Chapter 2: The Conflict
Robin had been searching the R&D lab for almost an hour now with no luck. The lab was simply too big. It took up six floors of the entire tower, with dozens of exits and thousands
of places to hide. Even with Starfire, Raven, Cyborg and Beast Boy searching with their own special abilities, it might take until morning to locate an immobile object. They were not
looking for something inanimate, though. They were looking for a man who was able to warp space to his whim.
Robin grabbed his communicator. "Any signs?"
"Nope, sorry buddy." replied Cyborg. "I've got a heartbeat scan going now, but I'm not getting anything."
"There's a chance he might be able to avoid detection from electronics anyway, Cyborg. Keep trying, though. You never know."
"Gotcha."
"I am afraid that I have not found him either," came Starfire's voice, loaded with disappointment.
"It's okay, Star, just keep looking. I know we'll find him."
"Dude, what if he's found what he's looking for and just, y'know, teleported away?" came the familiar sound of Beast Boy's voice.
"We're not leaving until we've searched this entire lab. I've just... got a feeling. I know he's still here. I know it."
"Have any of you seen Raven?" came the query from Starfire.
"Not since we got on the elevator, no." replied Cyborg.
"I thought she was with you guys." confessed the changeling.
"That's what I thought, too. She's obviously not responding to her communicator. We'll worry about her later, I'm sure she has a good excuse." mumbled Robin, annoyed at being
distracted with yet another problem. "Just keep searching. She'll turn up."
Robin continued across a long catwalk, bostaff ready for combat, eyes eagerly searching for his prey. By the time he reached the end of the catwalk, Robin paused and sighed.
'Dammit, where is Raven? We need her!' He thought, shaking his head in frustration.
Raven sat perfectly still, legs crossed, arms outstretched, eyes closed. Levitating a foot off the ground, her entire body remained still, save for a single part of her face. Her lips
moved silently, taking the form of her mantra. Over and over again, the same words soundlessly came to life. Using clairvoyance, Raven was attempting to locate the mystery man.
By calling upon greater and greater spells, she was able to search as many floors as possible, looking for any traces of magic use. This man was very powerful, but he was still a
man. And he was bound to make a mistake sooner or later. No matter how small it was, she would find him. And then she would capture him.
Over and over, her lips repeated: Azarath, metrion, zinthos. Azarath, metrion, zinthos. Azarath. Metrion. Zinthos.
Finally, within her mind's eye, she saw it. Just barely at first, but the image grew stronger and stronger as she increased her focus. She could see a black cloak shambling in a dark
room, moving silently past the intricately designed lasers of an alarm system. Having effortlessly made his way past the defences, the figure held out his hands, pointing them towards
a safe at the end of the room. The safe began to glow, a dull red, then an orange. Finally it began to melt. Moving his hands in opposite directions, the safe was quickly pried open.
Once split apart, the man approached the exposed safe, reached inside, and pulled out a small black box. He admired it for just a second before doubling over in pain.
"Now," was all she said before teleporting to the man's location.
She appeared directly behind the thin man, very close to him. Yet he did not seem to notice her. She began to step forward before she realized he was speaking.
"...have it. Yes, yes... Now let me speak to her..."
There was a mumbling Raven could not make out. Somebody was contacting him somehow, through a communication spell, perhaps, or even a radio... The man stood a mere foot
away from Raven, oblivious to her proximity. She noticed little things about him now. He had a slight hunch, betraying his tired nature, but he still carried himself in a dignified
manner. His cloak was also not completely black, but had a small red cross-crossing design across the back. She continued to listen to him speak.
"I know, I know... I'm glad you are alright. I will be back soon, I promise. This will all be over quickly, do not worry. I love you, too." Another pause, another deep mumble. "I
know this took longer than expected, I was attacked." More mumbling. "Some... strange children, nothing more. I will be returning now. Good-bye." Upon finishing his sentence, he
groaned in intense pain and doubled over once more. He slowly returned to his feet.
"Stop right there," said Raven slowly. The thin man's head snapped upright, and slowly he turned around.
"You... you... I do not understand why you cannot leave me alone!" He bellowed before shooting a fireball in her direction, dropping the black box in the process. Using a
telekinetic shield, she easily stopped his attack.
"Who ARE you? Who were you talking to?" she asked, levitating the safe and tossing it at him. He deflected it easily with telekinesis.
"I... am Grendel. And who I was talking to is none of your concern. Now get out of my way, or I will be forced to kill you." With that, he lunged at her, orange energy enveloping
his fists. Raven barely dodged out of the way in time. Enveloping him in a telekinetic aura, she tossed him towards the wall. Using his own power, he stopped himself seconds before
colliding.
"Why is such a powerful magician stealing something for somebody else?"
"STOP ASKING QUESTIONS!" Grendel roared, firing off orange balls of flame in Raven's direction, forcing her to dodge to the right. The fireballs ignited some machinery behind
her, causing an explosion and tossing Raven across the room, slamming her into a wall. The lasers that Grendel had been trying so hard to avoid at the front of the room flickered
and went out. The power went out on the floor, and the emergency lights came on, filling the room with a harsh yellow light.
Raven moaned and attempted to stand up, but found herself pulled to the ground by an unseen force. Grendel stood over her.
"You have been a worthy opponent. I hope we never meet again." He said simply, sliding the black box he'd pulled from the safe into a leather pouch beneath his cloak.
"Don't count on it!" she grunted. "Azarath... Metrion... ZINTHOS!"
Calling upon those words, she broke free of his bond, a look of surprise spreading across his face. Levitating into the air, she used her telekinetic aura to grab several instruments
from around the room, centering them all on him. He was quick to avoid them, but not quick enough. Part of a desk clipped his side, causing him to cry out in pain. Shortly
afterward, a chair leg smashed into the side of Grendel's head, sending him crashing to the ground.
"Now... tell me what's really going on." demanded Raven, hovering several feet above his prone body. He coughed, and slowly attempted to stand.
"Alright, alright. I will talk. You see..." he began, but without warning his hands shot out in Raven's direction. At that moment, the ceiling caved in, a large shard of jagged metal
missing Raven by inches. Using her mental shield, she was able to deflect some of the debris, but in the confusion found herself falling towards the ground under the weight. The floor
gave way seconds before she could crash into it, sending her into the level below. She landed on a table directly in front of Starfire.
"Raven!" exclaimed Starfire, using starbolts to destroy the tumbling debris.
"He's... getting away..." Raven groaned, pointing towards the hole in the ceiling. It was too late, however. With a blue flash, Grendel was gone.
Seconds after the crash, Beast Boy and Cyborg entered the room.
"Raven! Where were you? Did you find him?" demanded Cyborg.
"He is gone, I am afraid." blurted Starfire, looking towards the ground in sorrow.
"Awwwww man! All this searching for NOTHING!" complained Beast Boy. A harsh silence fell over the group as a stern-looking Robin entered the room. Cyborg and Beast Boy
looked as innocent as possible, while Starfire continued to look at her feet. Raven sat up and rubbed the back of her head, sore, and unamused at Robin's anger.
"Where were you?" Robin demanded, stopping directly in front of the table Raven was on.
"I was locating Grendel."
"You found him, I take it? Since you're now on a first-name basis and everything." he replied, displeasure filling his voice.
"For your information, yes, I did find him. And something is wrong, very wrong. Somebody is clearly forcing him to do this!"
"What makes you so sure?"
"I overhead a conversation he had with somebody. I don't know who. But it sounds like he doesn't want to be doing this in the first place. I think he's being blackmailed."
"That might be... but he still broke the law. And he still attacked us. Where is he now? Is he still in the building?"
"He is gone..." mumbled Starfire, raising her head for a moment before looking back towards the ground due to Robin's frosty stare.
"Starfire's right, he's gone." said Raven quietly.
"You let him get away? You engaged him without telling any of us? We could have HAD him, Raven, if we'd all worked together! We're a team!"
"There wasn't enough time. I knew there was more to this story than we thought, and I wanted to prove that first. When I found him, there wasn't enough time to tell anybody."
"Fine, whatever. Let's just return to the tower and figure out a way to track him down. I want him found." Before anybody could say anything, Robin did an about-face and made
his way towards the elevator. "Let's go."
Silence dominated the T-Car on the way back to the Tower. Robin stared straight ahead in the front seat, and Cyborg drove at a rational speed, not wishing to provoke the ire of
the Titans' leader.
Beast Boy was fast asleep, snoring lightly. Now and again he would shake and whimper, but for time being, he was long gone.
Raven stared out the window at the city passing them by in the night. Her chin in her hands, deep in thought, a look of sadness marked her face. She was stolen from her reverie by
a hand softly tapping her shoulder.
"You seem lost in a strange world, friend Raven," whispered Starfire, smiling. Raven looked into Starfire's friendly face and returned the expression with a slight smile of her own.
"None of this adds up, Star. He could have killed me when he collapsed the ceiling. He could have easily crushed me. That floor didn't just collapse on its own. He could have killed
me, and he didn't. This man isn't a villain. He's just a pawn. Whoever is controlling him is the villain."
"Do not worry. We will find this Grendel, we will find who is truly behind all of this, and everything will be settled as it should."
"I hope so, Star." whispered Raven, faintly smiling at the optimism in Starfire's words.
'I wish I could be that optimistic...' Thought Raven as the T-Car approached the Tower, dawn breaking to the east, ushering in a brand new day.
The floor of the condemned building creaked ominously beneath Grendel's feet. Pain swept through his body like waves crashing periodically on a beach. His head throbbed, his
side ached, and he felt like passing out.
"It will all be over soon enough..." he said quietly out loud, turning a corner in the darkened hallway into a large room with an unattended fire in the centre.
"Where is it?" came a voice from the darkness.
"It is here, do not worry." replied Grendel, opening his cloak to reveal the leather pouch. Opening the pouch, to removed the black box.
"Excellent! Place it on the ground."
Grendel did as he was commanded. He stood slowly, grunting in pain. "Let me see her," he ordered.
"In a moment. I believe you've earned it after your battle with the Teen Titans." came the voice again.
"The who?"
"Those 'children' you fought are known as the Teen Titans. They are a... bothersome group of insects who routine attempt to dispense justice in the city. I trust they were not a
problem for you?"
"For the most part, no. But they have a magic user as well. She is much more powerful than I originally suspected. I would even wager there is something... otherworldly about her..."
"You would be speaking of Raven. She is, as a matter of fact, half demon."
"I... understand. That makes sense."
"No matter. A man of your skills could easily destroy her, much less all five of them."
"I will do my best."
"You do not understand, then."
Grendel was seized with intense pain, bolts surging through his very skeleton. Screaming, he doubled over and toppled to the ground. "ENOUGH! PLEASE!" Grendel screamed,
shaking from the agony. The feeling ceased, and Grendel slowly brought himself to his knees.
The voice in the dark remained strong. "I chose you, Grendel, because of your skills, your powers, your abilities. If you cannot destroy five teenagers..."
"Should I cross them again, they will die." He twitched involuntarily. "All of them."
"Excellent. You may see her now."
In the corner of the room, a giant yellow ball appeared. It glowed in an unnatural way, and Grendel could make out a dark shape in the centre of the ball. He made his way across
the room, recognizing the features more and more the closer he came. Finally, he was directly in front of the ball. The features of a slender woman, her hair a fiery red and her face
elfin, became very clear.
"Aeschere..." Grendel whispered, his eyes wide and his voice quivering as he gazed into her cold, lifeless eyes. His eyes glowing crimson, he circled around to face the unseen figure
in the blackness. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO HER?" An orange glow began to cover his gnarled hands, his face twisted into a mask of pure rage.
"Calm yourself. She is not dead, merely suspended, Grendel. Merely a precaution. I assure you, I am not a monster. I am a man of my word."
At that, the thin man began to slouch, his eyes returning to normal, the energy on his hands fading. He turned to face Aeschere once more, but the glowing ball was gone. Weary, he
slowly began to make his way out of the room. "I cannot wait to finish our contract and bring her home."
"Yes, well, first thing's first. You know where to go next."
"Yes... I will go tomorrow evening. And I will be swift."
"Excellent." The voice in the darkness emitted a horrible laugh, and Grendel shuddered before leaving the room and exiting the building.
'For Aeschere...' he thought solemnly, watching the sun rise for a moment before disappearing down an alleyway.
I hope you enjoyed Chapter 2, stay posted for Chapter 3! And please, feel free to review or comment. Thanks for reading!