Chapter 7
As Raven continued to cradle her cowering copy of herself, a booming laughter quaked all through the ruins of Nevermore, rattling both their ribcages — it was a mix of Trigon's baritone as well as her own accumulating wicked malice.
Releasing her hold on Timid, who vanished into the ground with haste, the sorceress took a bold stance to confront this threat, her fists balled at her sides and expelling her ink powers.
At last, the threat revealed itself as the colossal horned red figure with its four satanic eyes searing her, just as she predicted.
"Hello, dear daughter." The double-voice of the one manifestation projected the ferocity of a hurricane, hardly yelling at all. "Daddy's missed you."
"Can't say the same for you, Rage!" She retorted, holding her ground. "And my father is no more, so stop trying to masquerade as him!"
"Oh, Raven, you're such a killjoy." In an instant, the sheep's clothing that was her father's shedded, the red cover and quadruple glare remaining, as the emotion reverted to her original form. "You know I'm not the one who's really causing all this."
"I don't care!" Bellowed Raven, her own temper simmering. "I just want you to shut the hell up so I can get some sleep!"
"And what exactly is it that I'm bothering you about?" Keeping her shark-grin, Rage placed a finger under her chin as to appear like she was thinking.
The empath's lips were sealed and he continued facing down her darkest emotion.
"I'll answer for you."
Raven raised her guard as the red emotion began closing their distance rather casually, although the slight twitches in her inbalanced posture told her otherwise.
"If I was Guilt, I'd be blaming you for not putting up a better fight, which led to Beast Boy endangering his own wellbeing... as you've already stated." Rage then bunched her shoulders to mimic cowardice. "Timid, as you just saw, went crazy as she couldn't bear the thought of a world without the love of your life."
This was where Raven almost buckled in surprise at that last point, which didn't go unnoticed.
"Oh, yes!" The emotion stopped right in front of Raven and eyeballed intensely. "Love and Lust shared aimlessly all their unsaid feelings about the green changeling; Lust was especially vocal about the things you wanted to do to him since you saw him naked that day in the jungle."
Raven was now petrified on the spot, tensing the muscles in her face to avoid showing embarrassment.
"And it's ALL YOUR FAULT!" Her outburst caused yet another tremor.
Instinctively, Raven flew up to make distance from Rage as the latter unleashed a tsunami of ink all over the land.
"IT'S ALL ON YOU!!" The emotion continued ranting. "BECAUSE YOU'RE WEAK!! YOU CAN'T EVEN PROTECT YOUR FRIEND!!"
Raven was too busy performing air maneuvers to avoid dark tendrils that portruded out to attack her, but as those words sunk into the empath's mind, her movements soon turned flaky as she lost concentration.
"HELL, YOU'LL PROBABLY GET EVERYONE KILLED!!"
One of those tendrils soon managed to get ahold of her legs and tightened around her with the vise of an anaconda.
"AND YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE THE STRONGEST OF THE TITANS!?!? WHAT A JOKE!!"
Failing to break free, Raven was violently thrashed around, careening from rock to rock like a wrecking ball; she was lucky enough to have conjured a shield of that ironic shape to protect herself from the every brunt until it shattered with enough pressure.
"YOU THINK HIDING IN THAT GLASS BUBBLE WILL HELP!?!?"
Ultimately, Raven was pulled into the pitch-black fluid, presumably to drown under Rage's wrath. Shutting her eyes tight, the empath prepared for her fate.
For a second, there was oblivion... and then... her back thudded hard against a hard floor.
Groaning in pain, she squinted and pushed herself to a sitting position, her own weight feeling like a ton. Checking around while she rubbed her aching sides, she was relieved to find herself guarded by the walls, ceiling and furniture of her room again.
Laying right in front of her was the mirror she dropped, fortunately unbroken.
Unfortunately, Raven knew she wasn't going to get much sleep tonight with this unresolved conflict. Putting the mirror back in her drawer, she surrendered to her bed, defeated, to try nonetheless.
(SCENE BREAK)
Weeks later, Beast Boy got out of bed one morning and stood shirtless in front of his wardrobe mirror to check all his battle scars; this had become a routine since all the bandages and stitches were removed.
By now, they were fading into bold knit lines resembling strokes of a paintbrush. Tracing them with his fingers, it was like touching lumps of silicon rubber on his body. Normally, his inner vanity would have him flexing his muscles to flatter himself, but as of late, he couldn't be bothered.
Once again, while staring at himself, he could hear rusted metal bars rattling in the back of his head; the beast was demanding to be let out of its cage again.
Ignoring that headache, he went on to shower and get dressed as hurriedly as he could, eager to muffle that noise — it seemed to work.
Suddenly in a musical mood, he picked up an accoustic guitar that was always propped up in one corner and sat back on his bed with it.
Beast Boy started dancing his fingers on the strings, no particular song coming about as he allowed the notes and chords to just play for themselves, the steady formless tune painting the air.
For a solid minute, when he gained some momentum, the changeling escaped his confines to another realm where his worries needn't be — he was weightless... boundless... like the sails of a phoenix... if that made any sense at all.
This trip also took him down memory, back to his childhood... back when he was just Garfield. He could still remember the smell of his tiny bed as he laid there, curled in his sheet, while his mother serenaded him with a lullaby with her ukelele.
Sadly, he had archived those bittersweet so long ago that he forgot the words that used to always rock him to sleep.
Setting the instrument aside, Beast Boy exhaled, descending back to reality, and turned his head to see his best friend, Cyborg, leaning against his doorframe.
"What was that?" Asked the big man, intrigued.
His first response was a shrug. "Just a little finger picking."
"Sure beats watching you pick your nose." Cyborg jabbed, earning a wince from his younger teammate. "But in all seriousness, why don't you play the guitar more often? You'll have better luck charming Raven."
Beast Boy just about turned into stone at that last remark, though he tried not to show any visible discomfort — Cyborg, knowing him too well, saw right through it and winked at him mischievously.
Clearing his throat, the younger Titan got up and came over to him, his body language already hinting that he wished to change the topic.
"Anyway... did you just come here to admire my musical talent?"
"Actually, I have something for you." Cyborg pulled out what appeared to be a wrist-watch, to which confused Beast Boy. "I finished building it last night."
"You made me a watch?"
"Take a closer look, B." When he did, the changeling still couldn't figure out what it was, but an idea did come to mind. Cyborg rolled his human eye and answered for him. "It's a heart monitor."
"Oh." Pausing, he wondered why his friend would make this for him when could have just bought one from a shop.
Reading his mind, Cyborg explained further. "I made it for you to wear so we can keep track of your heartbeat."
"In case anything goes wrong?"
"Yeah..."
"Was this your idea or Robin's?"
"Take a guess."
Beast Boy tucked in his arms and frowned to the floor, having figured as much.
"I'm sorry." Said Cyborg meekly.
Although he was iffy, Beast Boy nonetheless stuck out one of his wrists for the machine man to clasp the device around it. When he pulled back, he read the little screen to see that his heart rate was normal.
"It looks cool, though!" The changeling remarked, suddenly cheery again. "Thanks for the present."
Cyborg could only nod with a small smile, thankful that his friend took it alright.
"I'm just glad you didn't make it a collar."
(SCENE BREAK)
All of a sudden, the Titans were shaken out of their daily routines when their alarm once again summoned them to the common room where the map display showed trouble happening just up north in Jump City.
"Business as usual?" Raven estimated calmly.
"Sounds about right." Cyborg remarked.
"Whatever it is, we know what to do." Robin pointed out and decided to skip his catchphrase. "Let's go!"
Just like that, the team was off, Beast Boy in tow, until Raven turned around and stopped him at the doorway.
"Oh, come on!" He protested, loud enough for everyone to hear. "You guys can't keep cooped up in here!"
"You have to stay here, Beast Boy." She tried to reason, but he was having none of it.
"I can help! I can take of myself!" He looked to other Titans ahead of them. "Guys, help me out here!"
None of them said a word, Starfire looking away sympathetically while Robin came over.
"Beast Boy... I know it's frustrating for you, but she's right."
The changeling snorted, now beginning to fume. "Of course you'd say that!"
"We're just trying to protect you!"
"FROM WHAT!?!?" His scream nearly shook the walls of the building and shattered the windows. "MYSELF!?!? I'VE BEEN KEPT IN THIS CUBICLE FOR TWO FUCKING WEEKS!! WHY CAN'T YOU JUST TRUST ME AND NOT TREAT ME AS A FUCKING KID ALL THE TIME!!"
"Beast Boy, please!" Shaken by his sudden temper, Robin tried reaching out, only to get shoved back.
"NO, DON'T YOU FUCKING TOUCH ME!! I'M TIRED OF ALWAYS BEING TREATED LIKE THE WEAKEST MEMBER, THE BLACK SHEEP!!"
"Yo, we don't think that of you at all!" Cried Cyborg, who hurried back over with Starfire as well.
"I CAN'T BE CAGED LIKE AN ANIMAL!!" Beast Boy was absorbed in his anger to hear the rapid beeping of his wrist-watch or feel the kicking in his chest that shallowed his breaths. "YOU HAVE TO LET ME SPREAD MY... W—WINGS!!"
With that last falter in his voice, Raven's multiple sirens went off at once as she feared that a grenade was about explode.
Without using any of her powers, the sorceress zipped in between the two disputers and locked the changeling in a... cuddle, flooring the whole team, including the green hero himself.
Beast Boy, surprised by the empath's display of affection in front of the team, fought to stay angry at first, only to lose that hold as it melted away soon after.
"Please... it's not that we don't want your help." Raven locked eyes with him pleadingly. "We're afraid to risk losing you."
Words became lost to him while Raven kept him held together. With this space of silence could Beast Boy recollect himself and realize the error of his behavior.
"I'm sorry." He moaned, his vocal chords strained.
Raven then did a double-take between him and the others listening. "Maybe one of us should stay..."
"No." Beast Boy affirmed, pulling away from her. "You should go. You're more useful out there then you would be here."
"Are you sure?"
"Just go, I'll be fine." He waved her off. "I'm just gonna be playing videogames anyway."
Although she hesitated, Raven nonetheless left with the others to fulfill their crime-fighting duty.
Now left on with the whole tower to himself again, the first thing he did was wander over to the kitchen. Opening the fridge, he found a big round watermelon sitting in the bottom, waiting to be eaten. Beast Boy, not really on good terms with his appetite right now, gave it a pass to find something else to kill time with.
(SCENE BREAK)
Settling on videogames like he mentioned he would, Beast Boy was on the couch, thumbing away at the buttons of his controller while he stared blankly at his avatar on the screen.
About four hours have passed since his friends left, and he still hadn't gotten a word from any of them, and it was getting on his nerves; he was so frustrated that he tried to squish a mosquito when it bit his neck.
Switching off his game, he tensed up when his hypersensitive nose picked up a foreign scent that was close — it was inside the tower... and he wasn't expecting visitors.
Now on guard, he vaulted over the sofa and continued sniffing the air for the apparent intruder.
Deciding to play it smart, he changed into a fly so he could search all through their headquarters in swift succession, but everywhere he looked, including all the quarters, all he found were vacant spaces.
Maybe it was just his imagination after all, and yet... something was off.
"Screw it."
It didn't matter. He was probably losing his head over nothing as he massaged the growing soreness on his neck where he got pricked.
As he started his way back to the main room, he jerked to a stop once, and took off into a mad sprint, terror slithering down his spine — he had just picked up the foul stench of fresh blood, along with cold slick metal... and death.
Upon re-entry, a volt surged through Beast Boy's nerves when he saw the back of an armored figure sitting upright on their couch, facing the big screen; he was given a partial view of his dual swords strapped to his back in an X form.
"I love your place." He spoke rather cooly, and then stood up to stare down the lone Titan with his one all-seeing eye through the bronze half of his mask. "It makes me wish I'd visited more often, don't you think, Beast Boy?"
"Slade!" He growled and got into his combat-ready stance. "What are you doing here!?"
"I missed you." He answered with a lazy shrug. "Why? Can't I visit an old friend after all these years?"
"What do you want!?"
Beast Boy was just about ready to strike; deep down, he was completely jarred by the return of their old arch nemesis, but he made a conscious effort to keep his head level.
"I'd like your help to do a test run."
"Why would I ever help you?"
"You needn't know why." Slade then bent down to pick up an object from the seat that the changeline couldn't quite identify at first. "Oh, I do have a gift for you."
As he tossed it over, Beast Boy's sharp sight caught its horrid details as it spun in the air — there were crimson fluids spraying out one end while violet strands of hair lashed all around before it bounced on the floor by his feet.
"It should give you the right motivation."
When the changeling got a better look og his gift, his knees gave way, and he clattered to the floor, his heart set ablaze.
"NO!!" He shrieked bloody murder.
Slade just looked on indifferently, his head angled in a way that made it appear as though he was thinking inquisitively. "Now what are you getting so worked up about?"
Whatever the criminal mastermind said afterwards became white noise as Beast Boy felt his whole world get swallowed into oblivion.
Remaining ignorant to the changeling's pain, the masked intruder drew his swords and hopped over the lounge with ease.
"Ready when you are." He gloated.
Unfortunately, his opponent's will to fight had left him.
Laying before him was Raven's head, her eyes wide as saucers as they stared back through him lifelessly, blood pooling from her neck where the rest of her body should be.
(TO BE CONTINUED)
Author's Note: I know... I know... you probably want to kill me at this very second. Just take comfort in the fact that this time, I know exactly what I'm doing. You are free to theorize your predictions and leave your thoughts below. Let me know if this story should be rated M now or not. If you made it this far, the I hope you won't give up. Either way, thanks for reading this chapter, and I'll see you all next time.