CHAPTER 6 - WATCHING
"Raven's gone!" Cyborg shouted running into the Control Room. The others stared in disbelief.
"What? Where?" Starfire started to panic.
Instead of wasting time asking stupid questions, Robin flipped open his communicator and attempted to contact Raven.
"Rae? Raven! It's Robin… answer me!" Robin shouted down the communicator before realising he wasn't going to get a reply from the empath. "Search the tower!" he commanded his friends, who all ran and flew off in different directions. Robin ran to the main computer and conducted a city wide search for her communicator signal. Thank God Cyborg installed them into all their communicators, they didn't think they'd ever need to use them. Robin impatiently waited for a beep, or some sort of sign that Raven was there. Suddenly his communicator went off.
"What?" Robin said into the communicator, hoping for good news. It was Beast Boy.
"Don't bother trying to track her com, it's here in the infirmary." Beast Boy said to a disgruntled Robin who bashed his fist hard on the computer. "Keep searching!" He shouted before he logged off. Then he had an idea. "The security cameras!"
"Come on… get up and fight!"
Raven's eyes flickered open as she struggled to get up off the alleyway floor. She groaned in pain as Tattoo Tarot kicked her in the stomach, for the fifth time.
"And here I was thinking of you as a threat!" Tattoo Tarot laughed, smirking down at Raven, loving to see her squirm.
"Please… stop." Raven moaned, clutching her stomach.
"Why should I stop Raven? Fight back! Give me all you've got!" Tattoo Tarot smiled. Of course he knew that Raven couldn't fight back. He knew that Robin had told her, well to some extent that she would perish if she used her magical powers. Right then, she realised that she took them for granted. If she ever made it out of this torture alive, she would definitely appreciate them more. She prayed to Azar as she received another blow to the stomach that the Titans, her friends, would find her before it was too late.
Robin ran as fast as his legs could carry him to the security room, and was surprised to find Cyborg sitting there, rewinding and fast-forwarding the tapes from the infirmary.
"Great minds think alike.", Robin smiled, happy that someone was on the same wavelength as him in locating their lost team mate.
"Explains why BB ain't in here.", Cyborg replied keeping his eyes glued to the screen. Robin chuckled, then went back to refocusing to the task on hand.
"Found anything?", Robin asked anxiously, standing behind the half-robot and watching the cameras.
"I'm just fast-forwarding to after we left the infirmary, then we should get an idea of where she is, although it doesn't take both of us to work out who took her." Cyborg finally reached the spot and played the tape for them both. By that time, Starfire and Beast Boy had entered the room and silently watched Raven's struggle.
It wasn't very pretty. Raven had been sitting there thinking, never realising that the infirmary window was slowly being opened. She was taken by surprise as Tattoo Tarot roughly pushed her off the bed and pinned her to the floor. The Titans couldn't help but wonder how they didn't hear Raven's small screams of pain. They continued to watch Raven struggle under the villain's weight, her weak form becoming more tired with every effort. Getting bored of her consistent fidgeting, he punched her hard in the face, rendering her unconscious. Starfire felt Robin's body tense up at that point. Tattoo Tarot threw her over his shoulder and jumped out of the window. Two moments later, Cyborg's knocking on the door could be heard. He stopped the tape and faced the others, who all had disgusted looks on their faces.
"I must say that I am impressed, staying alive this long, stressing not to use your powers." Tattoo Tarot tempted her. "I know how hard it must be for you, you're friends not coming, and you on your last bit of strength. All you need to do is unleash that black magic of yours and this could all be over."
After hearing his speech, Raven felt the urge to continue holding back, knowing very well that when he said 'this could all be over', he didn't mean his own destruction, he meant hers.
"My friends will come, because unlike you, I am part of a team. I'm not a loner who resorts to killing people slowly for pleasure!" Raven screamed.
"Sticks and stones dark one… sticks and stones."
"We must find the Tattoo Tarot and save friend Raven before it's too late!" Starfire said, her voice filled with fury and concern, if that was possible.
"But where would he have taken her?" Beast Boy asked anyone who was in the room. Silence filled the room as he waited for an answer. Robin stared at the floor as he thought about the question.
"He wants us to find Raven, otherwise he would have blasted the security cameras." Robin said, mainly to himself although he knew everyone heard.
"The alleyway?" Cyborg asked his leader knowing that he meant the last place they were interrogating Raven's kidnapper.
"The alleyway." Robin said, jumping out of his seat and running out the door with the others behind him. They ran and flew to the garage and revved up the T-Car and R-Cycle and raced Downtown. Starfire and Beast Boy flew ahead of their team mates, searching the darkening skies for any signs of the empath. Suddenly, a scream gave them hope.
Without saying a word, Starfire and Beast Boy flew as fast as they could go towards the scream. Robin, seeing their sudden change in direction, hit the acceleration and drove behind them. Cyborg followed.
"Hold on Rae." Cyborg begged, speeding up to catch up with Robin.
Raven was standing, but was so close to falling back down. For the past 10 minutes Tattoo Tarot had being beating her body for all she was worth, trying to make her fight back with her magic. The more she persevered, the harder he hit. Raven's lack of physical strength at that moment led to her defeat, as he threw her limp body at the alleyway wall. She fell into a crumpled heap on the floor.
"Come on Raven. You have the power, yet you're letting me walk all over you. Sometimes I wonder how you and your pathetic friends defend the city!" Tarot taunted her.
"I trust Robin, I promised him… I can't!" Raven sobbed as pain rushed through her body. Tarot walked up to her and knelt down beside her.
"But you can." he whispered.
"GET AWAY FROM HER!"
Tarot turned around, only to be greeted by a very angry looking Boy Wonder, a fired up cyborg, a determined girl with glowing green orbs surrounding her hands, and a green tiger. Raven smiled as she thanked Azar for answering her prayer.
"IF YOU LAY ON MORE HAND ON HER I SWEAR I'LL KILL YOU!"
Raven was taken aback by Robin's sudden anger. She knew he cared, but never that much. The emotions running though him were indescribable. Anger. Hatred. Anxiety. Pain. The other Titans stared at Raven and assessed her condition. She had gotten up from the crumpled heap and was now leaning against the wall, holding her stomach as it screamed in pain.
"Ah, Titans. You got here just in time to watch your friend's destruction!" Tarot laughed evilly. He jumped towards Robin, who was unprepared for the sudden attack and grabbed his neck, turning so he was standing behind him. Before Robin could retaliate, Tarot pulled out a knife and held it to his neck.
Cyborg pointed his sonic cannon at the villain, hatred showing in his human eye. Starfire was getting ready to release a huge amount of starbolts at Tarot. Beast Boy growled loudly in his tiger form and began to advance on him. Raven attempted to move, but failed miserably as she fell back against the wall. Tattoo Tarot held the sharp blade closer to Robin's neck.
"Lower your weapons, or your precious leader dies!" he threatened. The Titans stopped in their tracks and followed the orders, however much they disliked them. Raven looked at Robin, who was trying to put on a brave face, although anyone could tell he was scared.
'Robin's life is in danger. I am the one he wants.' Raven thought to herself. She knew what she had to do...
