Whoever said that a city ever slept was sorely mistaken. Cities never sleep. By daylight the streets were filled with ordinary folk going about their lives, basking in whatever comforts they could afford. Then came nightfall; when the animals came out to play. There were only two kinds, the ones who wanted to have fun, and the others whose fun came at the cost of others.
Raven found both equally intolerable.
"I-I swear! I didn't do anything!" the man yelled, his features a ghostly white as he found himself suspended from the air like a puppet with only one string left.
Bewildered faces watched in silence as the young woman twisted her hand, the black aura that shrouded it intensifying twice over. As a result, the floating party-goer found himself unceremoniously falling to the ground with a dull thud, the only thing more bruised than his body being his pride.
"I don't have to be a telepath to know what you were about to do. I suggest you call it quits and sleep off the drink before you get yourself into real trouble" she said sharply. From under the shadow of her hood, her gaze grew fearsome, prompting the accused to practically leap out of his skin and high-tail it across the street.
The cloaked individual turned to see a rather shaken woman beside her, dressed for a good time but currently looking like she had just seen a ghost. It wasn't clear whether it was because she had nearly been manhandled or because she had just seen someone float.
"You okay?"
She nodded wordlessly.
"Stay with your friends and stay alert."
Another frantic nod.
Effortlessly, Raven took to the skies, leaving the rest of the party animals to their night of dancing and awkward flirting. As she became doused in moonlight it became clear her skin was ashen, and while her deep blue cloak hung to her body like shadow, her amethyst eyes and hair could not be unseen. With minimal effort, Raven finally escaped the noise of the nightlife below by soaring above the highest of Jump City's buildings, allowing her to view the concrete jungle below in its entirety.
"Peace at last."
"Who is this?!"
The voice tore through her like a lightning bolt, shattering her psyche with its brashness and nearly sent her plummeting out of the sky from shock alone. If there was one thing Raven hated above all else, it was having her concentration broken. Unfortunately for her, the voice in question seemed especially verbose.
"Could you please refrain from yelling," she growled.
"Iroh, what's going on here? Why can I hear another voice inside my head?!" the voice persisted, much to Raven's annoyance. "Am I picking up some kind of spiritual radio frequency here? Because nobody warned me about this!"
"You're dreadfully misinformed" Raven sighed as she landed on the closest rooftop. Reaching up, she removed her hood, letting the cool night air wash over her. "What you're experiencing is a telepathic connection, though truth be told, I've never experienced it on such a transcendent level before," she mused.
"...Iroh! The weird voice is talking again!"
Raven gritted her teeth.
"I hope we haven't caught you at an inopportune moment" Iroh's voice glided through her ears, calm as ever.
"It's fine, time isn't exactly a luxury for any of us anymore" Raven responded, peering out over the landscape again. "It won't be easy, but if these shards possess as much power as you say, then I should be-"
"Hello! I'm still here! Who is this?!" Korra snapped back.
"Will you be QUIET!" Raven retorted as her eyes glowed a hazy white, the sharpness of her tone causing the loose dirt around her to shuffle in place, like a miniature quake had shuddered them out of alignment.
Before anymore voices could be raised, Iroh interjected.
"Avatar, this poignant young woman is Raven. A sorceress. A being able to conjure and twist the world around with lost magics. Her mental fortitude is second to none, and as such I have recruited her to aid in our recovery of the tree's remains," he explained.
"Magic? You mean like pulling a rabbit-mouse out of a hat?"
"She's much more talkative then you made her out to be" Raven muttered under her breath.
"Hey! I'll have you know I'm-"
"The Avatar. I know exactly who and what you are. Iroh has told me all I need to know and what is at stake. I'm here to clean up this mess and make sure whatever this Azula is planning never crosses over to my reality."
"It's a little more complicated that that!"
"Maniac obtains crazy amount of power and nearly shatters all of time and space. It's almost textbook" she retorted before slowly lifted her legs up and assuming a meditative stance. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos," she chanted.
There was a brief pause before the static in her ears began to quieten. While it looked like nothing had changed, beneath the surface, the fabric of the world started to slowly shift.
"What's happening? I can see...a city?" Korra said slowly, confusion and alarm filling her.
"This is the true power that Raven holds. She is serving as an anchor, strengthening the tethers I have placed between you three. A mental web, one that allows senses to be shared without harm," Iroh elaborated.
"It may be harmless but it's still extremely uncomfortable," Raven chimed in. "It's a melding of minds on a scale beyond anything I could imagine. Our realities were never meant to mesh, but to ensure our success I have had to exploit the tears between our worlds. Please be mindful that the more ruckus you make, the harder it is to keep this connection going."
"I'm not too happy with this, but I guess I'll have to bear it," Korra sighed.
"Thank you for your sacrifice," Raven snorted.
Before the Avatar could retort, the robed caster jolted up, scanning the horizon with wide eyes, darting from one building to another like she had just been spooked.
"I sense something," she said before once again taking flight, this time at a much greater speed as the night wind battered her eye lashes.
"You can feel the Tree of Time?" Korra asked aloud.
"I've spent my entire life surrounded by the supernatural, finding a piece of god tree should be tailor-made for someone like me."
"Well, excuse me, your majesty. Wait, are you flying?! Are you an airbender?!"
"Looks like the link is stronger than I thought, didn't expect you could see me levitating so clearly."
"How are you - I thought there weren't any other benders outside my world?"
The sorceress landed amidst an empty street, looking around each corner like a hungry yet cautious mouse, amethyst eyes scanning the corridors for her prize.
"This shard you speak of; I can feel it. It's weak, but the sensation is unmistakable. Looks like you were right Iroh, your doomsday bark must have found itself a comfy spot for itself in my neck of the woods," Raven said aloud.
"Hey! Don't ignore me!" Korra snapped back.
Raven borderline bared her teeth.
"It. Is. Not. Bending. It's sorcery, bound to my soul and requires a great deal of focus to handle, something you are currently impeding," she retorted. Taking flight once again, she passed over the head over several citizens, some seeking the night life and others trying to escape it. "If it's still in Jump City, it's not staying still, it feels like there's ripples everywhere, I can't get a read on it. What kind of magic are we dealing with here?"
"One as old as creation itself, and one that must be kept out of the wrong hands at all costs," Iroh said.
"I have to find the darn thing first. At this rate I'll have to do an entire sweep of the city," she groaned. "Of course, none of the Titans are here to help me out."
"The who?" Korra chimed in.
"I am afraid we can't risk any hindrance in waiting for your friends' arrival. We must hasten our progress at any and all cost," Iroh said.
"I'm certainly open to suggestions," she asked as she skimmed around a pair of party girls wearing rather unflattering versions of her own attire.
"As a matter-a-fact, I have one," Iroh chuckled. "The joining between you two appears to be working rather well, which means it is time for you to aid our dear sorceress, Korra."
"Me?"
"Oh, this should be good."
"As Raven has demonstrated, she is able to share a fraction of her gifts. As such, you too can feed her a sliver of your power," Iroh explained.
"Uh, what kind of sliver are we talking here?" Korra asked with a less than pleased air to her voice.
"Don't make it awkward," Raven clapped back.
"You're the one making it awkward! I just have some slight reservations about handing the power of the Avatar to a random stranger that's talking directly into my brain," she retorted.
"Korra," Iroh's voice resonated with the same firmness that had come to be expected of a mentor. "You must put aside any misgivings. No matter how bizarre, this is the only way to undo the havoc that Azula has unleashed."
There was a moment's pause before Korra let loose a rather lacklustre "fine," subsequently exhaling to calm her agitated mind.
Not long after, Raven began to feel the ripples she had been sensing sharpen, growing stronger and stronger until it felt her mind was being battered by an incoming tide. "Azarath," she groaned in response.
"That help?" Korra asked.
"Maybe. I can sense something. Powerful, but isolated. It's got an indescribable aura to it" she explained while rubbing her temples, trying to dispel the haze from her mind. "Seems like your bark is located on the northern side of town."
"Excellent. It appears you two have managed to create your own harmony," Iroh added, almost gleefully.
"Harmony might be too strong a word. It's going to take a while before..." she trailed off, lost in her own thoughts, though the abject look of horror remained frozen on her face. "Oh no."
"What is it?" Korra asked.
"Trouble."
The screams that echoed through the street weren't the usual kind you'd expect to hear at this time of night. Neither drunk nor enthusiastic, it was a sound that could only come from genuine terror. In this instance, it was emanating from a young woman who watched as her boyfriend was tossed around like a ragdoll, clothes and torso torn up like he had just wrestled a wolf.
Emerging from the darkness of the alley appeared a hulking figure. Every movement seemed to cause a vast amount of shuddering, like every cell convulsing in anger. The streetlights revealed her to be a woman of the same age as her victims, her clothes wrinkled, and a large piece of shimmering wood clutched between her fingers so hard they had begun to bleed.
"Dirty...lying...cheating...JERK!" she yelled before leaping forward like a beast about to snatch up its evening meal. Rocketing through the air, her nails almost tasted the young flesh of her target, if not for the fact she was being held in place. Darkness consumed her vision as her entire body was shrouded in black.
"I would call it a night if I were you," Raven stated as she emerged from the earth, her form akin to a three-dimensional shadow. Keeping her eyes on her prisoner, she began to make various hand movements, which in turn caused the rabid woman's body to stretch out like she was about to be crucified. "Looks like you picked up something a little stronger than tequila. Let me just take care of that."
The woman's grip began to reluctantly loosen on the shard, much to her outrage, leading to batter her body against the invisible force that was holding her body at bay. Snarling and drooling and lashing with every ounce of strength she had left inside of her, her efforts seemed to cause the bark in her hand to erupt with light. The brightness was only matched by its force, instantly shattering Raven's hold over her. Before she had even touched the ground, she set her sights on the sorceress, eyes bloodshot and trickling with mystical energy.
"Oh for Azar's sake."
The woman shot forward with the speed and force of a bullet. Her fist nearly made contact with Raven's delicate nose, though luckily the sudden appearance of a dark forcefield managed to intercept the blow, though it did cause her to stagger back quite a bit.
"She's strong. Too strong," she thought aloud as she began to form various symbols with her hand. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" she yelled as her eyes suddenly became aglow with beautiful white light, causing both the nearby streetlights and the ground below to suddenly latch around her attacker. "Will...you...just...quit it!" she snapped as she coiled the various debris around the woman until she was practically cocooned in rubble.
Panting slightly, Raven looked over to see that the possessed woman was still trying to lash out at her, but she was having a bit of difficulty pushing herself through the metal and rock that bound her in place.
"Sloppy Raven, too sloppy," she berated herself before reaching out, her fingers suddenly disappearing into nothingness as a miniature portal opened up. After a minute of digging her hand around, Raven pulled her arm back to reveal the shard, no longer glowing. Her eyes fell back to the woman, who was now looking far less vicious and a tad more confused.
Tears and makeup ran down her cheeks while her once flawless hair had been spoiled due to the fragments of stone and blood that were now entangled in it. If not for the fact that both could have ended up seriously hurt by this ordeal, one might have laughed at the sight of the pretty young thing wrapped up in an urban sushi roll.
"W-What happened?" she asked, voice hoarse from all her previous shrieks.
Raven wandered over and began to slowly break apart the impromptu binds, careful to not put her through more grief.
"Take it easy, you've had a rough night."
"Where's Jake? Did he and Sherry set this up?! That jerk! I knew he wanted me out of the picture!" she wailed as she slowly began to break out into a rather colourful ramble, one that showed no sign of slowing down.
The sorceress let out another long sigh.
"Cyborg was right, I should have gone to East City with the rest of them," she said, fingers raised to her temple; an attempt to massage the many mental strains away. It didn't help. However, it was when she reached down to help the dishevelled and disorientated diva up that she felt it. That pulse. That crack through the membrane of her mind. One that echoed a voice that was not her own. And with the voice came words, bellowed in a symphony of thunder.
"FOR THE HONOR OF GRAYSKULL!"