Chapter XI - Rift's Pawns
I watched as Garfield fondled a bell that hung in front of a door of a restaurant. I noticed a brief smile that disappeared as quickly as it had come. He walked away from it. I was tempted to ring the bell, but stopped myself and quickened my pace to catch up to him. We walked side by side together.
Noticing that he seemed to want a small break from the story, I knew not to pester him about it until he was ready to proceed. But there was a thought—an inkling of a question in my mind that I couldn't quite shake off. I decided to ask him.
"Garfield," I began. "Where… where's Raven now?"
He suddenly stopped in his tracks and set his eyes on me, gazing at me for some time before continuing his stroll. He didn't seem to want to answer my question.
"Why—why isn't she here?" I pressed on. "Did—did something happen to her?"
He let out a heavy sigh. "The story you've heard so far," he finally said, "must seem so great. Like a fairy tale or a movie. But the truth is…" he looked directly into my eyes, "everything that happened since then was not what I expected."
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"What I mean is I've done things—horrible, horrible things—that I could never forgive myself for doing. And I—I'm not sure if I have the strength to tell you." He paused for a while as we walked in the cloudy night. "It happened when we were 21," he started. "Just after our three-year anniversary. It started with a death…"
…
– Three Years Later –
A man dressed in dark clothes exited the private jet, which had recently completed its trip from Jump City to Gotham City. The man quickly entered a black limousine, unseen in the dark night, and waited as the vehicle drove to its destination—a dark alley between an old theater and a bank. The man tipped his hat in acknowledgement of the driver as he left the car and made his way down the alley. With little effort, he found a small metal door and knocked three times, paused, then knocked four more times. The door slowly opened as a large man in a black trench coat appeared.
"What is your business?" he bellowed.
The man in black said simply, "That is none of your concern." The guard responded by pulling out a large triple barrel revolver, aiming it exactly between the other man's eyes. Unflinching, the man in black quickly struck the guard's wrists, disarming him and allowing the man to give a swift kick to the hip and a fatal blow on the neck. The guard's lifeless body fell to the ground, his neck now twisted in an unnatural angle. The man in black slipped inside.
He followed the torch-lit tunnel further down and down into the Gotham Underground. A guard dog immediately barked as it sensed his presence, but a shot from the triple barrel revolver was enough to silence it permanently. Some other guards, alerted by the fact that the man had come unaccompanied, immediately attacked him and were either met with a bullet or a fist.
It wasn't long until the man had come to a large, square room filled with many men dressed in black cloth that covered their entire bodies except their eyes. The man came unfearful, even daring to give a little smirk underneath his black and orange mask as he beckoned them to attack him.
One by one the assassins came, and one by one they disarmed and knocked out by the man, who took care not to severely injure or kill them. Kill off too many and they would become useless. Fearing he would end up hurting too many of the assassins, the man decided to make his point clear. Targeting one of the biggest assassins in the room, he immediately ran towards him and dodged an attack, swiftly coming up behind the assassin and pushing him against a wall. Disarming the assassin by kicking as sword out of his hand and distracting him by bashing the side of his face with the revolver, the man in black shoved the assassin's face into the concrete wall and dragged it against the wall as easily as if he were grating cheese. The cornered assassin began screaming in pain as his black mask was ripped off by the concrete and a trail of blood began to appear on the wall. He struggled to free himself but the other man's grip was simply too strong. He knew that trying to escape would only result in him breaking his neck and dying.
The torture produced its desired effect; the other assassins promptly ceased their attacks and backed off. Satisfied, the man in black freed the man and let him fall onto the floor, clutching the side of his face.
"Enough!" a voice pierced through the room as a man dressed in a dark robe entered. Walking straight towards the attacker, the man addressed him, "You have made quite the impression. I assume you already know who I am if you have journeyed all the way here and killed half of my guards."
"Indeed I do, Ra's al Ghul," the man in black said. "Your assassins are of some use to me."
"And who are you exactly?" the leader of the League of Shadows replied.
"My name is Slade Wilson," the man in black answered. "Formerly known as the assassin Deathstroke."
"Deathstroke…" al Ghul said, stroking his beard in thought. "Yes, that name is familiar to me. But the question remains of why I should help you?"
"Let's just say this is an offer you cannot refuse," Slade replied.
"And why not? What are you going to do? Kill me? Just so you know, I have a self-destruct mechanism imbued in my brain that will destroy this base in an instant. You will die a most painful death should you try to kill me."
"Yes, I am aware of that," Slade agreed coolly. "But I feel I have an offer that you cannot refuse. If you agree with my proposition, I feel I might have some very value secrets about Batman that you would be very interested in."
"Batman?" al Ghul's eyebrows raised in interest. "Well then, Mister Wilson, what kind of mission do you propose for my assassins?"
"I have a few targets that will be coming soon," Slade said as he slipped to Ra's al Ghul a photograph of a man with unruly brown hair, moustache, and small beard. "His name is Raphael. He's the main target."
"And how exactly do you want us to… deal with him?"
Slade smiled underneath his mask. "It's simple," Rift's voice echoed in his mind. "Kill him and all those with him by whatever means necessary."
"It's simple," Slade repeated. "Kill him and all those with him by whatever means necessary."
…
Raven stared into her vanity mirror and examined herself. There were times like these when she wondered whether or not she was truly worthy as a girlfriend. She was not beautiful; certainly not with her gray skin that looked like it was long dead, or her freakishly purple hair that was cut like a plain Jane's. Worst of all was her dark and demeaning personality, which she felt was both a gift and a curse. Sure, she had learned who to trust and who to be wary of from a very young age because of her withdrawn personality and she had found a few people who could accept her as she was, but at the same time she sometimes felt her cold character made her seem uncaring and unfeeling, something she long learned she should never be at all costs.
She sighed, "Get a grip, Raven. You've got yourself a nice guy, haven't you?" She raised her hand up to her cheek. Speaking of nice guys, she wondered why Garfield had fallen in love with her. After all she'd done to him, all the times she harassed, bullied, or humiliated him, he still fell in love with her. Raven begrudgingly admitted that Terra was an absolute angel, at first at least. What made her so much better than Terra? Nothing.
Raven sighed once more and stood up, walking across her dark room towards the door. Sliding open the door, she let in the light of the hallway, which immediately fell upon a small crystal bell hung right in front of the door. Raven smiled and raised her hand, feeling and caressing the cool glass of the bell with her fingers before giving it a gentle shake. Its ring filled the dead room. Ever since they had won that bell together, she had kept it ever since. Every morning and every night, she would give the bell a little ring. And every time she did so, the image of Garfield Logan's face appeared in her mind.
She walked into the hallway and drifted into a portal that opened on the floor underneath her. Reappearing in the Titans Tower kitchen, she slowly made herself a cup of tea and walked over to a table. The sorceress dropped a tea bag into her cup of water and stirred it around wistfully.
Richard Grayson, now adopting the name Nightwing, came and tossed a manila file onto the table in front of Raven. The words "THE CROWE CASE" were labeled menacingly on it.
Raven looked up at him in with an uninterested face. "I told you already, Nightwing. I don't want anything to do with that anymore. It's been three years. It's time to close the case."
"Raven," the former Robin said. "I've been working on this thing for the past three years. I'm starting to get a breakthrough. I want you to look through these, at least a glance—"
She sighed and put down her cup of tea. "Even Malcolm's accepted the fact that she's dead. I heard he's went on a date or two with some other woman. If her own husband's already starting to recover from her death, you should too."
"But he doesn't know everything!" Nightwing said firmly. "He doesn't know about Anna's connection with Madame Rouge, whatever it is. He doesn't know about this 'Niles' guy she mentioned, who I found out is a man named Niles Caulder. He doesn't know what the Brotherhood are planning to do with her! The cellular degeneration—have you already forgotten?"
"Let Batman and his team of scientists take care of that. If they've been working on it for the past five years, they should be getting really close to finding a cure." Hurriedly, she added, "If the Brotherhood of Evil is even planning on making a cellular degeneration weapon from Anna's DNA."
"But how do we know—"
"Dick!" Raven almost shouted, hitting the table with a fist. "It's been three years. Anna's dead for three years. The Brotherhood of Evil has been dormant for three years. Rift… Rift's disappeared for three years. It's time we moved on." She sighed and lowered her tone slightly. "You never change, do you? You were like this with Slade, too. Ever since Slade disappeared after we took down Trigon, you shifted your focus to the Brotherhood of Evil. Then after they were down, Rift came. Now you can't let go of him."
Turning to face Nightwing, she said, "Nightwing, you can't keep obsessing over villain after villain like this. There are other things in life as well."
"Like what?"
"Like Starfire. When was the last time you two have ever gotten together in a day where you didn't think about being a superhero?" The former Boy Wonder was silent. "I want you and her to stay together, okay? If you keep doing this, she'll disappear from you."
"Hold on," he said suddenly. "Who said anything about me and Star?"
Raven sighed once more and took a sip of tea. "Gar hasn't told you guys yet, has he?" she said. "His parents… they're thinking about getting a divorce."
"What?" Nightwing jumped up. "Mento and Elasti-girl? Steve Dayton and Rita Farr are—getting divorced?"
"You see? That's why being a superhero couple is so hard. When you don't know how to draw a line between your work and your personal life it's… it leads to separation."
"Raven…" Nightwing said, sitting down with his friend. "I promise you, nothing will get in the way of me and Starfire. We'll always be together." Jokingly, he added, "Hey, if you and Changeling managed to stay together for three years, I'm pretty sure Star and I can."
"Shut up," she glared. He threw up his hands in surrender and laughed.
His cheerful expression changed to a grim one as he picked up the file again. "I guess you're right," he said. "I'll give these to Batman. Let him figure this thing out."
"Alright," she said. "I gotta go meet Gar now. See you later."
"Oh yeah," Nightwing said before he left. "Happy anniversary."
…
Garfield Logan, no longer Beast Boy but Changeling, hummed a little tune as he sat in the driver's seat of the T-Car. As Raven entered, he cried exasperatingly, "Finally! Took you long enough."
"Sorry," Raven replied as she buckled her seat belt. "I had to give Nightwing a little relationship advice."
"That's no excuse. I'm the one who had to get all the date supplies," Changeling grumbled. "Picnic basket, check. Blanket, check. Sandwiches, check. Waffles, check. Tea bags, check. MP3 players with the little stereo, check. What else do you want today?"
"You," Raven replied. "I want you."
Changeling scoffed as he revved up the car. "So how're your parents doing?" his girlfriend asked.
The man's expression immediately changed. "Not so good. I did all I could to convince them to change their minds but…" He sighed. The sorceress reached over and grabbed his hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. "They're at some New England fishing village now," he continued. "Apparently the Brotherhood of Evil decided to make another reappearance."
"Them again?" Raven said in surprise. "I knew it was too good to be true when I heard the rumors that the Brotherhood might've retired for good. Will the Doom Patrol be fine?"
"Of course," Changeling said absentmindedly. "They always are. I mean, since when do the good guys die, right?"
…
A flash of light like an eruption of lighting struck the rocky terrain surrounded Titans Tower. Within seconds, the light subsided, revealing four men. Three of the men were clad in the standard uniform of the New Azarath guards. The fourth man—who evidently was being escorted by the three guards—was a man with brown hair that was slightly longer than how he wore it as a teenager. A small moustache was visible on his upper line, complemented with a growing beard. He was clothed with a standing collar buttoning down from top-to-bottom with a black tunic, straight leg pants tucked into brown knee-high boots, a black Sam Browne belt worn across his chest, and a gold and brown designed shield bearing the crest of New Azarath worn over the shoulders, all of which is covered with a brown robe.
One of the guards stepped forward and removed his hood, revealing a young man with pitch black hair. "Is this the place?" he asked.
"It sure is, Horatio," the escorted man said with a smile. He, too, removed his hood and let the Earth sun shine on his head. "Haven't been here in a while," Raphael declared as he beckoned the guards towards the tower.
As the Azarathean rang the doorbell, Starfire was the first to greet him, namely with a large Tamaranian-sized hug. "Friend Raphael, you have returned!" she cried jubilantly.
"He—hello, Starfire," Raphael said, trying to catch his breath.
She beckoned the four men in. "What brings you here, friend?"
"I've come with some bad news. Is Raven here?"
"Not yet. Raven is on a date at the park of recreation with Changeling." Upon seeing his confusion, Starfire added, "Changeling is the new identity of Beast Boy."
"Ah," Raphael nodded. "A… a date. Gotcha." He tried not to sound too disappointed. "Well then, is everyone else here? I'm sorry to come unannounced but there's some urgent business we need to discuss."
She nodded and went to gather her fellow Titans. In time, she, Cyborg, and Nightwing sat with the four Azaratheans on the sofa.
"What's this about, Raphael?" Nightwing said.
"It's… difficult to say. Have you heard from that man—Rift—lately?"
Nightwing's head instantly perked up at the mention of the name. "N—No. Why? Has anything happened?"
Raphael sighed and nodded his head. "Yesterday, my friend Horatio and I were walking to meet with Seraph Yordan—a very high ranked mystic in New Azarath—when we spotted a man in a black robe approaching her office. Immediately suspicious—as it is almost impossible to see the Seraph without a prior appointment—Horatio suspected him to be someone with malicious intentions. He immediately cast a snare hex on the man, who fell to the floor out of shock. As we rushed over, I saw for a split second that his face was covered in black strips of cloth that formed a mask."
"Meaning Rift," Cyborg finished.
"Exactly. He knocked me aside, grabbed Horatio's throat and tossed him aside as well. Before we could get back up, he disappeared in a flash."
"From what we've seen," the black-haired man named Horatio continued, "we can assume that Rift's goal was to possess the Seraph similar to what he did to Clergywoman Sorenda. Seeing that possessing a high-ranking official to suade the New Azarath Council did not work well three years ago thanks to the work of Lady Raven, Rift must have decided to go a much more direct approach by possessing the Seraph and unlocking the Weapons himself."
"Again with the Weapons…" Nightwing groaned. "This guy… he's all over the map. We still have no idea what he wants."
"For now I think it's best we stay here and wait until Lady Raven returns," Horatio said.
"Are you sure?" Raphael replied. "We could always come back another ti—"
"I think it's best we wait here," he insisted. Turning towards the Titans, he added, "That won't be a problem, would it?" The three Titans glanced at each other. "Good. We'll wait here then."
Horatio then excused himself and asked where the restroom was. After Cyborg pointed him towards the direction and the man left, Raphael apologized, "Sorry for him. Horatio's a good friend of mine and Raven. Normally he's not like that… he's probably a little stressed because of this whole thing."
Horatio entered the elevator and waited as the doors closed. However, instead of pressing the button for the 2nd floor where the nearest restroom was, he instead pressed the 10th floor button. The elevator ascended up to the top of Titans Tower, unbeknownst to its residents who were chatting away with their Azarathean friend. The doors opened, revealing to Horatio the tower's central security room.
Rift's orders echoed in Horatio's mind, "Go to Earth and find the Titans Tower. Infiltrate it and disable the tower's security systems as discreetly as possible."
The possessed Azarathean walked over to the computer interface and began typing rapidly, slowly disabling the tower's defense and security.
Taking out a small Bluetooth-like device given to him by Rift before he left for Earth, he placed it onto his ear and pressed the button. "Slade, do you read me?"
"Loud and clear, Horatio," came the reply.
"The security and defense systems are down. How long will it be until you and the League of Shadows get here?"
"Little less than ten minutes."
"The Titans will be a problem though. How long will it be until the Brotherhood of Evil attack Jump City?"
"There has been a change in plans," Slade said. "Rift no longer wishes to possess any members of the Brotherhood of Evil anymore. Ever since what happened with Madame Rouge, he feels it safer to stay away from them. Rather, he learned that the Brotherhood already have different plans; they are preparing an attack on the Doom Patrol at this very moment. An attack like that will likely draw away Changeling. Meanwhile, Rift has possessed the Jump City commissioner to fake an attack and tell the Titans that the League of Shadows are attacking the city."
"That will force them to go, leaving Raphael open for an attack," Horatio understood.
"Incoming transmission!" he heard an alarm blare.
"That sounds like the commissioner is contacting the Titans right now," he said to Slade. "It's time. The deaths of four Azaratheans on Earth will be enough to distract the Council long enough for Rift to unlock the Weapons."
"The League of Shadows will be there soon. Slade out."
"Horatio out."
…
Birds chirped above Changeling and Raven, who were lying on the ground together with their feet pointed in opposite directions and their heads together, rested on the other's shoulder.
"Gar."
"Hm?"
She gave a half-scoff, half-chuckle, "I can't believe we lasted three years."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Well… you know. We're completely different. We're nothing alike. And for years we hated each other."
"So we're not like other couples. So what? We don't have to be like Nightwing and Starfire. As long as we're together, everything's fine. I mean look at Cyborg and Bumblebee. When they started going out two months ago they looked weird. But now that we're used to it, it's like they were always together."
"Yeah but we're… we're different," Raven admitted. "I remember a long time ago, Star and I were talking. And I told her that she and Robin were the Couple, Cyborg was the Big Brother and we're… we're the Two People Who Never Get Along."
"Psh," Changeling scoffed. "Raven, that's why you need to stop reading all those books and start watching some movies. Everyone always knows the Two People Who Never Get Along always end up together in the end!"
Raven rolled her eyes. "I wonder what you see in a girl like me," she mumbled. "Gray, pasty skin. Hair that looks like someone threw an old, ugly rug on my head. A miserable excuse for a personality."
"Hey, hey! What do you mean by that? You're a great person, Rae. How about your fearless bravery and dedication? Your intense love for your friends? You being able to keep calm when everyone else around you is panicking or to sense people's true personalities? Or how about your incredibly beautiful face?"
Raven blushed and immediately changed the subject. "Ah! Your head's so heavy. My shoulder hurts. Get off!" Changeling laughed as he jumped up, letting Raven's head fall onto the ground.
"Hey!" she cried as she, too, jumped to her feet. The green man instantly turned around and brought her into a hug.
"Don't say things like that anymore, okay Rae?" he said to her. "I dated you because I think you're the most amazing girl I've ever met. And I won't do anything to hurt you. Ever. Got it?"
Raven allowed a small smile to break out on her face. "Got it."
"Thanks, babe."
"I said don't call me that."
"But you're so hot babe."
"Gar…"
"You are though! Smoking hot, babe!—ow! My foot! Was that necessary? What's that ringing sound?"
"It's a communicator, Grass Stain. Yours or mine?"
Changeling checked his pockets. "Not mine." Raven then reached into her own pocket and felt hers vibrating. She pulled out the T-Comm 2.0—an upgraded version of the Titans' T-Communicator that now resembled and functioned like a smartphone.
Cyborg's face instantly appeared on the screen. "Yo, Rae. You there?"
"If you can see me, I'd think I am here," Raven replied sarcastically. "What's up?"
"Yo, we got trouble. Did you know your friend, Raphael is here?"
Beast Boy's ears perked up at the name. "Why is he here?" he mouthed.
Raven ignored him. "No. Why is he?"
"Something to do with Rift. Apparently he came back to your world again. Anyway, that's not the problem. About fifteen minutes ago, we got a call from the commissioner that the League of Shadows had attacked Jump City. Nightwing, Star, and I took a look around and whaddaya know, no ninjas or assassins around. So we went to the commissioner's office and found him dazed. Put two and two together and we figured it was Rift's doing."
"So what now?"
"Your friend might be in danger," Cyborg said simply. "All this must've been a distraction to divert us away from the tower and leave him defenseless. The League might be up there right now."
"Holy Azar," Raven cursed. "Is he by himself? He can put up a fight but not for long against the League of Shadows."
"He had a few bodyguards with him. Listen, we can't get there fast enough. You and Gar have to go up to the tower and fight the assassins. Rift probably wants Raphael dead for some reason."
"Alright. Get to the tower as soon as possible."
"We wi—what's that, Nightwing? What? What?"
"What's going on, Cyborg?"
"Holy crap," she heard Cyborg say. "Changeling. Yo, BB! Where did you say the Doom Patrol was?"
Confused, Changeling went over and said, "Some place in New England. They heard the Brotherhood were doing something. Why?"
Cyborg rubbed his temples. "They're calling for backup. Apparently they're being overwhelmed by the Brotherhood."
"What? Why is this happening all at once?" Raven cried. "We can't leave Raphael up there alone and I don't think I can handle all the assassins by myself. I need Gar there with me."
"But we can't leave the Doom Patrol alone either!" Changeling protested. "Come on, they're my parents, Rae."
"Okay, okay. I'll call Herald. Maybe he can round up one or two other Titans to help join the fight."
"Okay," the changeling agreed. "Then Raven and I will go to the tower and take down the assassins. And as soon as I can, Raven can create a portal to wherever the Doom Patrol is and I can help them fight."
"That's fine with me," Raven said.
"Okay. I'll contact Herald now. Good luck guys. We'll be there as soon as possible."
With that, Raven put the T-Comm back into her pocket and turned to Changeling. "You heard the man."
Changeling grumbled as Raven opened a portal, "Why is that guy back. Is he trying to pull a move on Raven or something?"
"Give it a rest, Gar. I'm dating you now, aren't I?" Raven rolled her eyes as a dark portal appeared before them. "Come on, let's go."
…
They were brought first of all to the Main Lobby. Not surprisingly, several assassins were already waiting for them. Though the assassins were numerous, they were some of the lesser skilled of the League of Shadows and were taken down with little difficulty.
The two then took to the elevator. The elevator stopped at the fourth floor, where Raven went off, having sensed that one of the Azarathean guards were on there while Changeling rode it to the girls' rooms' floor where she had detected two other guards were.
Raven flew down the hallway firing dark projectiles at the assassins she spotted. Finally she came to the man she had sensed—an Azarathean guard with black hair.
"Horatio!" she said with a shocked voice as she recognized him. "I haven't seen you in years. Are you alright?"
The man snickered and turned around, casting an orb of lighting at her, which landed directly on her left shoulder. "Ah!" she cried. "What the—?"
"What's the matter, Lady Raven? Are you alright?" he jeered as he threw another bolt at her leg. She fell down. The man walked up to her and raised a fist at her face. His fist cackled with electrical magic. He seemed to deliberate and eventually stopped himself. "You're lucky the Master has his own plans for you."
"Wh—what?" Raven gasped as Horatio suddenly fell to the floor. She crawled over to her friend who started to rouse awake.
"L—Lady Raven?" she heard him say. "Wh—where am I? Where's Raphael?"
"What happened, Horatio?" she asked.
"I—I don't know. Raph and I… we were walking to see Seraph Yordan. We saw this man and I thought it was weird he came without an appointment… We fought him a little. He grabbed my neck then—I blacked out. How did I get here?"
Raven understood and told him, "Don't worry. I'll help Raphael. You stay here and rest." He nodded and lay against a wall while Raven constructed a portal on the ceiling, flying up into it and reappearing in front of her bedroom. She saw Changeling talking to two Azarathean guards who were alive but badly injured.
"Garfield!" she called out, clutching her injured shoulder. "I'm here. I sense Raphael's on the rooftop. Let's go!"
"Raven," he interrupted. "I got a call from Negative Man. He says they're fighting a losing battle, even with Herald, Jinx, Kid Flash, and Jericho's help. I'm sorry, but I have to go there right away. If not to fight, I still have to be there to see if my parents are alright."
"No, you can't!" she said back. "I'm—I'm badly injured. I can't fight them alone."
"Raven, I can't leave my parents like this!"
"Well…" Raven sighed heavily. "What do we do? If I wasn't injured I could take on the assassins."
Changeling was silent. Slowly, his eyes widened and he looked at his girlfriend with a deadly gaze.
"What is it, Gar?" she asked, almost afraid to know the answer.
"We have to switch again."
"What?" Raven immediately protested. "No, we can't! Why?"
"Raven, think about it," Changeling reasoned. "I have to get to Mom and Dad right now. You need to find and protect Raphael. Your body right now isn't strong enough to do any fighting but mine is. We have to switch bodies. You have to use my body to fight and I can use your body to fly around and find my parents even faster after I teleport to where they are." Raven seemed to hesitant. "This is the only way," he added. "And we can switch back as soon as we're done. Besides, all those potions that Captain Etzel made were just sitting in your room. Why don't we make it useful?"
"Fine," she relented as she slid open her door and walked inside. Within moments she came out, producing a small bottle of scarlet red wine. She waved her free hand and mumbled her mantra, "Azarath Metrion Zinthos," creating a black portal leading to the island where the Doom Patrol were fighting. Turning back to her boyfriend, she mumbled, "Let's hope we remember how to use each other's powers," as she unscrewed the lid and sipped a mouthful of the liquid. Holding it in her mouth, she gave the bottle to Changeling, who proceeded to do the same.
Together they swallowed the potion.
They both soon began to feel a tingling, warm sensation in their chests, which began to glow slightly. The two looked at each other and nodded. Immediately a green orb of light burst from Changeling's body as a similar blue orb escaped Raven's. The two spheres wisped around the hall, piercing through the air like bullets before entering the other's body. Both fell limp.
Changeling woke up hearing his own voice. As his eyes adjusted, he experienced the same chilling feeling he felt three years ago when he and Raven had first switched bodies—the sensation of hearing one's own voice and seeing one's own face.
"Are you okay, Gar?" he heard his voice say.
He groaned and picked himself up, almost falling over again due to the stark difference in weight and body structure. Slowly he got up and took some time to adjust. "Yeah, I'm okay," he answered, still half-surprised to hear a woman's voice come from his lips. Raven—despite no longer having her empathic powers—seemed to sense his uneasiness.
"It's okay, Gar. It feels weird for me, too," she said. "We haven't done this in three years… and even then we were only in each other's bodies for a week or so."
"Two and a half," he found himself correcting. "But close enough. I'll be fine in a bit; I'm used to my body rapidly changing. Do you think you can manage though?"
"I'm not sure," Raven admitted as she tried balancing herself. "But I don't have time to adjust. I'll manage. There's no time—go!"
Changeling nodded a 'good luck' as he entered the portal she had created earlier. The sorceress in the man's body then sat down and struggled to remember the last time she had been a changeling. Recalling her boyfriend teaching her how to morph into different animals, she focused on the elegant gracefulness of a hawk. Before she knew it, she could feel herself become as light as a feather, opening her eyes to find that she was already soaring gracefully in the air. Adjusting her wings with some difficulty, she eventually began flying in the direction of the battle.
She flew and flew in what seemed like hours, feeling her little hawk heart beating faster and faster as she imagined how injured Raphael must be by now. While he was a Master Lieutenant and was one of the finest soldiers of his time, New Azarath was still a peaceful world and therefore his experience in combat was limited primarily to hunting Azarathean beasts. He undoubtedly would not stand a chance against the likes of Slade and the League of Shadows.
Finally she had reached the rooftop, immediately shifting into a gorilla and landing brutally on an assassin. Not knowing how to fight in her current state, she proceeded to swing around her arms at every assassin she saw.
Soon the rooftop of Titans Tower was littered with dozens of unconscious or dead assassins. Raven turned around, exhausted, to find herself face to face with Slade.
"Sl—Slade," she growled. "What are you doing here? Why are you attacking Raphael?"
The man chuckled. "Long time no see, Raven."
She gasped. How did Slade know it was her in Beast Boy's body? "You—what are you talking about? I'm Changeling," she said back. "Or have you gone crazy underneath that mask?"
He seemed to be taken aback by the comment, but only for a split second. "Perhaps. I've always wondered that, myself."
Slade then seemed to lose his balance, stepping back as if in a daze. He then brought his hands to his head as if in pain, then proceeded to look around him. "Come out!" he shouted. "I know you're here!"
Raven stood there, confused at what he was doing. "What are you talking about, Slade?"
"I don't have time for this, Changeling," he returned. "He's here somewhere. The man who calls himself Rift."
Raven noted how he had called her 'Changeling' instead of 'Raven' as before. She deduced that because of this—and due to the fact that Rift was involved—there was a highly likely chance that Slade had been mind-controlled as well. And if he's free now, that means Rift most likely was near.
"Show yourself, Rift!" she shouted.
Slade looked around and readied himself for an attack. He suddenly felt a hand grabbing his shoulder. Before he had time to react, a wave of light followed by and eruption of darkness surrounded him and the next thing he knew he was standing in the forest just outside Jump City. As he turned around to face his captor, Rift pulled out a knife and—with a sharp snicker—thrust it towards Slade's abdomen.
…
Raven ran over towards Raphael, who was lying still on the ground in a pool of blood. "Ch—Changeling?" he gasped as his half-faded eyes examined her.
"No, Raphael," Raven stammered as she desperately began examining his wounds, almost all of which seemed fatal. "It's me. It's Raven."
"R—Raven?" he sighed. Peering at her, he began to see her as Raven despite the body she was inhabiting. Because he was in such a delusional state due to being so close to death, he imagined Raven being in her own body. "Yes… I see you now Raven," he smiled.
"What do I do?" she said in a panicked voice. "Raphael, tell me!" She cursed herself, now realizing the flaw in her and Changeling's plan—she could not use her own powers to heal Raphael.
"Phoe—"
Raven's pointed green ears twitched. "What's that, Raphael?"
"Ph—Phoenix blood," he gasped, pointing to a pocket in his belt. Realizing what he meant, Raven immediately reached into the pocket and took out a couple vials. Recognizing a dark red one as a cordial of phoenix blood, she fumbled open the vial and dumped the substance into his mouth, which he swallowed with some difficulty.
"D—down," he then whispered with slightly more life.
"Down?" she repeated. "Down where? What?"
"Down…" he said again. Raven responded with a confused look. "Feathers!" he cried.
"Oh!" Raven uttered as she chastised herself for her stupidity. Reaching into his belt, she opened pocket after pocket until she found the one that contained the down feathers of a phoenix. Quickly emptying the pocket of its contents, Raven then proceeded to rip off Raphael's shirt, grimacing at the sight of all the blood underneath. She flinched slightly as he cried out from the pain but proceeded to lay the feathers onto his skin. She—with some hesitation—then removed his pants, leaving him completely naked except for his stained underwear. More feathers went on his legs as well.
As Raven pressed the phoenix feathers against his skin, she couldn't help but notice the muscles on his arms, shoulders, and stomach, hardened undoubtedly due to years of hard work both in the farms of his childhood and the training facility of his young adulthood. She felt his strong chest moving up and down as he breathed slowly. A wave of memories suddenly rushed into her mind as she recalled the days she was so much in love with Raphael.
They say you never truly forget your first love, and Raven learned that that was the case. Though it had been more than seven years since she had fallen in love with her childhood friend, she suddenly felt all the warmth he had brought her through his friendship and love.
She remembered the time she and he sat on an overturned tree and stared out at the Azarathean River. It was the Festival of Lights—the twelfth day of the Twelve Days of Awakening, an Azarathean holiday that celebrated the victory of the sorcerers in the Sorcerer-Demon War. She was holding a device that shot out projectiles that exploded in a manner similar to fireworks, but—due to being created by magical means—were much more beautiful and elaborate.
Aiming into the night sky, Raven pulled the trigger and a small bullet of light fired out, exploding in the air with red and green flashes that began flying in an intricate pattern before forming the image of a dove. She then fired another one that formed a man riding a horse, leaving a streak of light in the dark, starless sky.
"How do you make such great illuminations, Raven?" Raphael wondered aloud.
"I dunno," she replied. "I guess I just have a natural talent for it. Brother Fawkes taught me a lot as well."
Raphael chuckled and took the device from her. "Hey!" she cried. "What do you think you're doing?"
"Captain Etzel taught me how to make one," the fifteen year old boy said with a cheeky smile.
"Oh really?" she said doubtfully. "It's probably going to be hideous."
Sticking out his tongue, Raphael pulled a bullet out of his pocket and inserted it into the device. Aiming it as high as he could, he fired the bullet. The two watched as it soared into the air and exploded in blue and brown light. Raven scoffed half in amusement and half in pity; up in the cool night sky was a picture of a brown stick figure holding a sword and a blue stick figure with a triangle for a dress holding a black orb. "Is that supposed to be us?" she said snarkily.
"Duh!" he cheered boyishly. "It's perfect, isn't it?"
"It hurts to look at," she rolled her eyes. But she couldn't help but gaze at the picture and smile slightly. It was cute.
"Raven," Raphael said spontaneously. "Let's stop being friends." Raven looked up at him in surprise. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but Raphael continued. "I'm tired of this. Let's stop."
"Raphael…" she said slowly. "I…"
He smiled and finished, "Let's be more than friends. I want to be there with you, Raven. Always."
A small smile appeared unwillingly on her face as she looked down onto the ground. He grabbed her shoulders and pulled her into a hug. "What do you say, Rae?" he asked.
"I—" Raven gasped. "I don't know what to say."
"How about yes?" he asked. "Oh, it's starting!" Both Raven and Raphael looked up into the night sky and watched as High Lady Azar stepped forth from the highest tower of the Azarathean Castle holding a large sphere of light in her hands. Raising the sphere into the air, a great flood of orbs of light exploded from the sphere into the air, landing in the sky and becoming stars. A light breeze gently blew against the cheeks of the new couple, who celebrated the end of the Twelve Days of Awakening with a kiss.
Returning her attention to the present day, Raven found herself suddenly very close to Raphael's face. She had long forgotten about the phoenix feathers. It had just occurred to her that she was now right on top of a nearly naked man. He opened his eyes and saw her. "Raven…"
Slowly he lifted his head and gave her a kiss. She didn't pull back.
…
Changeling's first thought as he exited the portal was how precise Raven's magic worked, for he was now about a stone's throw away from the battle. Seeing the mammoth sized Monsieur Mallah attacking Robot Man, he ran forward and—mentally crossing his fingers and praying that it would work—shouted at the top of his breath, "Azarath! Metrion! Zinthos!" as he pointed his palms at the gorilla in a manner similar to a Kamehameha attack.
It succeeded in knocking Mallah back a few inches.
"Okay, sure," Changeling thought to himself. "Better than nothing, I guess. I could work with that."
Rushing to Robot Man's side, he asked, "Are you okay?"
"Um, yeah," the robot replied. "It's Raven, right?"
He shook his head. "Garfield here. No time to explain." He ran off, leaving behind a thoroughly confused Robot Man.
"Kids these days," he grumbled. "I bet she's on dope."
Changeling leapt into the air and concentrated on Raven, giving a sigh of relief as he began flying as he intended. Focusing his thoughts on Raven, he flew towards the fight between Elasti-Girl and a few android soldiers.
"Mom! I'm here!" he cried as he knocked aside the remaining two robots with a kick.
"R—Raven?" Elasti-Girl shouted. "What are you doing here?"
"It's me, Mom. It's Gar."
"Garfield?" the woman said in surprise. "How—how is that possible?"
"I don't really have time to explain, but this was the only way I could get here on time," Changeling said. "Where's Dad?"
"I'm not sure," Rita Farr sighed in worry. "Where could he be?"
"Vell, vell, vell," a voice echoed from behind the two. They swiftly turned around saw a familiar figure. "If it isn't Raven. Long time no see," Madame Rouge declared.
"Madame Rouge," Changeling gritted his teeth. He knew that Raven's body was weak, and getting into a fight would not be a wise choice. "Last time I saw you, you were frozen and shipped off to Arkham."
"Heh," the woman chuckled sadistically. "If vonly that vere the case… Contrary to vhat you believe, foolish girl, that vas not the last time ve have met."
"What are you talking about?"
Madame Rouge brushed her hair aside. "The last time I saw you, you vere reaching into my head trying to 'fix' me. But back then, you knew me by a different name—Anna Crowe."
Changeling's eyes widened in horror. Anna Crowe… was Madame Rouge all along?
"You—you… were Anna Crowe?" he gasped.
"Yes… I vas," the woman spat. "That vorthless being of a man named Rift attacked me, subdued me, and forced me to assume the identity of a voman named Anna Crowe. That idiot Malcolm probably never even suspected I vas not his true vife."
The Titan stepped back in surprise. That was impossible… wasn't it? But then again—why would Anna have had mysterious dreams about Madame Rouge?
"Enough of this!" a mechanical voice echoed. The three turned around to see the Brain situated a small distance away from them. "You know what we were here to do, Rouge. As a test of your loyalty, finish them."
Madame Rouge looked down onto the ground almost as if in regret, then pulled out a shotgun, aimed it at Elasti-girl, and fired a protoplasmic projectile.
"No!" a cry bellowed.
Rita Farr gasped as a figure leapt in front of her and shielded her from the bullet. He came crumbling down in front of her.
Madame Rouge looked shocked but remorseless. "This will be the last you hear of us," she said to Changeling as she and the Brotherhood of Evil disappeared.
Changeling ran over to Rita, who held in her hands the dying Mento. "Steve, Steve!" she cried. "Steve, stay with me!"
"Dad!" the changeling said as he made his way to his adoptive father. "Dad, can you hear me?"
"Who—who are you?" he asked.
"It's me, Garfield. I know I look like a woman right now but that's a different story. Dad, it's me. Please, don't die!"
"G—Garfield?" Mento coughed as he brought his hand towards Changeling's head. "You—you be a good boy… alright?"
"Dad, no please!" Changeling lowered his eyes to Mento's chest, which revealed a gaping hole just underneath his heart. It looked like he could fit an entire hand through the wound. "Oh my God," he said as he began waving his hand around the wound. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" he cried, trying desperately to heal the wound. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos! Azarath Metrion Zinthos! Azarath! Metrion! Zinthos! Why isn't this working?"
Rita Farr's face was drenched in tears. "Why, Steve? Why did you do it? Why'd you save me?"
"Because," Steve Dayton choked. "You're my wife."
"But I'm not!" she sniffled. "We would've had a divorce."
"I know, and I'm sorry, Rita. I'm sorry I put this superhero business before you, but… whatever happens, I will always love you. Even if we had gotten the divorce, there wouldn't be a single day that I'd stop loving you." Large tears dripped down his face as he said these words.
"No, Steve! You can't do this to me!" the woman sobbed. "You have to live. You have to live and tell me that you hate my guts. Tell me you want this divorce. Tell me you never want to see me again. Either way, you have to live! Steve! Steve!" Clutching her heart in pain, she cried out loud, "I love you so much! So much… so much…"
Steve Dayton gave a small smile and never moved again.
~Difficult Words to Say~
Well, anyone who's read my stories before shouldn't be that surprised, right? Killing characters should just be expected when reading one of my stories right? At least this time it wasn't an important character... yet.
Not a lot of plot central to the story is given here, despite it being a pretty long chapter. You'll see what this chapter has been setting up in the next 2 chapters or so.
A note about Mento's death: Yes, he's dead. No, I will not write a funeral. Why? It'll be too hard to capture the exact amount of sadness that a funeral should have. And it'll be boring cause ya'll don't care about him. Besides, there's more interesting stuff to read. Another thing: in the comics, the Doom Patrol do fight the Brotherhood of Evil at some fishing village in New England. Rita Farr (Elasti-Girl) was actually the one to die at Madame Rouge's hands, with most other Doom Patrol members also dying in an explosion. I was thinking about sticking a little closer to the comics by having Rita be killed by Madame Rouge, but it seemed pretty harsh to kill her and not her husband. And just so you know, they were not having a divorce in the comics.
Mento and Elasti-girl's divorce and his death aren't important in this story. Rather, it just serves as 1) a plot device to get Garfield away from Raven and 2) to contribute to the overall theme of this story, "what will you do to save the ones you love?" Neither will Slade, League of Shadows, or Brotherhood of Evil have any more importance after this chapter. Namely, the REAL lasting tension will be that of Raven and Raphael and their kiss as well as Garfield's eventual jealousy.
But enough with the spoilers. You'll have to wait until the next chapter to find out how he reacts. And it may not be the best reaction.
And to clarify what I meant in my note on the last chapter, I do NOT mean the story has ended. I meant that the story will radically shift in tone and become much darker, a great departure from the light-hearted first love feel of the first 10 chapters. Read on to find out what I mean and don't forget to REVIEW, FAVORITE, and FOLLOW!
Kaarlinaa - Continue, I will. Don't you worry! Please continue reading as well! :)
InvisibleGeek - The ending was real. Rift's powers are strictly limited to mind control and teleportation so he won't be able to create any illusions. Also, notice how Raven seems to be able to resist Rift's mind control while others (even THE Batman) succumb to it easily. The reason for that will be revealed later on. As for the fight scenes, I love writing them but they do get very hard to imagine. But Teen Titans is an action show but so few FanFiction stories write any fight scenes.
Bluedog197 - Haha, that's actually pretty close to be honest. But I can't give anything away. As you've seen here however, it turns out Madame Rouge WAS Anna Crowe. But why? Hmmm...
koryandrs - Huh. Pretty good guess with your reasoning and all. Obviously I can't tell you if you're right or not, but I'm impressed with your logic. Keep on reading to find out! :) And about the bell... oh yeah. It's gonna be a recurring symbol of their love and will serve a purpose later on.
TheLurkingShadowWillow - "Please no more deaths." My response is to kill off Garfield's father. *evil cackle* But honestly, don't you expect that from me? The sadness will only get worse from here on out. ;) Buckle up your seat belts. The thing is I want this story to be different than other FanFics. This will be a serious story with serious actions and consequences. That's why I gave that little warning last chapter. Things like this is just my style of writing. Hopefully you'll enjoy reading it as well :)
Wlvmbm - Nope! Definitely not the end of the story. Please keep on reading!
CleoArrow - Well now the whole "Anna-Madame Rouge" mystery is mostly cleared. The question that remains is why? Why? Why? Why? And as for the other things you mentioned, maybe I'll PM you.
BartWLewis - Death? Check. Serious enough for you? No? Don't worry, there's much more coming up!
iamking - Thanks. :)