Yahoo! We broke 300 reviews people! And the 150 follows mark! I'm not sure what the next milestone should be. But you guys just keep on being awesome for me! That will make me happy! So even though I pumped out a 16k one-shot this week, here's an update for this story as well for you guys being so dang awesome!
Mailbox Time!
WackyJack93: Yep, I did do that. Wanted to tie him into the story in some way. And voila! Enjoy!
Dark Azarathian: Technically not Justice League, but close enough. Thank you for the compliment and the cookie. Hope you like the chapter!
Golem XIV: Man, when that random thought popped into my head at work for a scene, I almost made my coworkers think I was crazy from my laughter. Enjoy the chapter!
HornedGoddess: I'm glad it made your day. And the 23rd, I'll see about that. I might have a surprise for you on that day. :) Enjoy!
Foamsatmouth: Yeah, you killed him in your story. And I scared the crap out of him in this one. He truly can't be appreciated anywhere.
NATSUxERZA 123456: I know a lot of things. Including obsidian. I like the idea though. We'll see if he fights the man of Steel. His current fate is still unknown right now. Enjoy the chapter!
senpen banka: Here you go! Enjoy!
vi: Done.
alfred19: Mating cycle coming right up. Second idea is pretty funny, I might include it later for a flashback scene. As to the third idea, not sure. I know it won't be Beast Boy and Raven doing it. Enjoy!
Captain Ea Rayos: I lied. I do that a lot. Glad this is one of your favorites! Gihihi, enjoy!
shugokage: Thanks! Enjoy the chapter!
Bluedog197: Dense, indeed. I liked the idea of Beast Boy finally trusting the Beast some more. Your welcome for Red Tornado. As to your guess, again wrong. Try again :). Enjoy!
zanessa14luv18: Updated! And though no one's guessed him yet, nope. Keep trying!
Azarath Cat: It's fine. I've been up late many a time too. Hope you didn't fall off that seat, cuz here it is! I don't know if I'll have time for a PG version after this story. I leave for a church mission soon. So I'm rushing to get this story done as it is. Sorry. Though I'm glad to see you care for your sister. We need more people like that in the world. Enjoy the chapter!
Luna Willows: I honestly don't know. I'm hoping maybe ten or so. Maybe a little more than that depending on a few factors. Enjoy the chapter!
FF8cerberus: I basically had him act like Mento. So you could see what he could have became. Now he is going to fall away from that path. With a little bit of Raven and the Beast's help. Hope you enjoy the chapter!
OMAC001: Yeah. Zatanna's is kind of like hers. Though she doesn't directly control them. She influences their actions. And it's only those four I pointed out at the beginning of the story. Nice guesses though. Keep at it!
Paladin: Thank you. Enjoy the chapter!
lazykara: Done.
romanmark: Hopefully soon.
EchoInTheDark: That poor man will never get old to me. He'll always be the guy who gets all pale at the site of Raven. We'll see how many more awesome moments I can fit in. :). Enjoy!
Since Last Time: Six more favorites, six more follows (Total: 120 favorites, 151 follows)
Updated: December 10, 2016 11:15 P.M.
Disclaimer: I don't own the Titans. Or the references to the Civil War.
Chapter Twenty-Five: Evading the League
Beast Boy and Raven were running/flying down a hallway. Several hallways down from the containment cell Beast Boy had only recently been in. Above them, the ceiling was cracked from the amount of power Raven had wrought. And to the sides, some of the plaster had been shaken off the walls. Showcasing the original bricking of the building inside the walls.
Beast Boy was still shaking slightly from what had just happened a moment ago. When Raven had unleashed the mother of all buttkickings on Superboy himself. Raven herself was completely calm, not even acting tired after the monumental feat she had done. If the Doom Patrol were to ever return, they'd find two new huge holes in their roof.
"Dude! I know he said to make it memorable! But wasn't that just a little overkill to you!?" He yelled at her while they fled down the hallway.
Raven rolled her eyes beside him. "He's half Kryptonian Gar. I'm sure he'll be just fine. Besides, I needed to do something very convincing to make it look like I took him down that easily. And that was the one thing that came to mind short of sending him to hell." She stoically replied.
"Yeah. I get that part. Yay, we finally have someone on our side who sees sense and all that. But turning into a giant dark raven that was a thousand feet tall! I mean, c'mon! I can't even turn into something that big!" He shouted incredulously.
Raven smirked. "Well Garfield. Just think of it as my way of telling you what could happen if you ever try to piss me off." She said.
Beast Boy paled at that, before he looked away feeling slightly guilty. "Right." He said half heartedly at an intersection.
The two turned into the new hallway. Raven turned her face to look at him. "Gar. You do realize I was just kidding. Right?" She asked him.
Beast Boy shrugged as he ran. "I wouldn't really blame ya Rae if you were joking or not. Honestly, I was a real ass to you before. Hell, I'm surprised you didn't send me to another dimension or something of the sort." He said in a light voice.
Raven turned her head to face forward again. "Trust me, there was a couple times I thought about it." Raven stoically said. But with a tint of humor in the background of her voice.
Beast Boy caught it, and his mood instantly lifted. Raven caught onto his mood shift and smiled inwardly. "I bet there was Rae. I bet there was."
…
"Left!" He shouted in a more confident tone this time.
They turned into another corridor. This one actually showing damage from a fight. Like burn marks, craters in the walls, etc. Raven mentally winced at the sight.
"What happened-" Beast Boy started to say.
"I met Starfire." Raven said flatly.
…
"Oh." Beast Boy said.
"Yeah, oh." Raven said.
…
The two were halfway down the hallway.
"Now that I'm thinking about it, Gar, do you know what Starfire meant when she told me I tried to twist her fiance to my demonic desires? I've been thinking about it lately, and it just doesn't make any sense." Raven said.
Beast Boy almost stopped from the shock of her saying that. He knew perfectly why Starfire would say that to her. But he honestly hadn't felt a need to tell Raven up to this point. He wasn't sure he had even wanted to tell her at all before. Since it might risk him becoming a red spot on the wall. A big, sticky red spot.
"Well… um… do you want the simple version? Or the long version?" He asked timidly.
"Simple would do just fine with our current situation Gar." She monotonously replied.
He gulped. Well, simplicity meant bluntness. "Okay then, long story short. Starfire's fiance is Robin, and she somehow believes that you tried to seduce him before we somehow betrayed them." He conveniently left out the part where he was also apparently Raven's lover in Starfire's mind. That would have just been asking for death there.
There was silence on her end, as they continued to run straight past the destruction of the previous hallway. Then came the intersection where Raven hadn't known where to go.
"Straight." Beast Boy said. Trying to keep himself calm.
They continued on. With Raven still being silent. Beast Boy was counting the seconds he had left to live...
…
"Ha… (chuckles)… Haha… (snort)... HAHAHAHA!"
Then, all of a sudden, Raven started to laugh, taking Beast Boy wildly off guard. So much in fact, that he stopped completely. The half demoness also stopped, though it was because she was laughing so hard. She landed on the ground and bent over laughing.
Full, blown, laughing.
"AHAHAHAHA…"
A vase was encased in black, before it shattered. But other than that, no other visible damage was caused. Yet unlike before, Raven didn't stop her laughter at the damage. In fact, she got even louder.
Beast Boy stared at her, his jaw resting on the ground. This was the second time he had ever seen her laugh. Ever.
He pulled his jaw back up. "Um… Rae?" He said unsurely.
Raven was still laughing as she spoke. "Azar! I knew Zatanna twisted our old friend's minds to her will!... But for her to make Starfire actually think… I would ever… go for… dark… obsessive… perfectionist... ROBIN!" She laughed out at the end. Then laughed a little more. "Zatanna really is a true bitch inside and out! I'll give her that!"
Beast Boy stood there for a moment more, just watching her laugh in shock. 'Is she… is she actually… holy crap! She's actually laughing at something I said! I managed to do it again! I made Rae laugh! WOOHOOOOOOO!'
Then he finally had his memory catch up to him, and his accomplishment of the year was thrown from his mind.
"Um. Not sure if you remember this or not. But we're kind of RUNNING FOR OUR ****ING LIVES HERE!" Beast Boy shouted at her while flapping his arms around.
It still took another moment for Raven to calm down. And she had to wipe away tears of mirth from her eyes as she gradually went from laughing, to chuckling. And then she was finally calm.
She floated back into the air. Acting as if nothing had happened. She turned to stoically look at him with blank violet eyes.
"Well don't just stand there Gar. Lead us to that secret escape tunnel out of the city. If that is what it was." She said to him. Beast Boy looked at her with wide eyes, shocked at her 180 turn around. She turned away from him and went down the hallway.
'... Beast, I really have to wonder about why you chose her to be our mate at times.' He thought to himself as he blankly jogged behind Raven down the hallway.
'You heard her laugh master. That alone was music to our ears.' The Beast said to him in a happy tone of voice.
Beast Boy shook his head from side to side. 'Alright. So I like it when she laughs too.'
'I bet you would like more than her laugh master.'
'Oh no, you better not be starting that up-'
"Hey, Garfield. Are you just going to stand there?" Raven called from down the hall. He instantly looked up, surprised that he had just been standing there.
'Yeah master. Are you just going to stand there whilst you talk to yourself again?' The Beast said in a teasing deep tone of voice.
Beast Boy shook his head from side to side to clear it, then chased off after Raven. 'When this is all over-'
'Focus on the present master. You wouldn't want to displease our mate now, would you?' The Beast chided.
'Gah!'
Beast Boy sprinted to catch up to Raven.
The two ended up in a big foyer of sorts at the end of the hallway. There was a grand staircase in it that led to the next two levels of the house. And three different hallways other than the one they came out of. One on their right, and the two others on the opposite side of the room. Opposite the grand staircase was a set of doors that led outside. And in between the hallways against the walls were a couple tables with empty vases on them. Along with a thin coating of dust covering everything.
Beast Boy ran ahead of Raven heading towards the middle of the foyer. He was examining his memory of where they'd need to go next. He suddenly stopped though, and looked around. He instantly had a bad feeling in his gut about the room.
'We're being watched master.' The Beast said to him in a serious tone.
'Yeah, but dude, where are we being watched from…'
He wasn't hearing anything on his senses. And his nose wasn't picking up any other scents in the room besides Raven and the dust that settled over everything. And he could see that the security camera in the corner of the ceiling was broken from the way it was bent. Yet he felt as if a set of eyes was burning into the back of his skull. He growled to himself.
"You sense it too?" Raven asked behind him.
Beast Boy nodded. "Yeah… Are your senses picking up anything Rae?"
Raven had a look of concentration on her face. Then a scowl of frustration. "There's definitely someone. But whoever it is has their mind shielded from me. I can't tell who or where they are." Raven said in an irritated voice she normally had reserved for Beast Boy.
Beast Boy's eyebrows furrowed together. "Alright then. Stay close to me. We're almost there. Hopefully we'll lose whoever is coming after us this way." He said in a confident tone, before he grabbed her pale hand unexpectedly and pulled her along with him to the hallway that was by the staircase.
Since he wasn't looking behind him, he never saw the light blush that appeared on Raven's face. Or the scowl that appeared on her features as she fought back the blush. Yet she still allowed Beast Boy to lead her by the hand out of the foyer.
Two faces suddenly appeared out of the wall by the hallway they had just come through. And they watched the two figures flee into the next hallway, a scowl and a smile were on their evil faces.
They sunk back into the wall without a word. And chased after their prey.
In another part of the manor
Superboy groaned as he finally started to come too. His blue eyes wearily blinked open, and he saw daylight streaming in above him. He smirked to himself.
"Damn, that girl really knows how to hit." He said with a chuckle.
He lifted up the piece of roof from off himself, groaning from the effort. The roof fell to the side of him, and he shakily got to one knee in the middle of the destruction he was in.
"Well, I'm pretty sure this could count as convincing." He said as he looked around himself.
Besides the gaping hole in the ceiling that went two floors up, he had also made a nice impact crater in the floor. Completely demolished the drawer and bed that were in the room from where he skidded. Broken a couple windows from the soundwave of his impact.
In short, the guest room was trashed.
Boom!
To add insult to injury, the door to the room fell to the floor. Superboy's smirk grew wider. Then he winced at the pain he felt in his back and his smirk turned into a scowl.
"Okay, maybe that was a little too much. Damn, I didn't even know she could turn into something that big."
He laid back on the floor, and waited. Eventually, he heard footsteps run in, and then he saw a pair of black, steel tipped boots enter his vision. Along with a pair of also black, yet blue tipped boots. He felt himself get turned over, and let out a groan.
"Easy. I just went through three floors." Superboy sarcastically said.
Blue Beetle looked down at him in concern. "Sorry man. Are you alright?"
"No, I'm peachy. Does it look like I am!" Superboy said with a bit of anger.
Blue Beetle stepped back with his arms raised. "Whoa. Chill out man. I was just asking."
Before Superboy could retort, he saw Robin step into his vision. "Can you tell me what exactly happened to you Connor?" Robin said in a commanding tone.
Superboy turned his scowl at his leader. "I got jumped by the demoness while I was checking to see if the changeling was still contained." He said in his signature voice.
Robin glared back. "She jumped you." He said through gritted teeth.
He pulled out the shattered remains of his communicator. Something he had done while he had deactivated Beast Boy's containment field."Yeah. She disabled my communicator before I could call for help, and then I did try to fight back. But you saw how well that worked out." Superboy groaned in pain at that moment. Very convincingly.
Robin's glare turned into a frown. And then he turned away. "Fine. You couldn't have done anything different Connor… however, that won't stop me from being mad at you for letting them escape. Jaimes, get him to the Doom Patrol's medbay."
Blue Beetle was already helping Superboy to his feet. "Alright." He said, as he helped Superboy out of the room. Robin stayed inside, still frowning.
A good distance outside the room, Blue Beetle smirked. "Make it memorable?" He asked.
Superboy finally laughed. "I have to admit, I never saw that coming." He said with slight pain in his voice.
Blue Beetle chuckled some more. "You think it fooled them as well?"
Superboy chuckled a little more. "If a thousand foot tall Raven doesn't fool them. I doubt nothing would."
The two friends continued on to the medbay. Safe in their say of the matter.
The pair fled down several other hallways. With each one looking about the same as the last. Raven briefly wondered how Beast Boy knew how to navigate all the hundreds of rooms in the manor. And yet again thought that he might have gotten them lost when she thought she saw the same piano room three different times.
But then Beast Boy led her to a spot outside a room. And pulled back a curtain, revealing a set of steps down. That had definitely not been in any of the other areas. She followed him down without a word.
At the bottom, they came out into another hallway. Though as she looked at the wall, she saw instead of wood or granite, it was pure brick. And the ceiling was lower, far lower. So low that she had to run beside Beast Boy in fear of hitting her head on the ceiling.
When they ran down the hallway, Raven was able to look inside an open door and saw what looked like an old washroom. The lights in it were dim, and old. In another hallway, she saw what looked like another kitchen behind an open door. Although it looked older, like fifty to sixty years older.
'Just how old is this place?' She thought as she looked around.
Beast Boy sensed her confusion. "Before Mento's family owned this property long ago, this place used to be a large barracks for the Union troops in the Civil War. This place was actually able to house two thousand soldiers, chefs, nurses, etc. After the war, it fell into disuse. And eventually, his great great grandfather bought the property. He turned most of this bottom part here into servant's quarters. And then he renovated the top part into the manor we see today. Only it's been modernized and changed here and there with each person in the family that owns it. Heck, this place isn't used for much anymore, since we never really had all that many servants." He explained to her.
"Wait… you don't have a clue about the actual significance of the Fourth of July, yet you actually know something about the Civil War?" Raven asked in an impressed tone. The one thing in what Beast Boy had said that she was actually amazed about.
"Hey. I still stand by my belief that the Fourth of July was because the colonists refused to drink the Brit's stupid British tea. But I do know a thing or two about the Civil War Rae. Mento told me like a jillion times about why the escape tunnel under this city was made and kept maintained back then when this was a large barracks. Heck, it's the same reason why his family bought this whole property. Even though this wasn't the home of the Doom Patrol back then, a wealthy family not only needed a large home, but it also needed a way to escape when trouble arised for it."
Raven stayed silent, as she pondered over what Beast Boy had said. He really did know some things that she hadn't even thought about. He really was smarter than he looked.
They entered a hallway unlike all the others. Because unlike every other one they had been in, this one seemed like the brick walls were covered with doors. Each one was a mere five feet apart. The other hallways had had few doors, which were far in between.
This was truly a servant's hallway. And it stretched on for quite a bit.
Beast Boy counted the doors as they ran by.
"Four, five, six…" He mumbled to himself.
Raven stayed silent. Yet she still couldn't shake this feeling at the edge of her senses. She didn't know how, with how far they had ran, but if still felt like they were being… watched. Yet she still couldn't tell from where, or how.
'Any ideas Knowledge?' She thought to herself.
'None yet Raven.' Knowledge replied, almost distractedly.
…
'Wait? Don't you usually have any ideas for me?' Raven thought.
She seemed to have caught Knowledge's attention then. 'Yes, usually… but um, we're kind of dealing with something more important here.' Knowledge said in a nervous tone.
'And what could possibly be more important than potential pursuers?' Raven sarcastically asked.
A different voice spoke up. 'We're wondering leader bitch about whether or not the green beans hand is actually more soft, or if it's more calloused.' Rude spoke.
Raven continued to fly alongside Beast Boy, though she almost let go of his hand at that. 'What?!'
A timid voice spoke up. 'We like how soft his hand feels in ours.' Timid said quietly.
'I think it's actually rather rough. And I would just love to feel those rough hands on our-' Rage started to say, when she was suddenly gagged by another emoticlone. That was what Raven thought had happened at least, since a loud 'Gak!' came from inside her mind.
…
'I'm not even going to try and think about this anymore. If it's only going to lead down that line of conversation.' Raven thought.
'That would be wise. Now would not be a time to have our mind distracted by that.' Wisdom said wisely.
Raven sighed in relief.
'We can allow it to cloud our mind later though.' Wisdom said with a small sigh of happiness.
'Gah! Not you too!'
'Woohoo! Welcome to the club Wisdom!' Happy said happily.
'GAH!'
The two continued down the long hallway. With Raven having to fight off yet another blush. Yet she couldn't help but think now about the way Beast Boy's hand felt!... though she had to admit, it did kind of feel soft. Yet she could also feel the muscles in it that gave it a sort of callousness.
Raven shook her head. 'Azar, I'm even starting to think like them!'
Finally, at thirty-two, Beast Boy stopped them. He let go of her hand and turned to her. The blush was thankfully gone from her face. And it was now blank.
"Can you please phase us through this door Rae?" He asked her seriously, but not in a commanding sort of way like before.
Raven instantly raised her hands, wanting to get it over with, and a black field of energy appeared over the door. Beast Boy stepped in first, followed by Raven. When she came out of the other end and closed the portal, she was met with…
A dark janitorial closet. And a rather small one at that. There was about five feet of space going forward, and two feet of room to either side. The walls were made of some form of brick. And there was barely enough room in there for the mop and the mop bucket. Much less, two teenage superheroes with said items.
Raven moved the tip of the mop from her face. "Gar? This doesn't look like an escape tunnel to me." She said stoically.
Beast Boy looked around for a second in the small space, then grinned. "That's because…" He bent down and moved the mop bucket to the side revealing a small iron ring in the ground. He grabbed it and with a mighty heave, pulled up the trapdoor. "... the escape tunnel is down here Rae." He said to her, as the trap door hit the back wall with a loud clang.
He moved to the side of it, and Raven looked down to see a rusty looking ladder leading down into pure darkness. She couldn't even make out the bottom below, and she had a feeling that Beast Boy with his superior vision couldn't see it either. Outside she was calm as stone. But on the inside, Timid was hiding under Brave's cloak. Shaking silently from fear.
"Um… now that I think about it... wouldn't it be better if I tried to teleport us to our destination Gar?" Raven asked in as calm a voice as she could manage.
Beast Boy looked to her. He was slightly amused at the way she was reacting. He had nearly peed his pants himself the first time Cliff had made him look down this very trapdoor. He had even been down there before a couple times with Mento. And it still scared the crap out of him thinking about what it was like being in total darkness.
"Raven, I would have asked you that earlier if not for two things. One, you don't know where it is I'm taking us, so you can't teleport us there. And two, even if you did Mento warded the property long ago to keep teleportation and stuff like that out. You can still turn into your astral form and all that since one of my old teammates needed to do that, but for us to go outside of the property puts a very big fat target on our backs. And we become very easy targets then."
Raven cursed in her mind at his logic. Beast Boy smirked at her in victory. "Fine. But you go down first." Raven said through gritted teeth.
Beast Boy smirked wider. "What happened to ladies first?" He asked childishly.
Raven growled. "By Azar, if you don't go down there to make sure it's safe, then I'll-"
"Awwww, is my poor little Rae Bear afraid of the dark? I thought you didn't do fear Rae Bear." Beast Boy said in a teasing voice, before he started to giggle.
...
'Master. It's times like this where I'm sad you're the one in control all the time.'
'What do you-'
Raven's next action was very, very justified in her opinion.
She picked up Beast Boy with her powers, and unceremoniously threw him down into the dark tunnel down below. He screamed in fear as he plummeted down into the darkness. Raven watched from up above, waiting to hear if he would hit the ground or not. If he did, then she'd likely have to heal him.
No impact came, but a very agitated voice sounded instead. "Did you have to do that?!"
She chuckled up above at the entrance. Looks like there would be no healing required. "Would you have rather I did my other trick?" She stoically called down.
… "NO!" A very high pitched scream sounded.
"That's what I thought."
'Nobody gets to call me that. Ever.' She thought to herself, before she floated down into the darkness after her friend. Her powers closed the trapdoor above her.
The small room was empty for the space of three seconds.
Then, two figures fully emerged this time from the brick wall to face the trapdoor. One figure was dressed in ancient feminine battle armor, while the other was in a simple pair of tan short shorts and a black t-shirt with a T on her chest. Wonder Woman was scowling as she let go of Terra's hand. While Terra was merely, contemplative.
"So a secret tunnel. They think they can just get away from us that easily. Well-" Wonder Woman started to say.
Terra moved a hand over her mouth, shushing her. "Diana, I don't think you seem to realize what a foolish decision they just made."
Wonder Woman raised her eyebrow at her. Terra smiled almost a little too evilly. "They have put themselves in the middle of my element now. And they have moved to a place where there are no witnesses, no cameras, nothing. As in, we can do… whatever we want to them."
Wonder Woman finally got it, and she grinned evilly as well. Her once heroic mind now agreeing wholeheartedly with the evil blondes idea. "Well then, let us go and finish this." Wonder Woman said evilly.
Terra laughed an evil laugh, before she grabbed Wonder Woman's hand again and absorbed them back into the wall again. Then using her powers, the two of them traveled down through the brick, and then the rock down to the secret tunnel.
'I'm going to have to thank my dad for these new powers. They really do come in handy.' Terra thought to herself as her powers moved her and Wonder Woman through the Earth after the changeling and the demoness.
Raven and Beast Boy were walking along the small dark tunnel. Which was about six feet high, and five feet wide. The whole thing was hollowed out from the bedrock under the city. And the tunnel itself was straight for the most part, with it curving sharply here and there. There was also spider webs along a lot of it. Showing just how old it really was.
Beast Boy had a flashlight that had been stored in a compartment at the bottom of the ladder on in front of him. It's beam gave them some light in the endless darkness. But not enough for them to see that far ahead of them.
The two walked in silence for a bit.
"So how many times did you come down here before?" Raven asked.
Beast Boy shrugged. "I'm not entirely certain. We didn't really use it much. If at all. The only reason why we kept this active was in case we needed an escape from the manor. So I'd estimate I've only been down here about maybe three or four times. Just to study the route."
Raven thought on it. "So did you ever walk all the way to the end of it."
He nodded. "Of course. I've also been able to see what's stored at the end of it too. Once we get there, you'll really be in for a surprise."
Raven rolled her eyes. "Can you tell me how long it is then? I'd rather not have another experience like up in the city."
"Sorry Rae. But this goes all the way outside the city limits into the mountains or forest somewhere. So I'd say it's probably ten, maybe fifteen miles. I'm honestly not sure since I've never gotten to the area without using the tunnel." Beast Boy said.
Raven groaned. "Wouldn't you know the distance when you flew back." She asked.
"I never flew back from the area Rae. Mento didn't allow me to do that, just in case I was captured and... interrogated on a mission. I wouldn't be able to give the enemy any info on our headquarters secrets and… yeah." He said in a pained voice at the end. He unconsciously rubbed his neck.
Raven stared at him in the darkness, her violet eyes unblinking. "Gar… were you ever captured before?"
Beast Boy stayed silent for almost a whole minute. "Yeah… Why do you ask?" He finally said.
Raven winced for a moment. Remembering what her soul self had seen when she found her friend in his cell. She decided to just be blunt though. "Well, I saw that nightmare you had the night before." She admitted.
Beast Boy tensed in response, but didn't lash out as she had expected. Instead, his shoulders slumped a little. 'Rage did say Raven was going to remember some of what she saw. I guess I was expecting her to know it.' He thought to himself.
"I know." He looked to her then. "And no, that wasn't from a time I was captured. That was… just something from my past that I try to forget." He said sadly.
The two continued to walk on. Raven wasn't sure how far they had gone now, but the tunnel opened up a little bit, with it now being seven feet high. Raven gratefully levitated a few inches off the ground beside Beast Boy. Giving her aching legs a rest.
"Was that one of the reasons why you didn't want to talk to me about your past before Gar?" Raven asked softly.
He nodded his head. "I know you think your past was messed up Rae. And I wish I could say that was the worst thing I had to go through in my life… but it's not. These powers I have might seem like a gift now, but back then… I couldn't imagine having a bigger curse placed on my back, even if I tried."
…
The two walked/floated on in silence...
…
Raven suddenly gripped his hand. She mentally decided then that it was soft to her. Not calloused. Simply muscled.
He turned to face her, and he saw her staring hard at him. "Gar. A wise friend once told me that you shouldn't blame yourself for what happened in the past. That he would do anything to help me to move on from mine. Despite how horrible it was." She gave his hand a squeeze. "Now I'm saying the same thing to you now. If, you ever want to talk about it, or if you ever need help, come to me. I'll be there for you. Just don't keep it bottled up like I did. I feel so much better now, ever since… you figured out what I went through. And I want to repay you for helping me."
Beast Boy looked away from her piercing gaze. "Rae, I already did talk about it once. And-"
"Gar." He looked to her again at her harsh tone of voice. "Please. I need you to remember I'm not her. I'm not Terra. I'm not ashamed of what you were put through… hell, I'd say it makes you look tougher in my eyes." She said honestly at the end.
Beast Boy stared at her confused. "Tougher?"
Raven rolled her eyes at him. "Seriously Gar. I don't know anyone really who has had their limbs chopped off like that. You've been forced through so many different things, a lot more than what I saw that night. Yet you came out of it smiling and joking. You have every reason to be evil in my opinion from what I saw. Yet you chose to be a hero. That takes a tough man in my opinion to take the worst in life, and yet come out to fight back against it." She said to him honestly..
Beast Boy thought on it, amazed at her words. And then he finally laughed. "Yeah. I bet there aren't too many other people who can say they had their arms and legs cut off almost two hundred times and lived to tell the tale." He joked at last with a smile on his face.
Raven rolled her eyes again, but continued to hold his hand. "Yeah, but I hope you'd spare me the gruesome details when you tell me. Because I think even full blooded demons would shudder at that experience." She said sarcastically to him.
He laughed in response.
They were alright now.
The tunnel eventually curved sharply to the left, almost like a turn. Beast Boy and Raven turned the corner, and came out in a large spacious cavern. The ceiling was dozens of feet above, with the walls a little less than twenty feet to either side of them. There was also stalagmites and stalactites on the floor and ceiling, showing this was a natural cave. The end of the cave was shrouded in darkness. Too far away for the flashlight to see.
Beast Boy smiled in relief, as he led him and Raven across the rocky floor.
"Okay, we're almost there Rae. If my memory is correct, we just have to go about two more miles." He said relieved.
Raven looked around in shock at that. Had they really just gone almost ten miles with their conversation? It hadn't felt that long to her.
"Really?" She asked.
"Yep, we just have to hit one last curve, and then…" He suddenly trailed off. His ears on the sides of his head started to twitch.
Raven looked to him. "What is it-" She started to say.
Then his eyes widened. And suddenly, Raven found herself pushed through the air, her violet eyes widening in surprise at the action. "Gar!" She gasped in shock when her body hit the ground fifty feet away.
And that's when she felt it. The tremors in the ground.
KCKCKCKCKCK… … BOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMPLOOM!...
A cloud of dust appeared in the air, making Raven cough as she covered her mouth. She turned around to look behind her, and saw the cavern behind her had collapsed. A cave in had just happened.
Plop… Clop… Plop...
A rock that had been part of the top of the cave in fell down the side she was on. It rolled, and hit its way down the new wall, until it laid at the feet of the stunned Raven.
After a moment, she finally gathered her bearings. And realized Beast Boy wasn't beside her.
Raven got on her feet and scrambled over to the wall. "Gar! Gar! Can you hear me?! Are you okay?!" She shouted in as calm a voice as she could through the rubble.
There was a cough on the other side. Raven mentally sighed in relief at the sound. "Yes Rae. I'm still okay. You?"
"Yeah, I'm fine, I guess." Raven said to herself.
"Do you know if you could make a portal through the rock?" Beast Boy asked.
Raven put her hands on it, and tried to calm her racing heart enough to focus on her powers. She spread her energy over the big wall of rock in front of her, trying to make a portal form. But it wasn't working like with the door.
That was impossible. It was like something was fighting against her powers.
Raven stopped trying in frustration. "I can't!" She yelled through the rock.
She heard Beast Boy drop a curse word on the other side. "Alright. I'm going to try and find a way to dig through this then. Hopefully it won't collapse the rest of the cavern on top of us." He said through the rock.
"Hopefully?" Raven asked sarcastically.
"You know what I- Gah!" He suddenly exclaimed.
Raven jumped back at his high pitched voice. Good thing too, as someone melted right out of the rock in front of her. Someone who embodied the very definition of evil. She gasped in surprise as her nemesis appeared from the rock. That was impossible though! She never had that power before!
"Well hello Raven. Do you know how long everyone has been looking for you?" Terra asked evilly, before she lifted a stalagmite from off the ground beside her with her powers, and sent it flying at Raven.
Somewhere in the air over the Rockies
Zatanna gripped her forehead, a massive headache had formed in it quite some time ago. She was going sub sonic in the air somewhere over Wyoming now by her estimate. About two hours away from Midway City. And this damn headache wasn't helping.
"Niap nessel." She tried saying.
It didn't work to alleviate her headache. Or the aches in her muscles from the strain she'd been putting on herself lately.
"Damn, I need some rest when I get back. I can't meet with the changeling in this condition." She said to herself. While she tried to keep her focus in the air.
That was the only thing keeping her in a somewhat good mood now. With the capture of Beast Boy, Raven was sure to be found soon. And then she'd have what she'd need to get her father back. She smiled at the thought. How long had it been since she was able to see him. To actually speak to him. Without that freaking Lord of Order controlling him the whole time.
Suddenly, her communicator started to chirp. She groaned, desperately hoping it wasn't an alert of some villain escaping or something like that like the last few times. Only, she was met with Red Tornado's face.
"This is a message to all available members of the League. Beast Boy has escaped containment, with the help of the demoness. Any available members need to converge on Midway City now. While we still have a chance at catching them." His robotic voice said. Before his image disappeared from off the screen.
Zatanna scowled internally. "Idiots!" She forced her headache to the back of her mind. She couldn't be late again. She had to get the demoness, now! She couldn't wait any longer!
"Retsaf!" She shouted.
A loud boom happened behind her as Zatanna broke the sound barrier. She was not going to allow the demoness to escape this time.
Author's Notes:
Was originally going to do the fight scene this chapter. But then I saw how long it was getting, and wanted to get this done. So voila! Next chapter will be pure action and other madness!
Till Next Time
Allen
