I don't own the characters, they are property of DC and Warner Bros.
Another chapter we are rather proud of!
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Chapter 13
A couple of mornings later, the Incident happened, when Raven fell to the dark side. Or at least that's what Cyborg called it.
It had started out as a normal day, Cyborg had made Raven her usual plate of waffles, but then it happened. She also had some of Beast Boy's tofu!
"Erm, Raven?" he asked, agog at what he was seeing.
"Nothing wrong with trying something new. But I'm not going vegan," that last part was directed at the green hero, who had stuck his tongue out at Cyborg. "I swear you two are children sometimes," was her parting shot as she left for her room again.
"Ok BB, the look on his face was pretty good." They had met up later on the roof, Beast Boy Barely able to keep it together after snapping a picture of Cyborgs jaw on the floor. All according to his plan. Standing in a shadowy corner, they were keeping each other warm, as Raven put it. Or cuddling, as Beast Boy put it.
"See, I told you pranks could be fun!"
"Didn't Starfire nearly punch you through the wall for the second time with the motor oil?"
"...I stand by can be!"
"Right. Though I won't be eating it as often as you, you might want to stock up on the tofu stuff, it's not bad."
"A convert, one day Rae, you will see the light!"
"Not while bacon exists"
"Curses, foiled again by the villain bacon!"
"If I can't destroy the internet, you can't destroy bacon!"
"Yes ma'am…"
The conversation had given her an idea though. Between BB and Starfire's references to things they had found online, maybe it was time Raven braved this strange new world as well. Which is how she came to be sat cross legged in mid air next to Cyborg, while he worked on his car and helped her work out what sort of device to get.
After her helpful description of why she wanted to, to 'look up cat video', Cyborg came to the conclusion that getting a tablet might be the best way to go. They also ignored the betrayed meowing of BB Jr from under the car. When Cyborg asked for the location where she got the comfy cushions from, Raven just handed over the shop's business card and rapidly left.
Things had been quiet for a while now, with her tablet ordered and Robin having kidnapped Beast Boy to test his training, Raven settled down to read. This lasted until late afternoon, when the alert went out and the team scrambled into action.
Sending Starfire and Raven ahead, as the report was a little unclear what exactly was happening, the guys followed close behind in the car. The main bank in the city had been broken into, but the attackers weren't actually stealing anything, just hanging around and keeping the police at bay. From what they had been told, there were two or three villains and a bunch of goons, but no clue as to what their goal was.
When they arrived, they leapt into action, charging through the front door to confront the robbers. One of them raised a grenade launcher, aiming straight at Robin, who was pushed aside by Starfire, taking the hit for him. To the Titans surprise, instead of exploding, which she would have survived, it burst into some form of glue that expanded around her, sticking her to the wall and out of the fight.
The one with the grenade launcher tossed it aside and stepped up to engage Robin in hand to hand. Dressed in a black suit with red trimmings and advanced looking goggles, he was grinning as he gained the upper hand easily; laughing as Robin growled in frustration.
"What do you want this time Zeiss?" he shouted, between blocking blows so fast only his training kept him from being hurt badly.
"To prove I'm better than you, than the bat, than all of Gotham!" He yelled back, catching Robin off guard and botting him backwards.
While they were fighting, a large robot that towered over Cyborg had engaged him, while an acrobatic figure was keeping Beast Boy confused. Raven had been trying to free Starfire, but when the goons moved forwards, she was forced to engage them, scattering them with her power, though it didn't seem to be having as much effect as normal.
She didn't have time to ponder this, flinging debris at their opponents to try and give her teammates breathing room. They were gaining the upper hand slowly, Starfire was still stuck, Robin was struggling with this Zeiss guy, but the other three were keeping the remaining opponents under control.
Then one of the goons held up what looked like a smoke bomb, smashing it onto the ground and Raven dropped from the sky screaming and clutching her head.
Shattered remains of warded glass spread across the ground, a dark, stained bone of some sort clattered to the ground from its broken container. Beast Boy and Cyborg stopped in confusion, looking back at Raven as she writhed on the ground. Her powers were going haywire, claws and tendrils of her Soul Self bursting out of her body, clawing at the ground around her; the screaming not stopping for a single second.
"Get her out of here!" Cyborg shouted to Beast Boy, their opponents pausing in surprise long enough for him to use his weapon systems to drive them back. Beast Boy didn't need to be told twice, racing over to Raven, but under how to get to her through her thrashing soul.
"What did you do?" Robin growled, blocking another punch, his own deflected, and finding himself being flipped through the air, broke free and jumped back, giving himself distance from his foe.
"I had to find ways to counter your team, it just wouldn't be a fair fight otherwise," the arrogant smirk on his face was beginning to get to Robin, screams of torment he had only heard in nightmares was putting him close to the edge, but he couldn't turn his back on Zeiss. With his physical enhancements, he could be a problem for Batman himself, Robin was barely keeping up and suspected he was being toyed with. Sorry guys, but you need to look after Raven for me, he thought, pulling out his staff and leaping towards the villain again.
"Rae, what is it, what's wrong?" Beast Boy whispered, trying to get close but not able to risk it.
"The cursed bone, I can feel everything they did to him, kept him alive for weeks to try and summon a creature into this world, breaking his sanity with their torture. When that failed, they didn't let him die even when they tore it from his flesh…" she growled and shrieked, multiple voices echoing at once, her mind completely overwhelmed; head still in her hands as if trying to block out a loud noise.
"Cursed bone, wait…" he turned, looking for it, seeing one of the goons scoop it up and begin moving towards them. "Oh no you don't…" The goon didn't make it another step, before a green ram the size of a car slammed into him, sending both him and the bone flying deeper into the bank.
Turning to look back, Raven was still thrashing around, but it was noticeably more subdued, no longer clawing at the ground. She was still struggling to stop it exploding again, but it was progress.
Turning into a wolf, still much larger than normal, he picked her up in his jaws and leapt outside, trying to put as much distance as possible between them and that damned bone. She felt feverish to the touch, both trying not to hurt each other, until she went limp.
Pulling to a halt and quickly but gently dropping her to the ground, he changed into his normal form and checked her over in a panic. He sighed with relief when he found she had just passed out, Holding her close until he had calmed down enough to come up with the next step. Changing back into the wolf, he headed for the tower, to get her somewhere safe.
Back at the bank, things were going badly for the team. Their two big hitters were down, Cyborg was barely able to keep up with the robot, the other villain and the goons had vanished. Robin was losing, unable to land a blow, each attempt met with a mocking counter, forcing him back.
It looked hopeless, until Robin's plan kicked in. Surprising Zeiss with a grapple seemingly at random, when his shout to 'target the goggles' was met with a green burst that cut between the two, leaving the villain staggering back and Robin pushing his advantage.
While trapped, Starfire's head was still free, he had just needed to lure Zeiss into her field of vision so her eye blasts could be brought to bare. Without his goggles to filter the stimuli, the villain was clutching his head, until Robin laid him out with one punch. Hoping Cyborg could last long enough, he ran to free their princess, using his cutting tools to cut the glue away, smiling as she burst out of her cocoon and into the air. The three of them made short work of the robot, leaving the police to deal with the two at the bank, the team hopped in the car and took off after Beast Boy and Ravens communicator signal.
The goons had gone straight for Raven and vanished when she was pulled, they needed to make sure she was alright.
When they came within sight of their missing teammates, Starfire growled in an uncharacteristic show of anger and rocketed straight towards them.
Beast Boy had taken the form of a massive bear, crouched over Raven, who was curled up and unmoving, swiping his paws at anything that came close. He was covered in burns and cuts, the majority of the goons down, but the leader was still standing and the hero was wearing himself out trying to pin him down.
A green and purple blur hit the villain in the side, as Starfire tackled him at high speed through a tree, the remaining goons taking one look at the team assembling and turned to flee; but too late to make good on it as Cyborg and Robin took them down with their ranged weapons.
Beast Boy slumped, completely exhausted, but needing to get Raven somewhere safe, he tried picking her up in human form, only stopping when Starfire took his place and Cyborg picked the shapeshifter up; as he passed out in his metal friends arms.
"You know, I don't think I'm ever going to get used to being here," Beast Boy commented as he looked around Nevermore. Or the shattered remains of it, whatever that bone was, it had done a number on the place. He was sat with Happy, not sure how exactly, but suspecting it was Raven's doing.
"She needs the positivity you produce to heal, there was a lot of really fucked up stuff laid on that bone," Rude chimed in, "if you hadn't got us away, she might have gone full demon again."
"Ok, but why is Anger refusing to look at me?"
"Well, remember the last time you two…"
"Oh. OH!"
"Yeah, she's been a bit more mellow since getting in on the action.
"So you guys will be alright?"
"Just stay nearby, she needs you more than she will admit, if not for all the positive emotions she gets from you, she wouldn't have made it this far." That was Knowledge wandering through the conversation, passing through as she went to fix other damaged parts of Nevermore.
"I'm not going anywhere, Raven means too much to me, I almost lost her again…"
"But you defended us, which by the way, was pretty damn hot!" Passion grinned, making eyes at Beast Boy who coughed in embarrassment.
"Something to dwell on another time, we have mental defences to repair and I find most of you slacking off." Raven herself appeared, glaring at the four Emotions sat around the table with Beast Boy, who all promptly shot up and vanished. She looked tired and worn out, the bags under even her mental version showing. "I appreciate you being here BB, I would have let you sleep in peace otherwise, but please don't encourage them," she sighed, hand on her face with fatigue.
"Sorry goddess, I just wanted to make sure you were alright," he smiled, stepping close, containing a laugh when she looked away with a blush. Cupping her cheek in his hand, he turned her face back and gently kissed her. "I love you Rae, I just want to help you get better."
Raven's brain stopped. She stared at him in shock, Happy sounded like she had fallen off something, Passion was screaming in joy and he was just standing there, looking around in confusion as Nevermore began repairing itself at a much quicker rate.
"You, you daft…" she started, unable to finish and resting her forehead on his chest.
"I know Rae," he chuckled, planting a kiss on her head. "When you're healed up, there's something we need to talk about."