Sorry for the delay, but it t'was exam week, yet most were cancelled due to mass snow storms. Yay, Go winter. But they've been rescheduled for next week so updates will be rare until the horror ends. And as for the evil chicken pox, I'm in my scab stage so now I can write in peace... Well, almost. Here's chappie 16...
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" What!?"
" My mistake, you don't know. In either for him to take over this planet, starting with Jump City, he needs help... Your help."
" I'll never help him!"
" But you will. my sweet Raven.As soon as he gets here, we both poison your mind into obeying any order we give you. A simple spell that has been around for ages."
" You hateful-"
" Ta ta ta, no foul language must taint thy mouth." he placed a hand on her cheek
Raven half exploded as her dark energy made him fly into a stack on empty boxes. As he was buried, she looked around for an escape, but there was darkness at every corner. She had no clue of where to go to get out. Malchior pushed the boxes off himself and stood up calmly, lightly applauding her effort to stop him.
" Bravo... But your powers remain inferior to mine, my sweet Raven."
" I hope Trigon betrays you..."
" He would not betray someone who doesn't pose a threat. He is not to be messed with, his strength-"
" He only has half of what he used to possess. His strongest powers reside in an amulet hidden somewhere by the government."
" That is ridiculous..."
" If so, why is it that he hasn't succeeded in killing me, a pathetic half-breed?"
" ... Once Trigon arrives, such talk will cease."
" How did you find me? I was hiding somewhere unexpected, it would be difficult to find me on your own."
" Trigon did. He sensed you use your powers during a training session with that green friend of yours."
How could she forget? Every time she used her powers, Trigon could lock onto her and could track her down. Not good.
" And by the way, I've been tracking you since the very first day you used your magic. The only time you noticed me was in the hallway of that burning building. I was going to take you then my dear, but the element of surprise had long gone."
" So that was you... But why didn't Trigon just come get me instead of throwing you into the mix?"
" Many reasons." he replied " One would be to quietly capture you, someone of his size cannot use stealth so easily. Another would be to collect my future bride, you. And also, my sweet, he has promised me a seat of power in his new empire."
" And why would Trigon need me?"
" I am unsure. I believe it has something to do with a stolen artifact... An amulet..."
" The very same amulet he needs to take over the planet. Without it, he is as weak as you and I."
" But master Trigon, his powers exist within him, not in a silly necklace!"
" In my theory, he had no choice but to put his strongest abilities within it to stabilize them. And now that the amulet is lost, you can overthrow him..."
" ...Stop! I will not betray Master Trigon... I must go confirm your safe capture to the master before he departs. You stay here... Croisa Nostrado!"
With those words and the flick of his wrist, a box of energy began to form around Raven, leaving her with only enough room to walk around within. The ghostly walls took on a more solid form and securely trapped the half-demon inside. Touching the flickering azure wall would scorch the toucher. Raven glared at Malchior, he was grinning as he turned away. And walking away, he disappeared amongst the obscure darkness of the warehouse.
Perhaps she could escape from his trap. After all, this wasn't the first time being trapped. Her dark energy attacks would cease to work against the walls, but if she could seep through the floor and outside using the shadow technique, then she could get away before the magician even noticed. But she hadn't mastered it yet, only luck made it work. It was the right moment to attempt to unlock it and use it willingly. All she had to do was concentrate...
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In the mean time, a very determined Beast Boy was prowling the streets with his wet nose against the ground. In the form of a bloodhound, he would track Raven down in no time. But the second scent he sensed on the same path made him worry of Raven's fate. There was something wrong about it, it was like he could smell the immorality of the person. But he always had hope. If Raven was in any trouble, she would be able to defend herself. Even if it was against a familiar psychopathic babysitter.
Beast Boy trotted across the street avoiding the traffic with agile movement. He kept locked onto Raven's scent as he hopped up the curve and continued up the sidewalk. He was sure he was getting closer to where she was taken, and he was almost sure there would be a bout when he got there. All the extra exercise was bound to seriously bulk him up. After all of this, Mr. Logan was sure to stop suggest sending him to military school.
He was forced to stop when the trail was no longer in the air. He frantically started spinning in
rapid directions in search of any trace of his friend's scent but he found nothing. He stuck his
nose in the air and assumed the trail went up from there, onto the rooftops. He was about to morph into a hawk and fly up there when unexpectedly, something tightened around his neck. He turned his wrinkled head toward the source and would have gasped if he weren't a dog.
" Hehehe... Gotcha. C'mon little fella, you're going to the pound." a man told as he dragged the 'dog' to a white van
Beast Boy gulped as he was tossed into the back among the other caged dogs. As he hastily changed back to his human form, the doors behind him slammed shut and chimed as they were locked. The changeling could do no more than stare into space with wide eyes as the annoying yelps and barks of real dogs drowned out anything he would say. Now how was he going to save Raven if he was trapped in the van of the dog catcher? One way or another, he was getting out of there before he was taken too far away from the trail.
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As hard as she tried to focus on getting out, her wall phasing ability just didn't want to work for her. It was only a matter of time before Malchior returned to keep reminding her of her fate if Trigon arrived before she escaped. She didn't want to be a mindless slave to them, and she certainly didn't want to be Malchior's love slave for the rest of her life.
' C'mon, phase me out of here!" she yelled at herself
Denied the ability, she sighed with clenched fists and gave up. She slouched and sat on the floor of which was the only way to get out. Of all the times she needed it, now would be a great ime for it to stir, but it refused to surface. She wasn't getting out of this mess. She would forget everything she used to know about the past as Trigon and Malchior filled her head with senseless lies. She would help devastate the planet next to her father. And she would never be able to go back to the short new life she enjoyed. Never again would she live in peace at Mr. Logan's manor, where she was safe from her father and could read or train all she wanted. Not only that, she wouldn't get to bid farewell to her dear friend, Beast Boy. He wouldn't be there to help when she was troubled, she would have to take the angry shouts of her father. There would be no one to talk to, there would only be hatred and fear.
She flinched her eyes closed as she was swallowed up in dark energy. In exasperation, her dark shadow crawled across the concrete floor and outside the energy barrier keeping her locked inside. The obscurity returned her to the surface and absorbed back into Raven. She opened her eyes and wanted to kill her powers for taunting her. What triggered them was how badly she didn't want to stray from her days spent with the changeling. Subconsciously she didn't want the days she had spent with the changeling to end. And as much as she denied it, she had grown mildly fond of him.
Snapping back to reality, she remembered the pickle she was in and scanned the room for any signs of light from the outside world. Far off in the distant mangled mess, she could see windows. Little light was shining through their thickened fields of dust but just enough to lead her to safety. She quickly flew over to the window assured only Trigon could sense her, not Malchior. The window halted to budge as she tried to push it open, but a locked window wasn't keeping her trapped inside waiting for an unwanted fate.
" Azarath Metrion Zinthos!"
The window was shrouded in dark energy as her hands shifted over them. The window fractured and shattered within the dome of darkness guided by the cloaked girl. She levitated the glass and wood timidly to the ground below while the sights of the outer world wrapped around her senses. It was nice to see them even though they annoyed her 24/7 on any other occasion. Just as she floated out the window, her cloak got caught on a piece of broken glass left in the window's frame. The loosened shard hastily stumbled out of place and became airborne. It fell and crashed into the pile of glass on the floor creating an unmistakable silence breaking sound. Malchior would surely have heard that. In a panic, she zoomed over the streets looking for somewhere to hide.
Then she made the realisation running and hiding wasn't going to make them go away. She had to face him sooner or later, there was no point in trying to hide. If he could find her before, then he would again. She stopped in the air and stayed there unmoved. It was time to face her problems instead of running from them. Even with the odds stacked against her, she was still going to try.
She turned around and slowly floated back toward the building awaiting for Malchior's presence.
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Beast Boy tugged and strained to get the doors open but as usual, it just didn't work. He was starting to feel really unlucky. The dogs weren't helping either, they just kept barking at him like he was dog food. Beast Boy had to stop the vehicle before it was too late to get back on track, meaning he had to use his head to conceive a plan. That wouldn't be easy.
" Ugh... I gotta use my head... Wait... That's it!" He plotted miraculously
The changeling changed into the dinosaur with the thickest skull and rammed the doors instantly. Too bad he didn't plot what to do AFTER he got the doors to open. The doors burst open and morphing back, he lost his balance and fell out while the van was still moving. His feet hooked the bumper as he grabbed the doors to keep himself from grinding against the ground. He sweat dropped as he remembered his morphing abilities and changed into a monkey. He crawled back to safety and faced the caged animals as the van seemed to slow down. It was a red light, and the vehicle had stopped.
Beast Boy was about to flee when the whimpers of the dogs brought out his naturist side. He smiled and opened all the cages of the dogs quicker than the time it takes for light to appear after a light switch is flicked. Dog after dog began to dart from the van until it was full of empty cages. As the light turned green, the green boy stepped out of the van and onto the sidewalk while the van slowly gained speed and drove off, oblivious to the cargo loss. He grinned as he changed to a hawk and glided back down the street trying to find the area he was in before the abduction. At the very same moment, he happened to look to his right to see someone in a dark blue cloak floating in the air a great distance away. He knew it was Raven, but why she was just gliding in the air was a question to be answered when he got closer. He shifted his direction and sluggishly made his way toward his endangered comrade.
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Well, this chapter didn't feel like it was cheaply done, so I'm happy. If I get any bonus computer time, I shall get to work on the next chapter without delay. And apparently, there shall be another fight. So R & R and I will be more likely to update >:)