Hey, I'm back... heheh. Sorry it took so long, but I actually only had a few weeks this entire summer where either I wasn't out of town, or we didn't have different family member visiting. And you know what I found out during those few weeks of actual free time I had? That apparently my creative juices stop flowing entirely over summer break. It's a miracle really that I was even able to write this chapter. I guess if I'm not writing things against my will in school, I have no motivation to write things thatIwant to write on my own. Anyway, sorry for the incredibly long delay, but here's chapter 18. (Lol, although I bet no one really even remembers what my story was about anymore. Sorry, my bad!)

"Well, well, well… so we meet at last my dear, face to face."

Raven turned around to find the Archimage standing before her, staring into her eyes with an amused smirk. She quickly took a step back as she threw forward several tentacles of her dark energy, trying to put as much space between her and the enemy as possible.

As she had hoped, he jumped back several feet to avoid being hit, barely escaping her attack as it skimmed past his robe, tearing a small piece of it. At least now she knew that this was not an astral projection.

"Now that won't do. We can't have your powers going to waste like that in here. Not when I have a much more efficient use for them."

Raven dropped her arms a few inches from the shock of his statement. Did he say what she thought he just said?

"What exactly are you planning to-" but she was cut off as he raised a hand, which in turn caused a loud crashing noise, similar to that of thunder, she thought. The noise grew, echoing all around them, until finally it seemed to even out as a steady sort of rumble. Then Raven sensed that her surroundings had changed ever so slightly, but as she looked around, she didn't notice anything different about the room. It took just a few more moments before she realized that it was the color of the energy walls around her that had changed. They were turning from a bright yellowish-white to a sort of transparent light blue. She was just able to make out the rest of the stadium outside the walls. What was he doing?

The Archimage seemed to be admiring the recent changes to their surroundings, until the noise stopped altogether and he turned once again to face Raven.

"That should do it," he smirked.

"Do what?" she asked suspiciously. When the Archimage didn't respond, Raven looked around the room trying to figure out what the walls had changed, wondering what exactly he had done. As she turned, she noticed that she was now able to see her friends through the middle wall that they shared, although with the energy between them they looked hazy and distant. The other Titans were also looking around. Raven supposed that they, too, were trying to figure out what had happened.

"Raven?"

The empath took a step forward, sure that she had heard her name, before she realized that Cyborg was standing on the opposite side of the wall and to her left.

"Cyborg… Are you guys all right?"

The cybernetic teen looked back at the others, assessing their situation, before turning back to face her. "Yeah, we're all okay. How 'bout you?"

Raven let out a sigh, clearly agitated at their current circumstances. "I'm fine."

"But not for long she isn't." All the Titans turned to look at the Archimage, who was now standing about 30 feet behind Raven.

"What are you going to do with her?" Cyborg was the first to speak, as the other Titans had just realized that they could now see Raven and the Archimage through the wall.

"I'm going to steal her powers, what else?"

Raven hadn't realized that she had taken another step back toward the wall until the energy shocked her shoulder where she had come into contact with it.

"Well, I guess drain her powers would be more accurate."

Raven was momentarily speechless. She didn't know what to say. All she knew was that she was in trouble, and that her friends couldn't help her from the other side of the wall.

"Leave her alone Archimage."

The blond villain broke his stare from Raven and turned to face Beast Boy, whose fists were now clenched, resembling all of the other Titans around him.

"Or what? There's nothing you can do to stop me my dear boy."

Starfire took another step forward, now as close to the barrier as she could go without actually touching it. "I assure you that if you lay one hand on our friend, you will dearly regret it."

Raven was still staring at the man in front of her, out of fear that the moment she looked away he would make his first move. He didn't seem at all bothered by her friends' comments.

"Empty threats, children. What could you possibly do to save your friend now? Or let alone hurt me, from way over there? I'll be honest: I'd love to see you try."

Now it was Robin who stepped forward.

"Why are you doing all of this? I mean, why the elaborate plan? Couldn't you have gone through with everything on your own? Or were you just too much of a coward to work alone, so you had to get Dr. Light to help you?"

"Mock me all you want, but at least my plan worked. And as for Dr. Light's involvement, I needed someone to actually put the spell on Raven, without drawing suspicion for being there."

Cyborg's brow was furrowed in concentration as he tried to understand the situation. "So… you used Dr. Light because you knew that it was common knowledge he hated Raven. That way none of us would have been suspicious that he seemed to only go after her…"

"Exactly. All it took was a little spell on his light beam blaster, and that part of my plan was complete. And of course he was very willing to do my dirty work for me, since he absolutely despises your friend here, and would do anything to see her taken out."

"But why Raven's powers? Are there not other people with gifts that you may 'drain'?"

The Archimage lowered his head and shook it slowly before addressing the Tamaranian princess. "As a sorcerer myself, it's really only worthwhile to take the powers of someone with magical talent, not just natural abilities."

"Dude, Raven's powers are natural abilities. She was born with them." Beast Boy put his hands on his hips and cocked an eyebrow for emphasis of his statement.

"True, but the powers that she was born with are linked to her magical talent. Not just anyone can have her abilities, it has to be someone with very unique craft and skill. And her being a demoness too." He turned his condescending look on Raven, who had been listening quietly to the conversation between him and her friends. "That truly does make you one-of-a-kind Raven."

Raven simply glared at him. "I'm half demoness. I'm still human."

The Archimage only smirked back at her. "The daughter of Trigon the Terrible is still an excellent commodity. In my opinion you're the best candidate for my little experiment that I've ever come across. And believe me, I've been looking."

"I've heard enough of this," Raven growled through clenched teeth. She raised her arms, placing her hands in front of her chest, and closed her eyes so that she could concentrate and find her center. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos!"

Everyone in the stadium kept silent, listening to the sound of Raven's enchantment echoing off the walls. Finally the empath dropped her arms to her sides, bewildered.

"I don't understand… Why didn't it work?"

The Archimage stepped closer until he was only a few feet away from her.

"That's the beauty of my latest spell. The blue energy surrounding us keeps anyone but me from doing any sort of magic. So you see Raven, you're completely helpless."

"Archimage!"

Everyone stopped and turned to face Robin, who was now glaring at the evil sorcerer.

"Let her go!" he shouted, showing a hint of both anger and fear in his voice.

"Hmm… And why would I do that, Robin?"

Raven could tell that her leader was fighting internally over what he was about to do, but he quickly made up his mind on what to say.

"We'll give you whatever you want, just don't hurt Raven."

The Titans all stared at Robin incredulously. As a hero, and a defender of an entire city, you didn't just offer a villain access to anything he wanted.

The Archimage merely waved off what Robin had said, clearly uninterested in the offer.

"I already have what I want," he said as he gestured toward Raven. "Now, you're all beginning to get on my nerves with your questions and pleas. I had thought it would be fun to keep you all conscious as I drained the life out of your teammate, but now I think I don't want to deal with your constant annoyances."

Raven watched, horrified, as his eyes began to glow the same color as the walls around them, causing energy bolts to shoot through the other side of the stadium where her friends were. She saw them one by one fall to their knees in pain as the energy coursed through their bodies.

"STOP!"

The Archimage's eyes returned to their normal light brown color and the screaming from the other Titans ceased immediately. He tilted his head toward the young empath and smirked as he saw the tears now streaming down her face.

"P-please don't hurt them. All you want is me, and I'll do whatever you want, just please let them go."

The villain just laughed at her desperate, crestfallen appearance. "I wasn't planning on harming them severely, and I do intend to let them go when this is all over. I just thought you'd want your friends to be nearby when you died."

So... that's chapter 18. Again, really sorry it took so long to get out. I'm still totally determined to complete this story. I've got other ideas for stories I'd like to work on, but I only want to work on one at a time. And I'm so happy that I'm still getting reviews for this story, you guys are all awesome. But, I don't want to ramble on anymore, so I'll just end with a thank you to everyone.

REVIEW PLEASE! (I love you if you do)