(Hides behind desk) Ah! I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I know I haven't updated in an age and a half, but I apologize! I really am SORRY! Well…for those of you that read "Scars," you know that this week is my big update week. Thus, explaining the reason that I'm adding a new chapter to this story after taking so darn long. Heh, heh, heh…don't worry, I'll be faster from now on…(don't kill me!)
Chapter Four: Rescue Mission
Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos…
Though the fog was already enveloping her, drawing her away from reality, Raven could still hear Cyborg's voice explaining things to the other Titans.
"She knows what she's doing!"
Do I? she questioned dreamily, head spinning a little awkwardly. She was having to use a lot of her energy to do this…what if she fainted before she succeeded?
"Dude, what if something goes wrong!"
"Yes! What shall occur?"
"Are y'all saying she can't take care of herself?"
"No!"
"I believe friend Beast Boy is merely suggesting that if she injures herself, there is a possibility she may…"
The words melted into the shadows…Raven felt the "threads" that she was made up of on Earth start to unravel and flow towards a dark silhouette that stood beneath a spotlight…the figure turned their head, and Raven saw that it was a foggy reflection of Robin. He was biting his lip, and his brow was furrowed; the picture of obvious worry.
"Raven…?"
Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos…
I'm here, Robin, she thought desperately, reaching out one of her hands to him. Take my hand.
The two of them were being drawn apart by some unknown force, and his fingers scrabbled at the back of her hand. Raven felt their palms connect, his glove's fabric against her skin, and she tried to pour all of her concern, her will to save him (and, perhaps a bit of some other mysterious emotion?) into that moment.
Let me in…let me help you…
Her powers were stretching, being pulled apart like a rubber band—how far could it go, how long could it last before it snapped, and she went hurtling back to Earth?
I'm so close…don't let go of me…
Slowly, very slowly, the hand she was gripping went transparent like a ghost's; a tingling sensation went over the rest of her body, and without hesitating to think, she plunged inside him, rushing towards his mind amidst a wild current of thought, and of fear.
R-R-R
Robin whipped around another corner of the labyrinth, heart pounding in his ears like a drum intertwining with the rhythm his feet made as they slapped the ground. His breathing was labored, and he knew secretly in his mind that he would give up soon…
A secret? In his mind, where Slade now was? Ha. Yeah, that was a laugh.
Behind him, the visage of Plasmus gave an enraged bellow at not being able to trap its victim yet.
It probably didn't make sense, that Robin was running from a villain that he'd faced a million times before, but…he'd always thought that the creature had more potential than just throwing around globs of slime. Sometimes he'd made calculations in his head before he went to bed, imagining different things that could be changed in Plasmus's basic formula that would make him more dangerous and deadly.
Right now, the Boy Wonder could've smacked himself for doing something as stupid as that; since he was guessing he really was in his mind, now the beast had transformed into its potential self—and without the Titans here to help him, Robin was positive that he couldn't defeat it.
With another loud roar, Plasmus closed its multiple, sickly green eyes, as if concentrating—and for a moment, Robin was intrigued. That is, until he felt something slimy at his ankles; the monster had spread the putrid filth that made its being up all over the ground of the maze, oozing into even the smallest corner.
The teen tried to run, but the muck slowed his movements down, and the gelatinous mass squirmed and sucked at his feet so that he was barely even walking. It was like a nightmare—the kind where you know there's something evil coming after you, and you're trying to escape, but your feet are stuck in some thick, invisible substance…
It only got worse.
Robin lost his balance. It was stupid to him; he'd been an acrobat at an early age, and yet in the face of panic, he just had to trip.
Stupid, stupid, STUPID, he screamed mentally at himself, as he fell into the disgusting goop. His hands, which he had put out in front of him to brace the impact, were now trapped; he was up to his elbows in the sludge. Robin was being swallowed up by the slime, and it made him want to gag in disgust.
Plasmus gurgled nastily, and the Boy Wonder felt the slime about him begin to write and boil.
"Noooo…" He moaned softly in revulsion, squirming and twisting to no avail.
The monster started to reel his captive in, wide mouth stretching and expanding, as if to consume the teenager—
"Let him GO!"
Raven?
Sure enough, the Goth girl was standing atop one of the labyrinth walls, glaring down on the spectacle. One hand was perched on her hip, and her eyes were slits within the black of her hood. True, her skin was a bit more pale than usual, and she seemed a bit fatigued, but otherwise, the commanding presence she held was still strong.
Plasmus, turning to survey his new opponent, screamed—again, Robin noticed in annoyance, while belching purple mess at her.
"Look—mmphg!"
A tendril of scum passed over his mouth to cut off his warning, and glued his lips shut.
Raven yelled in surprise and darted to the right, dashing gracefully along the wall; Plasmus followed her with his bulbous eyes, and continued to shoot out mire at her, similar to a machine gun's rapid fire. The Boy Wonder wriggled in his futile position but couldn't break free—he was reduced to watching and hoping.
His friend dodged this way and that, flipping over streams of pink. Her breathing was getting heavier, and he knew that if his mentally conjured monster kept this up, she'd be smashed into the ground right next to him.
R-R-R
Courage and the other emotions waited in terror—all of them, that is, except for Anger. She seemed unfazed, as her crimson cloak swished this way and that.
"This is all your fault!" Courage snarled, hurling the words at her sister with unconfined bitterness. "First Robin—now Raven's going to be stuck!"
Rage raised a neat eyebrow and a cocky smile crept over her features like a sinister shadow. However, she spoke not a word.
"Screw this," Bravery growled, "we're doing things my way."
The girl pushed away the other feelings and melted away into the air like mist. Anger broke out into quiet snickering as soon as the green-clothed Goth had left.
"Excellent…"
R-R-R
Raven, as she fled, noted a strange feeling overtaking her body—a curious sensation, as if her limbs had fallen asleep. But how could that be possible?
She glanced down at her feet and jumped as the fabric slithered into a dark, mossy green hue: Courage.
But I didn't call her, Raven thought in alarm. How can this be happening?
The edges of her cape began to darken, and vines of emerald started to creep up her back. She didn't have the time to sit down and meditate on what was taking place, nor did she have the energy to run away from Plasmus and drive Bravery back behind her mind's walls.
What am I gonna do?
Far below, and far behind her, Robin was still trying his best to break out of his shackles of scum—she had come for him…
Maybe she was being too cautious about Courage…if she let that side of her loose, what harm could it do? Absolutely none (well, to her and Robin anyway).
Raven shut her eyelids and concentrated.
Azarath…
"I'm coming, Robin. Just hold on."
Metrion, Zinthos.
R-R-R
Robin watched in awe as Raven's muscles grew and her legs sped into a blur as she raced over the ramparts—her feet were no longer touching the stone, though she glided swiftly and evaded Plamus' onslaught with ease. A smirk of triumph curled her lips; she released a victorious whoop as she launched herself into the air and planted a kick right on—and through, as she sank into the green film up to her knee—one of his eyes.
The creature thundered its distress, but Raven pushed herself forward and dug right inside Plasmus' body; her dark form drifted deeper within (Robin could see her outline through the rippled muck). A second later, a bizarre chanting in another language echoed in his head, and Plamus burst into onyx flames, burning and fading away. The young, teenage man struggled to his feet—seeing as how he refused to touch the walls Slade had created—and swayed, feeling light-headed.
"WHOO! BOOYAH! C'mon, tell me that was great! Yee-haw!"
Raven whirled to the ground in verdant cyclone. She collided with him in a bone-crushing hug and sent him skidding along the tiles of the labyrinth.
"Oh yeah—did you see that? I did it, I did it!"
She laughed her head off and punched the air in joy.
"Rae…can't…breathe…get off…me…" He wheezed beneath her—the force of her embrace had knocked the wind out of him. What on earth had changed her attitude all of the sudden?
"Ooh, sorry!" She said, and quickly shot up to give him a hand up.
"Thanks," he said. "So, what the hell got you all—what's with the outfit—err—"
Right in front of him, she shrank back to her usual self: Her head bowed, her irises flickered back to purple, and her mantle returned to its navy cast. All questions that had been pressing to blurt out of his mouth were forgotten, and he stood watching her in shock as she peeled back her hood and gave a half-smile.
"Sorry…um…another personality of mine," she offered, and grinned sheepishly (her embarrassed expression was instantly replaced by her flat affect.
Robin's head was about to burst when he recalled a memory of Cyborg recounting one time where he and Beast Boy—using a magical mirror—had been dumped inside Raven's mind. This must have been Raven's tougher, fighter side…
For some reason, his stomach twisted, and he remembered wishing that he'd been the one that had seen how the girl's thought process worked. Instead it had to be his two best friends…and he'd felt more than a little jealous.
A sour taste gathered in his mouth at this recollection, and he turned, stalking away from her.
"Robin?" She asked in surprise. "Where are you going?"
"Anywhere but here," was his cold answer.
"Hey! What is your problem?" Raven's voice sounded strained, as if she were trying to contain her temper. "I just saved you, and your acting like an asshole!"
"You shouldn't have come," he grumbled, and he could imagine the offense she had taken.
"Why not! Your my leader, and my best friend—plus, I'm the only one who can help you out right now! Don't you know what's happened to you?"
"All I know is that Slade's got me stuck in this mind-game—" He chortled harshly at his choice of words, knowing that he sounded like a total jerk, but desperate to be alone. "—and I have no clue how to get out."
"Cyborg said that the dust—"
"You're endangering yourself," he muttered. "Go away. Get out while you still can."
"STOP IT!" She nearly screamed, and laid her hand on his shoulder—she'd been following him—in an attempt to get him to halt.
He snatched her wrist up in a vice-grip and twisted her arm until she drew back.
"I told you to go away! I don't want help, and I'm fine!"
At once a cold, steel like feeling circled his own wrist, and he gasped and backed away.
"Robin?" Raven demanded, almost immediately forgetting their previous argument. "What's going on?"
He bit his lip, massaging his arm in worry.
"I…I don't know—"
"I do," Slade taunted from somewhere behind him, and Raven yelled in horror.
A metal wristband appeared, strapped on so tightly that he thought it might be cutting off his circulation.
"It is the beginning…of your imprisonment."
To be Continued…
AHHHH! Don't kill me if it sucked—please, I beg of you! (Ducks back behind desk…then peeks out) Was it okay? Review and tell me, okay? And NO FLAMES!
Thank you.
Rebel
