Chapter Three:
Hemorrhage in my Hands
(Author's Note: Okay, time for some tear-jerkin. When Cidious talks about the possibility of "another dimension" – and we know here in cartoon/fanfiction land, it happens – head on over and read my other story "Rain Song." It's a Raven fanfic I'm currently working on. You'll get the lowdown on how the Masamune ends up in Raven's possession as her weapon of choice and what Slade's up to. Believe me, it ain't pretty. Anyway, that's one of the universes Cidious was referring to. I did this after Stephen King's fashion of the Dark Tower books – the books represent a beam in the tower, alternate dimensions. It's neat how it works, so I thought I'd apply it to the Titan universe.)
Starfire walked through the streets of Jump City, calling Raven's name. Through the crowds of people that inhabited the city, Starfire's call remained unanswered.
"Where can she be?" she asked aloud, floating above the crowds and traffic.
Her communicator suddenly sounded.
Robin's voice came across it, "Starfire! Come in!"
She responded, "Yes? What is it, Robin?"
"We've got trouble on the bridge coming into town! Where's Raven?"
"I do not know," Starfire said. "But I will come."
She put her communicator back and flew off towards the bridge. Raven slowly peered around the corner, gazing above the people, and watched Starfire fly off. She looked back at her communicator, now shattered into pieces next to the dumpster.
Raven flowed with the herd of people. She would sneak back to the Tower while everyone was away and pack her things fast. But where would she go? Earth held a lot more hiding places than Azarath, and a lot more opportunities to live with her shame. While she walked, Raven looked into the giant window displays of the many shops. She passed by a Friedman's jewelry store and stopped, intently staring through the glass at the display. She raised her eyes a little bit more to see a young man and his girlfriend look at engagement rings. Raven lowered her head and continued on past a florist where a gentleman was picking out a dozen roses for his significant other.
She began to walk faster.
All this happiness that surrounded her… all this love… it was killing her.
Raven walked faster.
Through the normal chatter of the busy people passing, her hearing honed in on those that were speaking the language of love. Those who where telling their lovers they couldn't live without them, that they loved them more than words could describe, that they would be home to see them soon. It was driving her insane.
She covered her ears and screamed at the top of her lungs. Nobody listened, they just continued on like Raven was nothing more than a muted mirage. She pushed through the crowd furiously, blindly. She had to get away, and fast.
Raven's mind kept screaming at her, calling her names, exploiting her self doubt.
It all came to a halt, however, when Starfire's cry for help echoed throughout the afternoon sky.
This was nothing like the villains they faced before.
His moves… they were unreal. Slade couldn't move half as fast as this guy could. And his sword… it was about seven feet long and slender… a stainless steel killing machine. It sliced Robin's staff in half easily; then Robin got a size boot to the face that sent him flying backwards into the T-Car. Cyborg tried to grab him, in turn got one of his arms cut off. Beast Boy ran in as a rhinoceros: he was picked up and hurled off the bridge. Starfire took a chance and flew in. Her target was hailed with a barrage of star-bolts. When the smoke cleared he was still standing tall, only his focus was now on Starfire herself. He ran quickly and leapt off of one of the abandoned cars and then rebounded off one of the suspension bridge gables. He came down hard and kicked Starfire right out of the sky. She came crashing down and slammed into the pavement hard. She looked up into his sandy blonde hair and intense glowing green eyes. His hulking figure nearly burst through the black uniform he wore. On his utility belt, Slade's insignia shined brightly.
He sneered when he landed in front of Starfire.
"Let's take to the sky," he said. He threw his arms back and focused his energy. A ring of dark energy marked a hundred foot radius from their point. The pavement started to lift off the bridge. Robin ran forward but was knocked back a few yards by some sort of force field. The giant circular makeshift arena took to the sky, dropping chunks of pavement, dirt, and pipe-work.
Starfire looked around her and then at her opponent.
"Who… who are you?" she asked.
He laughed and swung his sword around, "You may call me Cidious. And do not worry: it's nothing personal. I just need to lure your lover out here."
Starfire's eyes widened, "Lover? Robin?"
Raven's voice tore through the air, "STARFIRE!"
"And here she is," Cidious said with a smile.
Raven dropped from the sky onto the asphalt arena, almost half a mile above the suspension bridge.
Raven's anger was causing her body to shake. Through her teeth she commanded, "Leave… her… alone…"
"Okay," Cidious said. He ran forward and kicked Starfire in the stomach. She went into the air and then smacked into the ground. A wall of dark energy from Cidious shot up at the edge; Starfire rolled right into it.
"Who are you!" Raven demanded.
Cidious laughed heartily.
"I am Cidious," he said, mockingly bowing towards Raven. "I have been sent here to retrieve you."
Raven took a defensive stance, "For what?"
Cidious shrugged, "The hell if I know. But I tell you what: you come with me quietly, and you can ask the boss himself."
He laughed after that.
"Fuck you," Raven said as she ran forward and axe-kicked Cid right in the jaw. His head snapped back as his feet were lifted off the ground.
"Azarath Metrion ZINTHOS!" she screamed as she took control of his body. She threw Slade's minion across the large chunk of road towards the edge. Cidious' dark energy shield came up and stopped him, though. Raven took off towards Starfire; she rolled her over onto her back. Starfire groaned and held her stomach; her nose was bleeding. She looked up at Raven, her eyes full of questions.
"Raven…" she said wearily.
Raven fought back tears that were preparing their departure, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry…"
Cidious' yell alerted Raven to prepare for the worst. He slipped his arms under hers, picked her up off the ground, and then slammed her back into it again. Cidious reached down and picked up Raven. He placed his sword under her neck, watching as the beads of sweat off of her smooth skin ran onto his blade.
He whispered in her ear, "Now, are you coming along quietly, or am I going to have to peel the skin off of your little friend right there."
Raven began quivering and whimpering. Tears flooded her face as she couldn't grasp her energy. Cidious ran his tongue up and down her neck.
He whispered again, "Master Slade was right to choose a little slut like you… you taste really…"
Cidious was cut off by a large star-bolt knocking him back a couple of yards. Raven dropped to her knees and looked up to see Starfire wiping the blood away from her mouth and nose but clutching her side. Cidious was screaming in pain; Raven turned to see half his face singed, resembling that of freezer burnt meat. He immediately pulled himself off the ground and brought up his sword.
"That's gonna cost you, bitch," he scorned. Raven was shocked at how fast he could move; so fast, that he was almost nothing but a blur. In less than thirty seconds he punched, kicked, and choke-slammed Raven. Starfire's eyes widened as he focused his attention on her. Raven rolled onto her back, groaning in the immense pain that clung to her body. She looked over to see Starfire begin to run away from Cidious.
She didn't run fast enough.
Cidious rammed his long sword into Starfire's back. The blade slid out the front, dripping wet with Starfire's blood. Starfire didn't make a noise. Instead, her expression was that of shock. She looked towards the clouds above as they came together to form a dark overcast. Cidious removed his blade from his victim; the blood falling off the blade like a self-cleaning mechanism was activated. Starfire fell to her knees and then onto her face as rain began to come down from the heavens above. Cidious threw his blade aside and spit on Starfire's limp body. Then he turned to Raven, "Behold, Raven: this is your destiny. You will lose all that you hold dear across all planes. This was merely a taste of what you're going to experience elsewhere. My words make little sense to you now, but soon you will know."
Then he smiled cheerfully, his charred skin still smoking some from his blast, and said, "Have a fantastic day, you carpet-munching fuckfaced douche-bag."
Cidious laughed as he turned and begin to walk away towards the edge. The lengthy sword had fallen near Raven; she reached over and picked it up, the blade sliding on the pavement. She screamed with immense rage as Cidious turned just in time to have the blade rammed into his right eye. The blade slid out the back of his skull; his body began to convulse violently. Raven removed the sword forcefully and kicked Cidious off of the floating chunk of road. His body freefell, bouncing off the gable of the suspension bridge and then crashed into the water. Raven stood there for a minute, unsure about the course of action she just took. She looked down at the sword that she had never seen before, totally mesmerized by the amount of power it wielded. This was no average blade… Starfire! Raven ran to the fallen Titan and dropped to her knees, resting the sword beside her. Raven cradled Starfire, brushing her hair and cooing through her tears, saying "It's going to be all right, it's going to be all right… Oh God, I'm sorry…"
The rain was cold and unforgiving, just as the mighty Masamune blade beside Raven was. Starfire held the exit wound as blood poured out. She tried to cling as much as she could to consciousness. In Raven's head, someone was crying… It sounded far off, like in the distance… and it sounded like Raven.
She began to sing softly to Starfire one of her favorite songs, "Don't fall away, and leave me to myself…"
Starfire lived. Barely.
As an act of God, it seemed, even though the blade ruptured some of Starfire's organs, she was still going to make it thanks to some of Raven's healing magic and some minor surgery. To keep publicity low, a small group of surgeons were brought in from the local hospital to perform the operation inside the infirmary. Raven watched through the door's window, never budging an inch. Everyone gathered around her.
"Raven," Robin said softly, putting his hand on her shoulder.
Raven lowered her head, "I'm sorry everyone. As usual, I attract trouble, and people get hurt."
"It's not your fault," Cyborg said.
Raven turned and screamed, "YES IT IS GODDAMMIT!"
She started to cry as the anger consumed her, "IT'S BECAUSE OF MY GODDAMN FEELINGS AND MY FUCKING SELF-PITY THAT KEPT ME FROM BEING THERE SOONER! I SHOULD BE OUT THERE GUTTING SLADE'S WORTHLESS ASS RIGHT NOW FOR WHAT HE DID! SO DON'T YOU STAND THERE AND TELL ME IT'S NOT MY FAULT!"
She turned to Beast Boy, "I know you're about to say something, but for your own good, SHUT THE FUCK UP!"
Beast Boy opened his mouth but chose to take heed of Raven's advice. Everyone backed up and made way as she stormed down the hallway. Cyborg and Beast Boy turned to Robin, who shrugged.
"Don't ask me," he said.
Beast Boy pondered, "What about that sword she brought with her?"
"I've looked it up," said Cyborg. "Called a 'Masamune.' A very rare sword… says it goes back to feudal Japan."
"Cidious was working for Slade… do you think he has more?" Robin asked.
"Don't know. What I'm worried about is his remark to Raven about losing all she holds dear 'across all planes.' Does Slade have a way to jump across dimensions now?"
"I don't want to think about it," Robin said. "Right now we've got to concentrate on Starfire and help her pull through. If Slade shows up, we'll deal with him. He'll pay for this…"
"Dude," Beast Boy said. "I think Raven already got retribution for what happened to Starfire. You don't think she's going to try and find Slade herself, do you?"
"Beast Boy's right," said Cyborg. "We better keep an eye on her and make sure she doesn't try to do anything crazy. The last thing we need is her falling into Slade's trap and becoming an apprentice."
"Or worse," Robin said, looking back through the window at the operation taking place in the infirmary.
Raven was on the rooftop, looking out at Jump City. The clouds broke apart once the sun went down exposing scattered stars throughout the space above. In her hand she loosely held the Masamune. She knew what it was now, although it was hard to tell how she concluded that. Raven didn't recall reading about it in any of her textbooks; it just all of a sudden came to her, like a distant memory does. She brought it up and examined it. There was something engraved on the hilt, but it was too dirty with dried blood to see in the dark. She played with it some, fighting an imaginary opponent. Anything to keep her mind off of Starfire.
After a few carefully performed strikes, Robin said aloud, "You're pretty good."
Raven stopped and pulled her cape over her arms. She flipped the Masamune upside down so it curved upward and pointed it behind her.
"How is she?" Raven asked.
"They're finished," he said, walking up next to her and the scene of Jump City. "She's resting now."
Raven nodded and kept her head lowered.
Robin turned to her, "Can I ask you something?"
She didn't respond.
"What's up between you and Starfire?"
Raven clenched her teeth, took the Masamune and began to strike the border wall.
"She wants you," she said hatefully. "No matter what I do, no matter what I can do, she'll always want YOU."
Robin was confused and appalled, "Raven… what're you talking about?"
"Jesus Christ, Robin, Starfire loves you! Can I make it any fucking plainer for you? And I LOVE her! But…" she sighed, lowering her voice back to normal. "She waits outside of your door almost every night. She tries to knock on your door to ask you if you would like to sleep with her. But she could never bring herself to go through with it. So she would just sit there for awhile. I would sit, too, watching her. I have gone up to her door so many times to do the same thing… but my results are the same as hers. I shouldn't have left her a note…"
Robin took a seat on the wall, "You left her a note?"
Raven nodded, "Yeah… I left a note on her door. I watched her in the shower. I just can't stop thinking about her. She… she's so perfect… but I… I'm so fucking worthless… We went to the park today, I kissed her, and then everything else went straight to Hell."
"Raven," Robin sighed. "I… I don't know what to say."
"You don't have to say anything. It makes no difference," Raven replied. "Slade is after me again, and he found my weakness. I don't know how he did it, but I don't like the sound of it. But…"
She clenched her free fist hard, "I'll get him for what he did to my Starfire."
"We'll get him," Robin assured her. "But first, I think you need to talk to Starfire."
Raven sighed.
Robin began to leave, but she stopped him, "Do you love her?"
He turned, "What?"
"Do you love her?"
Robin was silent for a moment, "To be honest… I'm not sure. More than likely… not in the way that she does me."
"Are you just saying that?"
He shook his head, "No, I'm being sincere. Scouts honor."
Raven gave a half smile, "Get the fuck out of here."
Robin smiled and left her standing there on the rooftop, alone with her inner voices. She wiped her eyes, thankful that Starfire pulled through and Robin confirming what she knew all along. However, the aspect of Slade returning to do well on the message he sent worried her greatly. Raven needed to meditate, but her mind was scattered, not centered.
She needed to see her Starfire.
For such a short battle fought, it had devastating consequences.