Raventhedarkgoddess: Sorry, everyone, I've been on an extended break from fanfiction for my fictionpress account… Try not to be mad, now. I come bearing the gift of a new chapter and I'll try to be more frequent about this.
Chapter Nine: Believe
Robin found himself looking at Raven as she ran along ahead of him toward the site of the battle. It just didn't seem real that the pair of them stood there, or that she was running toward the very thing he had watched her run away from; the Teen Titans and the team she had abandoned. More amazing still to him was the fact that she had not given up, even after all this time, the fire that had always seemed to govern her every move.
Still, he couldn't read her. What is she thinking about? What is going on in her head? Does she miss the old times? Is she afraid? Does she…
Why am I thinking about this now? I've got a city to save! Besides, I'm the one who didn't want her around… But I do want her around…
Robin shook his head out. "How," he muttered to himself in disgust, "Do you win a battle when you're so caught up in your mistakes you can't even think straight?"
As if on some sort of cue, Raven looked back over her shoulder. They were under a narrow streetlight, just inches away from their destination. "Did you say something, Robin?"
He was caught for several seconds by her face, which was pale, drawn, and determined. "It's nothing," he managed to say finally, trying to ignore the skeptical look in her violet eyes. "Nothing at all."
"If you're sure," she said. "Just know that this is my chance to change your opinion from all that time ago, and I'm not letting you go off into battle by yourself."
"I'd still feel safer if you weren't here."
I won't snap, I won't get angry… "Because you don't think I can do it, right?" She retorted, much more sharply than she'd thought possible. "You still think I'm just the worthless little demon girl who you got rid of because I couldn't catch him. Well, we're about to face him again, and I'm going to prove to you where you went wrong."
"Raven, I didn't mean…"
"Let me do this on my own." The words sounded strong, and Robin sighed; Still things were not getting better, and it was his own fault.
Robin opened his mouth to speak again, but Raven had rounded the corner and was now out of his sight, moving toward the battle, which suddenly seemed explosively loud.
Before Robin was mass chaos. There had been various explosions that had brought buildings down, and there among it stood four figures; Starfire, her face covered in ashes, Beast Boy, in the form of a large dinosaur of sorts, Cyborg, who's face was placid and rather grim, and of course….
"Slade!" Robin found that the word he heard had not come from his own throat, but instead from Raven's, and she eyed him up with a look of coldness, spite, and even a deep, intense hatred.
"Well," said the figure, stepping forward and straightening it's mask, hand stroking over the gleaming orange side to wipe a bit of soot from an attack away, "It's nice to see you've done so well for yourself. Tell me, has time healed you, or are you still as pathetic as you always were, Raven, when I drove you away?"
"Shut up! Leave her alone!" Robin stepped in front of Raven, holding his arms out to protect her. She gave him a reproachful glare and moved out from behind his shielding arms.
I don't need his pity… I can do this on my own. After all, I'm a worthless demon… And yet he can't just let me go… It's his fault…
Still, Raven could not force herself to be completely angry at Robin. Instead, her anger had a definite target; Slade.
"Ah, Robin," Slade said warmly. "I personally don't think this is really your place to talk, but it's nice to see you again as well. So, did the girl leave all on her own, or were you simply so cruel that she couldn't stand you anymore."
"Shut up!"
"Your favorite words…" Slade mocked with a smirk. "No matter, soon neither of you shall ever trouble me again."
"I'd like to see you try," Robin snapped. "Titans, formations Ready! Teen Titans, GO!"
Everyone's faces seemed to light up with slightly more hope than ever before. "Let's win this one," said Cyborg suddenly, "In honor of old times."
"Silly boy," Slade called out in a mocking voice. "This isn't a field trip, you know. You're all going to lose your lives the way you should have a year ago, when only her injury prevented me from taking the lives of all of you..."
"To old times," Robin muttered under his breath, and found himself assuming a ready fighting stance, only to see Starfire zooming forward as if fueled by venom to attack Slade.
Skillful as ever, Slade dodged, flipping his body up over the attack. "Do you really think you're going to beat me with your silly little games?" He puncutated these words by dodging not only Starfire but Cyborg's shots as well, and the area between the buildings was alight with blue and green bolts.
Suddenly Raven realized she couldn't just stand back and watch as she'd been doing. Her friends were fighting their hardest, and fighting for her, and she was hanging back, unsure if she still knew how to fight...
But I'm not going to be a burden to them. I'm going to fight with everything I have, for everything I had. "I just hope this works... Azarth Metrion Zinthos!"
With the words, she realized a rush coursing through her body which she hadn't felt since the very last time, and as she watched one of the dumpsters to her left glow, she realized she had her control back. I can do this...
Slade seemed temporarily stupified by the metal connecting with the metal of his mask. "Very good, Raven," he said with a smirk, and for the first time turned to face her. In the time it had taken her to get her confidence back, Starfire and Beast Boy had been tossed to one side and Cyborg had been swept off his feet. Only Robin was left.
Just like last time.
The thought was haunting, yet it made her more determined. "You won't get away this time, Slade. I'm not going to let you!"
"Brave words from a scared little girl," he said. As the pair looked on in horror, he drew from his belt a piece of glintering steel; a knife. "You're not going to get away, and this time I'm going to finish the job." His voice was sadistic, cold, and it was driving Robin onto the edge of insanity.
"Raven, please, just stand out of this, you've already proved yourself, you're going to get hurt!" Robin yelled.
"What do you think I am? Worthless!"
"You know I didn't mean that!"
That was when Slade moved to strike, grazing Robin's leg with the blade as the Boy Wonder, choked with emotion and of course, frustration induced by Raven's stubbornness, made a very clumsy evade. "You're slipping, Robin," Slade taunted.
The battle went on and on, back and forth between the two of them. Even with the occassional assists by Raven, neither side could really gain an advantage, and Robin found that he didn't fear for himself, didn't want to win this for himself...
It was because of Raven's presence. That irritated him somewhat- Protecting other people was obviously not something he was good at, so why did he let it become his biggest downfall?
Raven could tell Slade was watching Robin, sensing his distraction, and she saw the knife swing before Robin did. With what little speed she could manage while hovering, for she hadn't quite gotten the hang of it, she shoved Robin out of the way, seeing the knife blade pass close to her own throat, and kicked one of Slade's legs out from under him.
He caught her stomach with the blade as she fell, but Raven gritted her teeth and gave Robin a look that he wasn't sure he could interpret. Standing there, her blood beginning to fall, she seemed to have but one question in her whole being. "Do you believe in me now, Robin?"
Instead of answering, Robin kicked Slade hard, causing him to fall to the ground. "I'm going to kill you!"
Slade freed himself after several assaluts by the Boy Wonder, surprised at the feeling of fury behind each blow and now knowing that the next battle wouldn't be quite so difficult; he had established the boy's affection for the girl, and it was overall, his downfall. He took off running, but not before looking back at Robin one more time.
"We'll meet again, Robin. Understand that. And when we do, she's going to finally die... And so are you."
By the time the others distangled themselves from the wreckage they'd been thrown into, they found Robin hunched over Raven's form. He seemed to have forgotten everything that had happened between them, holding her body against him and whispering what none of them could hear.
"Come on, we'd better get her home now!"
Robin's R-cycle lay abandoned by the side of the road as he and Beast Boy sat in back with Raven stretched across their laps. Beast Boy sighed to hear his friend's next words;
"Yes, Raven, I believe in you..." He sighed. "But it's too late for that, isn't it?" He touched her eyelids hopefully, wondering if she'd stir.
She did not, and so he found himself staring out over the world, watching the searchlights turn the dark, menacing clouds a more gentle but somehow more evil color of silver.
"It's too late to believe."
Don't worry, I'm not going to let it end like this... That wouldn't be very nice of me, now would it? However, it'll probably be like, two or three weeks before I update. Sorry, everyone, but life's busy and my grades are all so close to being high honors... I just have to bust my butt, so I don't have a lot of time to write. (This was written in math class... hehe) Anyway, I love you all, thank you so much for the support and reviews, and keep them coming!
Best wishes,
Raven
