was silent.
Izevm smiled. "What are you going to do to me, Raven?"
Raven was uncertain. She certainly couldn't kill him; enough bad memories were haunting her at night. She couldn't leave him here, as she was afraid he would turn on her. And that still left the matter of how she would get Dani back home…
Then, it happened.
A furious roar behind them. The sound of feet sprinting towards them. Frenzied growling. It all melded into one.
Raven whipped around, and in slow motion, she saw Fenrir pounce at her, claws only a foot away. Then like that, the beast was gone. With a bolt of dark energy from his finger, Izevm deterred the attack, sending Fenrir off to the side. Raven jumped back reflexively. She watched as Fenrir roared again and retaliated, charging Izevm and throwing him to his back. With one grotesque motion, Fenrir sliced Izevm, his claws leaving terrible gashes in Izevm's chest and stomach. Izevm yelled in pain, blood flowing madly from his wounds as his body fell limp. Fenrir turned around, growling, towards Raven. Raven stepped back, momentarily stunned after the recent display of carnage. With a roar and a leap, Fenrir was only seconds away from inflicting the same butchery on Raven as he did Izevm.
Raven closed her eyes, bracing for impact. And then…nothing.
She opened her eyes, and saw Fenrir at her feet, dead, with a dagger in his back. Izevm was leaning upright, panting.
Izevm had just saved her life.
And then it dawned on Raven. Izevm was never evil. He was only misguided.
In his final breath, Izevm muttered, "I'm sorry…Raven."
And like that, he was gone.
Raven fell to her knees and did something she hadn't done in a long time. She cried.
After Izevm's death, the artificial dimension began to crumble. Raven stood up, beginning to panic. In one swift flash, her vision became white. The bodies around her disappeared, and she felt herself become engulfed in the brilliance.
"Hello?" a child's voice echoed. Raven slowly felt herself return to reality, her surroundings becoming visible. She was in the park. A child hovered above her, staring intently.
Raven grabbed her forehead. Inter-dimensional travel could be a real strain on your head.
Dani lay beside her, still unconscious. With the child looking on, Raven crawled over to her friend and shook her lightly. Dani grunted and said, "Five more minutes."
Raven shook slightly harder. Dani woke up, looking confused.
"Ow, my head…I must have gotten so wasted last night…"
Raven shook her head, saying, "No, Dani, we're back home."
Dani looked around her. "Oh. Sweet."
Raven looked at her friend. "Can you find your way home from here?"
Dani nodded and said, "Yeah, my house is only a few blocks from here."
Raven stood up, Dani following suite. "Do you think you could walk back home on your own? I really, really need some time to myself."
Dani nodded. "Sure. I understand."
The two friends embraced. As Dani began to walk away, she yelled, "Hey!"
Raven turned around.
"Come visit me sometime, 'kay?"
Raven smiled. "Will do."
Dani grinned and began to walk away.
Raven's smile disappeared quickly. As she sat down to think, she saw a body in front of her. A green body. Beast Boy!
She ran over to her green changeling and saw that he was unconscious. Sighing, she grabbed his arm and supported his weight with her shoulders. She began to fly back to the Tower, the cataleptic Beast Boy in her arms.
Later that night
Raven sat on the roof of Titans Tower, her legs dangling over the edge. She sighed. It had been a long day.
"Raven?" a familiar voice called out from behind her. She turned around, and saw Beast Boy standing in the doorway. He walked over to her and sat down next to her.
"So, Izevm gave his life for yours?" Beast Boy said. Raven nodded solemnly. "When I told the team, they seemed pretty shocked about it. Reasonably so, I guess."
"Do you want to talk about it?" Beast Boy asked, placing a consoling arm around her. Raven leaned her head against Beast Boy's shoulder and said, "Sure. I guess it couldn't hurt."
Raven sighed. And said, "I always thought that there was only good and evil. But so many things fall into the gray area in between, it's mind boggling."
Beast Boy nodded. Raven continued, "I mean, was Izevm evil because of all the destruction he caused? Or was it because he couldn't help it? Was he good because he saved my life? Or does that one good deed not make up for all the other evils he's done?"
"Don't think about it too much. Your brain will explode," Beast Boy joked. Raven gave him a half-smile.
A few moments passed on that roof before Raven broke the silence.
"Beast Boy?"
"Mm?"
"I want you to promise me something."
Beast Boy looked at her. "What's that?"
Raven closed her eyes momentarily. "I want you to promise you'll never leave me."
The air was quiet for a moment.
"I promise."
Raven smiled and gave Beast Boy a soft kiss on his cheek.
"Thank you."
