Crow
Chapter3- into the mind of an idiot.
(A/N:Brace yourselves…it's a loooong chapter)
Raven, Robin, and Beast boy each stood with malice in their eyes if you could still call them that their eyes had become darkened like pure darkness had possessed them. They each had a bit of a dark aura as the symbols on their heads glowed intensely.
"aw man we can't fight them!" Cyborg said throwing his hands up in defeat "I don't get it, it's quiet for awhile then BOOM. It's one thing after another around here" He said
"Slade…that is your name correct?" Crow spoke up
"Yes that would be me I see my reputation precedes me." Slade replied
"by far…how is it you managed to bring all three of them under your control? I would think if it were that simple you would have done so to begin with so what was the catch?" Crow asked
"How good of you to notice if I were still in my past life you would be a prime candidate to be my apprentice…the truth is they had to agree." Slade told him
"what? There's no way……I see…you used the others to force them each into it." Crow said after a moment.
"You really are something sharper than Robin even I see why you were the one chosen to destroy Raven." Slade said gently brushing a lock of Ravens hair she didn't move.
Crow was disgusted "You sick…Don't touch her…." He said trying to hide the seething hate in his voice.
"or what?" Slade asked "You'll get angry? I like angry, angry is good…yes very good." Slade said
Crow was about to leap at slade when Starfire grabbed him and pulled him back just in time to. Robin's sneak attack just missed him Robins stave clanged against the floor loudly.
"Thanks Starfire…he tried to take my head off." Crow said now watching the three titans closely.
"Children…Destroy them" Slade commanded.
"Yes master slade" the all said in unison.
"aw man you gotta be kidding me!" Cyborg readied his sonic cannon be he didn't want to actually use it.
Raven suddenly Raised her arms and Darkness enveloped them after that a snarl was heard obviously beast boy having transforming into something. Crow heard Cyborg's cannon go off but he didn't see any light from it a moment later he found himself ducking Robins stave only to be mauled by beast boy who was in the form of a lion. He tumbled through and kicked BB in the stomach using his foot to throw him off. When he stood they were no where in sight it was a perfectly synched attack a thing only something inhuman could achieve.
Somewhere he heard starfire scream and he figured out their pattern they were attacking each of them one at a time and moving to the next one while the last was left bewildered.
"Enough!" Crow yelled emiting his own power canceling out Raven's.
Now he could see Cyborg was down and Starfire was hovering close to the ceiling actually pressed to it was more like it. Raven lowered her arms and began attacking more conventionally random objects began flying around at all three of them as Cyborg tried to get up.
Crow blocked as many as he could but it was too much with Robin and BB each attacking someone he couldn't protect everyone.
"Fall back!" He finally called out
"What! Fall back where!" Cyborg wondered but before he had an answer Starfire had grabbed him up and they were flying out with Crow. Raven and beast boy started to give pursuit but slade stopped them
"No need…they'll be back. Now come." He told them. They gave a nod and followed him.
Starfire Crow and Cyborg set down on the edge of the city limits.
"what was that back there?" Cyborg asked
"A very powerful form of mindcontrol…the victims must first submit to the will of whoever will control them then darkness enters them forming a being of about as close a thing to pure evil as can exist on this plane…every negative thought, action, feeling…everything it all it melded together to form a person with no will but to inflict harm and misery and they are at the total disposal of their controller."Crow answered.
"So you have seen this before?" Starfire asked hopeful he would know how to fix it.
"No…not personally I've only read about it. I never thought I'd actually meet someone who knew how to do it much less actual victims…" Crow said looking down he didn't want to see the disappointed look on her face.
"oh…I see…" Starfire said quietly things looked very grim indeed.
"I told you you'd pay." Came a familiar voice.
Crow closed his eyes and almost cringed. "Marona…" he said turning to face her.
"now you're precious raven has gone and flown away never to return and the world will suffer and it's all your fault Crow." She told him.
"Shut up! I had to do what was right…right for me…for once." Crow said
"you really hurt me you know…" marona said walking up to him.
"what're you talking about? You can't even be hurt" Crow replied
"I'm not talking about the fight…I meant what you said…" She said softly she was inches from him now.
"ohthat…about that..I" he started but she simply kissed him
"Apology accepted now lets go do what we came here to do okay?" She pleaded.
Starfire stepped in between them "Now wait just a minute!" she started
"Oh dear…another one Crow? You really aren't the faithful type are you?" Marona said with a chuckle
Starfire's face went red "I uh…er.. I am not his.." she tried to explain but Crow did it for her.
"Starfire is just a friend…jealous marona? She is pretty." He said toying with her.
"oooh! You! That's it I'm leaving!" Marona finally said and was gone flying on a cloud.
"Finally…." Crow said sitting on a rock. Starfire was still blushing only now it was because he had said she was pretty.
"Was that smart? I mean couldn't she have helped in at least getting out friends back?" Cyborg asked
"Yes it was smart first because Marona only cares about killing raven nothing more if you want your friends back badly enough to Sacrifice raven then go ahead and go after her. If you want ALL of them back we have to do it ourselves." Crow answered.
Cyborg sighed "Man and once again we've been kicked out of OUR tower." He said laying back if he had hais he'd probably have been tearing it out in frustration right now.
Suddenly crow had an idea. "I might know of a way to get them back…but we'll have to capture them one at a time." He said.
"one at a time?" cyborg repeated questioningly.
"Yes…I'll have to go into their minds…" Crow said
"That…will be dangerous will it not?" Starfire asked having finally stopped blushing.
Crow gave a nod "Extremely…I will have to isolate them from the demons that occupy their bodies and destroy the darkness within…if I could do that they should be freed however it's a neigh impossible task since Going inside their mind means being on their turf entirely it'd be being an ant trying to rebel against God." He said
"Damn…some odds…" Cyborg said
"Yea…but it's all we got unless you wanna sit here and think while Slade corrupts them further if we take too long they might be irredeemable." Crow said
"Alright…so who's first?" Cyborg asked
"I want to say lets get Raven first but I know better she's by far the most dangerous of the three of them and going inside her mind….is even more dangerous even when she's in control…" Crow said
"Tell me about it I've been in there once…it wasn't pretty." Cyborg replied remembering the time he and Beast Boy had found her mirror.
"ah..so you must've messed with her mirror too then…" Crow said with a laugh.
"that was some trip man.." Cyborg said
"Did you find her hate for her father?" Crow asked
"Yea…we fought it" me BB and all of her personalities…" Cyborg replied.
"so it's still as strong as ever…yes we'll definitely leave her for last I don't know how I stand against that thing anymore…hell I don't even know how I beat it last time…oh wait I didn't…she wound up finding me and kicking me out of her head." He recalled
"So who DO we get first?" Cyborg asked
"Beast boy. He's by far the simplest minded of the three he shouldn't be too difficult to free I doubt he has a lot of dark thoughts or emotions attached to things to bind him anyway it might even be possible to break him out of it simply through talking to him enough." Crow said
"Hm…we did break him out of mad mod's hynpnosis with just a burp." Cyborg said
Crow frowned "A burp?" He asked with a arched brow
"Please…Do not ask" Starfire interrupted.
Cyborg whispered to crow "she just doesn't want you to know because she was the one who did the burping."
Crow chuckled. "why should she care?" he asked in as low atone
"because she likes you man it's just like it was when she first met Aqua lad…Her and Raven we're all swooning over him and Robin and Beast boy were jealous out of their minds." Cyborg told him.
"I see… Well off to get Beast boy" Crow said returning to his normal tone.
"but how will we do that? They are together are they not? Isolating one will not be easy." Starfire said.
"True…but I'm hoping Slade will have taken control of all three of them for a reason if he has a purpose in it he'll probably have sent them each on a task by now and we can get them that way." Crow told them.
"that's a good point..if all he needed was Raven then we should be apocalypse city by now." Cyborg said seeing Crows reasoning.
"Exactly something still has to happen…something we don't know about we need to figure it out whatever it is it's what will make Raven destroy everything.
"What if.." Starfire stared
"What?" Crow asked turning to her
"What if the thing that has to happen…has to do with you? What if it's because you do not survive trying to free them?" She asked.
"that's a good point…I didn't think of that…but we can't do nothing…Yet somehow I get the feeling nothing is exactly what we should do for awhile…yea…let's just watch the tower for a bit.." he said as if on cue Beast boy in the form of a pterodactyl came screeching off the roof headed into the city.
"Should we go after him?" Cyborg asked
"definitely, he's alone and he's the easiest to capture...but I'll take him myself you two stay here. Watch for the others to leave it might turn out we only have a small window before the other join him." Crow said
"and what do we do if we see them? We don't have anyway to keep in touch." Cyborg pointed out.
"don't you have communicators?" Crow asked
"Well..yea but.." Cyborg started
"Here take mine" Starfire said handing it to him.
"Thanks, now if something happens just call me." Crow said darkness enveloping him and a moment later he was literally in the form of a Crow. Flying off into the city.
"I didn't know he could do that, did you know he could do that!" Cyborg asked turning to Starfire.
"No of course not" Starfire answered equally in awe.
30 minutes later Crow had tracked beast boy to an antique shop he was now in the form of a wolf and was sniffing for something. He paused when he picked up Crows scent. Then snarled.
"well? Come on have at it mutt." Crow taunted BB leapt at him recklessly and was caught in an orb of Dark magic just as had happened when Crow first arrived. Beast boy was seemingly baffled by this struggling with the air around him as he tried to escape Crow simply flew back keeping him in tow.
"I've got him" Crow said into the communicator.
"Good. No sign of anything here yet…scratch that Raven just took off. You better hurry." Cyborg replied
Crow cursed he wasn't ready for Raven to make an appearance yet. But like It or not within a few minutes he saw the familiar form flying overhead he ducked into an ally and intensified the dark magic ball around beast Boy so he couldn't be heard he also threw up a wall of illusion so it was as if they weren't even there should she look down. He stared up at her flying past and noticed something He hair…it was long like it had grown inches in only a few minutes. Her dark aura had intensified too. It seemed Ironic that he knew their powers came from the darkness yet here he was fighting against it. Once she had passed he took flight again cautiously it seemed she had gone to see what was taking beastboy so long. He hurridly flew back to Cyborg and Starfire.
"we're going to need some cover…I'll be defenseless while I'm in his mind and He'll probably make a lot of noise and besides that I'd rather not be in the open when Raven heads back to the tower and tells them Beast boy is missing." Crow told them
"right but…there isn't really anything we can use except the sewers…" Cyborg said
"well we'll use those then." Crow told him
"alright there's a drainage pipe near here." Cyborg said leading the way
They went into the pipe a good ways until they reached a junction and crow set up there Cyborg and Starfire held beast boy while crow placed his hands on beast boy's head he closed his eyes and a moment later he was in. It was a rather empty place really there wasn't much to beast boy however what there was was totally jumbled it was a disarray that made no sense random useless knowledge mixed in with facts that might have mattered tv junk mixed with actual life it was like he didn't bother trying to separate the two or rather lived in both the real world and had many…many fantasy worlds.
Crow found himself wandering aimlessly despite the fact that it was jumbled there was a lot of empty space. If someone else was around he would have bet he could get an echo in there. One thing bothered him though…there was no sign of the darkness he had expected. He had expected to be attacked almost immediately upon entering but it seemed that it was content to simply let him wander. He went through memories, most of which were related to Television somehow, Feelings, and even stumbled upon thoughts of Beast boy's secret crushes turned out he liked BOTH Starfire and Raven though it seemed he knew he was too goofy for Raven and Starfire never thought more of him than a friend in his mind she might as well have been labeled Robin's until the Aqualad thing... Eventually He found himself going through TV shows beast boy had seen and in some cases movies too.
"Man this is one shallow guy…doesn't he have a life outside of tv?" Crow wondered aloud and as he had thought he DID get an echo but only TV seemed to echo.
Somewhere he heard something growl. "bout time..." he thought but what came down was less than menacing. It was a giant tv. Granted it had a mouth where the screen was but it was still a tv.
"You dare insult the almighty TV!" It roared
"yea I do TV is only good in moderation but this guy…he's got issues." Crow said looking around. There had to be at least 200 TV shows playing in Beast boys head at the same time.
"How dare you! All my life all I've heard is how 'ooh TV will rot your brain' 'TV is a brainwasher' 'TV this TV that I'm tired of being made fun of about TV!" It screamed suddenly crow understood this was Beast boys inner demon his resentment toward others came from people making fun of him for watching too much TV. But being a nice guy he never let it show how much it bothered him when they did it.
"Now I'll show you! The power of Television!" It yelled and from it's mouth came three creatures One a swamp monster another a odd humanoid being in a black trench coat. The last was someone in all black carrying a blade of light.
"meet the creature from the lake, the stranger, and Dark helmet from war of the planets!" He yelled. The trio of baddies made came at Crow but he ignored them they weren't his problem he flew over them and instead of throwing something as raven usually did he manifested his power in a different way he formed a whip that was set to lash right through the creature of the lake and through the TV itself. The creature was cut in two and the TV soon was as well. When it was destroyed the other two villains disappeared in the TV's place was a cage inside was Beast boy in some form or another… something was off this beast boy was but a child. Still Crow freed him just the same.
"Thanks..uh guy…I dunno where you came from or how you got here…but you better go back there's worse things in here than that" the child warned.
"that's why I'm here…to get rid of them…all of them" Crow told him
"Really? Then you'll meet nobody next…" The boy said
"nobody? but…" Crow started
"No…nobody is his name." The boy explained having expected Crow to be confused
"I see…you're awful direct and to the point for a kid…" Crow pointed out.
"yea well…I'm one kid that doesn't have time for games and junk my parents have better things for me to do." The boy answered.
"I see…" Crow understood beast boy a little better now he was living his childhood now since when he was a child he had to be serious he probably didn't have many friends so he fled to TV which would explain why it was so dear to him.
"well good luck…I've got to get back to my studies" the boy said and left.
Crow continued on he was beginning to understand how Beast boy's mind worked it shifted to something different every so often and he was learning the pattern it wasn't long until he came to a darkened path. It was then Crow began to wonder what sort of being nobody was. And if it was a literal name in which case the darkness in front of him could have then the 'nobody' he was looking for he also wondered what in beast boy's life could have spawned such a thing. He proceeded into the darkened path and shortly after found what looked to be a shadow but he saw no body projecting it. Suddenly it clicked 'nobody'
"so you are no body" Crow said the shadow rose and grew as if shocked to be recognized
"you…you can see me! You noticed me? Wow…no one ever pays attention to me…till they need me to do something…so what do you want?" the shadow asked
"Simple I need beast boy to be in control of his body again that means you've got to go." Crow said
"I knew it! Nobody wants to be my friend! It's always get out of my way let so and so do it let someone else do everything! If I'm so unnecessary then why the hell do they keep me around! No one would even notice if I left…" the shadow seemed to be more concerned with it's own self pity than it was with Crow. He almost pitied it but he had to remember it wasn't really alive it was just a manifestation of beast boy's emotions
"I'm sorry…really I am But you are a problem a very large one at that." Crow said the Shadow seemed to stop rambling
"I'll show you a problem!" It expanded all that was left was darkness Crow was assailed by a chilling feeling a feeling of hopelessness, despair, depression…it all hit him at once
"so…that's how you feel…but let me show you how I feel!" Crow yelled his own darkness taking over that of the shadows it wasn't very powerful Crow hadn't given in to the emotions that had assailed him so the shadow held no power over him. But as he began to over take it something happened he didn't expect. Raven appeared.
"R…Raven!" He called out to her. But she looked right through him.walked right by him and whispered as she passed "Just die already…you worthless traitor."
"What…but…I…" Crow was losing it and the shadow's darkness, which was actually more of a gray, took over once more now the feelings were intensified
"Raven……no…it can't be…That wasn't her it couldn't' have been the real Raven wouldn't have said that." Crow said to himself regaining some strength but the seed of doubt had been planted. And that was all nobody needed.
"you see even your closet friend turns on you. Face it you're nobody just like me. In fact you are me." It told him
"no…it can't be I can't be I won't be…" But crow was beginning to fade dissapear into the gray form.
"come on be a good boy and become part of me…" It called
"NO! I'll never be part of you! I have to save Raven first!" He screamed bursting with power momentarily but once more Raven appeared.
"Save me? You can't even save yourself you loser…hanging on to me all these years how sad even when you had a girlfriend you still chose me you're pathetic. Go to hell where you belong" She told him.
Though he knew it wasn't Raven her words were weighing on him heavily it was true he had hung on to her…there had been many other girls he could have been with but he had been fixated on her…why? Was it because she up and left without a word to anybody? Yea probably…still that wasn't really an excuse.
He was fading quickly now his lower body had disappeared and now his torso was going.
He had to do something. He closed his eyes.
"Yes give in…there's nothing we can do we're doomed to suffer and die." Nobody said
suddenly Crow opened his eyes "I don't care."
"What?"
"I…Don't…CARE" Crow yelled
"It doesn't matter if I can't save myself It doesn't matter what happened in the past and It damn sure doesn't matter why I did what I did all that matters Is what I'm going to do now and that's Save her and her friends!" Crow said his strength returned to him and his body reformed
"NO! you can't be doing this how're you…" Nobody didn't get to say or so anything more Crow had enough.
"YOU go to hell and I'll see you when I get there. By the way…tell Satan I say hi" Crow said unleashing a flock of darkened crows they pecked at the shadowy form of nobody devouring him leaving nothing behind. He may have been something like a shadow but he was still a physical being.
Crow sighed a sigh of relief "That was too close…wait…why am I still here? Is there another one?" He wondered aloud. His answer came soon enough when one of the shifts brought about a bright green path it was littered with signs labeled "FREAK" this one was easy enough to figure out. "beast boy's other torment…being green and turning into animals couldn't have been easy during his childhood…nobody was the flipside once he found somewhere he was accepted he was ignored which is probably where TV came from…man he really IS screwed up." Crow said to himself as he walked the path.
The signs became more varied as he went on with every insult imaginable written on them some were even as vulgar as to venture into his sex life some depicted beastality some simply inferred it. 'whatever is at the end of this path…is not gonna be pretty…' crow thought.
He was right at the end was a hulking beast it had horns like a bull's the face of a lion the body of a bird and arms and legs like a tiger's it was also spotted like a cheetah or Jaguar.
"so you must be the last one…" Crow said eyeing the monstrosity.
It didn't speak but simply roared and charged him.
Crow was actually glad it was a brute force thing those he could deal with easy enough. He leapt to the side allowing it to pass by him but now a previously unseen feature lashed out at him, it's tail was a snake Crow managed to avoid being fully bitten but he had been scratched sure enough.
"Vile creature I will put you to rest now and end you're suffering" He said forming the whip once more lashing it but it didn't fall apart it actually healed some of the wounds.
"What the?" Crow said as it charged again this time he went to his usual method of dealing with beast boy surrounding it in a ball and lifting it it was trapped for awhile but somehow it actually managed to break free.
"You've got to be kidding me…" Crow said
"I Make the rules here" It finally spoke
"crud…" Crow said knowing he was in trouble now it knew how to make the rules and that it could change them that meant he was seriously in trouble if it got creative. He had to kill it…quickly
The tail of the beast grew and became an Anaconda sized snake but it had venom dripping from it's fangs. Suddenly Crow had an idea as it lashed out at him he ran under it's massive body as it chased him he leapt over the actual beast and the snake wound up biting into it.
The venom acted quickly and the beast was soon dead. It dissolved and left behind the beast boy he knew. When he woke up Crow was back in his body.
"Thank goodness that was the last one…" Crow said. Removing his hands from beastboy.
"Dude…what happened…?" Beast boy asked with a groan his head felt as if it had been hit by a ton of bricks, then a Mack truck, then a stampede decided to run over it.
"welcome back BB" Cyborg said releasing him.
"Friend! You have returned to normal!" Star fire said clasping her hands
"ow…star…down a few notches please…" BB said holding his head. The mark had faded leaving not a trace his eyes had gone back to normal too the only reminder that it had actually happened was the suit Slade had given him.
"You were under a form a mind control basically Slade put a spell on you." Crow explained
"huh?…wait…I remember th three of us…we were…aw man…"Beast boy leaned against a pipe.
"It's alright you don't have to explain anything We're going to get Raven and Robin back…" Cyborg said.
"yea…though it won't be easy…I had a much more difficult time than I expected inside your head BB you're a much more complicated person than I gave you credit for." Crow said.
"DUDE You went inside my head!" Beast boy blurted out.
"Yea…sorry it's not like we could ask for permission though and it was the only way to get you back to normal." Crow answered
"It's alright man…just…don't tell anybody what you saw in there ok?" Beast boy pleaeded
"Of course…It's your head I've no right to go telling everybody what's in there that's one of the basic laws back home." Crow told him
Beast boy relaxed "That's good…very good."
"though just to let you know I saw A LOT in there I probably know more about you than your friends do now." Crow said. Starting off somewhere
"uh..hey! dude! Not cool! You said you went in there to get rid of the spell or whatever not look around!" beast boy said
"Yeah well it didn't wanna come out and fight I had to figure out what made you tick before I could get the first one to appear once that was taken care of though it was straight forward mostly." Crow explained
"hey where you goin?" Cyborg asked
"anywhere but here…it reeks" Crow said
"but you guys made a ton of noise I wouldn't recommend going back the way we came." Cyborg told him.
Crow stopped "Good idea…got a map?" He asked
"Got a map? Of course I got a map who does he think I am I'm Cyborg man…I got Everything." He mumbled to himself looking at the display on his arm.
"looks like if we follow that tunnel there down four junctions and turn right we'll come out on the opposite side of the river. There's bit of a incline after the second junction though I guess they run it under the bridge." Cyborg said pointing to the tunnel he was talking about.
"alright people let's get moving" Crow said.
"Hey when did you become leader?" Beast boy asked
"Since he's the one with all the answersand probably the most powerful one here and besides that Starfire's got a crush on him so why not? It's just like having robin..cept he's got power" Cyborg said.
Starfire was quick to react to that " I do not have the crush on Crow he is a good friend he brought back beast boy and soon we shall have Robin back as well." She said.
" Aha! So you admit Robin is the only man for you!" Beast boy said grinning.
"No I didn't say…I mean.." She stammered confused as to what it is she really even meant to say.
"guys just leave her alone will ya? She probably doesn't even know what a Crush is." Crow spoke up interrupting them all.
Starfire exhaled she was relieved someone had taken her side.
"You are correct Crow I do not know what this…crush as you call it is." She stated
"it's not a literal term which is probably why you can't seem to understand it in the sense they're using it it's slang really…meaning you like someone or have strong feelings for them in a romantic sort of way." He explained.
"OH! Oh my…" Starfire said she was shocked and at a loss for what to say.
"i.." she stared
"Don't say anything…you'll only give them more to work with." Crow said cutting her off.
"But..on Tamaran when one is confronted about your feelings for someone it is customary to be honest and explain thoroughly." She said
"Do what you want to" crow replied
"Yeah star we'd sure like to know." Beast boy chimed in
"Well to begin I should start by saying I noticed YOU beast boy have had the crush on me as well as Raven." She started
"Gah! I uh…Hey! This ain't about me it's about you!" Beast boy retorted Crow was laughing hard because he knew the truth behind that having been in beast boys mind only a little while ago.
"whoo hoo she got you BB." Cyborg said
"As for myself…I have had the crush several times on this planet…Robin is one I had it for Aqua lad..but that passed and you are Correct Crow I do have the crush on Crow." She said plainly.
"Wow..she admitted it…"Beast boy said
"Yea..really takes the fun out of bothering her about it doesn't it?" Cyborg said
"and I'll beat that it why it's customary to be honest on her planet." Crow said.
"indeed it is Crow" Starfire answered
"ok…but she only did half of it." Beast boy said after awhile and he thought about it.
"oh come on you aren't really going to make her explain why for all of them are you?" Cyborg asked
"Well no…I guess not" Beast boy said lowering his head.
"I think he just wants to know why he didn't make the cut…"Crow said
"just don't say it's because he's green…" He thought.
"I am sorry I do not share your feelings beast boy it's just you are like my friends back home…so I never really thought that way of you." She explained.
They were only passing the second junction now and just getting to the incline and beast boy still had tons of questions.
"okay…So about Robin…" BB started
"Robin is…nice understanding and takes good care of his friends…" Starfire said
"and I'll never forget how mad you got when Killer moth forced him to go on that date…" Beast boy said laughing.
Starfire fumed "That was a totally uncalled for action he had no right to make Robin do that! And she was so…evil. Robin was much too good for her." Starfire said
Cyborg and Crow were walking ahead silently neither of them really wanted to talk on the subject of relationships especially not now but it seemed to Crow that Starfire and Beast boy needed to talk to keep themselves from becoming too depressed. They continued on the subject of Robin until about halfway under the bridge when the third junction came into sight Beast Boy finally got around to Aqua Lad
"So that brings us to…Aqua lad" Beast boy said
"He was, as you say on this planet, cute, strong, and he liked animals…who could resist? Even Raven liked him." Star fire told him
"DUDE! I like animals! I AM an animal!" Beast boy said flailing his arms before turning into various animals normally associated with cute such as Kittens, Puppies, Rabbits, etc.
Starfire giggled "Yes but you are…as they say a goof ball." She said laughing.
"Hey what's wrong with that as long as I'm actually funny?" He asked returning to his normal form
"Nothing just it's more of a friend quality than a shnorkle bhorf quality" She told him.
Now Crow and Cyborg had been trying their hardest to stay out of this conversation but THAT got their attention
"Say what?" Cyborg asked
"A shnorkle bhorf" she repeated
Beast boy was rolling with laughter "DUDE that sounds vaguely like Snuggle whore!" He said laughing harder. Even Crow had to laugh at that one Cyborg was about as gone as beast boy Starfire stood there not amused. She stomped off ahead only calling back "On your planet it's called a Boyfreind!" she hadn't thought of the word at first so she had used the tamaranien word for it and was regretting it.
"Hey I think you made her mad…and you wonder why she doesn't like you it's probably because you make to many jokes about her." Crow said being the first to recover from the laughing fit.
BB got up fortunately it had been a fairly wide walkway so he hadn't landed in any sludge brushed himself off and went after Starfire and since there was no point lagging behind Cyborg and Crow went too. She wasn't hard to catch she had only gone as far as the slope down toward the third junction. Granted it was a long run but at least they didn't have to wonder where she went in a possible maze of tunnels.
When they caught up Beast boy was already apologizing
"I'm sorry Star really I didn't mean to make you mad…it was just…funny…and you know I couldn't ignore a good joke." He said
"You are...forgiven" she said after a minute
"great now we can get to Crow!" BB said Crow cringed he was gonna suffer for this one.
And he knew it fortunately for him they were at the third junction which meant only one to go before they were out
Starfire froze up she didn't want to talk about Crow seeing as he was standing not even 5 feet away.
"Can we…talk about him later?" She asked
" ooh no we went through everybody else now it's his turn come on it's not like you're gonna have a while lot to say he just got here yesterday!" BB said
Starfire just looked down
"Oooh You DO have a lot to say! Wow I've got to know now." Beast boy said he was enjoying this and he could see Crow starting to squirm a little he was unfomfortable about the fact HE was the subject now.
Starfire sighed "alright…Crow is…intelligent shown by his ability to figure things out and come up with plans quickly, he is strong you can look at him and see that he's cute he has a sense of humor that is…quirky but not so obtrusive as to hurt anyone's feelings, He is also kind and generous shown by the fact he is still here helping us after being threatened and nearly thrown into the street. Not only has he saved our lives but he's rescued you and we are eventually going to rescue our remaining two friends as well..and he is a good friend to raven which proves he can be trusted since Raven doesn't have many friends…before yesterday I didn't think she had any besides us." Starfire said quickly
"whoa…way more than I expected" Beast boy said mouth hanging open.
"Dude..did you hear that!" BB asked Crow
"yea..I heard..starfire made me sound like a really great guy. But I think she exaggerated a little and also left out the reasons why for everything…" Crow replied
"But still…why don't you just ask her out I mean you're both right here she said she liked you what's the problem?" Beast boy asked
"Hey look it's the final junction Crow pointed out dodging the question.
"dang…you're off the hook for now but we'll get back to this later!" Beast boy said
Starfire wanted to shrink away into a tiny, tiny mouse hole…
They followed the last bit of pipe in silence for fear of somehow being heard or walking into a trap but they came out on the other side of the River as planned however it had been a long walk much longer than they had anticipated the sun was setting now.
"Great…guess we better find somewhere to put up for the night…" Cyborg said
"DUDE I am NOT sleeping in a sewer." Beastboy said.
"we won't have to…I DO have money…" Crow said.
"You what! Why didn't you say so earlier?" Cyborg asked
"Because it wasn't necessary to mention it and no one asked
"So how much you got?" Beast boy asked
"oh…all the inheritance from my parents…though I'm only carrying a small portion on me." Crow answered
"whoa…you must be rich then" Beast boy said
"I suppose you could say that…my father was one of the leading men in government back home." He told them
"So where shall we stay?" Starfire asked
"the nearest hotel…I doubt they'd actually look for us in one." Crow stated looking to Cyborg expecting to hear a destination
"looks like nearest hotel is still a good walk… and the very closest one is a pretty classy joint we might wanna pass it up for something a little lower profile." Cyborg said.
"I agree…besides we can't walk into a place like that smelling like we do." Crow pointed out.
"Yea…we'd get tossed out on our buns before we even got to show them our money" beast boy said sniffing himself and realizing just how bad he reeked of Sewer.
"so it's settled then…second closest place…" Crow said awaiting Cyborgs answer
"it's a middle class place not as casual as I would like but it'll have to do the only really cheap joints are on the opposite side of town." Cyborg said
Crow gave a nod "that'll have to do then…we can't go too far from the Tower if we want to be able to spot them when they leave."
"Um…dudes…how do we even know they're still IN the tower? We've been walking through the sewer for hours." Beast boy pointed out
"Well how bout you go run over there and knock and find out?" Crow said
"Uh Me? By myself? No way!" BB said
"Okay then we go tomarrow…" Crow said
They made their way to the hotel Cyborg had picked it was average in every way nothing special at all. Crow went to the desk alone the others stood back a distance they had aired out a little since they walked all the way there but they still stank.
"excuse me sir but you'll have to leave your friends are disgusting the customers." The clerk said
Crow slammed down a wad of money Two rooms…
The clerk flipped through the money. "you've got enough for one double bed room but not enough for a second."
"Then we'll take a Double and a Single." Crow said annoyed
"Very well then names?" The clerk asked
Crow stopped he couldn't use their actual names
"John…John Crow." He said referring to himself "The lady is Samantha Star, the sick looking young one over there is Eric….Eric maul and the last one is Jack he doesn't have a last name I don't think…if he does he never uses it" Crow said
"Very well…that will do." The clerk said signing them all in."
"your rooms are 103 and 114 they're on the third floor." The clerk said handing him the two keys.
"Thank you…" Crow said motioning for the others to come they crowded in the elevator and went up to the third floor. It was now that crow decided to tell them of their….situation
"uh…guys…we have a small problem." He began
"Oh no…what now?" beast boy asked
"I only had enough cash on me for ONE Double bed room" He said
"So we've only got one room!" Cyborg asked
"No no I have two…but the other is a single bed."
"I call one of the double beds!" BB said quickly Starfire Cringed she was going to pick the other bed but no way she wanted now that beast boy had taken one. She was not about to subject herself to his endless jokes and tricks especially when they would be alone and no one could help her out.
"Hey! I was gonna call that!" Cyborg said
"Guys…you're forgetting we've got a lady with us…let her decide." Crow said
"Good point.." Cyborg agreed there were a lot of compromising sitations one could have in a single bed in any of the possible combinations but the one likely to be most uncomfortable was Starfire.
"ooh! I wish to sleep with crow!" She blurted out and instantly regretted it her wording had been a bit off
Beast boy and Cyborg Were laughing hard Crow froze… "Er…Starfire…" He began
"I mean..what I meant to say was…OOOOH you know what I meant!" She said finally getting angry.
"Yea but it was still funny." BB said laughing.
"Yea especially after that Convo in the tunnel!" Cyborg added.
"So…that puts us in the single, Cyborg you and Beast boy get the double." Crow said seriously, preventing any other jokes.
He hadn't noticed it before but starfire was somewhat behind him as if he was her shield
She didn't like it when they made fun of her and so far crow was the only one defending her kind of like what Robin used to do.
Crow handed Cyborg the key to the double room and led starfire to the single however once they opened the doors Cyborg and BB had the single and Star and Crow had the double.
"Enjoy your night boys" Crow said laughing as he yanked starfire in and shut the door.
"heey! What the!" Beat boy protested he snatched the key from cyborg the bottom of it which had said double before now said single
"He changed it!" He used his magic or whatever to change the words!" Beast boy yelled
"See what happens when you make fun of people?" Cyborg said irritated
"ME! You were laughing too!" BB argued
"So? You made the joke…and I'M getting the bed you can sleep on the floor." Cybrog said
"The floor! You're kidding no way I'm sleeping on a hotel floor! I don't know whats been on it!" BB said
In the other room Starfire looked confused. "I thought we were sleeping in the single bed." She said looking at the two beds in the room.
"We were..until they decided to make it a joke…BB was really starting to bug me so I decided he needed a punishment of some sort." Crow told her
Starfire giggled "I see…Thank you." She said kissing his cheek.
"Don't mention it Star." He replied
She smiled and giggled a bit.
"What?" He asked turning to her
"Nothing…just that's the first time you've called me just Star" she pointed out
"Oh…I guess it is…" He said turning back taking off his cloak and setting it on the far bed.
For the first time his shirt was visible on the back it read "To choose to die is easy to choose to live is to choose the hard road."
Starfire pondered those words. "Crow?"
"Yes?" He anserwed
"I've noticed you have many quotes and sayings…I know the writing on your cloak means something but I do not know in what language it is written." She said
"It's Japanese…it means Faith in Freedom. I chose those words because of the impending doom destiny has proclaimed but I choose to believe we have choices and not everything is ruled by fate. So that's where the phrase "Faith in Freedom" comes from. Unbound by the chains of fate." he explained
"I see…that is…very poetic and what of the one on your shirt?"She asked
"Ah…it comes from the hard life I've lived, I haven't told the rest of you my history so you wouldn't know but…my parents died a long time ago…I lost my fiancé on the same day and all to the same person. Before that Raven my closest friend left without a word to anyone she just…disappeared we knew she had run away because her things were gone. But that was it. So after losing my parents I had no one…I was forced to be on my own and for a while I wished I had died with them. But I chose to live…to struggle and survive that is where it comes from." He explained
"Oh my…I had no idea…Crow I'm so sorry to hear what happened to your parents…and your fiancé I did not mean to bring up such a painful subject" She said
"Don't worry about it…it was a long time ago…" He said quietly he felt for his earring and suddenly realized it was missing.
"oh no!" He cried
"What? What is the matter?" she asked
"My earring..it's gone..I must have left it in the tower." He said checking all of his pockets franticly
"But…it is just an earring is it not? Can you not just buy another one?" She asked
"No…not that one…it's…a reminder" he said
"A reminder of what?" she asked
"The day I decided to live…it's also all that's left of them…just a little of their blood forms the ball on the bottom of the earring As long as I have it I always have them with me…but not now." He explained
"Oh…I see…" starfire said looking down ashamed she had suggested he get another one now.
He sighed "I am going to get that earring back tomorrow…and I don't care who I have to go through." He said.
"but what of our friends?" Starfire asked
"I won't harm them…much" He said
Starfire frowned
"I'm sorry but it'll be unavoidable. This is much to personal for me to just forget about it." He told her
"I..understand as long as they shall be okay I suppose it is alright…" Starfire said acknowledging how important the earring was to him.
"So who's hitting the shower first you or me?" He asked
"you go ahead I will…watch the television perhaps there is some news we can use." She answered
"Alright." Crow replied starting toward the bathroom pulling off his shirt on the way revealing a scar on his back which looked like a cut it went across almost the entirety of his back he also had a smaller cut on his chest. Starfire stared at it for a moment but didn't dare ask. She had asked enough personal questions for one night and learned much more than she had intended and perhaps more than she wanted to.
She turned on the small television which sat on a dresser in the room and flipped through channels until she came across the evening news.
"We're still awaiting word on what has happened but all we know is that something is going on downtown…" The news reporter said her curiosity piqued she remained on the channel waiting to find out just what had happened odds were it had something to do with Slade.
"Okay…we have a report now it seems the teen titans or some of them at least have gone bad folks…two of them are tearing apart the downtown area it seems as if they are looking for something." The reporter stated. Starfire's eyes widened 'beast boy' she thought. They must've been looking for him. A minute later they had a live video feed of it happening Raven and Robin were tearing things apart building by building they were clearing everything and once they were certain beast boy was not there Raven would level the building. Cars were tossed aside everything that got in the way was just fodder. Starfire watched in horror as they destroyed.
"one must wonder…if these two are indeed lone rotten apples then why haven't the other titans come to stop them yet?" Another reporter asked
"That's a good point Jim but for all we know they could have already fought and lost before this happened" The first reporter stated
"True but not very likely James…I think they're on a search and destroy mission and when they find what they're looking for it won't be pretty I've long since said having the Titans here was an error having Teenage so called 'super heros' is only begging for punishment Teenagers are unpredictable erratic and prone to have a temper and change their minds frequently Simply put we can't trust them to protect us!"
Starfire cut the television off and hugged her knees she felt like crying the city was turning against them Slade had turned their friends against them. Who could they turn to? They needed help and needed it badly.
"Hey turn that back on!" Crow yelled from the shower "I was listening to it" He called
Reluctantly Starfire turned the TV back on and saw something she didn't expect to see.
Marona had come out of hiding wherever she'd been and was fighting them both of them alone.
"Crow!" Starfire yelled
"What? What's going on?" He asked
"That woman…Marona she's fighting them!" She said
"What!" Crow rushed his shower and came out wrapped in a towel, his hair was soaked and hung down now instead of being spiked it stuck together in some places dripping coming down only slightly past his shoulders the only thing that didn't change were his bangs were still exactly where they had been like they were permanently stuck that way, he had to see for himself sure enough Marona was on the screen he could see her lips moving as were Raven's but the words weren't loud enough to be carried through. ' was she what they were looking for?' crow wondered in actuality it made sense Marona was the biggest threat to Raven's life right now destroying her would mean Slade could be fairly certain he would be successful.
"Well looks like I'll be getting my earring back sooner than I expected." Crow said another small black object appearing in his hand this one was a cube. It expanded and burst but this one only had a few extra pairs of clothes.
Before Starfire even turned around he was dressed. A moment later there was a knock at their door.
"Hey have you guys seen what's happening?" Cyborg called through the door.
Crow went over and opened it. "Yea we saw…I'm going Cyborg you come with me Starfire and Beast boy stay here."
"But why us?" Starfire asked
"Because if we lose we'll probably be either killed or captured and turned into slaves like Raven and Robin…I don't think it'll work on Cyborg though that's why I picked him to come with me if they try to turn us He should be immune and he can break out and if it does work beast boy can sneak in and get my books…they have they spells you'll need to bring us back though I want YOU to actually do the casting Star." He explained
"Hey! I can handle it! I can totally handle a little spell…" Beast boy said getting looks from all three of them.
"Frankly…I don't want you running around in my head." Crow said
"Double for me" Cyborg said "Who knows what this guy would do in there?"
"aww come on man" Beast boy pleaded
"Your tendency to play jokes is just too high you'd have too many opportunities to ignore so I won't give them to you and we won't have a problem. Besides it'll be extremely dangerous in there so if you spend time messing around you might get yourself killed." Crow said simply
"pfft..fine…" BB said crossing his arms
"alright let's go" Crow said leading the way Cyborg followed and they went up to the roof where crow levitated the both of them and took off headed for downtown.
Cyborg and Crow arrived at the battlefield amid utter chaos news crews were everywhere, people were running and screaming the wind was like that of a powerful hurricane Marona was really giving it to them Raven had all kinds of objects flying through the air and Robin was letting loose with every kind of gadget he had.
"MARONA!" Crow yelled out she heard him but didn't turn to face him she was rather preoccupied
"Bout time you showed up crow…I've been waiting." She said as he came closer. She let the wind behind her die down so he could approach.
"So here to save me?" She asked deflecting a Car Raven had thrown.
"In a sense…yes but I have other reasons for being here too" He replied
"still trying to save Raven are you? You'll never learn…you couldn't even save me from a mortal what makes you think you can save her from fate?" arona asked
Crow didn't say anything despite the blatant point she had he didn't care he was going to try anyway. "I'm much more powerful now than I was then…I'll change fate just you watch." He said letting cyborg down and flying in front of her His cloak emitting a brilliant blue glow because of how close to Marona he was.
"Faith in freedom…you " she said to herself as if remembering something. "maybe…"
Cyborg had many shots at robin but he found it difficult to take them it was robin of all people…but hey they'd been down this road before and he resolved he had to Robin would want him to. With the wind slowing him Cyborg had an easy shot but Raven kept him very well protected.
Crow manifested a stave not exactly his choice weapon but it would have to do he couldn't risk seriously harming either of them. "marona how bout a push?" he asked flying forward.
She grinned "Just like old times eh?" She said forcing a powerful wind boosting Crow toward Raven at a speed otherwise not possible.
"sorry hun." He said as he whacked her with the stave she almost flipped entirely over before hitting the ground unconscious.
Crow spun around as Marona's wind died she had no real need for it now that Raven was down. Robin was surrounded and had no where to go. Suddenly Crow's cloak started to glow purple.
"Purple?…oh no….he's here too…" Crow said looking around Slade came flying off a rooftop his boot landing squarely in Cyborg's jaw sending him flying back into a building, which collapsed almost entirely afterward.
"Cyborg!" Crow yelled
"Well well…looks like the Crow finally learned his place…" Slade said turning to Crow.
"Shame I was beginning to think I wouldn't have to kill you, you would have made an excellent addition to my forces." Slade said forming a fire aura. Crow knew there was no where he could go now he had Slade's direct attention. The first fire blast he was able to block but Slade moved behind him immediately after and punched him in the back knocking him forward Crow stumbled and tripped over a muffler from one of the many Cars Raven had used as projectiles. Crow turned and saw another fireball headed for him he managed to roll out of the way a split second before it hit. He hadn't been prepared for Slade to make an appearance personally nor had he expected him to posses this much power it was like he was teleporting…wait maybe he was. Marona watched unsure what to do she could try to help but fire and wind were not a mix that worked to their advantage. She watched helplessly as Crow struggled until finally he was cornered Slade wasn't giving him time to set up any spells or use any powers it was a relentless assault that hadn't let up for an instant since it began.
Crow found himself at a loss for how to fight him he had been watching for a weakness a hole anything but there had been nothing.
"Time for some roast bird" Slade said his aura of fire grew and he vanished Crow was at a loss for a second but soon realized where he had gone and turned to see the stream of fire coming from behind.
"CROW!" marona screamed out she couldn't watch anymore she had to do something the best she could do was encircle him in wind the fire followed the wind trail and circled Crow harmlessly enough but while he was unable to see where slade was his answer soon came when a fist connected with his jaw from the right. He was knocked back and stumbled but didn't fall.
Slade looked up at Marona "meddlesome woman I'll finish you too."he fired at her and her stream of wind was nothing to him he overpowered it easily.
"marona!" Crow yelled out as Cyborg finally dug himself out of the rubble. Crow managed to put up a barrier to save her but slade was one step ahead as always he appeared behind her and grabbed her.
"watch her burn" He said coldly.
"no! nonono nooooooo!" She screamed as flame took to her Crow flew toward them and Slade dropped her she fell burning Crow caught her and put the flames out as best he could
Slade was about to finish the both of them but he stopped as if he suddenly heard something.
"That was a warning boy. Forget what you're supposed to do or I'll kill all of them that way." Slade said taking Raven and Robin and leaving.
"Marona…" Crow said softly turning her over so she was facing him. Everything on her backside was burned.
"H…How bad?" She asked
He closed his eyes "Terrible…"
""It's…alright…Crow…" she said.
"But…I couldn't save you…that's twice now…most men only get to screw that up once." He said
"Guess you're just…talented." She replied with a half laugh
"Marona you can't die on me again…not like this…not now we need you" He said by now Cyborg had made his way over to them slowly he was badly damaged apparently there had been some fire in that kick slade gave him as well.
"No…Crow you don't…Slade…is the fire of death….I am the breath of life…death extinguishes life…and life is reborn...as…another…" She said her voice was beginning to lose strength
"Marona..we'll…we'll treat you we'll get doctors and everything…" Crow said.
"No….there's nothing they can do…I'm already dead remember? The only thing…that could truly harm me…was him..and now no one can save me…Don't …"Don't forget me…but don't hang on to me…understand? I…..I want you to be happy……I know you don't love me…but be true to the one you do…I tried…to change for you…I didn't know you hated it…I…….love….yo..…" she trailed off and was gone. Crow pulled her close and wept.
"it's…all my fault… it's all my fault" Crow muttered over and over.
"Hey man…you gonna be ok?" Cyborg asked
Crow looked up at him with a look of pure rage."DO I LOOK OKAY!" He yelled
3 cars exploded simultaneously. Cyborg backed off
"guess not…I didn't know you two had a history…" Cybrog said
"Just….go…please…" Crow said
"But…" Cyborg started and crow gave him that look again "Alright I'm gone." Cyborg said and limped off as best he could with his some of his circuits fried. Crow waited awhile various thoughts going through his head. Finally he snapped "GOD WHY!" He screamed a crater forming around him as a sphere of dark energy erupted from him destroying everything it touched. When it was over downtown didn't exist anymore just the crater formerly known as downtown. Slade even saw it from the tower
"impressive…he has as much potential as Raven…and I only killed one. I wonder what he'll do when the others are gone?" Slade wondered aloud.
"He will be like me." Raven's voice came from behind him. "Raven…what makes you so sure?" Slade asked her
"He is bound to me…by fate one way or another he simply has to decide which fate…one path had been closed the world will end one way or another now…He will come to us…just watch." She said her voice cold and though a hint of joy could be detected when she said he would come to them. Her hood hid her dark orbs of eyes and the large knot from when crow had struck her. She had seen the destruction as well and it pleased her, the new Raven was ready to destroy the world she just wanted to see what Crow would decide.
End Chapter 3
Whew..long, long chapter…hope you enjoyed it Crow's just prone to those 'uncomfortable' situations isn't he? and Poor Marona…Sure she was icy on the outside but that was the real her at the end. Crow is goin out of his mind…the city is minus a downtown area and who knows what the body count is on that one? Oh wait there won't be one…everything got vaporized…. Next chapter'll be up soon!….. As soon as my hand goes back to normal that is…owww….