Anything, Anytime, Anywhere, For You
Chapter Thirty-One
"The Siren's Song"
A/N: This chapter is dedicated to Willow. I apologize for the late update; as I explained on my livejournal, I was sick and that is the reason I did not update on time. Please do not bludgeon me to death with a spoon, spork, fork or any other eating utensil.
It was late by the time the Titans returned to Wayne Manor. After the second downfall of Trigon the Terrible and Slade Wilson, the Titans had been as busy as ever. Robin, Cyborg and Batgirl had taken the now-human-once-again Slade to Arkham Asylum for incarceration. Slade was unconscious when they took him to the prison, but just as a precaution, the three heroes had made sure to tie him up good and tight so he could not try anything. None of them were delusional; they knew Slade would be back. He had risen from the dead on numerous occasions just to spite the Teen Titans; prison would not hold him forever. Still, it would be better to have him locked up for a while and out of their hair. Besides, he had lost all of his supernatural powers when Robin used the glove on him – he was human again.
The rest of the Titans returned to Wayne Manor. It was still the middle of the night, after all, and they retired to the guest's bedrooms at the top of the stairs in an attempt to get a few hours of sleep before sunrise. No one had much hope of getting a good night's sleep, but just a few hours of shuteye would do them all good. Sleep was one thing the team had been lacking of ever since their recent problems began with Shady's visit; so why should tonight be any different?
Outside the Manor, however, danger was lying in wait. Three sinister beings existed among the shadows. They had watched as the group took Slade to the prison earlier, and that's when the plans had been devised. Magus, Sadira and Azarock had been hiding out waiting for the perfect chance to strike; and now they had it. Honestly, the last few events that had happened had been perfect for the three eldest of Trigon's children. They wanted their father's power – and now thanks to Robin they could get it easier than they ever expected.
Magus had finally decided to reveal himself to his siblings. At first they had been shocked that he was even alive; much less caught up in all of this with them. However, after only a few minutes of conversation they had agreed to help him. He was persuasive and it didn't take much to convince the twins that they would need his help if they wanted to obtain Trigon's powers. Magus explained the situation about Robin and the glove – and that had been enough to interest the twins.
They still had a problem, however. Raven. She had proven in the past to be more dangerous and more capable than any of their fellow siblings. They would have to insure that she could not interfere with their plans. Magus turned to his siblings from their hiding spot among the darkened trees around Wayne Manor.
"I have a plan." He informed them. "Azarock, you an I will retrieve the glove from Robin. Sadira, I'll leave you to dispose of Raven."
Sadira flipped her head, causing her long silver hair to flutter back behind her ear with a sparkle. "How?"
Magus's thin lips curved into a dangerous smile. "Why don't you do what you do best? I'm sure it will make a fitting end for Raven to die at the hands of her human lover."
"That's probably the evilest thing I could do to her." Sadira pointed out; then she grinned. "I'm game."
"Excellent." Magus replied. "Then what are we waiting for? Azarock, come; we have work to do. Sadira, I'll leave the matter of Raven's demise in your capable hands."
"Sir, perhaps we should just reconsider things." Cobalt tried to reason with Luthor, but Luthor would not hear about it.
The limousine that belonged to the deranged Lex Luthor was barreling down the highway on its way back to Metropolis. Luthor had been defeated; but not stopped. He was more determined than ever in his cause – which had escalated.
"I still have the blood work on Terra, we can restart the project using other test subjects –"
"Philip, I don't give a damn about Terra anymore." Luthor cut the scientist off in mid-sentence with bitterness in his voice that was unmistakable. "We have a bigger fish to fry – or should I say Bat."
"Sir?" Cobalt looked confused by this.
"Bruce Wayne is Batman." Luthor explained. "I'm sure of it. The supervillian community will be very interested in this news, Philip. There's a million different ways I can profit from knowing his secret, and I plan to explore each and every one of them."
Cobalt narrowed his eyes. This was ridiculous! What happened to making an army of earth-moving warriors? What had become of the global conquest thanks to Markov Blood plan? Had all of Cobalt's work been in vain, again?
"Sir, what about Terra?" Cobalt asked once again, desperation sinking into his voice.
"The Terra Project is cancelled, Philip." Luthor replied simply. "There's no reason for it. You failed. I'll keep you on my payroll, though, only because your mistake has lead me to Batman's identity. Just don't expect a raise anytime soon."
Luthor grinned devilishly and then he began to laugh, long and obnoxiously. Cobalt narrowed his thin eyes behind his spectacles. He was expected to just sit here and take this kind of abuse from Luthor? No sir, not Philip Cobalt. That was not going to happen. Cobalt looked over to his right. A small tray was sitting on the limousine seat not far from him. The tray held a small can of caviar, a few crackers and a knife for spreading the fish eggs. Cobalt's eyebrow rose above its normal position as an idea sprang into the scientist's head.
"Do you mind, sir?" Cobalt asked, indicating the tray of caviar.
Luthor looked at the caviar and shook his head. "Why not, Philip. You deserve one rich man's meal in your life."
"Thank you sir." Cobalt reached over to the tray and wrapped his fingers around the hilt of the knife. It was now, or never. He would make Luthor pay for canceling Project Terra. Cobalt had worked too hard and too long for things to end this way. He grabbed the knife and twisted around; prepared to drive the blade into Luthor's head in payback.
Luthor, however, was not an idiot. On the contrary, he was a genius. The moment Cobalt had shown interest in the caviar, Luthor had reached his hand into a small glove box that was built into his chair's armrest. Inside was a six-shot revolver. When Cobalt turned around with the knife, Luthor fired two rounds into the scientist's chest.
Cobalt's eyes widened in a mixture of pain and surprise as his white jacket was suddenly stained with deep crimson liquid. Cobalt made a gurgling sound, and then fell backwards dead. Luthor returned the gun to its compartment and then opened the door of the limousine as they continued to drive. He grabbed Cobalt by the collar and pushed the man's body out of the car without a trace of remorse or mercy.
"Like I said Philip; consider your contract with Luthor Corp officially revoked." Luthor laughed as he closed the door once again. He bent forward and picked up the knife from where Cobalt dropped it, and then he moved the tray of caviar and crackers onto his lap and began spreading the fish eggs onto one of the saltines.
"This caviar's much too expensive for someone like you, anyway."
Raven was lying under the heavy blankets of her bed, trying to clear her mind and get some sleep. It was not an easy task. Then again, after everything she had been through in the past few days it was perfectly understandable that she was wide awake. In her right hand was the pendant that Robin had given to her before he left to take Slade to jail. Robin had explained Arella's instructions about the pendant briefly before his departure, and this only further irritated Raven.
On the one hand, Raven was grateful to her mother for helping them like she did. If not for Arella's help, Robin would be dead and Trigon would probably have killed the rest of them too. It was more than just nice of her mother to give Robin that glove – although Raven was worried about that too. Robin was one of the bravest, strongest people she had ever met in her life – but he was still human. That glove was made by demons, for demons. Raven worried about what might happen to the boy wonder if he continued to use the glove's power.
Then there was the pendant. Raven examined it several times since Robin gave it to her; but she still could not make heads or tails of it or the strange, cryptic message that came from Arella. Open the left side when you need wisdom; open the right for when you need protection. What could that mean? Raven had tried to open both sides, but neither one budged a bit. There was no further explanation, and Raven had a suspicion she would have to actually ask her mother about it personally. That would have to wait for another day, however. Because there was one final reason as to why she was not sleeping yet; and that was the issue she decided to address first.
"What are you doing in my room?" Raven asked in her monotone voice.
The room appeared to be empty. Raven was the only person in sight. Of course, there was a fly on the ceiling. That was not unusual. The fact that the fly was green, however, was both unusual and a dead giveaway as to whom it really was. A moment after Raven spoke, the fly landed on the edge of her bed and transformed into a nervous looking Beast Boy.
"Dude, how did you—"
"I'm psychic." Raven reminded him. "Mind answering my question now?"
Beast Boy rubbed the back of his neck nervously as he twisted about so that he was facing the dark girl. "I just wanted to check on you, ya know? Make sure you were okay after everything . . ."
Raven turned over in the bed so she was lying on her side, facing away from Beast Boy. "I'm fine. How about letting me get some sleep now?"
Beast Boy, however, was not so easily fooled. He crawled his way across the bed until he was once again face to face with the Goth. "You don't look fine Rae. You looked stressed out."
"I'm just tired. I'll look better after I sleep; which I can't do until you leave."
"You don't trust me anymore, do you?" Beast Boy asked her bluntly.
When Raven did not answer him, Beast Boy sighed and dropped his head. He was afraid something like this might happen. The entire situation lately had not been smooth sailing between them. First, they got into that fight back in Jump City, and then Terra's reappearance had drudged up some painful memories for both of them.
"Rae, I'm sorry I –"
"This has nothing to do with me trusting you." Raven cut him off. "And it's not about Terra either."
Beast Boy blinked. Either Raven was lying to him, or there was something else going on. Beast Boy was not sure which of these possibilities sounded the worst. If she was lying, he couldn't figure out why she would want too; and if she wasn't, then what was causing her to be so distant? After the near-fatal run-ins at the prison, and losing her body to her father, he expected her to be a lot closer to him. Usually that's how these things worked. Beast Boy remembered that every time something horrible happened back on Tamaran it seemed like it led up to the two of them growing even closer. The time Slade had nearly killed Beast Boy, the time Trigon had manipulated the green titan, and Beast Boy's being kidnapped by cultists were a few events that came to mind. Now, however, it seemed like they were being driven apart.
"Then what's bothering you?" Beast Boy asked.
"Besides the fact you're keeping me awake? Not a thing." Raven replied.
"Rae, you've been laying here looking unhappy for half an hour. There's a lot more than just me on your mind." Beast Boy rebutted.
"Fine." Raven broke down. He may as well know everything. "When my mother saved Robin she gave him this." She tossed the pendant to Beast Boy. "She told him to give it to me; but I can't figure out why she wanted me to have it or what it does. It just bugs me, that's all."
Beast Boy held the pendant up to his eye. "Dude, does it open?" He asked, noticing the cracks in the side. Beast Boy attempted to pry it open but to no avail.
"Supposedly." Raven replied, stifling a yawn. "Look, it's late. Let's deal with this tomorrow. I really could use the sleep."
Beast Boy sighed and handed the pendant back to Raven. "Yeah, okay Rae." The green titan crawled back over to the edge of the bed and stood up. He walked halfway to the bedroom door before stopping and turning back around to look at Raven. "Are you going to be okay?" Beast Boy questioned.
"I'm fine. Really." Raven answered. "I'll see you tomorrow."
Once again, Beast Boy started towards the bedroom door, this time his hand was actually on the doorknob before he stopped and turned back around. He walked all the way back to the bed before Raven raised her eyebrow and stared at him.
"Didn't we just do this?"
"Don't I get a goodnight kiss?" Beast Boy asked her with an obnoxious grin plastered on his face.
"I'm about three seconds away from hurting you." Replied Raven with her eyes narrowing, but she could not hide a small grin on her lips.
"C'mon, please?" Beast Boy begged, putting on a playfully pouting face.
"One."
"You don't scare me Rae."
"Two."
"Just a little kiss? Please?"
Raven never got to three, and Beast Boy never finished begging. It was at that moment that the song began. The entire mansion was filled with a beautiful voice singing a sweet song. There didn't appear to be any words to this song, only a magnificent melody that filled the air and wisped into the ears of all of the titans. Raven had never heard anything like the song before. It was enchanting in its beautiful sound; and unbeknownst to her, it was just as deadly.
"What's that?" Raven pondered aloud, looking around for the source of the song. It seemed to be echoing from the very walls of the mansion.
Beast Boy stood absolutely still, rooted to the spot. He appeared to be in some kind of trance. His eyes were still and cold, staring off into space like a coma patient. His mouth was slightly open, and he was drooling a bit. The second Raven saw him she remembered when Mad Mod had hypnotized him the same way.
"Beast Boy?" Raven asked, approaching him slowly. "Are you –"
Suddenly the song changed. There were words now. Harsh words sung in a soft voice.
"Make her blood spill like wine from a chalice,
Slaughter the traitor to Trigon's magnificent palace,
Make Raven pay for all that she's done,
Let her blood flow under the morning sun
Be brutal,
Be cruel,
Be terrible,
Annihilate that fool,
Murder Raven, send her straight to hell,
As soon as you hear the ringing of the bell . . ."
"Okay, I'm guessing the songwriter isn't a fan." Raven's sarcasm came right on cue as she listened to the words of the strange song. The voice singing was every bit as sweet and delightful as it had been before words were added to the melody; but with this new addition the song had become downright creepy. Raven turned back to Beast Boy, ignoring the repeating chorus and returning her attention to her boyfriend.
Then the song stopped altogether.
Beast Boy shook his head and blinked his eyes several times. He clutched the top of his head like he had a horrible headache, and when he finally stopped blinking he looked over to Raven. "Dude . . . what happened?"
"Besides the creepy 'kill Raven' song?" Raven asked, raising an eyebrow.
"What song?" Beast Boy replied, a look of genuine confusion on his face.
"You've got to be kidding me." Raven muttered. "Are you telling me you didn't hear that?"
Then a new sound filled the room. It sounded like a bell ringing. Raven was just about to say something when Beast Boy screamed and fell to his knees. He clutched the sides of his head and buried his face between his legs, screaming the entire time. Raven ran to his side and placed comforting hands on his shoulders.
"Beast Boy? What is it? What's wrong?"
"Slaughter." Beast Boy replied, his voice drained of all emotions.
Raven remembered that last line of the song, and a horrible reality dawned on her. Beast Boy's hypnotic-like state, his lack of memories about the song, and now this bell . . . if she was right, she wasn't looking forward to what would happen next.
"Beast Boy?" Raven asked in a whisper. The green teen stopped screaming and let his hands fall to his side. He sat up and looked Raven directly in the eyes for a moment. Beast Boy's eyes were completely black, like a doll's eyes. Raven knew at that moment.
The ground turned black with Raven's mental energy as she melted into the ground in a split second, narrowly avoiding Beast Boy's punch as he threw it at her. When she reappeared behind him, Beast Boy turned around, transformed into a large green tiger, and pounced on her. Raven hit the ground and grunted beneath one of Beast Boy's large paws. She saw him raise the other paw and prepare to bring it down on her face.
"Azarath Metreon Zinthos!" Raven cried out before the paw could smash her face; several books zoomed off of the nearby bookshelf and smashed into Beast Boy's head, knocking him backwards and disorientating him. He lifted the paw off her chest and Raven quickly rolled away from him and climbed back to her feet. However, before she could react any further the tiger had become a monkey and jumped onto her shoulders.
Monkey-Beast Boy wrapped both of his tiny legs around Raven's throat and began squeezing, while using his hands to pull on her lavender hair at the same time. Raven felt short of breath with the monkey choking her, and she couldn't properly speak her incantation. She could, however, grab the small green monkey with her hand and pull him off her throat – and that is exactly what she did. However, Beast Boy sunk his small monkey teeth into her fingers, which caused Raven to gasp in pain and drop the little emerald primate. She looked down at her bleeding hand; but quickly she forgot all about it. Something else caught her eye.
That something was a large green grizzly bear.
"You can forget about that good night kiss." Raven managed to mutter before she had to dodge one of Beast Boy's massive arms. The bear's attack missed her, but he managed to hit the bed behind her and smash it clear in two. Raven wrapped the bear up in her energy and tossed him into the ceiling. The blow managed to do two things; break a hole in the ceiling, and knock Beast Boy unconscious. He transformed back into his normal self and landed on the broken bed with a thump.
Raven glanced down at her boyfriend with uneasy eyes. The only movement in his body was the shallow rise and fall of his chest as he breathed in and out. There was a thick trickle of dark red blood running out of his forest green hair; and Raven felt sick. Her stomach was tied up in painful knots and she had the sudden desire to vomit. She had just beaten the hell out of the person she loved – and that's never a good feeling.
"Sorry Beast Boy." She whispered quietly before she turned and headed out of the door. She knew she wasn't out of danger yet; she needed to find Starfire and Terra. They'd be able to help her.
Unfortunately as she stepped out of the second-floor bedroom and headed towards the stairs of Wayne Manor, she ran into Tim Drake and Bruce Wayne; who were currently dressed as Batman and Robin. Raven stopped dead in her tracks when she noticed that behind their masks their eyes were black voids – just as Beast Boy's had become after the ringing of the bell.
"Damn." Raven cursed quietly as she projected and energy shield around herself. Just in time, too, because both Wayne and Drake threw a moment later explosives at her a moment later. The gothic titan flew backwards, keeping her energy shield up. However, Batman threw another bomb and this one was too potent for Raven to block completely. The energy shield absorbed most of the blast; but it was so powerful the black shield cracked like glass and shattered. Raven was thrown to the ground by the aftershock of the bomb. Before she could return to her feet, Tim Drake had leapt on top of her and punched her directly in the face. Raven grunted in pain. She could feel blood leaking from her nose down her face.
Tim pulled his fist back for a second punch; but a starbolt caught him in the chest and sent him flying backwards. A second bright green ball of energy smashed into Batman's waistline and he fell to his knees clutching his stomach.
Raven wiped her still-bleeding nose clean on her cape, stood up, and turned to see the redheaded princess floating behind her with a confused expression.
"Raven, why are our friends attacking you–"
"I'll explain later, for now we have to get out of here!" Raven cut her off.
"But I do not –" Starfire objections were cut short by the sound of a roar.
The wall to the left of them burst open a split-second later as a green Tyrannosaurus Rex rammed its enormous head through it. Beast Boy had woken up. Beast Boy tried to push his giant dinosaur body through the hole, but wound up being stuck. Raven and Starfire both flew up into the air and watched for a moment as Beast Boy struggled in the wall. Then he transformed into a pterodactyl and flew out of the hole. He aimed his beak-like nose at the girls and squawked as he flew directly at them.
That's when a marble bust of Bruce's father flew off it's pedestal and smashed into Beast Boy's stomach. The pterodactyl let out a cry of pain and fell down to the floor; hitting the ground and reverting back into his human form.
"What's going on?" Terra asked as she appeared at the top of the stairs, stepping around Bruce and Tim's unconscious bodies. She had used her powers to throw the bust; which being made of marble, a form of rock, had been controllable to her.
"Explanations will have to wait till we tie these three up." Raven informed her. "And keep and eye out for the butler; he'll be under the spell too."
"What spell?" Starfire asked as she and Raven landed.
"It's called The Siren's Song." A cold feminine voice filled the room. All three of the girls spun around to their rights to find Sadira leaning against the wall. The red-skinned demon was twirling a stand of her long silvery hair around one finger and wearing a sinister smile on her face. "It's a specialty of mine; causes men to do whatever I want them too. And right now I want them to kill you, dear sister."
Raven narrowed her eyes. Terra and Starfire both looked towards Raven and echoed the same word. "Sister?"
"Yeah. That's my big sister Sadira." Raven sighed. "Let's just say I get along with her about as well as you do with your sister, Star. Feel free to give her a beating. Titans G—"
Raven didn't get a chance to finish Robin's catchphrase. There was a blinding flash of light and each of the three girls lost the ability to see. A moment later they each received a painful kick in the ribs and fell to their knees.
Alfred had thrown a flash bang grenade and used his karate skills on the girls. They had disabled the three mind-controlled superheroes; but the butler managed to take them all out.
Sadira smiled.