Ch. 4: Her Decision Pt. 2
Raven's bloodshot eyes shot open just as Slade dislodged his blade from the young girl's stomach.
"Oh my Azar…" Raven wretched in between sobbing breaths. The sorceress wheezed as she tried to calm herself.
She was on the ground now, her shaking knees brought close to her chest to provide some comfort. Her arms were wrapped firmly around her legs, a futile attempt to soothe herself.
The yellow lights of the parking garage still buzzed around her, like little flies trying to crawl their way into her ears. Faint sirens from police cars whispered through the garage.
He shouldn't have had the ability to have that much control over me. He shouldn't…
"Oh god…" The sorceress was practically choking on the sobs that found themselves stuck in her throat. Her eyes burned fiercely, and her neck ached from the amount of shaking her body was going through.
Panic swirled in Raven's stomach like a swarm of angered wasps, and she felt the nausea creep its way up to her already burning throat.
In the distance she heard loud, grunting metal followed by Beast Boy calling her name.
"...the more of yours you risk to loose, Raven…" Slade's voice ebbed and pounded through her mind as she felt her heartbeat sync in rhythm with the beating in her head.
"No…" The empath hummed, so quiet she couldn't quite tell if the sound had actually escaped her lips. "This is my choice. I can...will...decide what happens…" On the final word Raven exhaled a deep breath. Her heartbeat became noticeably quieter, and her neck and spine relaxed considerably.
The sorceress moved to her knees and took another deep breath.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Raven's mind turned the roaring fire into fierce fuel. Slade's voice no longer panicked her, rather it enraged her.
Whatever the right choice of action may be, she was sure as hell going to find out.
She stood tall, her onyx cape draped over her shoulders with comforting security. She knew what she had to do.
"These are my friends, and this is my city." Her voice was dark and purred like a lion after finishing a good meal. She turned swift on her heel and made her way out from the garage.
"I'm finishing this."
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"What do you mean I can't speak to her!? I'm the one who carried her here! She's the only one who knows what happened to Raven!" Beast Boy's voice was high pitched and weak. It practically cracked after every syllable.
"They just got her into stable condition Beast Boy." The leader's masked eyes narrowed and he took a step closer to the green boy. "When she feels better in a couple days you can speak to her. With her mother's permission of course."
Robin stood across from the green titan in the lobby of the hospital. Hushed whispers echoed through the almost vacant building.
"She was stabbed?..Oh my god, what's happening?..."
"I heard it was a man in a ma-"
"..we aren't in danger are we?"
"Pfft some heroes they a-"
"What about my son?..."
"This is crazy man! It's like she disappeared!" Beast Boy's voice was softer now, but his hands waved feverishly in the air to try and prove a point. "She won't answer her freaking com! What if he took h-"
"Beast!" Robin's voice boomed. The leader wrapped his hand around the green boy's arm and ushered him out of the two sliding doors. "You're causing a lot more panic than we need right now." Beast Boy attempted to whine and interject, but the leader wasn't finished yet.
"Go back to the tower. See if Raven made it back there. If not, just hang tight until I get there."
"Dude…"
"Starfire and Cyborg are on their way back now. Meet them there and stay put."
Growling through his kanines, Beast Boy morphed into his wolf once more and darted across the street toward the tower.
What the hell? Why doesn't he care? This is Raven we're talking about! This isn't even the first time this happened! Not since…
Beast Boy was on autopilot. His paws crushed the earth beneath him as he ran through the woods of Jump City. His mind fogged with flashbacks to the last time this happened. The whole reason why Raven was hurt to begin with. It was his fault.. Beast Boy's paws faded into two sneakered feet pounding down an isolated alleyway…
"He took her Robin! I'm following them now.." Each breath burned the changeling's chest. His breaths became ragged huffs and he sprinted down the sidewalk. His shadow followed close behind him, birthed from the fluorescent street lamps. "I don't know where-"
A high-pitched beeping noise caught the boy's attention. His ears focused toward a garbage can near the opening of an alley.
"Shit.." Stopping dead in his tracks the changeling morphed into a large tortoise and buried himself in his shell. The beeping stopped and in its place a loud blast echoed through the emptied streets.
The explosion had ripped the side of the building to pieces, chunks of brick and concrete bounced off the turtle's shell.
A dust cloud had formed from the debris. Beast Boy shifted back into his human form and he coughed and rubbed his eyes as he ran through the plume.
"No! Don't…!" Raven's voice bounced off the walls of the cold, brick buildings.
"Raven!" Beast Boy cried. The green boy pursued further down the alley, his sneakers crushing all trash that littered the way.
As he moved further down the alley, he noticed how dark it actually was. The moon's glow wasn't able to penetrate the large walls of the buildings, and the street lamps only lit the very entrance to this back path.
Beast Boy used his thumb to click on his communicator's flashlight function. The small beam of light barely chased away the darkness.
"Raven…" Beast Boy's voice faltered when a glowing red shape began to brighten. It's red hues danced on the building's walls.
He couldn't seem to get his feet to move any further.
"You decide Raven! This is your decision to make." A man's voice permeated from where the now fierce burning crimson came from.
Beast Boy's skin began to tingle, and slowly grew cold. His communicator had dropped to the ground when he was no longer able to feel his fingertips.
"What the hell…" The changeling tried to move, but it was like he was frozen in time. His hands, feet, even his head refused to cooperate with what his brain was shouting at them to do.
"Leave him out of this." Raven's smooth voice sounded like a feral growl. Slade clicked his tongue.
"Ah dear, I don't believe you're in any position to give orders, are you now..?"
Beast Boy suddenly felt his body start to move. It was like the air around him had disappeared and he slowly levitated towards the center of the darkness; where the pulsating red began.
Beast Boy felt the sweat on his forehead turn to ice, and his breathing became sparse. He was scared.
"Dear, Garfield…" beast shuddered as the man hummed his name. "She'd rather sacrifice herself for you, for everyone, rather than accepting my bargain…." Beast Boy was now able to see what was actually happening in the center of the darkness.
The masked man knelt on top of Raven. His towering form crushed her from above as his knee was pressed hard against her back. One of his gloved hands was wrapped around the empath's neck; the other was aimed at Beast Boy's frame.
Red, glowing marks seemed to melt through Slade's body. His burning, crimson eye was trained on the changeling that was now in the mercy of his grasp.
"Wouldn't it be a pity Raven…" The empath now squirmed underneath the man's weight. Her breathing was labored, and she could feel the small rocks slice into her purpling face. She whimpered as she felt his weight bear down on the right side of her ribs.
Tearing his gaze from Slade's stare, Beast Boy glanced at Raven. Her pale skin was turning a sickly purple color, and he knew he was running out of time.
"...if you couldn't save him?"
Beast Boy felt as though he was in a trance. All of the oxygen was removed from within his lungs, and he felt weightless. As Slade closed his hand, Beast Boy felt himself losing consciousness.
Stars danced across his vision, and Raven's voice hummed in his head, "Azarath Metrion Zinthos..."
Just as quickly as darkness overtook his vision, Beast Boy was woken up by a different masked figure.
"Beast Boy!" The Titan leader leaned over the green changeling and shook his shoulder.
"Wake up Sleeping Beauty," Cyborg's thick, sarcastic tone boomed through the alley. Comforting and familiar.
"Where's Raven?" The changeling shifted himself in place. He was pushing himself up from the ground as Robin answered.
"She's fine Beast Boy."
Beast Boy shook his head and a frustrated 'huff' escaped from his muzzle. 'Fine'… Why does everyone keep saying that?
The green boy allowed a growl erupt from his teeth as he shifted back into his human self. He was standing near the open mouth of the lake that surrounded Titans Tower.
Scuffing a rock into the water, the boy looked up at the glowing beacon of light. The proud standing 'T' illuminated the water, it's lights dancing off of the calm glass surface. The changeling lowered his head and stared at the moon mirrored on the water. Anxiety swirled around his stomach as he felt his core tighten and contract with nerves.
With a deep intake of air, Beast Boy headed toward the tower.
He felt his stomach drop as his eye caught the sight of one of the room's lights turn off.
Raven's room.
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"Friend Raven? Are you sure you do not wish to talk? Robin said Beast Boy didn't know wha-"
Starfire's voice seeped through the empath's door like smoke. Her high pitch voice filled Raven's room.
"Starfire." Raven had gotten back to the Tower before Star and Cyborg arrived. She padded quietly through the tower as to make sure there were no invisible demons hiding in the shadows to find her.
She finished putting the final book in her knapsack as Starfire approached her door.
"I just really need some sleep right now. I'll talk with you tomorrow." Raven tightened the drawstring on her bag and slung it over her shoulder. "Right now, I'm going to bed. Goodnight Starfire."
Raven heard a small whine of disappointment from beyond her door, followed by soft footsteps disappear down the hall.
"Okay friend. Goodnight Raven."
The sorceress sighed as she looked once more at herself in the mirror that hung on the back of her door. She had opted to change into more civilian clothes in order to blend in. She bore dark washed jeans (which were littered with holes), mostly covered by a long-hanging grey sweatshirt (which incidentally was one of Beast Boy's.)
Her mauve hair was hiding under a black beanie, go figure- another one of Beast Boy's.
The bag that clung to her shoulder felt uncomfortably lighter than expected - The sorceress had enchanted this bag years ago when she first came to Earth. It had an unlimited ability to hold whatever items were put in it, without adding or removing any weight to it.
The empath stepped toward her bay window, opening it slightly. She closed her eyes as the cool, misty wind passed over her face. Her hands shook slightly with anticipation. Guilt and sadness swirled through her veins. She truly wished there was a way to fight this. But, alas, she had to go alone.
Her mind played through everything she packed for the final time. There was no returning to grab anything forgotten.
Her vanity mirror, some spell books and extra clothes were some of the necessities.
Her left hand clutched the piece of paper hidden in her sweatshirt pocket. These were her final words to her team. Her family. Beast Boy.
Stepping slightly back from the window, Raven tucked the piece of paper into the wooden frame.
"Alright guys," her voice was soft, but the sound seamlessly rolled off her tongue. "See ya later."
With a short glance back, the lights in her room turned off, and the candles she lit died out.
Now encased in growing darkness, the sorceress ducked out of her window. Her body formed the shape of raven, and she flew through the clear sky with the moon illuminating her wings.
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Surprise! Early Update! I just go so excited with what's going on now in this story I had to write more! Thanks so much for reading! All of the reviews and comments are always super duper appreciated!
As always, you guys are awesome.
See you next time!
~SabrinaLee