Of Cabbages and Kings
"You got a friend, in me…" -The Lone Ranger
Part 5- Final Exam
Somehow, she should have seen this coming. Raven, for all intents and purposes, should have seen this coming. And why not? She had fought enough meglomaniacs, warlords, and weirdos to get a basic idea of a villain's mind. If one can bend space and time, surely mind-control should be a piece of cake! And why ensnare helpless strangers when you could simply use your foe's very friends for the added psychological effect? It was so obvious!
And maybe that's why Gorac did it. Maybe because it was such a cliché idea that no one would suspect him of using it, which is why she, along with Elmo and Bob, were facing her clearly mind-controlled friends. The reason behind the clearness was in the eyes- they were listless and hollow. A sure sign that their conscious thoughts were somewhere else, and that another power was steering their bodies.
Bob's eyes, on the other hand, were rolling. "Ahh, not this gimmick! Why does everyone use the 'Hey, let's have 'em fight' routine? I mean, come on!"
"Eek." Went Elmo, sharing Bob's sentiments.
It was at this point that Cyborg fired his sonic cannon, while Starfire threw another starbolt. Bob and Raven, master and apprentice, swung around to avoid the onslaught.
"Gorac must not be trying hard," Bob noted, "Or he's running out of ideas. Everyone knows mind-control victims can't act at 100%."
As he spoke, Beast Boy and Robin went on the offensive. The changeling became a tiger and pounced, while Robin brought out his retractable staff. Raven jumped out of the way of the green tiger, while Bob caught Robin's staff and used the momentum to toss the Teen Wonder aside. Robin did a mid-air flip and landed on his feet.
"Can we break the spell?" Raven asked, as she and Bob backed away. At this point they were more or less inside the tower, and were now going in deeper.
"No, I think this one is tied directly to Gorac," Bob mused thoughtfully, "Sorta like how some people prefer a cable to wireless or satellite. Luckily, this gives us an advantage."
Raven looked at Bob questioningly. How would her friends be under an unbreakable control spell work for them?
"You see, dear apprentice," Bob chuckled for some reason or another, "If Gorac is directly manipulating your friends' movements, then he himself can't properly concentrate on his own spells. He was never good at multitasking like that."
"Arraahh!" Cyborg yelled, and leapt at them. The magic pair once again jumped back to avoid being squashed under his metallic might.
"If one of us keeps their attention," Bob continued, keeping a hold of Raven's arm, "The other can go and challenge Gorac directly, and he won't be able to fight back efficiently."
Raven nodded, and pulled up her hood. "Right. I'll stay here and you-"
"Ninx to that," Bob interrupted, letting go. "I'll stay here and play metaphorical ring-around-the-rosy with your buddies, you go find Gorac."
Raven stared at him. "You want me to attack a master mage, alone?"
"You won't be alone." Bob assured her, and snapped his fingers. Elmo leapt out from under Bob's hat and onto Raven's shoulder.
Raven's expression could have soured milk. Goat's milk, to be exact. "Oh, joy. Me and a monkey. Gorac won't know what hit him."
"Elmo knows a few things about magic, too, y'know." Bob told her, and to demonstrate, Elmo rubbed his hands together, releasing a single dove. It was blasted out of the air by Starfire.
"Anyway," Bob continued, as he and Raven kept hopping away from the twisted Titans, "Between making this tower and controlling these guys, Gorac must be running out by now. You two should be fine."
"Unless he's tapping into some external force." Raven said, leaning back to avoid a birdaraang.
"If he does, no reason why you can't tap into it, too," Bob shrugged. He paused to sprinkle a little pepper into a green wolf's nose. While the changeling sneezed, He said, "Anyway, you got the easy job. I have to stay here and keep playing keep away with your friends, and I can't knock them out, otherwise Gorac will be able to concentrate on you. Don't worry about me, though," He said as Raven opened her mouth. "I'm good at keeping away from people. Go beat the bad guy. You should be good at that."
Despite her best efforts, Raven had to admit Bob had a point. Bob had enough skill and experience to keep her teammates distracted while they were being controlled by Gorac, who, if Bob's theory was even remotely sound, would be distracted enough for her and Elmo to beat, if she was careful…and she was always careful. Mostly always, anyway. And Elmo may have been a monkey, but he was also a Magician's familiar, so maybe he would be of use as well.
"Let's do it," Raven said at last, "Where do I go?"
"Hmm, good question." Bob dug into his trenchcoat and pulled out a crystal ball. After tapping it with his index finger, Bob threw the sphere into the air.
FWASH!
The light that appeared wasn't all that bright, but after getting used to the darkness of the tower's entry, it was a bit of a shock. However, after taking a minute to make the dots go away, Raven saw the entrance to a stairway on her left.
"There we go." She noted, and felt a rustle of movement and a weight on her shoulders vanish. Elmo was on the move. And so was she.
And so were Robin and Beast Boy, moving to intercept her. While Elmo was small enough to slip between the two of them, Raven had to be a bit more creative, and bit crueler in her travels. Using a lunging Beast Boy- now a crocodile- as a springboard, Raven leapt over the two. But as she landed, she felt something from going further. Looking behind, she saw that Robin had grabbed her cloak. Pressing the amulet on her cloak (You know, the one on her collar…), she released its grip on one end of the fabric, sending Robin (Who was pulling really hard) tumbling back. As she ran threw the opening, the four Titans rushed after her- or they would have, if Bob hadn't appeared before them in a puff of smoke, blocking their way.
"Sorry kids, but you only get one of us tonight." He chuckled.
There was sound like old stones falling into place, and Bob looked behind him. The opening had closed.
"Maybe splitting up was a mistake…" Bob murmured, before turning his attention back to the four twisted Titans.
TT-TT-TT-TT-TT-TT
Raven and Elmo looked back down the stairs. While they were climbing the winding staircase, they heard a noise, and the light dimmed, leaving only the illumination of candles on the wall.
"What was that?" Raven asked aloud.
Don't worry, just keep going!
Heroine and simian exchanged looks.
"Bob…?" Raven began, before being cut off by another telepathic message.
That noise was just the entrance being sealed off, The Magician explained, But, I'll be fine. Owch!
What happened? Raven thought, thinking for both her and Elmo.
That Beast Boy turned into a terrier and bit me! Get off, you dumb dog!
Raven and Elmo exchanged looks again. Should they go back…?
Look, just go find Gorac! There was a pause. Don't make me play the master-apprentice card and order you.
Raven was about to mentally snark at this perceived threat when she felt something on her leg. Looking down, she saw Elmo pointing up the stairs. Raven knew she was being outvoted in this regard. Even though Raven wanted go back, both for her friends and for her new teacher, she knew that this vague plan hinged on the two- THREE of them keeping Gorac's attention scattered, even if it meant leaving Bob at the mercy of her mind-controlled friends- and visa-versa. She just didn't like it.
Just don't hurt them. She thought at Bob, before running up the stairs, Elmo hot on her heels.
I assure you, they won't suffer anything they can't sleep off…
That's reassuring. Raven thought dryly as she moved.
TT-TT-TT-TT-TT-TT
In the central room, Bob ran alongside the wall, Beast Boy close behind. Coming at him was Robin. Summoning a small whirlwind in his hand, Bob threw the tiny tornado at the Teen Wonder. Robin easily hopped over the miniature maelstrom and launched a flying kick at Bob. The Magician cartwheeled out of the way, but Robin landed before Beast Boy, now a panther, avoiding a painful collision.
Meanwhile, Bob raced toward the center of the room, where Cyborg awaited him. As the half-man, half-machine Titan swung a strong right, Bob leapfrogged over his shoulders- where Starfire awaited him.
"Whoopsy." Was all Bob had time to say as the Tamaranian blasted him square in the chest. Bob fly across the room, over Beast Boy and Robin's heads, and hit the wall with a wince-inducing bam.
"Maybe I should've left Raven here and went ahead." Bob griped as he slid down. But he knew that wouldn't have been fair. It was partially his fault that they were all in this mess, and he was sparing Raven the trouble of dealing with her twisted teammates.
He thought no more of it as he rolled away, dodging a barrage of sonic power, starbolts, exploding discs, and saliva(Beast Boy had become a camel).
TT-TT-TT-TT-TT-TT
As Bob dodged, ducked, and evaded the attacks of the twisted Titans, Raven and Elmo had come across a door at the top of the stairs.
"Is this it?" Raven asked Elmo. The monkey shrugged, indicating that he knew no more than she did. Without another word, Raven pushed the door open.
The room it led to was circular, just like the one at the entrance, except this one was better lit, and painted in a greenish-purple.
Had Raven and Elmo been color-blind, it would have appeared to be mauve.
However, what commanded Raven and Elmo's attention was not the somewhat nauseating hue of their surroundings, but the lone figure standing in the center of it.
"Dr. Light?" Raven asked, bewildered.
"Ook?" Elmo asked, equally bewildered, but for different reasons.
"You cannot stand before the power of light!" The not-so-good doctor declared, and fired a beam of light.
TT-TT-TT-TT-TT-TT
Meanwhile, Bob was busy engaged in a brief scrap with Robin. Luckily, as Bob had earlier predicted, being mind-controlled had dulled Robin's martial arts performance, enough for Bob to block several punches, catch a kick, and throw the Teen Wonder aside. Unfortunately, while this occurred, Beast Boy, now as a cobra snake, had coiled around his thighs.
"Now what?" Bob muttered, looking down. His attention was drawn from the snakey Titan by the sound of a gun charging. Looking to his left, he saw Cyborg preparing to fire his sonic cannon. And out of the corner of his eye, he saw Starfire building a beachball-sized starbolt.
I could just poof away, Bob thought, but I don't think green jeans here would survive.
Thinking quickly, Bob reached into his trenchcoat just as the two Titans fired.
Within seconds, Bob pulled out a frying pan and swung at the starbolt, while at the same time, he released a stream of fire from the confines of his mouth. The flames hit the sonic energy with such force that they canceled each other out, save for a really jarring 'bwavwoom' noise and some flickering of light. Meanwhile, Bob's frying pan backswing sent the large starbolt at a wall, blasting away rocks. When the dust settled, it revealed the entrance to the stairs.
"Hey, and they laugh at me for carrying this around." Bob chuckled, putting the pan away.
After hopping out from the loosened grip of a shell-shocked green snake, Bob thought, I wonder if I should check up on Raven…
A hissing poked his attention in the eye, and Bob soon realized that the green cobra had become a green anaconda.
On second thought, I'm sure she's fine!
TT-TT-TT-TT-TT-TT
This is not fine. Raven thought, dodging beams.
Dr. Light continued his offensive untiringly, fire beams of light to and fro. And while Raven would have normally hide in the shadows and simply gone around him, some strange power in the tower kept ensured that option was not viable.
(Off to the side, Elmo stuck a finger in his mouth, and began to trace something into the ground with his spit.)
"Are you afraid of the light?" Light said, pausing to readjust his aim. He then flexed.
And there was something else. There was something…off…about Dr. Light. While it was the same, blustering, egomaniacal, spineless Dr. Light she remembered, her instincts kept telling her there was a wrongness of it all. His speech patterns had a stilted quality to them, and his movements were rigid. It was as if he was a poorly programmed robot.
Then a bolt of fire, like a miniature comet, zipped out of nowhere and blasted Light. Looking to where the fire had come from, Raven saw Elmo sitting behind some Norse runes drawn into the floor. Elmo pointed. Raven looked.
Dr. Light had frozen, and appeared to fade in and out. He seemed to get fuzzy once and twice.
A lightbulb illuminated the darkness of her confusion. It was an illusion- no, a memory. But how could it fight?
Caused by what she would later decide was some poorly cooked worm meat, Raven remembered Beast Boy and Cyborg talking about some video game…
"…Whoa, whoa!" Cyborg interrupted, "How can he fight her? She got destroyed in the first game!"
"Yeah, but this game is in a place where memories are real!" Beast Boy insisted, "So, he's not really fighting her, but a memory of her!"
"How? Magic?"
"Uh, yeah!"
And she was so sure that she had blocked out their voices, too…
Shaking her head, Raven walked to the exit, where Elmo was already waiting. She opened the door and looked.
"Oh, joy. More stairs."
TT-TT-TT-TT-TT-TT
Bob was in a tight squeeze- literally. Beast Boy was still in anaconda form, and had wrapped himself around the Magician. Now it was all a matter of increasing the pressure.
"Ribs…Compressing…" Bob muttered, grimacing. "Anymore…and…I'll…"
There was a poof of smoke, and Bob was gone. Beast Boy returned to normal in confusion-
Whoosh!
-and in time for a domestic tornado to hit, sending him spinning across the room.
"I was wondering what happened to that." Bob remarked, impressed. The little whirlwind he made had built up into a very fine cyclone indeed.
Regrettably, Bob was too busy musing on the home-made twister to notice Robin sneaking up on him. He became aware of the Teen Wonder when a pair of svelte but muscular arms wrapped around his waist.
"Kid, you mind?" Bob asked, and was prepared to just poof out when he realized that Cyborg and Starfire had blasted a combined sonic blast and starbolt at him. And by 'combined', it was just a big starbolt being given added speeded and momentum by the energy of Cyborg's sonic cannon. Bob's eyes widened, as he glanced back at the tightly-holding Robin.
Poof/BOOM!
When the dust settled, there was a large crater where the sonic starbolt had hit…but no bodies. Bob and Robin had vanished. Cyborg and Starfire stared.
"Be careful next time," Bob said from behind them, "You almost got Robin!"
The two twisted Titans turned around to see Bob, with Robin still firmly attached. They both swung a fist.
POW!
Bob flew, becoming free of Robin, and hit the wall. Again.
He had no time to think about this as Robin, Starfire, and Cyborg blasted him with exploding discs/starbolts/sonic energy.
TT-TT-TT-TT-TT-TT
After traversing what seemed like a never-ending supply of stairs, Raven came across another door. Unlike the first one, this one was very ornate, with jewels, green/purple paint, and door knocker that looked something that would give Cthulu nightmares.
"This must be it." Raven sighed, and pushed it open.
The room before her and Elmo was slightly more decorated than the room she found in the middle of the tower. However, it was decorated with broken furniture, torn curtains, bits and pieces of pottery, and rocks. In the entire area there was only one good chair.
And Gorac was sitting in it.
"How…" He rasped, clutching his staff. "How did you get past the memory?"
TT-TT-TT-TT-TT-TT
Back on the ground floor, the four twisted Titans stood in front of Bob, staring at the prone form, lying flat on his back.
Robin pulled out a birdaraang and pointed the edge at Bob's throat.
Starfire created another starbolt to throw.
Cyborg powered up his sonic cannon.
Beast Boy became a cougar.
Raven's found Gorac, Bob thought, vaguely aware of his personal impending doom. Looks like I can stop playing around.
Bob casually reached over with his right hand and pulled the glove off his left. Had an of the twisted Titans present had occult insight or were even conscious, they would have seen his left hand glow with the light of octarine- the eighth color, the color of magic. Octarine has been described by mighty mages and wise witches as being the supreme color, the one that the other primal colors bow down to and weep- which doesn't tell anyone what it actually looks like. Bob often likened it to seasick grapes. Bob placed his octarine hand on the tip of his nose-
FASH
-And his body suddenly transformed. When the octarine light subsided, the twisted Titans saw that absolute nothing had changed- except that all of the cuts, slashes, bumps and bruises Bob had sustained during the one-way fight were gone. Even the damage to his clothes were mended.
Getting back to his feet, Bob clapped his hands. "Well, shall we continue?"
TT-TT-TT-TT-TT-TT
"Release my friends from whatever spell you're using to control them," Raven said evenly, "Now."
Gorac tilted his masked head to the left. "You make such demands of me, alone?"
Raven glanced down at Elmo. "Who says I'm alone?"
"Oh, yes, the monkey," Gorac spat, "What wonderful help he has given a mere apprentice for her battle against a skilled warlock. He is so thoughtful."
This hit a bit close to the heart, as Raven had thought the same thing sixty-four hundred steps ago. However, by now she had a good comeback ready.
"Maybe he thinks it's all you deserve." She said, spreading her hands back.
Gorac tightened his grip on his staff. "You miserable freak! Don't you understand he is just using you!? You are nothing more than a pawn, a tool, a, a, a piece of dirt he throws around and replaces! You mean nothing to him! He doesn't care!"
For a brief, immeasurable moment, Raven paused. In that moment, she wondered if that was true.
When the moment ended, she said, "That may be. But," She fixed a Gorac with a cool look. "I care about my friends, and so far they haven't died, even though Bob could have killed all of them to save time. Bob may not be trustworthy, but I can sense he does possess some sort of honesty." Her hands began to glow with the flickering darkness of demonic energy.
On the ground, Elmo blanched and began to wave his arms, going "Eek!"
Were it not for the mask, Raven would have seen Gorac scowl. "You would not defend that coward if you had known what he has done…"
"I know what he did to you," Raven interrupted, "He made you pay a debt you tried to weasel out of. He humiliated you and bruised that ego of yours. But it's funny, you calling him a coward. My friends, that memory, making us walk through that desert…if I didn't know better, I'd say you were trying to keep us away. Or were you hoping to tire us down? You could have killed us all in Bob's home, but you sent us here instead. Who is the coward, Gorac?" She asked, "The trickster who stayed behind to fight…or the 'great man' who hid at the top of his tower?"
It was at this point that Gorac lost it.
"SILENCE!!" He screamed, and fired a ball of white lightning at Raven. The Titan and Elmo sidestepped the blast, going in different directions.
"Azarath Metrion…" Raven began to chant.
Hey, Raven! One thing I forgot to mention!
"Zinthos!" The dark power in her hands were released, homing in on Gorac, who still had not moved.
Don't use magic on Gorac!
"Wha-?" Raven was about to ask for clarification when she saw why. The dark power struck Gorac, but instead of harming him, it was simply absorbed into his body, like an occult skin cream.
He can absorb raw magical energy, so don't use it directly on him!
Gorac rasied his staff, the blue cone glowed, and nasty, icky, Australian snakes appeared and slithered over to her, venom dripping from their comically large fangs. Raven instantly shot into the air, just barely avoiding a certainly fatal bite. Waving her hands, she sent another pulse of dark power that crushed the two serpents into oblivion. Off to the side, Elmo dove for cover in the form of a half cracked urn.
You could have mentioned that earlier! Raven thought, now flying around to avoid being fried by more white lightning balls.
Well, Excuse me! My mind's been a bit preoccupied, what with the fact that I've got to fight your teammates without hurting them! Gimme a break!
TT-TT-TT-TT-TT-TT
Down on floor 1, Cyborg lunged at Bob, who promptly punched him in the gut. Though neither of them were hurt, Cyborg was sent flying back.
That's going to sting in the morning. Bob thought, when he heard the sound of hooves behind him. Turning around, he saw a green bull charging right at him. Thinking quickly, Bob grabbed Raven's cloak and began to wave it in front of him like a matador.
"Toro! Toro!" Bob shouted unthinkingly. When Beast Boy charged just as thinkingly past him through the cloak, Bob yelled, "Ole!"
TT-TT-TT-TT-TT-TT
On the top floor, Raven had decided that if she couldn't just zap Gorac, she could at least enchant everything around her against him. Elmo helped out, casting his own spells from a safe distance, but because he had to write down every spell into the ground, Raven had to fight on her own for a period of at least two minutes between monkey-spells.
At current moment, Raven had taken control of a couch with some large teeth marks and flung it at Gorac. The warlock easily blasted it to pieces, before creating something that looked like what would happen if a porcupine and sea sponge tried to procreate- and succeeded.
I feel ill. Raven thought, doing her best not to look directly at the Thing, whatever it was supposed to be called.
Luckily, several octarine rings blasted the Thing, making it vanish from existing. Elmo had finished casting another spell.
That's better. Raven now knew why Bob had assigned Elmo to her side. As a familiar, Elmo knew enough about magic to be able nullify most of Gorac's hexes, even if he did take a few minutes to cast a spell. This meant that she didn't have to worry about the warlock's most dangerous curses.
Spotting a curtain, an idea came to Raven. A quick chant later, Raven sent the dark-powered fabric at Gorac, wrapping it around him. As the warlock struggled to free himself, Raven battered him with more furniture fragments.
Gorac instantly burst free in a blast of hellfire. "ENOUGH! I will not be taunted by that man's student and his pet!"
TT-TT-TT-TT-TT-TT
Back on the bottom, Bob was busy placing Starfire in another tornado when Robin suddenly collapsed. Taking a grand leap from the twisted Titan trapped in a twister to investigate the Teen Wonder's body.
He looks fine, Bob thought. He smirked. Looks like Raven and Elmo are giving Gorac such a hard time he had to release Robin. Excellent, one down, three to go!
Bob then grabbed Robin and took another grand leap, just narrowly avoiding a flurry of starbolts. Starfire had escaped from the tornado. After placing Robin under a protective shield against the wall, Bob heard a hiss, and saw the green anaconda again.
"I think we're running out of ideas, here." He sighed, and rolled up his sleeves.
TT-TT-TT-TT-TT-TT
On floor 3, Raven and Elmo's battle had increased in difficulty. Releasing his control of Robin had allowed Gorac to cast spells from both hands, and as such he was able to send magic at both of them at the same time. This meant that Elmo couldn't prepare a spell while Raven drew his fire, and as such was forced to scamper about like…well, like a frightened monkey. A ballof black-and-red magic almost hit when a flickering black claw grabbed Elmo and pulled him out of danger. The ball hit with a 'bawam' and the surface it struck became littered with ugly, Australian spiders.
"Yuck." Raven commented, placing Elmo on her shoulders.
"Ook."
"What do you mean, 'Good thing Bob isn't here?" Raven asked, cocking an eyebrow. Did I just understand him?
"Ook."
"He's afraid of spiders? Seriously?" I did! I understand him now!
"Ook."
"Oh. Yeah, you're right, good thing. We wouldn't survive something like that." Raven quickly did several loop-de-loops to avoid being hexed by Gorac.
"Hold still!!" screamed Gorac, and began to create knives that shot at them.
Raven erected a barrier for protection, but knew it wouldn't last.
"Can you do anything?" She asked Elmo.
"Eek!" Elmo nodded, and stuck his finger in his mouth. Raven then felt a slight pressure on her back, and came to the gruesome conclusion- Elmo was drawing on her back!
Monkey spit. Ew. She thought, trying to concentrate on her shield.
"Eek!"
Raven quickly withdrew the barrier as an octarine bolt zipped over her and down to the floor. The bolt struck a piece of rubble, transforming it into a cannon- and the short fuse was lit.
BOOM!
TT-TT-TT-TT-TT-TT
Bob casually deposited Beast Boy- who, as a snake, was doing a wonderful impersonation of a sailor's knot- next to Robin, just as the green changeling suddenly lost consciousness.
That's two. Bob thought. He turned his attention to Cyborg and Starfire, who were powering up starbolts and sonic blasts respectively. They fired, but Bob simply waved his hand, blocking both shots with a stream of cherry blossoms.
I should wrap this up, He thought, Gorac must be getting pretty vicious by now.
TT-TT-TT-TT-TT-TT
The cannon fire had not damaged Gorac- not too much, that is. His armor was cracked, with pieces blow off, and his mask now had a hole over where the left eye should be. In it, Raven could just barely make out some kind of pulsing, bloodshot eye.
"That's a good look for him." She remarked to Elmo, who went "Ook" in agreement.
"Shut up!!" Gorac screeched, and unleashed several burst of magic that became spinning shuriken. Raven put up another barrier, but the shuriken carved through them like a buzz-saw through balsa wood. Luckily, Raven just barely managed to dodge it- instead of losing her head, she got a slight cut on her cheek.
"Ow." She said at last, looking at the blood. Elmo reached up and kissed it. "Uh…thanks." Looking down at Gorac, she called out, "If you want to do any better than that, you'll have to get up!"
It was a bluff, a taunt, something to get the warlock even more riled up, in hopes that he would make a mistake in his rage.
She never expected him to rise up to her level.
"If you insist." He hissed, sounding less like a man, and more like a reptile reading cue cards.
Then, light.
TT-TT-TT-TT-TT-TT
Cyborg lunged and threw a punch, but Bob used the momentum to throw him overhead. As the Titan flew into the wall, Bob poofed to another location to avoid a starbolt. As he appeared, Bob took special notice of Cyborg- the machine-man had not gotten up.
He's down too, Bob thought, Which means Raven is now in over her head. He looked up at the twisted Tamaranean baring down him him in flight, green energy building. Gorac would release the humans first. He never thought too much of humans. Neither do I, come to think of it.
As Starfire got closer, Bob snapped his fingers in her direction. There was a wind of leaves…
TT-TT-TT-TT-TT-TT
If things had were bad before, that was nothing compared to what Raven had to deal with now. Gorac kept pelting her with a never-ending barrage of spells, forcing Raven to both fly for her life and erect dark barriers at the same time. Unfortunately, the barriers shattered against each spell, and the backlash kept propelling her through the air, to the point where she had no control of her flight path. Elmo wasn't any help, as the previously mentioned circumstances made it impossible for him to cast spells. And so there he was, clinging to Raven's back, going "Eek" in a very loud voice.
"Elmo, I'm doing the best I can!" Raven yelled, "So stop screaming in my ear!"
And so, she was being assaulted from multiple fronts: Gorac's magic, Elmo's screeching, some airsickness welling up in her stomach, and the flickering from Gorac's Blue Cone was going to give her a seizure.
Blue Cone… of course!
Every time Gorac cast a spell, the cone on the top of his staff glowed. That must be the source of his power!
I have to get that staff away from him! She decided, and tried to will it away. No good. His grip was too firm. And in response to her attempted theft, he summoned a cloud of small sea mines at her.
Bob… Help! Rave thought desperately amongst the explosions.
TT-TT-TT-TT-TT-TT
Don't worry, kid! I'm coming!
Bob continued to sprinkle a strange shimmering powder over the four fallen Titans.
I'm just making sure your friends will be free of Gorac's control when they wake up! He thought to her.
Hurry!
Relax, Bob got up and dusted himself off. I'll be there in two shakes of a badger's claw.
He snapped his fingers, but instead of a theatrical puff of smoke and his disappearance, there was a sound like a boiled egg hitting a canvas.
…Oh boy.
What's wrong?
Uh…before you left, I placed a homing spell on you. I was planning to appear at your side once I had your teammates well off.
You can't use it, can you? There's some kind of magic preventing those kinds of actions. I couldn't teleport either.
That's a problem. I'll have to take the stairs. See you…fifteen minutes! Just hang on!
TT-TT-TT-TT-TT-TT
Fifteen minutes? Why doesn't he be realistic and say fifteen years?
The horrible realization that her new teacher would not be at her side in time to save the day did nothing for Raven's peace of mind, nor for her immediate future. Gorac's aim was improving, and her powers were waning.
And what was worse was the hateful rage she felt from Gorac. It was an anger of cruelty and sorrow, an animalistic fury, like a kicked dog that decided it wants to fight back. It was frustrated, it was desperate, it was… cornered. Just like she was. And it was driving him to be more and more dangerous.
Then Raven remembered what Bob had mentioned out in the desert. How emotions such as anger can strengthen someone. Starfire had said that during the Puppet King debacle that her species abilities were tied to their emotions.
Then, why not her? What was stopping her from getting angry, and overpowering Gorac?
BZZZ! Raven ducked to avoid a swarm of big, green hornets. On her back, Elmo had ceased his shrieking and simply settled for rigid, silent terror.
Well, years of repressing her emotions had rendered her ability to simply lose her temper null and void unless truly pushed. Her friends were safe, Bob was all right, and she was, in a subconscious, perverted way, attempting to derive any sort of enjoyment from the situation, finding Gorac's own rage amusing.
Gorac's rage?
Why not?
Raven put herself in a lotus position, a stupid thing to do in combat, and began to meditate.
"Azarath...Metrion…Zinthos!"
And then she pulled it in. Gorac's anger, his rage and frustration, all of it, she pulled into herself. It was the psychic equivalent to drinking a mixture of red bull and barbeque sauce…with salt.
This caused two things. Without the rage to drive him, Gorac's momvement's slowed…while at the same time, Raven experienced a rush like never before. All of her exhaustion and pain vanished in a second. She felt her muscles swell and tense with power. Her eyes glowed blood red…and became four.
Elmo soon became aware that something drastic had happened, and decided that now was not the time to be clinging to Raven in fear, when he could be hiding under that urn in caution. He didn't want to be near Raven right now.
TT-TT-TT-TT-TT-TT
Bob had just reached the middle floor when felt it. Scooping up some sand, he began to fly.
TT-TT-TT-TT-TT-TT
Gorac had no time to adjust to this surreal turn of events. Within seconds, Raven was in his face.
POW!
She punched him with such force and speed that he dropped his staff. When said rod hit the ground, the Blue Cone broke off, rolling towards Elmo.
CRACK!
Raven gave Gorac a devastating ax-kick that blasted him down to the ground with such force that it was nothing short of a miracle that he didn't go through to the floor below. There was no time to marvel at this as Raven landed suddenly before him with a slam. As she looked down at the warlock, the rage almost vanished with a start. Gorac's mask had fallen completely off, revealing a face, though it was only a face in the loosest sense of the word. The best way to describe it would that whoever had designed Gorac's face had started with two eyes, before simply dumping a mess of fangs, tentacles, and mosquito bites in. And in her revulsion, Raven found a new source of anger.
And he called me a freak?
Picking Gorac up, Raven pulled back, lingering for just one second, before delivering the final blow.
KER-POW!!
Gorac went flying, going so far and fast that when he hit the wall, it broke, and he continued to soar through the air, toward and beyond the horizon.
Elmo peeked out from under the urn. Was it over?
Because the rage was never hers, it left Raven instantly. And she fell. The rage had given her strength, but it had not made the pain go away, and it did not revitalize her. It was just a rush to focus her mind…
"Nice job, kid." Bob said, catching her.
"Bob…" Raven said softly. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the bodies of her friends float up behind him.
"They're fine," Bob said, following her gaze. "They're just a bit tired from being jerked around like puppets on strings."
Raven closed her eyes. She wanted to ask when Bob showed up, what had taken so long, how badly were her teammates hurt…
But when she opened her eyes, she asked, "What was he?"
Bob sat Raven down and looked out the window Gorac's forced departure created.
"There is a universe that is lower than any other, even Hell," He said, "A dungeon among dimensions. In that place, there is almost no reality, the only stability it gets is from other universes. In there, the Things-"(And Raven noted the capital letter) "-in there are constantly probing the multiverse, looking for a way out. If someone creates a tear deep enough, the Things will swarm into the hole and escape, taking on new shape and form…though they are very bad at it."
Raven, tired as she was, felt a light go on. "And is Gorac…?" She asked, trailing off.
Bob shrugged. "Who can say? I've always thought so. Ahh, there we go!"
Elmo scurried over, holding up the Blue Cone for all to see. Bob took it and held it up for closer examination.
"Yes, this will do. With this thing's power, I should be able to get us out of this desert. Oh, and I think this belongs to you." Bob tossed Raven her cloak, which she held up for inspection. She frowned at the tears and singes, and hoof-prints. She raised an eyebrow at Bob.
"Hey, don't blame me," Bob replied, "I'm not the one who left her clothes on a battlefield."
Bob tapped the Blue Cone eight times, and a octarine light filled the room. As she sank into it's glow, she saw one last thing…
Arella looked down at her baby, somberly contemplating the fate Raven will have to experience.
Bob, his back to hers, asked, "So, you think that little sweetie will destroy the world?"
Arella nodded sadly. "It is beyond our power. All we can do is wait."
Bob shrugged. "Well, I wouldn't worry about it too much. These things usually work out themselves."
Arella looked up. "You mean, she will not bring about the apocalypse?"
"No, I just said it will work out. But, if something happens," Bob fished out a scrap of paper and began to write. "I recommend sending her to this planet. They're used to stuff like the end of the world. It'll be fine."
Bob tossed the paper over his head, and it fluttered down next to Arella's right foot. She didn't even look at it.
Bob walked off, waving. "If I think of it, I'll come back in a few years to check up on things. See ya."
TT-TT-TT-TT-TT-TT
"Fascinating," Bob moved a pawn forward. "A fireplace appears sometimes?"
"Every Christmas. And we can't figure out why." Raven said, looking at the board.
"Interesting morphic effect, there."
True to Bob's words, he, Elmo, and the Titans had appeared in the main room of Titans Tower, bringing in minimal amounts of sand along the way. After placing Robin, Starfire, Beast Boy and Cyborg into the medical ward, Bob suggested Raven get some sleep, but she didn't want to sleep. Even though she was tired, she was also excited, as suddenly a world of possibilities opened up to her.
She hoped the feeling would fade.
And so, to pass time, the chess board had been brought out and they played, with a game against Elmo as the stakes.
After about seventy-eight minutes, Raven began to get worried. Her friends had not awoken.
"There's nothing else to do," Bob sighed, getting up. "I'll have to give them mouth-to-mouth resuscitation."
Almost instantly, the four Titans awoke.
"Never fails." Bob chuckled.
"I'm up! I'm up!" Vic yelled.
"Yeah, I'm…a pretzel?" Though Gar had reverted to human form, he was still tied in a knot and now looked like a circus contortionist.
"Whoops. Uh, I can fixed that." Bob walked over and, much against the changeling's will, tried to untangle him.
"Excuse me, but could someone tell me what has happened?" Kory asked, looking around.
"Yeah, last thing I remember is that weird masked guy appearing," Tim said, sitting up. "And now we're here. What's up?"
"Well, long story short," Bob said, pulling Gar's head free of his knee. "The day was saved by my new student, Raven. There we go!" He laughed as Gar fell back spread eagle.
"Student?" Vic asked, raising an eyebrow. "What's he mean by, 'student?'"
Raven moved her queen, putting Bob's king into check. "It's quite a story."
TT-TT-TT-TT-TT-TT
A/N: I'm back, finishing this arc at last! It's been a long time. The concept of Octarine and the Dungeon Dimensions are from Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels. I may be showing more influence from Pratchett later on, once I get a certain email. But for now… Music, maestro!
(Music starts up)
When there's trouble
You know who to call
TEEN TITANS!
From their tower
They can see it all
TEEN TITANS!
When there's evil
On the attack
You can rest knowing
They got your back
Cause when the world needs heroes on patrol
TEEN TITANS, GO!
With their superpowers, they unite
TEEN TITANS!
Never met a villain that they liked
TEEN TITANS!
They've got the bad guys
On the run
They'll never stop
Till the job gets done
Cause when the world is losing all control
TEEN TITANS, GO!
TEEN TITANS, GO!
If your heart is black
You'd better watch out
You cannot escape the team
When they catch you
There won't be any doubt
You've been beaten by the team (Beaten by the team…)
T-E-E-N
T-I-T
A-N-S
TEEN
TITANS
Let's go!
T-E-E-N
T-I-T
A-N-S
TEEN
TITANS
Let's go!
T-E-E-N
T-I-T
A-N-S
TEEN
TITANS
Let's go!
T-E-E-N
T-I-T
A-N-S
TEEN
TITANS
Let's go!
T-E-E-N
T-I-T
A-N-S
TEEN
TITANS
Let's go!
When there's trouble
You know who to call
Teen Titans!
From their tower
They can see it all
Teen Titans!
When there's evil
On the attack
You can rest knowing
They got your back
Cause when the world needs heroes on patrol
TEEN TITANS, GO!
1, 2, 3, 4, GO!
TEEN TITANS!