Chapter 7: Brutality
"Friend Raven?" Starfire yelled as she pounded on the heavy steel door. After her third call with no reply, she grew concerned and unleashed her eye beams and began to cut a circle into the steel door.
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Inside, Raven stared at the door with a fierce glare in her eyes. She picked up Raven's meditation mirror and looked deep into it. "I have to grant it to you Raven. You certainly know how to grant me easy pickings."
A small, distorted image of Raven appeared inside the looking glass. She was obviously inside her own mind and hammering against the boundaries of it. She threw endless attacks against the barriers, but without any effect. "Leave her alone!" Raven yelled.
In the real world, Raven chuckled at her counterpart's struggle. She took the mirror and held out her hand to the metal door and smirked. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos!"
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Starfire was almost done with the circle when the steel frame of the door was surrounded by an eerie black aura. She yelped once in surprise as the heavy metal door ripped itself from the wall and flew into her. Raven laughed loudly as she saw the alien girl being crippled under the massive door.
Starfire grunted and threw the door off of her. She was bruised all over her face and hands, and stood up with difficulty. Green globes surrounded her hands as her eyes glowed a shining shade of emerald. "Leave my friend now!"
Raven grunted in frustration at the alien's resilience. Starfire yelled loudly and sent a powerful starbolt at Raven, who deflected it with a shield of black magic. Then, the teen witch flicked her wrist, sending a spike of black magic from each finger directly at Starfire.
Starfire instinctively raised her arms to defend herself and the spikes of black magic passed straight through her arm, impaling her skin. She screamed in pain and sunk to the floor as the magic dissipated, leaving bloody holes where they'd been.
Raven smiled evilly, then walked over to Starfire, grabbing her hair. She held the mirror out in front of her and hoisted Starfire by the hair up to the mirror's level. "How does it feel, Raven? How does it feel to lose everything you care about?" Raven screamed into the mirror as the ghostly image of Raven in the mirror sunk to her knees in despair.
Raven grunted and hurled the mirror across the room, leaving it dented, but intact, at the other end of Raven's gloomy room. Starfire whined in pain as the blood seeped out her arms and Raven pulled her viciously up to her eye level by her hair.
Suddenly, a green tiger leaped into the room, slamming hard into Raven. She crashed into the wall, groaning in pain as Starfire fell weakly to the floor.
Beast Boy shifted back to his human form and helped Starfire up. "Star, you OK?"
The Tamaranian nodded weakly in response.
Raven grunted and lifted her hands as she slowly rose into the air. She looked right at Beast Boy with a scowl, then raised her hand. The meditation mirror flew cleanly into her hand and she gripped it tight before soaring out the window.
Beast Boy watched her fly out of the window, then turned back to Starfire. "I gotta get you to the hospital wing."
"I will be fine. You must pursue Raven."
"But…"
"Please. I do not wish friend Raven to come to harm."
Beast Boy nodded and slowly laid Starfire on the ground. "Be careful Star."
She nodded and watched as Beast Boy shifted into a falcon and flew out the window at astonishing speed.
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Cyborg's communicator sang the little tune as he drove the T-Car.
Jinx rode shotgun. "Phone," she said drably.
Cyborg answered it by pressing a button near the stereo system of his car. Starfire's bruised and bloody face appeared on the bottom left side of the windshield.
"Star!" said Cyborg worried at his friend's injured appearance. "My God. What happened?"
"Raven has again been taken over by the mysterious criminal."
"Are you OK though?"
"I am well. But Beast Boy is pursuing Raven through the skies. He may be in need of some assistance."
"OK. Thanks Star. Now get yourself to the hospital wing."
Starfire nodded and the screen turned off.
"Looks like we're not going to the tower after all," said Jinx.
"Guess not," said Cyborg, spinning his car around. He pressed a few buttons on the dashboard and the bottom left part of the windshield lit up with a map of Jump City. "Now, Raven, where are you?"
Jinx was taken aback. "You know your tech, don't you?"
Cyborg smiled at her comment and let a small hexagonal shape scan the maps of Jump City. Soon it passed over a green dot and beeped several times. "OK. There's Beast Boy. Man, he's gunning it… So if the criminal forgot to ditch Raven's communicator she should be around about…"
The hexagonal cursor moved forward and beeped when it passed over a purple dot. "Gotcha," said Cyborg triumphantly.
Jinx smiled, slightly impressed. "So where is she?"
"One sec. She should be…" Cyborg's face flashed over with confusion. "Right on top of us."
A large thud rang from the top of the T-Car.
"Good guess," said Jinx as Raven's hand pierced through the roof of the T-Car surrounded by a spike of black magic.
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In the hospital wing of Titans Tower, Starfire staggered through the door. She held her arms close to her chest to stop the blood and she let the tears flow freely. She stumbled over to one of the workbenches and nearly fell upon it as her body grew weaker from blood loss. She took a bandage and wrapped it around her left arm, letting the white fabric stain itself in blood.
She yelped in pain as she tightened the bloodstained bandage and she sunk to the floor as her outfit became soaked with blood and tears. Then, a brief sound groaning sound came from behind her.
She jumped up, startled at first until she realized who was groaning. Robin was awake.
She went over to him, invigorated by his recovery and he looked at her painfully. He reached up and grabbed her by the shoulders. She winced in pain from her wounds, but Robin didn't seem to notice. He pulled her close. "I know who it is…" he muttered, each word a raspy breath.
She looked at him in surprise.
"I know who it is…" he repeated. "You need to call Beast Boy… before its too late…" he muttered, before his grip went loose and he fell unconscious once more.
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Raven growled as she punched through the roof of the T-Car with powerful spikes of black magic. Below her, Cyborg tried his best to control the T-Car.
"Enough," muttered Jinx angrily, undoing her seatbelt. She rolled down the window with a button, grabbed the top rim and flipped onto the roof of the car.
Raven's violet eyes locked with Jinx's pink ones.
Raven's eyes glowed briefly blue. "What are you doing here?" spat Raven.
"Getting rid of you," retaliated Jinx.
A blade of black magic fizzled into being in Raven's hand. Jinx summoned up a pink, but otherwise identical, one in her hand. They remained still for a moment on top of the speeding car, then they both leapt forward, their blades clashing with no sound but with a massive flash that sent black and pink sparks raining down onto the roof of the T-Car.
"She knows her magic," Cyborg chuckled to himself as he kept the T-Car as steady as possible.
The blades flashed as the two teen witches fought each other. The blades danced around, leaving eerie trails of black and pink in the air. Suddenly, Jinx was caught off-guard and received a slash of Raven's blade across the belly for her mistake, followed swiftly by a fist to the jaw. Jinx groaned in pain and flew off the T-Car, crashing into the pavement and rolling in the T-Car's wake, leaving a trail of blood from the wound across her stomach.
Raven cackled and looked down at Cyborg driving the T-Car. Her eyes glowed again as she pointed at the steering wheel and engulfed it in a black aura.
"Oh, crap," muttered Cyborg looking up. Suddenly, the steering wheel turned swiftly right against his will. The tears screeched against the hard surface of the road as the T-Car lost its balance, swerved and crashed into a fire hydrant, side on.
The T-Car flipped up and over and Raven gripped onto the top of the T-Car, knowing the impact of the car would crush her to death. She laughed maniacally as Cyborg screamed.
A green blur came quickly, darted under the falling T-Car and swept Raven off its roof. The car crashed with an echoing sound as the fuel tank exploded.
"Cyborg!" yelled Beast Boy, hastily putting Raven down and running to the burning wreck of the T-Car. "Cyborg!"
A metal fist penetrated the side of the T-Car and Cyborg stepped out. "Go and stop Raven," the mechanical teen muttered to Beast Boy as he looked over his singed circuits and burnt metal plating. "Now!"
Beast Boy spun around to where he put Raven down. Nothing was there. "She's…" he spun back to Cyborg. "The real Raven should have woken up. Something's happened."
Cyborg nodded and smacked his own arm a couple times. "She still hasn't dropped her communicator. She's headed south, but be careful, most of my sensors are on the frizz."
Beast Boy nodded. "You go and check on Adonis. He's the one behind all this. I'm sure of it."
Cyborg nodded as he watched his friend shift into a hummingbird and fly away.
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"Jinx?" questioned Cyborg, helping the witch up. "You OK?"
"You came back?"
"You risked your butt for me back there. I owed you one."
"Thanks. I think."
"I need to go to the jail, but I can drop you off at the hospital if you need it," said Cyborg, honestly concerned.
Jinx clutched her stomach. "No," she looked towards the smoldering wreck of the T-Car. "But how do you intend to get there."
Cyborg smiled. "The old fashioned way." He took Jinx in his arms, then jumped with all the strength his legs could muster in their current state. He easily scaled the building, and effortlessly jumped to the next one.
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Beast Boy was following Raven in the form of a dragonfly. She flew fast, very fast, but there was always a bigger fish, or a faster bird. Beast Boy looked slightly confused as her flight began to slow and start to descend. But, then he became more determined than ever and stayed as close on her heels as possible.
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Cyborg burst into the jail, Jinx on his heels. "Mr. West!" he called loudly.
Mr. West appeared in a couple moments, his hat was lopsided. "What is it sir?"
"I need an immediate appointment with Adonis."
"He's currently in the hospital. Room 4," said West. "This way."
They followed West for a few moments, then he waited outside as Cyborg and Jinx went inside.
Inside, Cyborg stood wide-eyed as Adonis sat in his chair, perfectly healthy and definitely conscious.
"You're awake…" Cyborg muttered.
Adonis nodded with a grin on his face.
"You're not supposed to be awake!" yelled Cyborg, slamming his fist down on the wooden table in the center of the room.
"Sorry mate," said Adonis with a grin.
Cyborg yelled and punched Adonis hard in the jaw. The teen went flying off his chair and into the wall, his lip bleeding profusely.
West burst into the room. "What happened?"
Jinx looked at the bloody Adonis, then turned to the head guard. "He fell."
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Beast Boy crept cautiously into the dreaded cave. Raven was in here. It was just a hiding place, he kept thinking to himself, unable or unwilling to think of any other reason.
He swallowed the lump in his throat as he saw Raven looking up at the Stone statue of Terra. "Raven?" he muttered,
"You know perfectly well it isn't Raven," came the eerie echo of Raven's voice.
"Who are you?" Beast Boy asked, his voice barely a whisper.
Raven turned around to look at him, her violet hair hanging over one of her eyes. "You mean you haven't figured it out yet Garfield?" she said, almost in Raven's regular monotone, but with a creepy alien undertone.
She outstretched her arms to mirror the statue above her. "Have you still not figured it out?"
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One more chapter to go……..
This was a long chapter…. And bloody. Wow. OK. Now here comes an A/N. I do want to write a sequel, but tell me should I do that sequel as another BB/Rae story or a Cyborg/….. probably Jinx story? Review and tell me. Also, should IU keep on the same thread or make a new story? Up to you guys. Anyway, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed my story. --- Brit.
NOTE: This has nothing to do with Teen Titans... but I feel that I have to give Mr. George Lucas a formal thank you for the awesome spectacle that ended the infamous Star Wars saga. An utterly brilliant, fantastic, emotional movie that desrves every bit of praise it gets. Mr. Lucas, I salute you... And Mr. Vader --- Rise. Anyway --- if you haven't already go see it. It really is fantastic. In the words of Ms. Padme Amidala --- Star Wars has come to an end... and "it's breaking my heart"...
LOL ---Brit.