Ok then. The first chapter people've been waiting for! It's 'Calling all Titians!' :D (I hope this build up's been long enough…) 'Titans Together' coming up! (This is dedicated to shadow929, as she hadn't been feeling that well recently. :))
'Why do I get the far-out ones?' Raven thought to herself, rubbing her arm from where her soul-self had been burnt trying to find Herald. 'Because you're the only one who can?' she countered. 'Good point.' She replied, smirking slightly to herself. Having her emotions talk to her wasn't so bad after all. At least it stopped her from going crazy. Unless it was too late. After all, ten minutes alone with Beast-boy and even Chicken- Robin would-
'I've got all of you in my sights.' Raven heard the radio crackle, jerking her out of her thoughts. She glanced at her own radar to confirm four other dots on her screen. 'We should be in range soon.'
'And soon we'll be home sweet home!' Beast boy cheered. 'Tofu Burger: Here I come!' Raven rolled her eyes and shook her head. Talk about thinking with your stom-
'Wait a second…' Robin's voice interrupted. 'Robin, is everything OK?' Starfire asked. Raven's eyes narrowed, puzzled. 'Don't tell me we're not going home…?' 'I'm sorry Beast boy, but we just got an SOS.' Raven's eyebrows shot up, surprised. Already?
'Argent to Titans!' A nervous voice sounded, gunfire audible in the background. 'I'm surrounded!' 'We're sending help. Starfire, I want you to fly back and help her.' Robin ordered. Raven glanced at her radar to see a dot executing a U-turn and heading back to where it came from.
'… … -o, I just got another SOS, Aqualad's in trouble,' Raven flushed slightly; the very name reminded her of that humiliating crush she still- erm… that she used to have on him. Yeah… 'Beast boy, I need you to go to Sector 7. Huh?' Raven glanced up from her speedometer. 'We've got an SOS in Sector 13, and one in Sector 27!' Raven's eyes widened in shock. She'd just come from 27! There was nothing wrong when she left! 'Calling all Titans! Prepare for battle!' Robin commanded.
'…Raven, go to Mas and Menos in Sector 27!'
'Right.' She replied, a reciprocal course laid in, having second-guessed her orders. She swung the ship round and pushed the accelerator up hard, doubling her already blistering speed.
'Something's up… This can't be a coincidence…' She frowned to herself, locked onto Mas and Menos' communicator signal. In no time flat, she reached the edge of Steel city, rocketing over the rooftops. She looked over the city, trying to spot the speedy twins, then, failing that, scanned her map again, trying to pinpoint their exact-
…whwhwhwhWHWHWHWHWOOOSHhhhh…
Raven looked up immediately at the noise as a mini purple tornado appeared directly in front of her outside the ship. Her eyes widened as Kyd Wykkyd appeared in a twirl of darkness, landing on the hull and leaning towards her, both hands on the protective bubble surrounding her, a determined look on his face. Immediately, she activated her communicator with a flick of her wrist.
"Robin, I think they're expecting us…" She relayed. Sensing something else, she glanced to her right. Psimon, arms folded, just meters away from the ship, keeping up with apparently no effort. He turned his head towards her, his cranial enhancer burning threateningly. Eyes narrowed in reply, she lifted her left hand free of the controls, enveloping it in an aurauric threat of her own.
She smashed her fist into the harness release button as Kyd Wykkyd swept his cloak at the protective shielding of the pod, slicing through it as cleanly as a samurai blade. Instantaneously, the top of the pod was ripped off in a rush of wind as Kyd Wykkyd vanished in another tornado. Raven, almost simultaneously, rammed her feet against the deck of the pod, leaping high into the air as the pod careened out of control, catching herself in mid-air.
She swung round in time to meet a swift kick in the face. She grunted loudly with the impact, grabbing at her cheek in sharp pain as the impact twisted her around in mid-air. She shook her head slightly to clear her blurred vision in time to see Psimon come at her with a punch this time, but she swiftly leant back, grabbed his arm with both her hands and pulled sharply downwards, shooting her shoulder upwards to catapult him over. (Of course, from that position, she could have at least dislocated his arm, but she didn't feel that cruel. Yet.)
She glanced to the side to analyse the descent of her pod, and, when calculating it wouldn't crash on the land, she turned back to Psimon, who, faced with the fact that he couldn't handle her physically, latched his fingers onto his cranial enhancer, making it glow brightly. Raven, second-guessing him, shot out a dark force of her own to match his brainwaves so they met in mid-air, pushing with equal strength. Psimon increased the pressure. Raven, using both hands now, matched it. Psimon, leaning forward and gritting his teeth in pain, tripled his efforts, forcing Raven to put all her concentration and willpower into pushing back his force.
She didn't realise.
She was too preoccupied.
This was the plan all along.
How to capture the great Raven herself.
The Brain had thought of everything.
Before Raven realised what was going on, she saw a flash of pale white skin and red eyes, then her world was covered in darkness.
Squeezing, crushing darkness.
Suffocating.
Choking.
Then, to her surprise, she could breathe.
After a few seconds of recovery, she registered what she could feel. She was led on her side, on cold, smooth, what seemed like, rock. She could hear nothing at all. Just her own breath. A moment more, she realised what her eyes had been telling her. She was surrounded by pure darkness. Nothing at all. It didn't matter whether her eyes were open or closed, it was still the same thickness.
"(…Where am I?)" She ventured, trying to pick something out, anything. After a moment or two, she shifted her legs round, put her hands on the floor and tried to stand up, wobbling slightly as the lack of light put her balance off.
She yelped loudly and slipped backwards with a loud thump as Kyd Wykkyd's face appeared before her.
She sat up, rubbing her lower back and looked again.
The darkness in the area around her had lessened slightly. Not enough to light the rest of the plain, but enough to see a few feet away. She saw Kyd Wykkyd standing in front of her, arms folded, a determined expression on his face. She realised there was something odd about him, but she couldn't quite-
Wait…
The bottom edges of his cloak. They seemed to melt away into the darkness.
It was then she realised. She was inside the cloak.
He inclined his head slightly, eyes closing briefly, as he stood stock-still. Hello.
"Wykkyd, what's going on?" Raven growled, standing up, sliding a foot back behind her as she raised her arms in a defensive posture. "What are you doing?"
He shook his head gently from side to side, moving a hand to point a finger at his chest. His other hand gently covered his head, which he squeezed slightly. Not me. The Brain.
"What?" She frowned, leaning her head back slightly as she looked at him questioningly. "What're you talking about…?" She fell silent as she processed everything, silently mouthing words to herself, her sight-line dropping as she thought.
She stopped herself short.
Her lips closed and tightened.
Her eyes narrowed.
She moved her pupils up to look at him.
"(…I trusted you…)" She said in a deadly whisper.
His face remained impassive, devoid of emotion.
She was surprised the heat of her extreme anger radiating out at him didn't burn him…
Wait a second…
Her anger…
Raven's eyes widened slightly as she realised why she was brought here.
She glanced at her hands, a tiny sliver of fear entering her as she experimentally said, "Azarath…"
Her hands shook slightly.
"Metrion…"
Her head lowered slightly as she sighed.
"(Zinthos…)"
She had said herself that their powers cancelled each other out…
A mocking smirk grew on his face, eyebrows raised, as he tensed his bending arm. All powerful(?) She lifted her head again as she sent a death glare at Wykkyd.
"I trusted you…" Raven repeated, tensing her fists. "I don't know what you're planning to do with me, but my friends will come when they realise I'm missing in action." Her eyes widened as his shoulders shook slightly in silent laughter, shaking his head from side to side.
He held a finger out to her, and then wagged it from side to side, as if scolding her. He pointed at her, clasped his hands together, then, whilst shaking his head, pointed at the ground with both hands. He jabbed his fingers at the ground again, then slowly pointed at himself with one hand, whilst sweeping the other hand round at the darkness. He slowly repeated the action, staring directly into her eyes with a cold smile on his face. Whilst keeping eye contact with her, he shook his head, tapping two fingers on the wrist of the other hand.
Tut-tut-tut… You don't get it. Your friends will never come here. This is my world. My world… There isn't even any time here…
Raven tensed, clenching her fists again, eyes narrowed to slits.
"(…I really trusted you.)" Raven said slowly, taking a tiny step towards him. "(Two weeks ago, I convinced Robin to let you be a Titan.)"
A step. Wykkyd's eyes narrowed, looking directly into her eyes.
"(I had to fight with his opinion of you for three hours. Three straight hours for you.)"
A step. Wykkyd could sense a slight growl in her voice now.
"(You could change, I said. You could be monitored if needed, I said. I gave him my word that you were perfect material for a Titan. I put my very rank of second-in-command on the line just to get you in. He did say yes, eventually. Grudgingly, and not without complaint.)"
She slowly raised her fist up to shoulder height, squeezing her already clenched fingers tighter, as if preparing to punch.
"(All that because I thought I saw something good in you.)"
She stood in front of him, practically nose to nose, staring him down, her upper lip curled in a snarl.
"(Do you know what's changed in the past two weeks?)" She asked, her voice a dangerous whisper.
He shook his head slowly from side to side, his gaze never leaving her eyes, his mouth a thin, hard line.
She remained silent a few seconds, staring into his scarlet, slightly glowing eyes.
"(Absolutely nothing.)"
Silence.
Wykkyd's jaw fell open slightly, his eyes widening in utter shock. He leant back slightly, at a complete loss for words, even more so than usual.
Raven's expression changed subtly; her eyebrows became less furrowed, her mouth became less firm of a line, all things Wykkyd could pick up on.
"(I know you, Wykkyd.)" She said, disappointment inflecting her tones. "(I know you're not like this. I'm not sure where your loyalties are, but I know you're not like this.)" She gently shook her head from side to side. "(You're no villain.)"
Suddenly, Wykkyd's teeth clenched together, his eyes narrowed and a growling breath escaped his mouth as he glared at her. His right arm lifted up, fist clenched, towards his left shoulder, anger burning in his eyes.
Raven winced, waiting for the sudden blow.
…
After a second or two, she tentatively opened an eye, looking towards Wykkyd.
His arm was still raised, ready to swing at her, but his face had changed considerably. His head had lowered slightly, his teeth were less firmly clenched, and his gaze couldn't meet Raven's.
He slowly moved his lifted arm to grab the top of his head as he shook it from side to side. He lifted his hand slightly, then squeezed his head again, moving his other hand to gently squeeze his throat, then to point at his chest. He put both hands to his head, rhythmically wiggling his fingertips, then, moving his hands down, he briefly touched under his eye, then his chest, before he raised a hand to clench the top of his head again. He put his hands out in front of him as if cupping a bowl, then methodically pointed between himself and her. With a shaking hand, he pointed to his chest, then drew a finger across his throat.
The Brain… The Brain would kill me… Psimon was watching me for him… Any communication or link between me and your forces… and I'm dead…
Raven sighed gently, briefly closing her eyes. She had seen this type of occurrence before. The Fear factor, not the Loyalty factor, was keeping Wykkyd with the Brotherhood of Evil.
"Kyd…" She said, raising her hand and gently resting it on his shoulder. "The Titans can help you. I could help you. If you'd like, we could-"
Wykkyd cut her off with a sharp wave of his hand, shaking his head as he took a step backwards, Raven's hand slipping off him.
No…
He turned away from her, his body fading into the darkness surrounding them, his head still shaking, a bitter expression on his face.
"Wykkyd, wait!" Raven yelled to him, stepping forward and reaching for him. Her hands clamped on nothing. He was gone.
She sighed to herself, looking down at the hand she had tried to grab him with.
Without warning, she felt the same crushing pressure she had felt earlier on, choking her and blinding her as before.
Then she was out.
She saw purple.
She barely had time to register the swirling psychic portal before her when she felt two strong hands clamp on her shoulders from behind. She glanced quickly back over her right shoulder to see Wykkyd's determined face inches from her own.
Something happened then.
Just before she felt the two sharp pains in her back that were Wykkyd's dropkick, catapulting her forward into the void, she heard something.
Something she thought she would never forget.
Two somethings in fact.
Two words.
In the softest voice imaginable, incredibly hoarse due to its lack of use.
She heard the words…
"(I'm sorry…)"