The sounds of footsteps echoed down the long hallway, approaching each other, growing louder and louder until the two women met in front of Raven's door.
Starfire tried to read Raptor's face. She wasn't as inscrutable as Raven, and while Starfire could see that the gray sorceress was as confused as she was she still felt perturbed. While she had grown to accept Raptor there were times when she still found Raven's interdimensional twin to be unsettling, not because they were alike, but rather because they were different. For one thing, Raptor did not speak in a monotone as Raven did. But that was only the tip of the iceberg.
But this was not the time to worry about that.
"Did she tell you why she wants to see us?"
Starfire shook her head.
"All she said was that she wanted to see me at 1:00 PM in her room."
"Same here." Raptor replied. "I have a bad feeling about this."
"As do I. Half an hour ago I saw Beast Boy running to his room and he looked as if he was crying. When I asked him if he was the OK he ignored me and ran even faster. He locked his door and would not answer it."
Raptor heaved an impatient sigh.
"I love Raven, she's the sister I never had … but she can be an ass sometimes. She probably did something stupid and hurt Gar's feelings and now because she's so effing clueless she needs our advice on how to patch things up with him."
Starfire tapped her fingers together.
"I see, she needs the 'girl talk'. And what is this 'effing' you speak of?"
Raptor snorted derisively.
"More like the 'clueless bitch talk', and as far as what 'effing" means, you don't want to know. It doesn't go with your Hello Kitty image."
"What do you mean by my image? I do not understand."
"Never mind."
Raptor reached out and knocked on Raven's door.
"It's open."
The door slid open and the two women entered the dark room. The curtains were closed and the room was lit by a single candle, which cast its amber glow with long shadows dancing along the walls. Starfire's eyes adjusted immediately to the relative darkness and she spotted Raven standing in a corner, facing away from them. A chill went down her spine as the scene somewhat reminded her of when she encountered Raven in the nightmarish future, a dystopian time when Raven fell into dementia.
"Raven, what are you wearing? Your outfit is strange." The princess asked.
Raptor cursed under her breath as her eyes had yet to adapt to the darkness. She approached Raven and as her vision improved she gasped.
"Raven, why are you dressed like that?"
Raven turned around and quietly lit a few more candles. She then replied to the question.
"I am going to become a nun."
"Raven, I am confused, are you saying that you are going become nothing, what do you mean by none? None what?"
In a voice dripping in anger, Raptor replied.
"What she means Starfire is that she is going to become a monk, a nun is a female monk. What Raven is saying that she just dumped Gar and she's going to return to Azarath where she intends to spend the rest of her life, meditating in the cloister."
Starfire was rendered speechless for a moment, until she exploded in anger, shaking her clenched fist.
"Raven! Is this true!"
"Yes, it is."
"But why? Do you not love your Garfield?"
"Starfire, you know just how much I love him. It is because I love him so much that I have to leave."
Raptor rolled her eyes.
"Oh please."
Raven frowned at her twin.
"You know what happened. I almost killed him … actually … I did kill him."
"That was Rage …"
"You know better than to say that, Raptor. I am Rage; she is as much a part of me as my heart or my lungs. She can't be extricated from me ... he's yours Raptor … you can have him."
Raptor slapped Raven across her face.
"You frakking coward! You're gonna give up on him just like that. And how is he gonna feel, or do you just think that I'm a replacement for you?"
"You were once."
"Well, I wasn't." Raptor began to cry. "And he eventually realized that. And what about me? Do you really think Beast Boy is a substitute for my Gar? And don't you dare remind me of how I behaved back when you brought him back to me. I know I'm a bitch Raven …"
Raptor fell to her knees and wept.
"Do you really think that it will be that easy Raven?"
Raven turned away from her visitors.
"Of course not, but I do think that you will eventually find comfort in each other."
Raptor choked back her sobs.
"You're a real piece of work, Raven. You don't deserve him."
"Do you think I am unaware of that?"
Raptor rose to her feet.
"Forget it Raven, I'm not going to help absolve your conscience of this. You're on your own; I'll have no part in this!"
Starfire continued to look perplexed.
"Raven, I do not understand. You can be stronger and control the Rage, I know you can."
Raven shook her head.
"No Starfire, it's too risky."
"But Raven, we all have challenges. You know of mine …"
Raven exploded.
"You don't get it, you just don't get it! This is much worse than not having a human vagina, Starfire! Just because you and Robin found a way around that doesn't mean I can circumvent my problem!"
Raven paused and looked at her alien friend in the eyes.
"I'm a monster! Can't you see or accept that! I'm demon spawn! I'm so evil that I will eventually kill him and there's no way I can prevent that."
Tears began to drip down the Tamaranian's face. Before Starfire could reply Raptor grabbed her by the wrist.
"Let's go, Starfire. There's nothing left to discuss."
Raven turned back to her corner as her visitors departed. As soon as the doors closed behind them Raptor whipped out her communicator.
"Robin, Cyborg … meet me in my room … yes, this important."
"Very important."
-( scene break )-
It was almost 2 PM and Raven was still standing in the corner, trying to calm herself as she whispered her mantra over and over. Unfortunately it wasn't working. The images were stuck in her mind. Rage, in the form of Basilisk, sinking her poisonous fangs into The Beast, who shriveled back into Beast Boy's form. Then it was his face, first incredulous upon hearing her news and then wracked in pain as he begged her to reconsider. Then it was Starfire's face, troubled and sad, crying upon hearing the news. And hovering above it all was Raptor's disapproving scowl.
Of course Raven understood her disapproval. Raptor would give anything to have her Garfield return and to see Raven spurn Beast Boy and announce that she was leaving forever, it was no small wonder that she wasn't even angrier.
A knock was heard on the door. I was 2PM on the dot. Robin was punctual, as always.
"Come in."
Robin and Cyborg silently entered the room. Both looked around uneasily as they could count with the fingers on a single hand the number of times they had ever entered Raven's abode.
"I suppose that Starfire has already told you…"
"She has Raven. But why?" Robin replied.
"Isn't it self evident?"
"No, it's not!" He snapped at her. "Raven, this is not like you, you aren't the kind who gives up."
Raven turned around and faced her male teammates.
"Then you have a very selective memory. Have you forgotten how I gave up and turned the world over to my father?"
"And have you forgotten how you turned around and defeated the undefeatable Trigon the Terrible?"
"That was luck."
"I disagree little lady, you never give yourself the credit you deserve."
"Cyborg's right, and besides the team wouldn't be the same without you."
"The team's days are numbered Robin. It's inevitable that we will go our separate ways, I'm just the first one to leave."
"And that includes dumping the Grass Stain? Do you have any idea of how broken his heart is? I was with him before coming here. Do you have any idea of what you did to him?"
Raven looked up at Cyborg's tall figure.
"Yes Victor, I'm painfully aware of how much I hurt him. Please don't think that this was easy for me. I feel as if part of me was ripped away. But I'm doing this for his wellbeing. I know he will be in pain for a long time, but eventually he will recover and he will find someone else to love, someone who isn't a monster like me."
Cyborg sighed.
"Now that you mention it, just before I left him he said something about having forgiven Terra, that he wouldn't press charges against her. I think he was going back down to the cell block to see her."
Raven's eyes widened.
"What did you say?"
"C'mon Raven, she was his first crush. I know he says that they're over, but, well, given this new set of circumstances … I wouldn't be surprised if they … well … got closer."
Robin interrupted.
"He made a deal with her. She's going to McKee for psychiatric evaluation and treatment … I guess now she has a big incentive to get a clean bill of mental health. I was going to release her To McKee tomorrow morning."
By this point Raven was in a near panic.
"No! Not her!"
Robin shrugged his shoulders.
"I'm not too crazy about her either, but if you leave we really don't have any say on who Beast Boy ends up with. It's really none of our business who he …"
Before Robin could finish Raven phased into the floor and disappeared.
"I hope she doesn't kill Terra." Cyborg remarked.
"I hope Terra doesn't say something stupid." Robin replied.
-( scene break )-
Terra absentmindedly watched the TV in her cell, surfing the channels listlessly from her bed when she heard it, the unmistakable hum of Raven's dark energy. She shut off the TV and swinging her legs over the edge of the bed she turned to face her visitor. As soon as she saw Raven she burst out laughing.
"So that's your monk outfit? I have to say, Raven, your taste in clothes has improved."
Raven approached the force field that kept Terra imprisoned in her cell.
"So he has been here."
Terra leaned back and grinned,
"You bet he has. Nice job breaking his heart, Raven."
"So it's true then, he's not going to press charges against you?"
Terra's grinned widened.
"Correct again and thanks to you, he's going to visit me every day."
Terra leaned forward before continuing.
"Someone has to console him; it might as well be me."
Raven glared at her.
"I'll talk to Robin, I'll tell him to forbid it!"
"BB's a big boy now Raven, he can visit whomever he wants … and he wants to visit me … which isn't surprising at all."
"You stay away from him Terra, I'm warning you!"
Terra reclined on her bunk, stretching lazily as she continued to smile.
"Thank you Raven, I really owe you one. You handed him to me on a silver platter. I'll be a model patient at the hospital, they'll discharge me in 2 months, 3 months tops and after that, he's aaaalllll mine."
Raven said nothing, but Terra could see the fury grow in her eyes.
"It's payback time Raven, for all you've done to me. Every night when you meditate in your convent just remember I'll be making love with him. In his moments of ecstasy he'll scream my name instead of yours. I'll bear his children and I'll be Mrs. Terra Logan."
Terra saw that Raven's jaw was beginning to tremble.
"Oooh, does that make you unhappy, Rae? Well guess what? This is the real world, and in the real world cute blonds win and creepy witches lose. I won Raven, so live with that for the rest of your life while you meditate, chant, bake fruit cakes or whatever it is you'll do in that monastery … but don't worry Raven, I guarantee that he'll be happy, happier than you could ever make him."
Without saying a word Raven turned around and marched out of the cell block and the large titanium alloy doors slammed shut behind her. Terra sat down on the edge of her bed, her smile was now absent. Then, as if on cue, a black hemisphere rose out of the ground. As it evaporated it revealed 4 figures: Robin, Starfire, Cyborg and Raptor.
"So, do I win an Oscar for my performance?" She asked.
"That depends on what Raven does next." Robin replied.
"Which isn't part of our deal, Robin."
Robin frowned.
"Agreed, a deal is a deal, you're free to go Terra."
Robin reluctantly shut down the force field and the geomancer emerged from her cell. She stopped in front of Robin and extended her hand with her palm facing upward.
"Aren't you forgetting something, Boy Wonder?"
Robin handed her an envelope stuffed with $100 bills. Terra quickly counted them and nodded her satisfaction.
"And you won't forget the remainder of your deal." He growled.
"Yes, I'm to leave Jump City and never return."
"C'mon Terra, I'm taking you to the airport, you're leaving today." Cyborg grunted.
Terra followed the tin man out of the cell block, and paused before turning around.
"Good luck, guys … you're gonna need it."
-( scene break )-
Raven ran back to her room in a full blown panic. She knew that Terra was right; there was nothing she could do to keep her away from Garfield once she left. For a brief moment she considered returning to the cell block and murdering the blond troublemaker but shook that thought away as she knew that was Rage who was making her feel that way.
She locked her door behind her and began to pace frantically around her room. As she did she almost tripped over a pair of his shoes he left on the floor. This was something that was normally a source of irritation for her but as she picked them up it hit her … she couldn't live without him. Going to the monastery was no longer an option.
What am I going to do?
She sat down on the edge of her bed and began to cry.
She almost didn't hear it over her sobs, but hear it she did. Someone was calling her name. She stopped crying and scanned the room with her empathic senses and verified that she was indeed alone,
"Raven"
This time there was no doubt in her mind, someone was calling her. She looked in the direction where she heard the voice come from and she saw it: her meditation mirror.
I suppose it can't hurt to try.
Raven picked up the mirror and began to chant her mantra. As expected she found herself in Nevermore, what she did not expect was to find herself standing in front of Rage's cell. The red caped emotion was shackled and greeted her master with a four eyed glare. Raven also saw that other emotions were gathered in front of the cell as well: Brave, Love, and Happy to name a few.
"OK, what's going on here?"
Wisdom was also present. While not an emotion she was a prominent part of Raven's psyche.
"We aren't going to lose Garfield, Raven." Wisdom announced.
"Damn straight we won't! I'll eat Gar's tofu surprise for a year before letting Terra have him!" Brave crowed.
Raven frowned as she pointed at Rage.
"And what about her?"
Rage chortled.
"You have a good point Raven. If anyone expects me to 'be nice' they're gonna be disappointed, after all it isn't exactly in my nature to behave."
Raven crossed her arms.
"Then it's pointless. Terra's right, she won."
"Like Trigon she did!" Rage roared as she pulled at her chains; shaking the room in the process.
"We're at an impasse; there is no way to solve this." Raven interjected.
"Actually, you're wrong Raven, we have a plan."
"You mean I have a plan, but I don't know it?"
"Yes, you do at a subconscious level, that is why you are here."
Raven skeptically shook her head.
"OK, let's hear this hare brained scheme of mine."
"It's actually quite simple Raven, all it will take is sex. Lots of sex."
"WHAT! Am I brain dead? We all know what sex does to me! It sets her loose."
"Only because we get so little of it, stupid!" Rage yelled at her.
Raven glared at her.
"So you're saying that the answer to our dilemma are daily doses of 'angry sex'?"
Rage grinned.
"Yeah, and lots of it, preferably more than once a day,"
"This is ridiculous. How do we know that Gar even likes that kind of physical intimacy?"
"I know from firsthand experience that he does."
Raven accessed the memory from the night when Rage and Terra controlled her body, and shuddered. Rage was right, Gar loved it.
Wisdom once again piped up.
"Actually Raven, think about it. Our beloved is half animal and this is the perfect outlet for Rage to expend her fury. It's a perfect match."
"What if she hurts him?"
"It won't be anything our blue healing light can't fix. Plus Gar is a lot tougher than he looks."
Raven suddenly noticed that she was surrounded by a rainbow of emotions. Only fear and doubt were absent. Even Timid, in her gray cloak was present.
"I presume that this means I've made up my mind?"
"You are correct Raven." Wisdom affirmed.
"So what do I do now?"
"We go and claim his as ours!" Brave shouted.
"Now?"
"Yes, now!" Rage shouted. "We want our man right now!"
Raven felt her body temperature begin to rise.
"I don't know about this." She stammered.
"Don't fight it Raven, it'll be OK, you'll see." Wisdom comforted her.
And Raven did something she rarely ever did: she let herself go. She snapped back to reality in her room and found herself breathing quickly, almost hyperventilating.
I guess it's now or never.
Raven phased into the floor and reappeared in Garfield's room. He was lying face down on his bed but turned when he heard the telltale hum of her dark energy,
"Rae?" He asked as he stood up. "I thought you already left for Azarath."
"I'm not going anywhere, Gar."
Raven's eyes split into 2 crimson red pairs. She extended her right hand and enveloped Beast Boy in her dark energy, shredding his clothes to bits and their remains fell to the floor like snowflakes, leaving him standing stark naked. She then extended her arms to her sides and her brown habit was also destroyed, leaving her equally naked. She stepped up to him and pushed him back and he fell on to the bed.
"Garfield, will you be mine?"
He stared back at the gray beauty who stood before him.
"Oh baby, I'm yours!"
-( scene break )-
Raven and Beast Boy were married the following afternoon in a private ceremony at the county courthouse.
-( scene break )-
OK , one more chapter, and we're done!
Thanks to all who have followed this story,.
