Chapter 6: Operation Beast
(Back in the present...)
Robin, Starfire, and Cyborg walked into the lobby of The Beast's building carrying donuts in one hand, and coffees in the other.
"Hey fellas. I heard we missed the ceremony for the new police captain. Figured we'd swing by and celebrate." Cyborg said, clapping one of the guards on the back as the rest left their posts in front of the stairs, elevator, and exits to come see the action.
"Yea. It was quite a shock. But I'm looking forward to Captain Beast fixing it up around here. He has some great ideas." One of the guards spoke.
"That's great. We look forward to working with him, too. But for now, how about we treat you guys to some coffee and donuts?" Robin replied, lifting the bag.
"Sure. But what about Captain Beast. Do you want me to call him down here?" Another guard spoke.
"Nah, don't worry about it. It's late, we'll throw him an actual party tomorrow." Cyborg said holding out his bag of donuts.
"Alright. You don't have to tell me twice." The first guard spoke. "So, how have you guys been?" He asked.
Raven, Mas, and Menos heard the conversation from the back entrance as they entered, quietly. Raven rolled her eyes as she saw Cyborg winking at them and continuing the small talk.
Mas and Menos vanished up the maintenance stairs and reappeared moments later, looking at Raven expectantly. Raven nodded to them and held out her hand. Mas grabbed it and Raven's stomach lurched as she was taken up forty flights of stairs in less than a minute. When they reached the top, Mas let go and Raven leaned against a nearby wall, nauseously. She shook her head to clear it and forced the contents of her stomach to stay down.
Once Raven had finally regained her sense of balance and the nausea started to fade, she looked around. There were behind a doorway that she assumed led to the penthouse. Closing her eyes for a minute, she confirmed her suspicion as she scanned the next room. It had two guards standing in front of yet another door that led to the penthouse. The room was also fitted with multiple cameras to cover it in it's entirety.
Raven turned to Mas and Menos and told them what she saw, telepathically. She knew she had to go alone from here on out so she told them to stay put and be ready to rush in if things went sideways. The two nodded.
Closing her eyes once more, Raven phased through the door in front of them and all the way past the guards and through the door leading to the penthouse. She looked around once she entered to make sure it was safe before returning to her normal, solid form. She then telepathically searched for and found Bee who was waiting on the roof of the building. Phasing through the ceiling, Raven appeared in front of Bee.
"Where's Mas and Menos?" Bee asked.
"There were cameras in front of the penthouse doors so I had to phase myself through. They're waiting in case something goes south." Raven said.
"Alright." Bee replied
"Do you have a plan?" Raven asked.
"I believe so. I could go into the penthouse and look for The Beast, undetected. Then come and tell me where he is. You could then phase back down there and do the spell while I stand guard at the door in case something goes wrong." Bee said.
"That should work." Raven replied.
"Alright. See you in a bit." Bee said, shrinking down and zipping off.
The Beast sat upright. He could sense something was wrong. He wasn't sure what or how, but something was off. Since leaving the forest, he'd gotten this feeling a lot. He hated the city. Not enough prey to kill. At least prey that he could kill without consequence. Looking around, he didn't see anything suspicious. It was probably just his hyperactive senses picking up some noise from outside. Deciding against getting up, The Beast rolled over to go back to sleep only to see Raven, phased through the wall and standing there at the side of his bed, wide-eyed in shock.
"Well. If it isn't little Raven." The Beast bellowed as he sat upright and smiled, menacingly. Raven took a step back.
"I don't want to fight you. I just want Beast Boy back." Raven said, as monotone as she could muster.
"How disappointing. Beast Boy is dead. But more importantly, I warned you and your team to leave this city, did I not?" The Beast said, coldly. "Don't think I don't know what the plan is here. Your friends distract my guards while you come up here and teleport me to the safe-room in the tower after using a spell to incapacitate me." He added. Raven's eyes widened a little. The Beast was much much smarter than they had thought.
"Where is Beast Boy?" Raven said. Wanting nothing more than for her former teammate to take control.
"You don't listen very well. He. Is. Dead." The Beast said, eyes gleaming. "Sorry, but you have overstayed your welcome." The Beast then grabbed Raven's arm with lightning speed and threw her against the opposite wall. She he the wall hard and slumped to the floor, getting up moments later.
Raven tried to chant the paralyzing spell as quickly as possible but was stopped by a large hand around her mouth. The Beast then punched her hard in the stomach with his other hand. Raven coughed as the wind was knocked out of her. The Beast was stronger than her before, but now it was nearly no competition.
"Is this it? The all-powerful Raven? The Raven that Beast Boy used to respect and look up to?" The Beast jeered. Raven's mind paused for a second at that statement. Beast Boy didn't hate her. Despite all of her venom towards him, he still respected her? "Yes, that's right Raven, the pathetic changeling enjoyed your company. Too bad he's dead." He continued. Raven's eyes glowed a little bit at that. She hated it when people called Beast Boy that.
She struck out with her hand outstretched, sending The Beast toppling. Over his bed. She chanted her usual spell and covered the bed in dark energy before lifting it and dropping it on top of The Beast. The Beast lay still for a moment before getting up and shrugging the bed to the side. He smiled as he glared at her. Raven shot energy at him, unflinching. The Beast simply absorbed it with his hand and started to glow a faint gold. He then rushed at Raven with inhuman speed.
Raven quickly put up a shield around herself and struggled to keep it as The Beast pounded on it. She tried to reach out to Bee but it took all of her concentration to keep the shield from breaking.
"You won't last forever, and when you finally falter, I will break you." The Beast growled.
"Stop. Beast Boy, fight him." Raven said, her shield beginning to weaken. The Beast just laughed as Raven strained under the constant pressure from the strong blows.
Moments later, Raven's shield broke and The Beast's fists came crashing down on her. Although lessened by the remaining power of the shield, the blow still forced her to the ground. The Beast smiled, deviantly as he stood above her.
Raven got up, prepared to fight. The Beast threw a lightning fast sucker punch that Raven barely dodged. Smiling as she took the bait, The Beast hit her with his other hand right as she dodged, breaking her nose and smacking her head against the wall. Raven winced in pain as blood flowed from her nose. She then tried to kick The Beast's feet out from under him. Before she made contact, The Beast lifted his foot, causing Raven to be off balance. With a quick and hard punch in the stomach, the unbalanced Raven slumped against the wall, in pain.
"You are no match to my physical prowess. Stick to what you're good at." The Beast gloated. He then lifted Raven by the arm and forced her to stand up. "Now fight. Do Beast Boy proud. He died believing in you." He added, genuinely. Raven flared up at that. She assaulted The Beast with quick and decisive jabs at the face, chest, and stomach trying to catch him off guard. After much dodging and blocking, she landed a hit squarely in the face and caused The Beast to recoil for a moment. Taking the opportunity, Raven pushed him back against the opposing wall with dark energy and chanted her token spell. The Beasts arms and legs were encased in dark energy as he was stuck to the wall.
She knew this was her only chance to successfully complete the paralysis spell so she started to cast it as quickly as possible, having to close her eyes momentarily to block out the physical pain she was experiencing. A moment was all The Beast needed, he roared, releasing the little bit of energy that he had absorbed, breaking the tendrils of energy that were holding him. Raven's eyes shot open to see The Beast leaping at her at breakneck speeds. Unable to react, Raven went slack, anticipating the impact.
The Beast barreled into Raven, shoulder first. On contact, there was a loud crunch as Raven's collarbone was broken. The Beast didnt stop there and rammed into the wall, with Raven in between. This knocked the wind out of her and broke her shoulder blades. Raven slumped to the floor. The Beast smirked as Raven warily eyed him, anticipating the end.
"You are weak. Not deserving of any reverence. Pathetic. Nearly as pathetic as the whelp." The Beast spat. Raven simply eyed him, trying to concentrate on anything but the sheer amount of pain she was feeling.
"Beast Boy, help." Was all she could muster, hoping he was still somewhere in there.
After she said this, The Beast felt something awake at the back of his mind. He smirk vanished. He knew Beast Boy had been awakened. It would only be a matter of time before he tried to fight back. A problem for another day, but a problem nonetheless. Resolving to finish this quickly, The Beast grabbed Raven by the neck and lifted her up, his entire hand easily covering her whole throat. Preparing to have her neck snapped, Raven simply looked at The Beast.
"For what it was worth. You are a good warrior. Just not good enough." The Beast said. He began to squeeze
"You...won't...win." Raven choked out. She struggled to breathe and her vision began to go dark. Just before she blacked out, however, she felt herself being thrown.
The Beast sensed another presence. Turning around abruptly, he threw Raven's nearly lifeless body at Bee, who had sensed trouble. Bee stared in shock for a moment as she caught Raven. She still had a steady stream of blood coming from her nose and a small trickle from her mouth. He neck was bruised and nicked from The Beast's claws. Her collarbone was broken along with her shoulder blades and her left arm. She had various cuts and bruises all along the length of her broken form. Bee had to get her to a hospital, immediately.
Bee turned to The Beast who was preparing to attack her. She fired a bolt from her blaster right at his face and another at his stomach, the first causing him to block and lose sight of her and the second hitting him square in the stomach, winding him. By the time The Beast recovered, Bee was out the window with Raven in her arms. She contact the team and flew Raven to the Jump City hospital.
(The Next Morning...)
"How is she?" Robin asked the nurse leaving Raven's room after five hours of surgery.
"She's touch and go. Stable at the moment." The nurse said. Robin, Cyborg, and Starfire had been in the hospital throughout the rest of the night while Titans East dealt with the backlash from their failed kidnapping attempt.
"Can we see her?" Robin asked.
"Yes, but she's not awake and probably won't be for awhile, we just finished surgery a little while ago." The nurse responded before giving Robin an apologetic look and walking away.
"Robin, come in" his communicator beeped. Robin answered, still digesting what he had been told.
"Yeah?" Robin replied.
"The mayor approved signed a restraining order on all of us on behalf of The Beast. We can't be seen within 500 feet of his residence and aren't allowed to contact him in any way whatsoever. We also can't physically be within 100 feet of him at anytime-" Aqualad said.
"That means we can't go to any publicly hosted government events and speeches." Robin interrupted. "Damnit!"
"Yeah. There goes the image of Titans working with Jump City PD. How's Raven?" Aqualad asked.
"Stable. I'll meet you guys at the tower in a little bit. I can't leave her." Robin replied.
"I understand. We'll visit her when she wakes up. Bee is torn up and none of us have the heart to drag her there." Aqualad said. Robin nodded and ended the call. He turned to Cyborg and Starfire.
The two looked up at Robin. Starfire had been crying heavily all night and her eyes were puffy and red. Cyborg just looked sullen and shell-shocked, no doubt being reminded of the loss of Beast Boy only a little more than a month earlier.
"We can go in, now." Robin said to them. The two got up, Starfire shakily, and followed Robin into Raven's hospital room.
When the trio entered Raven's room, Starfire gasped, Cyborg drew a sharp breath, and Robin's eyes widened slightly. She was hooked up a plethora of various medical devices. Tubes were coming out of her arm, nose, and mouth providing her with air and nutrients to help her heal. In addition, her entire upper body was encased in a slim cast to keep her chest from collapsing due to her various broken bones. She was sleeping, but her face had more bruises and cuts on it than they'd ever seen on her. She looked so broken and fragile. Starfire stared to wail softly and was comforted by Robin while Cyborg felt his jaw tighten up and tears well up in his human eye.
Resolving not to break down in front of his already devastated teammates, Robin simply covered his agony by consoling Starfire. Cyborg was the first to approach the bed. Knowing that he needed to get it off his chest. He'd heard that people could sometimes hear things while in a comatose or near comatose state. Although he wasn't sure if that was true, he spoke anyway.
"Listen, Rave. I don't know if you can hear me or if I'm just talking to an unconscious teammate, but I'm sorry. We all knew how dangerous The Beast has become but we let you go in there anyway. I know it had to be done and it was the best option but we should have thought of something else. You're like a little sister to me and knowing that someone hurt you and I didn't stop them feel terrible. I failed you and I'm sorry. Wake up. Please." Cyborg said, gently resting his metallic hand on Raven's hand at her side for a moment. Unable to hold it in any longer, Cyborg got up and left the room before breaking down.
Starfire looked to the door after Cyborg left and then turned to Raven. She took a step forward before stopping herself.
"Talk to her." Robin said, nodding at Raven. Starfire smiled weakly and approached Raven's broken form.
"F...friend Raven? I hope you can hear this but I really value our friendship. I enjoy when you go to do the shopping with me even though I know you wish not to go. You are like the sister to me as well and I do not know what I would do without your company. I..." she took a shuddering breath before continuing. "I wish you to recover soon and join us in getting friend Beast Boy back." She finished, looking at Raven's face for a long moment before leaving the room, much more calm and feeling a little better.
Robin stayed right where he was when he had first entered the room and was trying to think of what to say. He knew talking to someone who was unconscious was probably crazy but if there was an off chance that she could hear him, he had to talk to her. After all, it he was the leader. He was the one who sent her in there in the first place. Gathering up the courage, Robin approached Raven.
As he did, however, her eyes slowly cracked open. She tense as she scanned the room for danger through squinted eyes before eventually resting her eyes on Robin and relaxing slightly.
"Raven?" Robin asked, openly bewildered.
"Y...ya." Was all she could utter, exhausted.
"How are you feeling?" He asked, more gently than she had ever heard him.
"Not...good." Her drug-addled mind started to clear itself as the events leading up to her hospitalization came back to her.
"I'm so sorry. I shou-" Robin started.
"No. It was...my decision." Raven interrupted, closing her eyes a moment before opening them slowly, still squinting.
"I. How can I help?" Robin said, not wanting her to think about the events.
"The lights. Please." Raven said, motioning at the lights with her head slowly.
"Alright." Robin said. He then walked towards the door and turned off the lights. Raven lightly sighed with relief.
"Thanks." She said, struggling through the drugs.
"No problem." Robin said gently. "You shouldn't he fighting against the drugs. You're safe and being unconscious will help your body heal." Robin added, sitting down next to her bed. Raven rolled her eyes and said nothing. Robin smirked slightly and simply sat next to her in silence. Being the two most emotionally detached in the group, they both enjoyed the silence.
After a little while of silence, Raven held her hand to Robin who took it in his and held it, confused at Raven's uncharacteristic behavior. She generally hated physical contact, but Robin obliged.
"What's wrong?" He asked, knowing she wasn't doing it for comfort. Raven started to tear up and Robin's eyes widened.
"Don't worry...the drugs block my powers." Raven said, knowing his fear. "But...I failed him. Beast Boy was in there. I..." Raven added, tears rolling down her cheeks.
"Raven. No. You tried your best. It's great news that he's still in there. We know we're fighting for the right thing, now." Robin said, grabbing a tissue and going to wipe her tears. Raven shook her head as much as she could. She hated being taken care of. Robin simply ignored this and wiped her tears anyway. "We are here. We will always be here. You did your best and it didnt work. We just have to try something else." He added. Raven calmed down and wordlessly thanked Robin. She then closed her eyes and almost instantly drifted off to sleep.
Robin placed her hand back at her side and made sure she was sleeping before getting up and leaving the room.
(That Evening...)
"We need your help." Robin said, looking intently at the tower supercomputer screen at nearly 1 in the morning. A dark figure in a cave stared back from the other end of the screen.
"It's been a long time, grayson."