Hope everyone enjoyed my emotion filled second chapter. Now get ready for my personal favourite chapter. In this chapter I get back to my specialty – action. There're some thrilling fight scenes in this chapter that I know everyone will love.
But you guys might be confused at times. The Titans are put right in the middle of something, and you (like them) won't know quite what until the very end of the chapter – even then it's still kind of mysterious. To be honest, this is the first time that I mess with your heads. But really, nothing brings a reader back more than a little mystery. So, enjoy chapter three.
But first, reviewer responses:
RaeRobFan – Whew! Thanks for telling me you and robraefan are different people, because I didn't even notice the difference. Good thing you mentioned it – I'd hate to have Bob come after me, right? But I'm thrilled you've enjoyed the story so far.
Z Star the Hidden Dragon – I took your advice and put the couple pairing in the summary of my story. Pretty good advice I think, thanks for giving it to me.
ravenslair – As I said, I've never really written emotional stuff, so it's really good to hear that you thought it was well done. And yes, for now Raven pines over BB, but their conversation is what begins to push her away from him.
serasvictoria666 – Don't let the second chapter fool you – this will be a Robin/Raven story. Raven's pissed at BB now, and that's one of the things that pushes her away from him and toward Robin. You'll see soon enough. Oh, and feel free to give me the list of why you think Robin and Raven belong together if you want. I mean really, it would only give me ideas.
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"Ah yeah," Cyborg let out triumphantly. "These waffles are looking sweet."
"They sure smell sweet," Robin replied, taking a good whiff in through his nose and eagerly licking his lips as Cyborg placed the large plate of waffles down on the counter.
"Please, I am confused. Why is it that I cannot coat the waffles in the diced pickles?" Starfire asked, a depressed look on her face.
"You mean the relish? Man, that stuff was old when we were dealing with Trigon. I could've sworn I heard it say something to me when I got out the butter." Cyborg shuddered as he finished talking, nervously eying the fridge.
"Sorry, Star," Robin began, "we just haven't had a chance to buy anymore."
"Aren't you normally happy with mustard anyways?"
"Most certainly. But I have recently discovered the sweetness of the relish. It is most pleasant to behold." Suddenly forgetting about the relish, Starfire's face was full of smiles again as she snatched up the mustard from the counter. She shook it with a mighty vigour and loosed the top, pouring out thick, yellow mustard onto her waffles with an entirely unhealthy look of delight.
Despite this unappetizing display, Cyborg greedily crammed waffles into his gaping mouth, making unintelligible sounds all the while. Robin, the only Titan of the three with some level of etiquette, slowly began to carve up his waffles with a knife, gingerly drizzling syrup over top.
The remainder of the meal passed in silence, each Titan displaying a particular eating style. Once every waffle was gone (Cyborg was only too willing to devour Raven's share), the plates were casually tossed into the sink, leaving them for another time.
"So, combat practice?" Cyborg asked hopefully. He pivoted from one foot to the other, punching the air as he did so, obviously excited at the potential action.
A loud wail erupted from the loudspeakers inside the Tower, cutting off Cyborg and travelling through the air with a prolonged echo. Emergency lights descended from the ceiling, casting a crimson flood before them and creating a melange of shadows in the grand room.
"Alright!" Cyborg shouted triumphantly, pumping his fist into the air. "I'll take real combat over practice any day of the week."
Starfire had a concerned look on her face, far less eager than the mechanical freight train. "What is the problem?"
Flipping open his communicator, Robin announced, "A bank alarm's gone off downtown. That's all we've got for information."
Behind Robin, a dark silhouette rose from the ground, forming into a discernible shape. Raven was rubbing her forehead and it seemed as though her mind was elsewhere, for she merely stood still, not even looking up at the others.
"Beast Boy?" Starfire questioned, waiting for him to come through the main doors.
"Don't worry about him," Robin responded. "He's not himself right now and might get hurt. We don't want to take that chance."
The others nodded their silent acquiescence, exiting the room behind Robin.
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A slight breeze blew through the street, kicking up Raven and Starfire's hair. There was an eerie silence outside the bank, which showed no external damage. More disturbing for Robin, however, was the absolute lack of people in the area.
"Something doesn't feel right," Raven muttered, staring into one of the mammoth glass windows. Sunlight bounced off the surface, giving the bank a peaceful, almost surreal appearance. "I can't sense anything."
"There's definitely a weird feeling," Robin added. "But we won't figure anything out until we check for ourselves."
"Then let's get in there!" Cyborg bellowed, thrusting open the front doors. Cyborg froze with his arms remaining outstretched, holding the doors open, and his eyes widened to their limit. Unable to let out a sound, he remained still, terrified at the man standing before him. Spikes stuck out from his rounded shoulders and smooth steel forearms, the hauntingly familiar grey and red screaming out at Cyborg. He stared back with his lips spread in a twisted smile, portions of his face covered by grotesque red machinery. Shifting his weight forward, a powerful fist shot upwards, with jagged, deep scarlet telekinetic energy bursting forth.
A feeling of weightlessness crawled outwards from Cyborg's stomach to the rest of his body, the world rushing by terrifyingly fast. Coming down with a tremendous intensity, Cyborg easily penetrated the concrete, impelling large, ragged chunks of the pavement into the air. Stars and tiny pinpricks of light danced across Cyborg's vision, leaving him disoriented and confused. Rubbing the side of his head, Cyborg was able to overcome his dizziness, but the pounding shock remained. There were only two words in his mind: Brother Blood.
Clawing himself forward, Cyborg frantically searched for the other Titans, but none were visible. They had all vanished. Steadying himself on a thick, round section of concrete, Cyborg was able to climb to his feet, aching from the potent strike. The street was utterly deserted, but for the slender, malevolent man marching towards him.
"How did you get here?" Cyborg demanded, his fury and fear mixing together.
"Come now, Cyborg," Brother Blood said, chuckling pompously, "did you really think you'd seen the last of me? You know better than anyone that machines can be repaired."
Cyborg's robotic eye glowed brighter with rage and the corner of his lips curled upwards. "What do you want?"
"There's nothing grandiose about this my friend—I've merely come for revenge. I'm going to dismantle you piece by piece, and I'm going to get a great level of enjoyment by doing so." A warped grin spread across his face.
Opening his mouth in a deafening howl, Cyborg lifted his right arm. A dark hole opened in the middle of the appendage at its end, spewing forth azure energy. As it streaked forwards, Brother Blood twisted his body sideways and leaned backwards, letting the blast harmlessly shoot past. Cyborg discharged two more bursts from his sonic cannon, the first splashing against a glowing red telekinetic shield. Brother Blood spun to his right, so agile he appeared to float over the cement, easily avoiding the second of Cyborg's rapid shots.
Bending his knees to build momentum, Brother Blood leapt off the ground, extending his leg outwards as he spun around. The outside edge of the foot struck his foe in the left ear, thrusting Cyborg's head in the opposite direction. Quickly regaining himself, Cyborg let fly with his fists, barely grazing Brother Blood's cold, metallic chest. As Cyborg came forward, Brother Blood's retreat was graceful and smooth, darting in and out to avoid the blows.
Steadying his back foot, Brother Blood propelled his fist straight ahead, hammering it into Cyborg's stomach and driving him into the air. Cyborg's back crashed onto the road first, and he felt a throbbing pain through his shoulders and upper back as he tumbled backwards, legs and a hulking chest appearing directly in front of his face for but a moment as he flipped over, landing on his stomach.
Straining to lift his head, Cyborg awkwardly rolled to the side, propping himself up using his elbows. Crackling electricity sparked and surged over sections of his body from the heavy damage he had sustained. His mouth was dry and coarse.
"You're just as pathetic and outmatched as when I last saw you, Cyborg."
"And you're just as overconfident," Cyborg retorted, rising to his knees. "I beat you before. And I'll do it again."
"I disagree," Brother Blood responded coldly. Harshly bellowing, Brother Blood lunged forward, his foot smashing into Cyborg's chin, sending a tremendous shockwave through his inner systems and knocking him flat against the unforgiving concrete. The foul and iniquitous man strode forward and lifted his foot, bringing it down atop Cyborg's chest. An ear-splitting squeal rang out as he pushed down vigorously, grinding his sole against the metal. "This time will be different."
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The others had all disappeared. Robin searched for answers, replaying the last several moments in his mind, but was left empty handed. He would be forced to confront her alone once more.
"How'd you free yourself, Rouge?"
Her long, pointed fingers were tapping against her thigh and she stood perfectly still, her other hand hanging freely. "It does not matter."
"Why are you here?" Robin clenched his teeth and leaned slightly forward, preparing for a lightning strike from the damnable woman.
Madame Rouge let her lips form into a sneer and laughed derisively. "I would think it obvious."
"The Brotherhood's dead, Rouge. There's no need to do this."
"Perhaps not. But I will still enjoy it."
Swiftly reacting, Robin dropped to the ground as an arm lashed out, and nimbly kicked himself to the side before the elongated limb smashed down at him. The limb stretched farther, curving around Robin and quickly surrounding him, ominously similar to the way a cobra wraps around its victim, crushing the life from it.
Robin leapt backwards, arching back and tucking his legs in, narrowly avoiding the deadly grasp of Madame Rouge, and spread out his fingers as his palms hit the pavement first, moving with enough speed that he flipped over, delicately landing on his feet. Rouge's other arm sped towards him like a projectile and Robin somersaulted out of the way, bouncing off his back and shoulders before he found his footing again.
Robin charged forward and flipped over an extended arm that whipped at him from the side, snatching a birdarang from his belt as he came down on the firm road without having lost pace. Tightly squeezing one wing, Robin rapidly stabbed at Madame Rouge, using the razor end of the other wing as his dagger. Rouge jerked back and forth, bending and contorting to avoid the blows, her body losing all shape and form.
As Robin swiped his birdarang in a downward slash, Rouge brought her leg up, harshly connecting with Robin's wrist and loosening his grip, sending the birdarang sailing through the air. Wickedly distorting herself, Rouge twirled like a twister, completing several rotations before the back of her fist slammed into Robin's chest, propelling him to the pavement. Gasping, Robin could actually feel the air being sucked out of his lungs from the intensity of the strike.
Rouge wound up and swung violently, barely missing Robin as he cartwheeled away from her, stopping directly in front of a stone building, his cape fluttering in the wind. Slowly raising her arms, Rouge let her lips spread into a smile and then shot out her fingers like knives. Robin darted to the side, leaving the daggers to crash into the building behind, breaking through several inches of solid stone. Cracks branched outwards from her imbedded fingers and small flecks of stone descended to the sidewalk.
Opening his fist, Robin hurled three small silver orbs in an arch, bouncing and clinking as they made contact with the pavement. Bursting apart, tiny flames and searing hot smoke exploded beneath Rouge's massive extensions, causing her to shriek. As the smoke cleared, Robin could see her arms had gone limp and flaccid, lying still on the cement with thin pillars of steam curling upwards from them. Robin let out a furious cry and pounced at her, feeling his chest tighten.
One of Rouge's arms sprang to life, snaking back and wrapping around Robin's ankle, viciously yanking him in the opposite direction and easily tossing him aside. Robin smacked against the road and grunted, rolling uncontrollably, the sky and ground merging into one indistinguishable mess. Robin slid to a stop, a swarm of dust rising up behind him. Lifting himself up, Robin rose to his hands and knees carefully, keeping his mouth wide open to bring in large amounts of air. Robin's lower back felt stiff and the joints in his arms and legs ached.
"This has been a disappointment," Madame Rouge uttered, her hand once more resting on her hip. "Your performance leaves much to be desired."
Robin did not bother to reply, merely taking deep breaths in, straining to hold himself up.
Madame Rouge sighed and rolled her eyes. "Then we will have to end this."
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Wrong. It was all wrong.
Starfire hovered a foot above the sidewalk, her fists squeezed tightly shut and her eyebrows sinking ever lower in a glare. The corner of her lip was curled upwards, baring grinding teeth. She could feel her blood beginning to simmer from rage, and yet goose bumps covered every bit of exposed skin; an unpleasant chill ran down her spine. "You cannot be here," she furiously stated.
"You're not glad to see me, dear sister?" Blackfire tossed her long, black hair over her shoulder and smiled innocently. "Oh, but it's been so long since we've seen each other."
"You were banished from Tamaran and sent to the moons of Drenthax IV."
"With you to thank of course."
Starfire continued, ignoring her sister. "You were to be kept under guard. How is it you are here?"
Blackfire gently floated down, touching her feet to the cement. "I wouldn't have been able to get off myself," she said, cocking her head to the side. "But Robin put in a good word for me."
Starfire took a step backwards from shock. "I do not believe you!"
"Robin's asked me to join the Titans," Blackfire said, smirking.
"Lies!"
"Don't believe me? Ask Robin about it." Blackfire pointed a delicate, thin finger over Starfire's shoulder.
Starfire found herself short of breath as she turned around to look at the other Titans, horrified her sister might be telling the truth. "She tells lies, does she not? It is not true, is it?"
Robin walked towards Blackfire, brushing past Starfire as if she wasn't even there. "Of course it's true," Robin casually responded.
Gasping for air, Starfire could feel her heart skip a beat. Sweat was now pouring off her, covering her in a glistening shine, and her stomachs were tightly wound in knots. "But…"
"We definitely need someone strong like her on the team," Cyborg announced, coming over and giving Blackfire a huge high five.
"She's too valuable," Robin said. "She brings stuff to the team you never could."
Blackfire wrapped an arm around Robin's back and placed the other hand on his chest. She lightly kissed his cheek and let her head fall on his shoulder, her hair cascading over.
Starfire looked back at Raven, who still had not gone over to Blackfire. "Raven, you do not feel this way, correct?" she asked, barely able to get the words out, a tiny spark of hope in her voice.
"I've always liked Blackfire more. All you ever care about is hair accessories and going to the mall. Blackfire is so much more than that."
"But she is bad!" Starfire shouted, standing at her straightest and pumping her fists downwards. Robin shrugged in an uncaring way, ignoring Starfire's pleas. Raven and Cyborg merely stood still, staring back unsympathetically.
Hanging her head low, Starfire's anger began to fade. Tears started falling from Starfire's eyes. She buried her face in her hands and fell to her knees, scraping them on the rough concrete.
"Here we go," Robin said sarcastically, shaking his head.
Cyborg nodded. "This girl's way too emotional."
"Pretty pathetic," Raven added.
"She always was the weaker one," Blackfire commented. Letting go of Robin she marched over to Starfire, towering above her and casting her in shadow. "Why do you even bother making friends, little sister?" she said condescendingly. "They all end up hating you anyways."
Robin stood beside Blackfire, his face devoid of emotion. "Now that Blackfire's here, we don't need you anymore. You've been replaced."
Without saying a word, Starfire pulled her hands away from her face, tears streaming down her cheeks, and shot up into the sky, leaving her friends behind.
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She was in a state of absolute panic. Raven whirled around, the quick movements tossing her hair and causing her cloak to whip up behind her. Her entire body was trembling and was already covered in a cold sweat, making her leotard cling to her skin in an uncomfortably sticky way. Raven took several small steps backwards, looking up at the sky, to the left, down the street, her eyes shifting continuously.
"You aren't here," she whispered, the words barely escaping her coarse, dry mouth. "There's no way you can be here."
Deep, rumbling laughter sent a shiver through Raven's body, but he did not speak. Raven twisted around again on the bright, yellow median line, frantically trying to locate him, but the street was barren. "You can't be here." Her voice was full of fear.
"Did you ever truly believe you could be rid of me?"
"I destroyed you!" Raven spat out. She tried to close her hands into fists, but they were shaking too much.
"You cannot destroy me, dear daughter." There was a long silence. "True evil can never be destroyed."
Raven never concerned herself for even a moment that Trigon could have survived on that day long ago. When Raven unleashed her powers and ended Trigon's rule, it was the first time she had ever felt free. A part of Trigon had always existed inside her. Every waking moment she could feel him, and was thus never able to lose control of her emotions for even an instant, fearing it would release something truly dark, especially after one frighteningly close incident she had barely overcome.
It was for this reason that Raven believed Trigon was gone. Feeling no inner presence, Raven had finally allowed herself to be at peace. Despite this, a part of her always feared he might return. It was for this reason that she was afraid rather than suspicious.
"How did you survive?"
"You, like all the others before you, merely delayed my ascent. You did not vanquish me."
"I won't allow you entrance to this realm. I was foolish then to believe it was my destiny, my purpose. I'm far stronger now." Raven's trembling ceased and her voice became filled with fierce determination. "My friends have given me strength."
Dominating laughter bellowed in the air and a powerful gust of wind ripped down the street, forcing Raven to close her eyes and jerking her violet hair and cloak into a frenzy. "Where are your friends now? In your darkest hour they have abandoned you."
"They have not!" Raven screamed. "They would never abandon me. I can still feel them. I know they're here." Raven had been shaken and confused by her friends' disappearance, but she could feel them. It was as if they were still with her, but not visible. Try as she might, Raven could not reach out to them mentally. Raven was inclined to believe Trigon was using his powers to somehow block her own abilities, but she began to sense something was wrong. The feeling was a strange one, but it was there.
"This is the reason I sired you. You were born so I could rule the earth."
Raven froze. Her father had said those exact words to her before and they did not belong in the conversation now. It was as if that phrase had simply been taken from her memories. Sensing something was dangerously wrong now, Raven summoned immense strength in an attempt to reach out to her friends telepathically.
Tremendous aching shot through her skull and Raven let out a scream, grabbing her forehead and collapsing to the ground. The pain subsided immediately and Raven slowly lifted her head, gasping for breath, her eyes wide with shock.
Something was wrong, but it had nothing to do with Trigon. Raven could sense there was someone in her mind, a woman, altering her reality. She was in the midst of an illusion cast over her, and her father had been pulled out of the deepest parts of her memory.
Raven was not in a patient mood. False images were being created, someone was toying with her mind, and Raven wanted to clutch at her throat and rip her out. Under no circumstances was anyone to enter Raven's room, much less her mind. With fury overtaking Raven, tiny black sparks began bursting above and beside her and the very air began to sizzle, obscuring the world around her. Staring up at the sky, Raven opened her mouth in a blood-curdling scream, unleashing all her dark powers. Pouring out from her body, blackness surged in all directions, overtaking everything in its path. The world, black for a moment, phased back to colour, but was no more than a blur, and Raven distinctly heard a chilling shriek.
Her vision cleared, leaving Raven deeply disturbed. Stone debris was scattered on the road, the windshields of parked cars were cracked and punctured, and Robin was scrambling backwards on the ground, holding his hand out in front of him, as if he was trying to ward off some unseen terror.
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What'd I tell you? Pretty great fight sequences, huh? I'm ecstatic about how they turned out. And I'm sure most of you were pretty gosh darn stupefied at some point. But Raven revealed a bit for all of you. Don't worry though, the next chapter will explain everything.
