Author's Note: Meh.
Shout out:
AnimationWickedRaven: Things will only get better as the story goes on… Thanks for deciding to stick with me. You're probably the closest thing I've got to a consistent reader/reviewer…I appreciate that. Your constant words of encouragement have been really uplifting, and I dedicate Chapter 5 to you.
Let's get things rolling, shall we?
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Chapter 5: Illumination
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Robin sighed, his muscles slowly relaxing, his heightened heartrate beginning to return to normal as he held an arm out to retract his bo staff, then put it away. Though he wouldn't say anything about it, he was more than a little disappointed that he wasn't able to finish fighting the Red X simulation. As he made his way around to follow Cyborg and rendezvous with the other Titans, he reran the entire match in his mind. Both he and Red X had landed some critical strikes, but it seemed that, like always, the match had ended (though abruptly) in a draw. More or less…neither one could really get a distinct advantage over the other. Their skills were too evenly matched…
"…Is it Red X?" Robin suddenly found himself saying, to no one in particular, though Cyborg simply assumed Robin was addressing him since they hadn't caught up with the other Titans yet.
"Huh…? Oh. Nope…not today. Actually, we're dealing with Dr. Light again this time."
"Dr. Light…how'd he get out of jail?"
"Good question. I was wondering the exact same thing. I mean, the guy's a quack, plain and simple…but that's beside the point. All I care about is the fact that he's out on the streets again, terrorizing folks. We need to put a stop to it."
Cyborg slowed down for just a moment, smirking inwardly at himself. "Heh…that sounds like something Robin would say…" He thought it odd how he sounded like Robin more and more recently…like a leader. Robin had once appointed him the "second-in-command" of the team, and Cyborg really took it to heart. It was his job to guide the Titans whenever Robin, for one reason or another, was unable to do so. While it was a lot of responsibility to have, he did appreciate it. After all, Robin needed to have a lot of trust in someone before he'd make a big decision like that.
Robin simply nodded as he trailed Cyborg. "We'll just have to bring him down again, then. And this time, we'll make sure he stays in jail."
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Robin and Cyborg made their way around to the front of the Tower, where Raven, Beast Boy, and Starfire waited.
"Dr. Light again?" Beast Boy groaned, expressing his lack of appreciation for being forced to stop playing his Gamestation so early in the day. "…I can't believe he'd try anything else after what Raven did to him though..." Beast Boy reached his arms around to place his palms on the back of his head, chuckling as he shot a friendly grin Raven's way. She looked at him, but did not smile. "…Anyway, what exactly is he doing this time?" Beast Boy asked.
Cyborg brought up his left arm, punching in a few buttons as a small LCD screen flipped up, revealing a digital readout as well as a brief video recording of Dr. Light, enveloped in golden light as all the buildings around him went dark. "Reports say he's been causing blackouts around the city in order to power some new tech on his improved supersuit."
"Looks like we'll be finding out why…" Raven mused.
"We won't give him the chance to show us why." Robin said, determination abounding in his voice.
"Of course, people losing their electricity isn't too bad of a problem in the middle of the day, but come nightfall, the complaints are gonna increase." Cyborg went on.
"Dude…" Beast Boy began, his voice bordering whiny. "…speaking of 'middle of the day,' I haven't had lunch yet, and I'm really hungry…"
"We can eat after this." Robin said, his gaze moving out toward the city. Beast Boy moaned, rubbing his stomach with a saddened frown suddenly appearing on his face.
"Well, at least that means I'll be able to eat soon," Beast Boy thought, a sly grin finding its way back to his face. "If he's anything like he was the last couple times we fought him, one look at Raven oughta have him begging to be locked FAR away…"
Beast Boy thought back to the previous encounters with Dr. Light, and couldn't help but chuckle a bit to himself when he recalled the expression of pure terror plastered all over Dr. Light's face when Raven unleashed her anger full-force on him. The second time wasn't even much of a fight, really…Dr. Light just sort of gave up when he saw Raven again.
"Please…what is a 'blackout'?" Starfire inquired, stepping forward. "We do not have such a term on my planet…"
Everyone looked at her for a few moments, then Cyborg spoke, breaking the silence. "Well, basically a blackout is when all the electricity in a given area is disabled."
"Yeah…" Beast Boy pitched in, "…that means no lights, no TV, no AC…good thing Cy installed the generators under the Tower, 'cuz I dunno if I could go on without my Gamestation…"
"You probably couldn't…" Cyborg said in jest, a smirk on his face.
"HEY!" Beast Boy said, cocking an eyebrow as he stared at Cyborg, wagging an angry finger. "Well…you probably couldn't either! You play it as much as I do!"
Starfire nodded, more or less gaining an understanding of the term. Robin suddenly broke things up.
"Enough chitchat…Dr. Light's still out there, and we're not. Let's get going."
With that, the Titans made their way across to the city, Starfire carrying Cyborg while eagle Beast Boy and Raven carried Robin. Once they reached the city, Robin and Cyborg were let down so they could get to the R-Cycle and T-Car, which were hidden away in a dark warehouse near the bay. With Robin and Cyborg taking to the roads, Beast Boy, Starfire and Raven continued their flight, everyone following behind the T-Car since Cyborg had Dr. Light's location pinpointed on his GPS. A red blip on the map of the city, downtown district…
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"Well, well, Jump City…" said Dr. Light, as he waved his arms about, absorbing all the electricity from the surrounding buildings. "…thanks for all this wonderful light, you didn't need it anyway! HAHA!"
Dr. Light's suit glowed bright gold again as all the windows in the buildings around him suddenly went dark. "Heheh…and once I'm finished here, the only source of light left will be the Sun! But not to worry…he'll get his turn soon enough. Haha…and then…I will be… UNSTOPPABLE!"
Dr. Light let out a maniacal cackle, amazed at himself for coming up with such a brilliant plan. Although, his celebration was cut short when he heard two engines closing in on him. Soon after, he saw the R-Cycle as it jumped over a parked car, skidding to a stop as Robin hopped from it. He removed his helmet, then reached for his bo staff as the T-Car pulled up beside him, the other three Titans not far behind.
"Unstoppable?" Robin asked, an arrogant smirk forming as he pointed the staff at Dr. Light. "Hardly."
Cyborg got out of the T-Car as the others flew in close.
"Ah…the Teen Titans," he said as they prepared to attack. "Normally I'd be afraid, especially of…that one…" Dr. Light glanced Raven's way. "However, what you children fail to realize is that I no longer need to fear darkness…with this new power, I no longer need to fear YOU!"
Suddenly, Dr. Light fired a wide stream of pure light energy which Raven diverted just in time with a well-placed shield of dark energy. With the immediate threat removed, the Titans moved into action.
"Titans, GO!" Robin yelled. All five Titans began closing in on Dr. Light, who stood his ground with some air of confidence, despite his poor track record against them. Robin was the first Titan to attack, swiping at Dr. Light with his staff. Dr. Light only took a step back, a devious smirk on his face as he grabbed one end of the staff, charging it with Light energy. Almost instantly, Robin felt the charge travel from the staff, through his body, and he yelled in pain as Dr. Light finally halted the transfer of energy, maintaining his grip on Robin's staff as the Boy Wonder was forced to release it, freewheeling through the air until he hit the roof of a car. On impact, the roof smashed inward, all the glass windows breaking simultaneously.
"ROBIN!" Starfire yelled, turning away from the fight to attend to Robin. She floated over to the car he landed on, attempting to grab at his arm and pull him off of it.
"Starfire, I'm fine…" Robin said, partially accepting her help while still trying to get up on his own. "We need to focus on getting Dr. Light!"
Dr. Light continued to smirk at the three who remained as he made the bo staff his own, charging it with Light energy until it crackled golden sparks and glowed bright, the same color as his powered-up suit.
"Come, then, Titans." Dr. Light said, his level of confidence skyrocketing by the second. "Let me show you the mighty power of Light."
"Dude…" said Beast Boy, sounding just a little annoyed. "…quit trying to sound all high-and-mighty, just 'cuz you can make a pretty light show!"
"You're still just a petty criminal." Cyborg said. "And like all the rest, you're gettin' put away for a long time."
Dr. Light only laughed again, holding the charged bo staff with malice. "If any one of you thinks you're up to the task, then please, by all means, step forward."
Cyborg had heard enough. Without a moment's hesitation, he fired a blast from the Sonic Cannon, but Dr. Light only threw out his free hand, a wall of Light forming around it to absorb the blast.
"Nice try." Dr. Light said arrogantly. "…but the Light cannot be overpowered by such inferior means."
In the meantime, Beast Boy had already turned into a grizzly, and was swinging angry paws in Dr. Light's direction. Bad move. Dr. Light blocked with the charged staff, sending a slight shock through Beast Boy in the process. However, while in the form of a giant bear with such thick skin, the energy didn't hurt quite as much as it would have otherwise. But Dr. Light whipped the staff around, smacking grizzly Beast Boy in the jaw, a powerful hit which sent him crashing to the ground, where he detransformed.
By this time, Starfire had helped Robin back to his feet, whether he wanted her help or not, and the two of them were charging Dr. Light once again. Robin lashed out with a flying kick, which Dr. Light ducked under. To retaliate, Dr. Light swung the staff at Robin several times. Fortunately, Dr. Light was nowhere near as skilled with the weapon as Robin was, so Robin was able to easily dodge each attack. As he backflipped away, back toward Starfire, he flung disc-shaped bombs, Starfire firing off Starbolts and eye lasers at the same time. But nothing connected, as Dr. Light once again formed a wall of Light to protect himself.
"Surely that's not your best…" Dr. Light taunted from behind his wall.
However, the two of them continued to close in, unaware of Dr. Light's plan to suddenly go on the offensive again. Just as they had gotten close, Dr. Light hit his wall of Light with the staff, sending it exploding outward, where it caught both Robin and Starfire in the blast, sending them hurtling back for some distance down the street until Starfire's back slammed into a building, Robin simply skidding down the street until he came to a stop in a heap.
Cyborg had fired mirco-missiles from his chest, but Dr. Light didn't seem too worried, quickly forming another Light shield to protect himself. A moment later, Dr. Light took the shield down, absorbing the energy into the staff until he sent it out in the form of a high-speed energy bullet, which traveled at breakneck speed before it cracked right into Cyborg's chest, leaving a medium-sized hole there. Cyborg flew backward, crashing into the ground and moaning in pain as the Light energy still traveled through his circuits.
Only one Titan remained.
"Come, now, Teen Titans…" Dr. Light said, his facial expression wild, drunk with his newfound power. "For your sake, I hope you can do better than this."
"I can." Raven said simply, floating up into the air a few feet.
"Ah, the never-ending struggle…" Dr. Light went on, if only to hear himself talk. A crazed smirk appeared on his face. "Light versus Darkness...a battle which has raged on through the annals of time itself…"
"Enough!" Raven shouted, floating up a bit more as her eyes turned white. "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!"
At Raven's word, a nearby parked bus was lifted from the ground as Raven filled it with dark energy, sending it careening toward Dr. Light. The man chuckled, not moving as the bus rapidly closed in on him. A gigantic explosion flung dust and debris everywhere, as Raven closed her eyes, shielding her face with her arms. When the forceful winds and debris finally died down, Raven opened her eyes again, gazing through the cloud of smoke to find a sphere of Light energy.
"Of course…" Raven thought. It seemed the man wasn't as utterly incompetent as she'd once assumed.
"A valiant effort…" Dr. Light began, "…but all in vain."
Raven interrupted him, firing off several bursts of piercing Black energy in an attempt to make contact with Dr. Light. It didn't work, as all Raven's energy bursts simply dissipated on contact with Dr. Light's sphere. Dr. Light laughed yet again, taunting Raven from inside the sanctuary of his sphere.
"That will get you nowhere. For you see, dear girl…Darkness simply cannot exist where there is LIGHT!"
Another instant, and Dr. Light's sphere was absorbed into the lightbulb symbol on the chest of his suit, where he then fired it at Raven in the form of an energy net. Raven tried to turn and flee, but the trap followed her, gaining much too fast for her to escape. Soon, it closed around her, forming a sphere similar to the one that had just surrounded Dr. Light a few moments earlier. With the prisoner inside, the sphere brightened until it was almost completely opaque. Raven let out a pained scream as wave after wave of Light energy coursed through her body, golden light shooting out from her eyes and her mouth.
"How does it feel?" Dr. Light asked, his confidence overflowing now. "…Basking in the rays of Light…that's for what you did to me!"
As Beast Boy slowly sat up, he heard Dr. Light's insane laughter, as well as Raven's agonized screaming. He looked wide-eyed at the golden sphere in horror.
"Oh no… RAVEN!"
Beast Boy hopped up, as the others slowly took notice of what was happening. Both Beast Boy and Robin attacked at the sphere, Robin throwing bombs as Beast Boy transformed into a gorilla, slamming his powerful fists on the sphere. Their attacks bounced off, gorilla Beast Boy being sent back to the ground again upon making contact with the sphere.
"We have to save her!" Robin yelled. "He shot that sphere out from that symbol on his chest…maybe that's his weak point…" At that, he sprinted at Dr. Light, Starfire and Cyborg following close behind as gorilla Beast Boy stayed back, trying desperately to disable the Light sphere. His fists didn't work, so next he tried ripping a streetlight up from the ground.
"I just hope this doesn't hurt Raven…" he thought.
A moment later, he swung the streetlight full-force into the sphere. It collided with a colossal sound, but the sphere didn't even move, much less lose any energy as the streetlight was completely destroyed. Beast Boy detransformed, scratching his head in puzzlement. He didn't like the situation, but there didn't seem to be much he could do. He walked up to the sphere and peered inside, where he could just barely make out Raven's form, her arms and legs extended outward as energy surged through her.
"C'mon, Raven! Fight it!" Beast Boy suddenly yelled. "I know you can do it!"
Raven could faintly hear him through the sphere, but she had trouble discerning what he said. Once again, she found herself attempting to draw strength from Anger, but the strength she needed so desperately just wouldn't come. Under normal circumstances, she knew she would've been able to break free of such a trap with a simple explosive burst of dark energy, but she was…unable to do so, for some strange reason. Of all her emotions, Anger was the only one that felt so…weak. She screamed again, in response to which Beast Boy shot an enraged glance at Dr. Light, who was still in the process of fending off the other Titans. Rage consuming him, he took the form of the primal Were-Beast he'd once become in order to save Raven's life, then bounded in the direction of the fight.
"The symbol on his chest…" Were-Beast Boy thought, recalling Robin's words from just moments earlier. "That's Raven's only hope…"
"Haha…" laughed Dr. Light, as he blocked a barrage of Starbolts and Sonic Cannon blasts with the staff. "You just don't understand. You children cannot hope to stand against the Light!"
"Grr…" Robin growled, trying his best to take down Dr. Light, hoping that would be the key to releasing Raven. However, in the heat of battle, he didn't hear Were-Beast Boy coming, and didn't notice until the ferocious Beast dashed past him, Starfire, and Cyborg, hopping up into the air, to roll into a ball of pure anger. Dr. Light noticed, but still far too late as he couldn't bring the staff up to block, or form another Light shield in time. Were-Beast Boy spun through the air, slamming all his weight directly into the lightbulb symbol on Dr. Light's suit. With a thunderous cracking sound, the symbol shattered as Dr. Light was sent flying down the street.
Almost on cue, the sphere of Light which held Raven prisoner vanished into nothing, her body falling limp to the ground. As soon as he saw, the Were-Beast dashed back toward her, detransforming as he kneeled down to check on her. Her eyes were closed.
"Raven…?" Beast Boy said, fear and concern welling up inside him.
By this time, Dr. Light had struggled his way back to his feet, an incredulous expression on his face after realizing what had just happened. His suit no longer glowed quite as brilliantly, though there was still a bit of power left in it. Robin, Starfire, and Cyborg were moving in on him again.
"Just give it a rest, doc…" Cyborg said calmly, aiming his Cannon at Dr. Light as he walked, just in case. "It ain't worth it."
"Yes…" Starfire began, her expression showing concern, but her hands still aglow with Starbolt energy. "Your actions thus far have been senseless, and if you will merely agree to--"
"Fools!" Dr. Light interrupted, his grip still tight on Robin's staff. " 'Senseless'? How dare you insult me? Hear me now…before all is said and done, you will all see the Light!"
With that, Dr. Light dashed for Robin, yelling angrily as he raised the staff high to strike. Robin was prepared to defend, but just before the staff would've reached him, Dr. Light froze in place. Robin glanced up, to see Dr. Light's eyes wide, frozen in panic. Black energy in the form of Raven's soul-self had snaked its way past Robin to plant itself into the exact spot where Dr. Light's lightbulb symbol had once been.
A brief flash of white, and Dr. Light began violently convulsing, soon releasing Robin's staff before suddenly being lifted off his feet, flying back for some yards before landing hard on his back. Robin, Starfire and Cyborg looked back to see Raven standing some distance behind them, Beast Boy nearby. Raven was leaning forward, her palm still outstretched, her entire body heaving with each breath that she took.
A few short moments later, the soul-self emerged from Dr. Light, making its way back until it re-entered Raven, followed by another flash of white. At that point, Raven shook just a little, then collapsed, though Beast Boy was swift to catch her. He draped one of her arms around his shoulders as he began to walk toward the Titans, while Robin walked over to recover his staff. It still felt rather warm to the touch, no doubt the aftereffect of channeling Dr. Light's powerful Light energy. Robin glanced at it for a few seconds, then retracted it, putting it away. Together, they moved toward the fallen Dr. Light, who was clearly unconscious, though his body still convulsed a little every few seconds or so.
At the sound of sirens, Cyborg glanced farther down the street. "Well…looks like we're done here, y'all. JCPD'll take care of the rest."
"Dudes…" Beast Boy started, a toothy grin finding its way onto his face. "How about some pizza? I'd say we've earned it…"
"Sounds good." Raven said, opening her eyes to look at her friends. The others looked at her, somewhat surprised at her reaction. It wouldn't be the first time…
As the Titans left Dr. Light to the authorities, Raven had more or less recovered, at least enough to free herself from Beast Boy and take to flight on her own strength.
"Raven…" Robin said, concern in his voice as he started up the R-Cycle. "Are you sure you're alright?"
"I'm fine, Robin." She replied, turning to fly after Starfire and hawk Beast Boy. On the way to the pizza place, she pondered things. This was the second time in less than 24 hours that Anger had failed her when she needed it most…something was definitely wrong…and she was going to find out what.
"Raven…" Starfire said while glancing back, still sounding worried about the girl's well-being. "…you are…certain…you are…alright?"
To this, Raven nodded, though her expression remained unreadable. "Don't worry about it, Starfire. I'm ok. I just need to…rest for a while once we get back to the Tower."
Although, she knew what she'd have to do once she got back to her room. There was only one way to find out what was wrong with her…
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Author's Note: Ok! Chapter 5 is done! After a surprisingly tough battle with Dr. Light, the Titans head out for a bite to eat, then home to rest up. Although Raven won't say anything about it, something's wrong with her emotions…although, maybe it isn't that hard for the others to tell after all. Next time, Raven takes a familiar journey…