Chapter 8

They searched the city from top to bottom, looking for any place Raven might have been. They asked if anyone had seen her, but no one had. Hours passed and there was still no sign of her. It was as if she had just disappeared from existence. Beast Boy was full of several different things as he looked for Raven. He was angry with himself for letting her down. He was angry at her for giving in. He was scared that they would never find her. He was nervous that they would find her but it would be too late. He was scared, most of all, that all he wanted to do was find her and hold her body close to him. To kiss her one last time. He felt as if he'd been put under a spell by that kiss they shared.

"Robin, we've searched the entire city," said Cyborg through his communicator. "She's not here."

"Then where else could she be?" asked Robin angrily. "She's mentally unstable and scared. I doubt she's going to get very far."

"Look, man, I can't pick her up on any of my sensors," said Cyborg growing frustrated with Robin. "If she was in the city I would have picked up on her by now."

"I believe Cyborg is right," said Starfire chiming in. "Raven must not be in the city, Robin."

Robin groaned and dialed in Beast Boy. "Beast Boy, have you found anything?"

"No," said Beast Boy with a sigh. "I've turned into every animal that can track and I still haven't found any trace of her."

"Well keep looking," said Robin. "Let's start moving outside the city. For all we know she could be back in the woods again."

The Titans made their way out of the city and began their search. It seemed hopeless. Night passed them right by and soon the dawning sun began to kiss the land. They were exhausted and still no closer to finding Raven. Finally they could go on no longer and headed back to the tower. They would not be able to help her if they were tired.

Then they heard it. A scream. Something, unfortunately, they were not surprised by. They had saved the city hundreds of times and it all usually began with a scream. They decided to quickly go check it out before heading home. What they found they had not been ready for.

"Come on, just calm down," said a police officer.

"No! You're just going to trick me," said Raven in a voice that bordered insanity.

"No one's going to trick you, miss," said another officer. "We just want to help."

"No one ever helps me without wanting something from me," she said and then tossed a car at them with her powers. "Just leave me alone!"

The Titans arrived and saw her. She was surrounded by all the police of the city. It looked as if she had been causing chaos. Many buildings were destroyed and she had even hurt a few police officers. The team quickly moved in and told the police to stand down.

"Are you nuts?" asked the chief. "This girl needs to be taken down."

"We know," said Robin. "And we're going to do it. Please, stand down."

The chief reluctantly told his men to stand down and they all backed off so the Titans could move in. Raven was walking around aimlessly, talking to herself. Everything around her was melting with a black aura.

"Everyone just wants to hurt me. They just want to use me. Nothing is what it seems. I am nothing but a tool, a device used for others own purposes. I can't let them use me any more. I can't let them trick me. Everything that comes out of their mouths are lies. They don't care about me. I know they don't." As she walked and talked the Titans followed her until she finally turned around.

"Easy Raven," said Robin. "We're here to help you."

"You!" she screamed. Her eyes turned back and she threw a truck at them. They quickly ran out of the way and let it hit a building. "Why can't you leave me alone!"

"Raven, you are not well," said Starfire. "Please, let us help you."

Raven grabbed her head. "Lies, lies, lies! All you've ever done is lied to me!" She sent a blast of her black energy at them and knocked them over. Once they were down she took off into the air.

"Follow her!" ordered Robin. Starfire and Beast Boy took off after her while Cyborg and Robin followed on foot. Raven was all over the sky. She seemed to move with no true direction. The morning sun was just ahead of her and blinded her eyes. She paused for a moment in the air. She was dizzy and her mind was racing. Suddenly she felt something tackle her and bring her down onto a roof. Beast Boy changed back to himself and held her down.

"Raven it's me," he said as he pinned her to the cement roof. "Don't listen to it Raven, it's just trying to trick you."

Ravens eyes turned back and she blasted Beast Boy off of her. "You're the ones who have tricked me. If anything, I should stop listening to you!" She felt the presence of someone behind her. She put up a shield behind her as Starfire attempted to bring her down with starbolts. Starfire landed and let her hands stop glowing.

"Friend, I do not wish to harm you," said Starfire in a pleading voice.

"Harm me? Harm me! That's all you've ever done!" Raven sent a blast of energy at Starfire and it knocked her down. "All this time I thought you were my friends. All this time I thought that you were telling me the truth and that this voice inside of me was false. But now I see truth, the horrible truth! You all have blinded me with fake friendship and trust just so you could use me. Telling me that I wasn't evil. Well guess what? I am! I am a demon and that is something I can never hide from. It's something that I can't lie about any longer. I won't allow you to use me any more. So just leave me be!"

She attempted to fly off again, but Beast Boy grabbed her from behind. She screamed and tried to fight him off, but he held on as tight as he could. Robin and Cyborg burst onto the roof. They saw Starfire lying on the ground, still groggy from the blast Raven had given her. They saw Beast Boy holding Raven and her struggling to get free a few feet in front of them. They saw Ravens eyes turn black again, but before she could do anything Cyborg quickly jumped on top of her and injected a tranquilizer into her. She pushed both him and Beast Boy off of her with her energy. She was seething mad and took off into the air as fast as she could. She only got a few meters away when she felt her body start to go numb and her mind grow hazy. She tried to maintain her place in the air, but couldn't. She passed out and dropped from the sky.

"Oh no!" cried Starfire as she watched her dear friend fall.

Beast Boy had just enough time to stand up and see that Raven was going on. He turned into a pterodactyl flew after her. He grabbed her shoulders and flew her back to the other Titans. He laid her down and then changed back. She was out.

"So, what do we do now?" asked Cyborg.

Raven felt like she was spinning. She opened her eyes, but could not focus. She felt like she was going to be sick. She could not move; every part of her body seemed to be elsewhere. Slowly everything was coming into focus. She was in a white room, a bright white room. She was lying on something soft. She also noticed that she appeared to be on the floor of the room. She found her strength returning to her and she attempted to sit up. But she could not move her arms. They were crossed on her chest and that's when her worst fears were confirmed. She was in a straight jacket. She was in a cell.

'I told you they would do this to you.'

Raven started to cry.

'Now you'll never get out. They've got you right where they want you.'

"I've got to get out of here," she said quietly to herself. She wriggled her way to the wall and sat up. "Azarath metrion zinthos!" she said and waited for the walls to break apart. But nothing happened. She said it again. But her powers did not come.

Suddenly one of the walls to the room began to move up. Under the padded wall was a window that moved into place. Raven saw five figures standing on the other side. Her four former friends and a doctor. The Titans looked upon her with sadness in their eyes. She saw only hate for them.

"What have you done to me?" she screamed.

"We've neutralized your powers," said Cyborg.

"How?" she demanded.

"There's a device upon your head that has stopped them," said Starfire pointing to her own head to show her.

Raven had not noticed. She slowly stood up, using the wall to support her, and she looked in the reflection of the window. There was a device upon her head that centered on her temples.

"Get this off of me!" she screamed walking towards them.

"We have to find out what's wrong with you," said Robin.

"You're what's wrong with me!" she screamed and slammed her head against the window. The Titans jumped back as she repeatedly slammed her head against the window. The doctor quickly summoned his large male nurse helpers who entered the cell. The grabbed Raven and pinned her to the floor. The doctor quickly injected her with another tranquilizer. Then they ran out of the room. Raven twisted around on the floor, and then finally passed out once more.

The doctor met the Titans on the outside of the room. They were staring at the unconscious Raven who lied upon the padded floor. They never thought that they would have to take such measures to help, nay, save her.

"Is she going to be alright?" asked Robin.

"Hard to say," said the doctor cleaning his glasses. "I've never heard of a case like hers. I'm not going to lie to you; I may not be able to help her."

"We never really thought you could," said Cyborg sadly. "We just need her to be safe from herself and others."

"Well, as long as that device is on her head we should be able to handle her," said the doctor.

"That's all we ask of you," said Starfire giving him a hug.

They looked at Raven once more before leaving. She was crumpled up on the ground like a rag doll. They longed to know what was going on inside of her mind. They longed to know where this voice was coming from. They hated seeing her tied up in a straight jacket and placed in a cell. But that was the safest place for her. They said goodbye to the doctor and watched as the window lowered and the padded wall returned.