"Alright, we're clear on the plan?" Robin asked the others. The other Titans nodded.
They watched as Plasmus picked up a car, and people scattered as he threw at it a nearby building.
"Titans, go!" Robin called out, and together they charged. Robin got his attention with three exploding birdarangs, causing him to stumble as his leg fell apart. It quickly grew back, and Plasmus let out a roar and charged at the boy wonder.
He didn't get very far, because Starfire flew close to the ground and uppercutted him, causing him to stand up and wobble backwards. Cyborg started laying into the creature with his sonic cannon, and Beastboy took the form of Bull and charged, knocking the monster down to the ground. Just as Plasmus was falling back, Beastboy changed into a bird and flew away from the impact.
"Raven, now!" Robin called out.
Raven nodded, closing her eyes. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" Her soul-self appeared when she cast her magic, and she flew towards Plasmus. "Go to sleep!" She thought as she forced Plasmus back to his human form. As a monster, his mental defenses were basically zilch, so it didn't take long to force him into a deep slumber.
"Alright Raven!" Cyborg cheered as soon as Raven's soul-self returned to her body. "Finished him so quickly that we don't even have to shower when we get back home." The other Titans all approached her as the police rolled in, ready to take Plasmus back to jail. Cyborg bent over so he was at eye-level with Raven. "C'mon I'll buy a victory shake."
"No thanks." Raven said. "I've already eaten." She pulled her hood down, brushing some stray debris off her shoulder.
"Uh, no you haven't. I've been in the common room all day, and no else has been there 'cept me" Beastboy said. "Come on, you don't have to go back to your room do you?"
"I don't have to. But I want to." Raven said as she took to the air. She got above the rooftops and spotted the tower, then started flying back. Admittedly it was a pleasantly cool day out, so she might stay on the roof instead of going straight back to her room. It might be enjoyable to meditate outside for once, instead of in her stuffy room with a bunch of candles lit.
"Raven!"
"Woah!" If it were possible to trip while flying, Raven was sure she'd done exactly that. Starfire had appeared in front of her from seemingly nowhere, scaring the bejeezus out of her. Once she'd regained her balance, she turned to Starfire and asked, "What is it?" Surely Plasmus had been safely carted away by now.
"I was wondering... well hoping rather, that you would like to accompany me… on a journey of shopping?" She asked, tapping the ends of her index fingers together and looking at Raven with one eye closed.
"No." Raven started flying past her.
"Pleaaaase!" Starfire whined as she caught up to Raven. "You have become rather distant, and all of our friends are scared!" Raven stopped, turning back to Starfire. "We do not know what troubles you Raven, but we want to keep your companionship." She flew closer and put her hands on Raven's shoulders. "Please?" She asked once more.
~Nevermore~
"That. was. adorable." Wisdom said as she looked over at Timid, Anger, and Bravery.
"Agreed."
"I have an idea." Bravery said. "Let's go with her."
"Why?" Timid asked.
"Because we're all sick of being cooped up Raven's room!" Bravery exclaimed. "It's boring and you've gotten your way for far too long." Bravery turned to Anger. "I know you agree with me! Wouldn't you rather the big sister get out and do something?"
"I agree with Bravery." Wisdom said. "Perhaps this depression spell has gone on for too long."
"...Hmph." Anger turned its back to the others. "Do as you please. At this point, she's outnumbered anyways." She motioned to Timid. "I could care less."
~Above Jump City~
Raven sighed as she felt sorrow overcome her. "I guess…" She mumbled. Starfire hugged her with the force of a truck ramming a concrete barrier, then proceeded to divebomb towards the ground.
"Magnificent!" She exclaimed, laughing mirthfully. They stopped just before they hit ground, and Raven wondered if it was Starfire's goal today to fly up to people and scare them when the crowd below them jumped out of the way. "Come, let us venture forth!" She grabbed Raven's head and lead them through the crowd towards Jump City's shopping district. "Excuse me, pardon me, coming through please!"
Raven sighed. She was starting to wonder if this was a good idea after all.
~Hollow~
"Starfire, we've gone into every store twice now! You haven't bought anything; what is it your looking for?" Raven asked as she and Starfire left a dress shop. "Don't you already have plenty of regular clothes besides your uniform?"
"The perfect dress!" Starfire said, as though it were simply a matter of course.
"Well, you're not going to find a good dress Forever 21." Raven pointed out. Then she stopped. Was there some sort of event going on she didn't know about? "Wait, why do you need a dress?" She asked as Starfire led her into another shop.
"Robin said he was taking me somewhere special soon, since it's going to be sixth months since we have begun the dating."
All of Raven's emotions groaned, and she rolled her eyes. Raven was sure she could hear Anger yelling. Even so, she had a duty as Starfire's friend to help her pick out a dress. "Did he say anything beyond that?" She asked after a moment. "Or just that he was taking you somewhere special?"
In a nearby vending machine, several coke cans spontaneously exploded. Raven clenched her fists to keep her powers under control.
"No, he said he wanted it to be a surprise and to wear something nice." Starfire blushed. "Well, he said nicer than what I normally wear."
"Uh huh." Raven stopped Starfire, pointing across the street. "We haven't tried there yet."
Starfire followed her finger to a store sign that read, Monica's Dress & Jewelry Store. She smiled, and they crossed the street, walking into the shop. "Good afternoon!" She greeted the clerk behind the counter, presumably Monica. "I was wondering if you could help me find a dress for a date I have soon."
Monica nodded vigorously and smiled. "I sure can! What kind of date is it?" Monica stepped around counter.
"A special one." Starfire held up a hand. "But I do not know the exact details of it."
"Oh-hoh, a surprise?" Monica covered her mouth with her hand. "I always have young girls come in and tell me this. Come along, I have just the thing." Starfire followed Monica to the back of the store, and Monica continued talking about all the girls who'd come in with similar stories.
"I'll be here." Raven mumbled. She sat down on a nearby leather armchair, crossing one leg over the other. She focused on trying to quell the emoticlones complaining inside her head. It wasn't easy. Wisdom was defending Bravery since it was getting chewed out by Anger and Timid, which was odd considering the two never teamed up. She could feel the other emotions watching and debating, but so far it seemed as if those four were the main problems. Starfire and Monica would be back before she could go into Nevermore and quell the chaos completely, so for now she elected to try and focus on something else so her powers wouldn't blow the windows out of their frames.
Raven passed the time counting down from 100, but Starfire eventually returned. "How do I look?"
She was wearing a white, sleeveless, boat neckline dress that stopped just above her knees. Instead of wearing her regular boots, Monica had given her a pair of heels to walk around in. She twirled, and Raven half expected the back to be open, but it wasn't.
"You look wonderful, Starfire." It was the truth. "I'm sure he'll like it." No matter how much it hurt to say.
Starfire smiled brightly and turned back to Monica. "Does it come in purple?" She asked.
"Oh, I'm sorry darlin'. I only have that dress in white. If you were willing to wait a few days, I could order one in on express-" Monica started, but Starfire grabbed her arms and started shaking her in desperation.
"Oh please! This would mean so much to me if you could have the purple dress in by Saturday!"
"I-I-I'll se-e-e-e what I can do!" Monica gasped as Starfire stopped shaking her. "Just give me your phone number and I'll call you with the details."
Starfire nodded, giving the landline to the tower and paying for the two day delivery on the purple dress. They said goodbye to Monica and left the store.
~Three days later~
Raven lay in bed, the covers pulled up to her waist. She'd been tossing and turning all night, but couldn't seem to get comfortable. She felt… hot. But the tower was air conditioned, and she'd even grabbed the fan out of the closet down the hall and brought it back to her room. Even so, she still felt hot and uncomfortable.
This was one of the times when she'd elected to sleep in something other than her uniform. She put on a tank top and comfortable pajama pants, even though she felt better off in her regular attire.
She was starting to wonder if the clothes were the problem at all. She'd gotten changed, turned the fan on, but Raven still felt hot and dizzy, sweat dripping off her brow as she shifted in bed again. "Am I getting sick?" She thought. "Maybe I've got a fever."
No, that couldn't be the case. Her immune system was incredibly strong thanks to her demonic heritage, so the only that could get her sick was something supernatural. And those types of things tended to be easily identifiable, so the lack of them meant she couldn't count them as a possibility.
"What is going on?" She was certain she'd never felt this way before. The heat seemed strongest at her core, and she rubbed her legs together as she stretched. That's when she felt it, unable to stop her face from turning red after realizing what was going on. "Arousal? Why am I…."
She felt phantom hands on her body, hot breath on her neck, and shivered uncontrollably. A few books floated into the air, flapping like bird wings before falling back to the ground. She felt the phantom touch again, in other places, and this time heavier objects started falling to the floor.
Raven stood up, going over to her window and sitting down in front of it. She needed to get herself under control before she destroyed half her room. "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos... Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos... Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos... Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos... Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos…"
She opened her eyes, and saw Nevermore. And the other emotions were all arguing, as usual.
"This is disgusting!" Timid cried.
"How dare he?!" Anger snarled, summoning a demonic hand and ripping a tree out of the ground. "I will not stand for this!" The emotion threw the tree away, and all the others ducked as it soared overhead. "You!" Anger flew over to Raven, getting right in her face. "Do something. Now."
"By all means, tell us what you have mind." Raven said sarcastically.
"I say we march to his room and join the fun!" Bravery said.
"No."
"I doubt he'd refuse."
"Then you must be dumber than you act." Raven said. "We need to find a way to stop his feelings from transferring over to us." The others looked at her, nodding. "We can't just tell Robin not to have sex. I doubt he'd listen." She mumbled, "Boys…"
"Perhaps we should try strengthening our defenses?" Timid asked. "I-I mean, we've been able to block out his feelings of love for Starfire by meditating. Couldn't we just-"
"I'm afraid not." Wisdom spoke up, cutting her off. "This isn't an emotion. This is a physical feeling, one we've always felt since this connection between he and us was formed."
True, any time Robin had been hurt in battle or whenever he'd training, Raven had felt a dull impact ringing throughout her body as well. It didn't cause her pain, but she was always aware of just how he'd felt both physically and emotionally ever since the day she'd delved into his mind.
"So what do you suggest?" The other three emotions asked.
"Well…" Wisdom looked at Raven with a twinge of sadness, "We have to sever the connection."
A shadow appeared, and two dolls appeared from within. They bore the likeness of Robin and Raven, with an iron chain connecting them. The chain itself was rusted, and looked almost… frozen.
Raven felt her stomach drop. She took a step back. It was one thing to stop feeling what Robin felt, but to sever her connection to him completely… That was too much. "No." She shook her head. "I won't. I can't." Her voice cracked on that last word, and her fingernails dug into her palms, hard enough to draw blood.
"Look at this." Wisdom motioned to the chain. "This isn't healthy. This is damaged, and it can't be repaired. Not at this point." Wisdom sighed, looking down at the ground. "I know you don't like the idea but… I think, if you were to severe this connection, it might be easier for us to let go of our feelings for him."
"No…" Raven couldn't bring herself to look away from the rusted chain.
"Happy is gone. And nothing's changed." Wisdom insisted, walking over to Raven. "This is part of the problem. It's poisoning us, and we can't do anything about it. Only you can." Wisdom sighed, looking down at the ground. "It doesn't mean that we can't still be his friend. Maybe one day, we can restore it. But for now…"
Raven's right raised itself against her will. She watched as her hand was enwreathed in shadow, and the middle chain link was covered in a similar substance.
The connection between her and Robin was something she cherished. Ever since it had been formed, she felt like someone could relate to her, like someone could understand her. Like she was close to someone. Raven had never felt close to anyone else, not like she did when she thought about Robin.
The connection had been there for almost two years, growing stronger and stronger with each passing day. It had been a lifeline for Raven, something she could be sure of no matter what.
And with a thought, it was severed.
In the waking world, Raven saw her reflection in the window, and she wondered why it was crying.