Well, here we are! The first official chapter of Remember the Titans; the third and final part of my uber long and complicated Teen Titans trilogy. I thank you for being so patient, and especially thank and wish to hug those for whom this is their second time returning (i.e. You've been here right from Asylum). But a huge welcome to EVERYONE, new or old hands, and I only hope this meets your expectations (whatever they may be; sure, there must be some people who are only here to laugh…). I hope the brief Prologue and introductory/recap chapter, Prodigal Phantasm, helped bring you back up to speed so that we can just go plunging straight in head first.
And I do mean "head-first". Too much of Asylum and Black Magic was setting the scene – here, we go hand-to-hand with some major issues pretty much straight away.
For the most part, the Teen Titans, particularly Robin and Raven, are in pretty serious trouble; and it's only going to get worse.
But you knew that.
That's why you're here; to see them suffer.
Well, I will have more to say at the bottom; but for now, I will not delay you any further.
Only to say this – thanks to you all, Black Magic racked up the Grand Total of 421 reviews, beating its predecessor Asylum by some 300 reviews. I don't expect this to beat Black Magic by 300, reviews, but let's see if we can get past that 421 mark! Whoo! We're on 11 so far, which isn't bad considering some of my regular reviewers seem to be AWOL at the moment.
Actually, I lie – I will delay you for a moment more;
To dedicate this chapter to Flying Fish, who made a trailer for Black Magic; a change from a music video, it looks like a real movie trailer, with overlapping dialogue and everything! It is superb and you can find a link to it on my profile (right at the top). Check it out, it's not very long – no longer than two minutes, anyway. It's great, seriously!
Big thankyou to Flying Fish; and everyone!
Now let's get it on!
Harbinger
"What's that you're readin', Robbie?"
Robin looked up sceptically at Cyborg over the top of his newspaper; the half-robot was cooking breakfast at the grill but was waiting for the eggs to fry, and so had curbed his boredom by asking Robin stupid questions.
"A newspaper, Cy," the Boy Wonder replied flatly, holding it up slightly so that Cyborg could see it, just in case he wasn't fully satisfied with his friend's answer.
Cyborg scowled.
"I can see that, Robin."
"Then why did you ask?" Robin didn't wait for the answer as he went back to his article, toying absently with the red jewel on its silver chain hanging at his neck.
The Blood Diamond, given to him by Seth Elliott during his time in Azarath.
"I meant the thing you are actually reading."
"Oh." Robin frowned at it. "Just an article about LexCorp…"
"Lex Luthor?"
"The very same."
"So you haven't read the front page?"
Robin shook his head.
"Should I have?" He asked distantly, still immersed in what reporters Lois Lane and Clark (coughSupermancough) Kent had to say about LexCorp's latest project.
"Well, it might interest you, Batboy…" Cyborg replied pointedly.
Robin closed the newspaper and smoothed out the front page so that he could read it. As it turned out, he didn't need to read it; there was a huge photograph of Batman adorning it.
"Batman still with hands full following Arkham breakout in Gotham three weeks ago…" Robin read, a frown on his face. "'Gotham City's own Dark Knight has been running from Gotham to Jump to Metropolis and even beyond, rounding up those who escaped during the shut-down at Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane just over three weeks ago. Though he has enlisted the help of Superman of Metropolis and the Justice League, the task is still proving to be a difficult and lengthy process. Criminals still at large include the Riddler, the Scarecrow, Bane, Two-Face, Killer Croc and Jump City criminal Johnny Rancid; however, sources inform us that Gotham City's most dangerous and infamous criminal the Joker aka Jack Napier is safely behind bars, along with fellow havoc-wreakers the Penguin, the Mad Hatter, the Ventriloquist and Harley Quinn…'"
Robin paused and looked up at Cyborg, who nodded, encouraging him to continue;
"'Criminal records for Edward Nygma, Jonathon Crane, "Killer Croc" Morgan, Harvey Dent, "Bane", Oswald Cobblepot, Jervis Tetch, Arnold Wesker, Jonathon Rancid and Harleen Quinzel, among others, are, however, reported to be missing since the breakout, when the record vault was ransacked during the break-out. Of all the escaped criminals, only Jack Napier's is still in its rightful place. Any information on these missing records or the escaped criminals themselves will be greatly welcomed by the Gotham City Police Department. If you think you can help please do not hesitate to call the GCPD's hotline on 0870-900-2050…'"
Robin trailed off in his narrative and looked up at Cyborg again.
"Guess that's where your pointy-eared pal has been for the past month," Cyborg acknowledged with a shrug. "That's why Raven couldn't get hold of him to help with that exorcism spell to get the demon out of you back in Azarath…"
Robin nodded, looking back at the article. Reading further down, it was apparent that the GCPD still had no idea who had actually broken into Arkham Asylum those weeks back.
But Robin knew, the Titans knew, and the Boy Wonder had a feeling that somehow Batman knew too.
Slade.
But the missing files… had Slade taken them? What would he want with them?
Robin thought back to that terrible night in the asylum, when Slade had… raped him to initiate a prophecy; to take his virginity and make him impure, as the prophecy had ordered. He had run from Slade… and had ended up in the record vault. There he had found the Orb of Azarath, and had learned of the prophecy and his role in it.
That Slade, with the murder of the tainted Robin, would harness untold power held within that small stone orb; because Robin was the "Avenger" – one born to save the world. And the powers of all other super-powered beings – known collectively and rather poetically as the "mortal gods" – would be lost upon Robin's death, so there would no-one else left to fight.
Robin had given up questioning the reality of all of this long ago.
And… yes… he remembered that the vault had been ransacked, obviously by Slade; but Slade had only been looking for the Joker's file, so that he could find out what cell he was in. What would he have wanted with Harley Quinn's, or the Penguin's, or Two-Face's? Had Slade truly taken them?
Or had someone else?
"So, he was in Jump, huh?" Cyborg asked breezily, snapping Robin out of his reverie.
The Boy Wonder shrugged.
"Guess so. Can't say I noticed."
"No, me neither. You'd think someone would have noticed, though. A guy dressed like a giant bat? Not exactly common around here. The closest thing we got to Batman is you, Robbie, and while you're named after a bird, you're not exactly sporting feathers."
"Yeah, I suppose he does take it a bit literally…"
Robin looked lazily at the newspaper again, not seeing anything else worthy of his interest. What got him more was the fact that Batman hadn't called him or the Titans up to help him out. Although, if he remembered correctly, they had been in Azarath for quite a while. Maybe Batman had called then, and hadn't been able to get hold of him?...
"You know where the others are?"
Again Cyborg's voice cutting into his chain of thoughts made Robin jump.
"Sorry?"
"The others," Cyborg repeated. "Do you know what's keeping them? I called for Star and B.B ten minutes ago. Remember, when I asked you to watch the bacon and when I came back you were still readin' that dumb paper and had let my bacon burn? How you didn't notice the smoke fillin' the kitchen still beats me, Robin…"
Robin grinned guiltily; he didn't know how the smoke alarms going off had failed to capture his attention either, but he had been somewhat immersed in the LexCorp article.
Cyborg tapped the spatula on the sideboard impatiently.
"Jeez, what is keeping them?"
"Did you call Raven?" Robin asked nonchalantly, picking up a pen that was lying abandoned on the table and starting to draw a curly-q moustache on the picture of Batman. "She might have been meditating and didn't hear you."
"Yeah, I called her," Cyborg replied. "And she heard me. She was in the bathroom… don't tell her I said this, but… I think she was being sick."
"Oh?"
Hmm, how strange. I wonder why that could be…
Robin didn't look up, instead making Batman's moustache more and more elaborate until it was ridiculously huge and cartoon-like.
"Yeah, I…" Cyborg folded his arms, still holding the spatula. "I yelled through the door if she was okay, and she just… well, she came to the bathroom door with her hood up but she looked terrible even underneath it, and she started ranting at me to mind my own business and why was everyone spying on her and I dunno what else, so I just kind of edged away and she slammed the door again. I dunno what's up with her lately. She doesn't eat at all, she's even more irritable and moody than usual, she's constantly got her hood up, and I swear that's not the first time I've heard her being sick… Robin?"
"Mm?" Robin still didn't look up, instead chewing the end of the pen as he tried to think of something else to add to Batman; the guy already looked like an OTT stereotypical French waiter.
"Are you listening?"
"Sure. Raven's acting weirder than usual. I don't think it's anything to worry about."
"Yeah? Robin, I'm concerned about her. You think… maybe she's…?"
Robin looked up sharply.
"She's what?" He pressed, his stomach clenching.
"I dunno… bulimic or something? I mean, she doesn't eat much at all, and she keeps being sick…"
Robin breathed out an imperceptible sigh of relief at Cyborg's assumption – so far off the mark.
Oh Cy, how wonderfully, immensely wrong you are…
"What?"
Robin blinked and frowned.
"Hmm?"
"I meant what was up with you."
Robin was confused.
"I… I didn't say anything. Did I?" He sincerely hoped he hadn't voiced that thought without realising.
"No. You were smirking at me."
"Oh. Sorry."
Cyborg eyed him sceptically.
"Were you smirking at me… or something else?"
"Oh…" Robin quickly snatched up the paper and showed Cyborg his graffitied mentor. "I was smirking at this. What do you think?"
Cyborg burst out laughing.
"It suits him!"
"Yeah, I thought so…" Although he had gotten out of that one, Robin still felt uncomfortable. He should probably go and see Raven, seeing as it was due to him that she was throwing up in the first place…
However, despite being both the reason she was pregnant and the father of her child, he would probably get the same treatment as Cyborg. Maybe worse, if she was feeling particularly vengeful and holding him responsible for her plight.
"Do you want me to go and find them?" He asked suddenly, getting up.
"Would you?" Cyborg sounded grateful for the offer, not realising he had just handed the Boy Wonder a way out of an awkward situation.
"Sure." Robin made for the door, his necklace swaying to and fro across his chest.
"Breakfast'll be ready in five, 'kay? Make sure you come back, too," Cyborg called as the Boy Wonder sauntered out of the kitchen.
As it turned out, Robin didn't have to look too far for Beast Boy; the shape-shifter was coming the other way, carrying the post.
"Hey, Robin," the green boy greeted him brightly. "Post's in."
"I gathered that, Beast Boy," Robin replied mildly, a faint smile playing across his mouth.
"Well, it's not fair," Beast Boy went on. "You and Cy always get way more post than the rest of us."
"We have subscriptions to things, Beast Boy."
"Tch, yeah. Detective Monthly. Lame."
"Cyborg gets Car Monthly."
"Same thing, just with cars no-one cares about instead of detectives no-one cares about."
"Well, why don't you subscribe to Vegetarian Monthly?" Robin asked, his voice dripping in sarcasm.
Beast Boy seemed not to notice, as he was sorting through the pile of letters in his arms.
"Well, here's your stupid magazine…"
Beast Boy dumped the latest issue of Detective Monthly wrapped in its clear postal bag – this month's cover paying homage to, of all people, Inspector "Pink Panther" Clueso – and then Beast Boy placed something else on top of the magazine. The second item, however, was small and barely weighed anything at all.
A free sample sachet of a new variety of mustard.
"Beast Boy, I-" Robin started.
"It came in the mailbox this morning," Beast Boy interrupted. "Give it to Star when you see her."
At once understanding became clear.
"Oh. Okay." It figured. "Breakfast is ready. Go to the kitchen before Cyborg cries. Or throws something. Fingers crossed for the non-violent option."
Beast Boy grinned and made off towards the kitchen carrying the rest of the mail; two letters and Cyborg's latest edition of Car Monthly.
Robin went to the elevator, having to perform a balancing act as he punched in the top floor button while holding onto his mail in the other hand. The elevator moved up to the highest floor of Titans Tower and the door opened; Starfire sprang at him, making him jump and almost drop it all anyway.
"Greetings and salutations, Robin!" The alien girl cried happily, as he struggled to hold onto his magazine and sachet of mustard. "I am hopeful that this morning finds you well?"
"Yeah, fine, I'm ok," Robin answered in his usual deadpan American slang, quite unlike Starfire's grammatically correct English. "Something came for you in the mail."
"Oh, joy of joys!" Starfire was ecstatic. "It has been too long since I received the post. Perhaps it is from my dear sister Blackfire."
"I don't think our mailman delivers stuff from the Centauri Moon System, Star. 'Sides, she's not your "dear" sister; she's a calculating witch," Robin pointed out.
"I still love her. She is my sister."
"Yeah."
Shame it's not a mutual feeling, then…
"Anyway, here's your mail, Star." He handed her the sachet of mustard.
"Oh, serendipity!" Starfire cried happily, clutching the tiny sachet so tightly to her chest Robin feared that she was going to burst it. He did not want to start out his Friday covered in mustard.
"Oh, thankyou, Robin!" Starfire beamed, now rubbing the sachet against her cheek. Robin raised an eyebrow.
"Uh… you're welcome."
I wonder if those free sachets of mustard have brought this much joy to anyone else…
Somehow, he doubted it. But then, this was Starfire. She was sweet and naïve and innocent and found beauty in everything.
Even mustard.
"Star, you should go downstairs," Robin told her as she started to fling the sachet into the air and catch it again, laughing gleefully.
"Why is that, Robin?"
"Because Cyborg's gonna go nuts if you don't," Robin reasoned. "He called you ten minutes ago. What have you been doing?"
"Well, first I sang the ancient Tamaranean song of Morning Joy. Would you like to hear it?"
"No." He hadn't meant it to sound so abrupt, but as much as he loved Star, he didn't love her songs. Or her cooking. Or her weird Tamaranean custom of licking the side of his face when he was least expecting it, thoroughly grossing him out.
Starfire seemed crestfallen.
"Oh."
"Maybe some other time, Star," Robin added hurriedly, pushing her in the direction of the elevator. "Go on, go downstairs before Cy really loses it."
"But Robin, surely you will be joining us for breakfast?" Starfire appeared confused at why he wasn't getting back into the elevator himself.
"Yeah, I just wanna chuck this stuff in my room," Robin replied, gesturing to his mail. "And I gotta get Raven."
"Raven is in the bathroom," Starfire informed him, fidgeting with her mustard sachet.
Robin blinked.
"Still?"
Starfire nodded, her green eyes wide.
"Yes, I do not think that poor Raven is feeling very alright."
"Very well, Star," Robin corrected almost absently. He looked down the corridor, frowning at the closed bathroom door. "Ok, I'll go see her."
"Robin, I do not think that is a very wise idea." Starfire sounded almost frightened now as she grasped his free wrist. "I wished only to console and sympathise with my dear friend Raven, but she was very angry at me and she shouted and…"
Robin stiffened indiscernibly.
"And what?"
"She started crying." Again Starfire's mood seemed to shift so that she now seemed merely upset. "She was shouting at me to leave her alone and then she suddenly exploded into tears."
"Burst into tears, Starfire."
"Yes." Starfire was nodding vigorously. "Yes, that is exactly what she did. And I could hear things smashing in the bathroom and she just shut the door… Oh, Robin, I am so worried about her." Starfire played absently with Robin's fingers until he pulled his hand away, irritated. Starfire looked up at him, and he saw tears shining in her large green eyes. "Robin, what do you think is wrong with her? She is acting so… strangely. This is not the Raven we know; surely you have noticed her strange behaviour also?"
"Well…"
Robin pretended to think very hard about it, when in fact he was just desperate to get away from Starfire and see Raven himself.
"I guess she has been acting a little weirder than usual," he said slowly. "But I don't think it's anything to worry about."
"But-" Starfire started.
"Star, I'll talk to her, ok?" Robin promised wearily; even just talking to Starfire was very tiring sometimes. "Just take your beloved mustard and go downstairs."
She didn't notice the irritated underlay in his voice as he gave her the order; she merely beamed as though he had said something humorous and complied with his wishes. He felt guilty as he sighed with relief to be rid of her, but he had come to the conclusion that some days he loved being with the alien girl and would gladly be handcuffed to her, and other days he just didn't have the energy to talk to her. Today, Friday 29th September, seemed to be one of those days.
Was it still only September? It had been a very long month, what with that whole Arkham Asylum thing and then him getting possessed and them all going to Azarath, and then to crown it all Raven announcing to him that she was pregnant, and then of course there was the prophecy and the Orb of Azarath and Slade and that damned Ex-Head of the Azarathian Senate, Seth Elliott…
And of course, August had been busy too, taken up by the "Joker Incident"; Gotham City Clock Tower was still recovering. June and July had been pretty quiet, in all fairness, with just the annual 4th July celebrations and the usual havoc-wreakers – the likes of the Amazing Mumbo, Control Freak, the Hive, Atlas, Killer Moth and the rest of the Jump City Villainous "In" crowd – causing trouble making the months slightly exciting. Before that had been May, and with it had come the return of Poison Ivy, the near-death of the Boy Wonder and the reunion of the Dynamic Duo, as well as the Titans' first introduction to Terra. April preceding brought the word "apprentice" to mind, as indeed that month had heralded the entrance of Red X and the consequential trapping of a songbird in a net of blackmail and deceit by Slade.
And March?
Robin's sixteenth birthday.
Sixteen years to the day Seth Elliott had been appointed Head Senator of the Azarathian Senate.
Robin was more aware than ever of the Blood Diamond at his neck as he made his way down the corridor towards the bathroom. He had always seen Slade as his greatest threat, especially since learning of the prophecy; now he wasn't so sure if Slade was the one he should be worried about.
His sixteenth birthday hadn't been big; it had been fun, but it had hardly been a 4th July-type street party. Just the five of them with cake and soda and junk food and balloons and streamers and presents. Typical birthday stuff. He'd enjoyed it, and enjoyed the fuss, but it hadn't been that big a deal.
Now he seemed to get the feeling that it had been more important than he or his friends had realised. But it had been six months ago; he was sixteen and a half now. If Robin's sixteenth birthday had had anything to do with whatever Seth was planning, then the guy had missed the bus.
He held his post to his chest with one hand, knocking on the bathroom door with the other.
"Raven?"
Nothing.
"Raven?" He tried again, knocking harder. Still only ominous silence met his ears. "Raven, are you ok?"
He tried the bathroom door, to no avail; it was locked. But leaning against it, he established that if Raven was even in there, she was keeping very quiet, probably because she did not want to be interrogated by him.
Worried as he was, he could respect that. Shoulders slumped, he wandered away in the direction of his room. Once there he entered and made for his desk, where he casually tossed his magazine onto the surface. With a sigh he went to the doorway again, the hunger he had felt ten minutes ago when in the kitchen now quelled. He stopped at the doorway, one hand on the frame, and…
His wrist was itchy again; he scratched it distractedly, then lifted the green material of his glove to get a look at the thing.
The tiny "A" was still there, scraped into the milky-pale skin of his wrist.
A for Avenger.
As if he needed reminding.
This was Cordelia Silver's idea of a "message" – she had cornered him on the first morning of her appointment as a senator and not only passed on a series of disturbing images in the absolute grossest way ever; but when he had awoken from that funk, he had found this scratched into his wrist. It was small and shallow and the lines were thin, as though it had been done with a needle.
It had started to scab over by now and itched like crazy.
He suddenly turned, pressing the button at his doorway and sliding the panel shut behind him as he did so. He made for his bed purposefully, sitting on it and sliding his hand underneath. He fished out a cardboard box and placed it on his lap; removing the lid, he took out the item he had wrapped in brown paper. He slipped the paper off and crumpled it in his hand; revealing the shining, glinting Blade of Azar he had taken from Azarath only the week before.
The beautiful weapon – made of pure silver, decorated with a dragon coiling around the hilt with eyes of glimmering rubies – that Seth Elliott had stabbed Arella through the shoulder with on the night of Jonathon's murder.
This was so much more than evidence.
Because Robin had his suspicions that Seth… physically couldn't touch this knife.
Bruce had taught him well.
But Bruce was in the dark concerning the prophecy, Robin remembered. Why, he didn't even know that within the last week his ex-ward had been possessed and had briefly become a fully-fledged demon, nor was he aware of the Teen Titans' trip to Raven's homeworld of Azarath. He didn't know about the "Avenger", he didn't know about Seth Elliott, and he most certainly didn't know he was going to be a grandfather…
Add to To-Do List; have a heart to heart with Bruce. Spare nothing. And, if at all possible, get very drunk beforehand, so that you'll be blissfully unaware that he is throttling you…
He sighed heavily, the knife in one gloved hand, the fingers of his other twisting his necklace absently. He was really not looking forward to telling Bruce about that last part. The rest he could cope with – he wouldn't even have to mention the rape in Arkham, because he knew that Bruce "Just-Call-Me-Sherlock" Wayne had already figured that part out. And all the Azarath stuff; Seth Elliott and his expendable knowledge of just about everything, the murder of senator Jonathon Vaughan, the prophecy, the orb, the Avenger, the mortal gods… he would have one hell of a sore throat by the time he had finished explaining, but he didn't have a problem with it.
The thing that made his voice dry up, the thing that made him feel sick and weak every time he thought about it – which, incidentally, was quite often – the thing that he kept trying to convince himself wasn't real…
Raven was carrying his child, and as the week had worn on, he had become increasingly unnerved.
He would have been freaked anyway, of course, what with the inevitable having-to-tell-Bruce-at-some-point, but there was something else about this pregnancy that got to him; he just couldn't place his finger on it. He didn't know quite what it was that gave him the heebie-jeebies every time he looked in Raven's direction, but he had noticed that she was acting strangely towards him. She was distant when she spoke to him – if she even spoke to him at all, as she had taken to ignoring him – she avoided him and he had noticed that her cloak was always wrapped firmly around her form. That puzzled him; he didn't know too much about pregnant women, having never known one, but he was pretty sure that the bump didn't start to show until at least the fourth month, possibly the fifth. But Raven was hiding from all four of her team-mates – even him, which he didn't understand; after all, it was his baby – as though she was seven or eight months pregnant, instead of a mere week. Maybe she was just building up a pretence, so that when she really did need to hide her swollen stomach it would not cause too much suspicion? But even with that theory in mind, it did not satisfactorily explain why Raven was acting so distantly towards him. Almost as though she didn't want to talk to him; which, ok, if she was feeling under the weather due to her pregnancy, he could appreciate, but if that was the case, why not just tell him to leave her alone? Why was she… hiding from him?
It all just added to the general feeling of uneasiness he got whenever he thought of his unborn child safely inside Raven's womb. He didn't know what it was, but he couldn't shake off the feeling he had gotten the very night she had told him the "wonderful" news; that the baby, as Raven had put it, was going to be "very special".
And that, as he clearly remembered thinking in response, was what worried him. "Special" wasn't the term he would apply to whatever he had impregnated Raven with; "abnormal" seemed more fitting. The thing that kept coming back to him was the fact that he had been possessed that night he had knocked her up – he really couldn't think of any other way to put it without getting too technical – and she was the daughter of a demon named Trigon. That couldn't be a good combination. Even if his possession had not affected the child and the genes it had gained from him were purely human, it was still a quarter demon, no matter which way you looked at it. If the baby had been conceived that first night, the night before he had almost died by Poison Ivy's green hand, it would still be a quarter demon. Of course, had it been Starfire instead that he had impregnated, the child would be half-Tamaranean, but somehow the thought of a half-alien baby did not unnerve him as much as a quarter demon one did.
Or three-quarter…
"ROBIN! GET YOUR SPANDEX-COVERED ASS DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW!"
Robin jumped violently, almost dropping the knife, as the sound of an irate Cyborg bellowing up the stairs at him snapped him out of his uneasy reverie. He leapt up, hastily shoving the knife and its brown paper back into the box and stowing it back under his bed. He'd forgotten that he was supposed to go down for breakfast…
He reached his door and jabbed the button, sliding the metal panel back. He was about to pound out into the hallway but the sight of Raven standing in his doorway made him stop in his tracks; he merely blinked at her.
"You hear Cy too?" He asked weakly.
Raven didn't answer for a few seconds, merely watching him from beneath the shadow of her hood, her cloak drawn tightly around her.
"I can't hide it from you anymore," she said eventually, her voice barely more than a whisper. "Not at the rate it's growing…"
She sounded distracted as she pushed past him into his room, even as he objected;
"Raven, what… at the rate it's growing? What are you…?"
"Shut the door, Robin."
"What-"
"Shut the door."
She sounded impatient, but also very tired and weary, and he obeyed without further question, turning towards her as he did so and thinking about how mad Cyborg was going to be…
"Okay, Raven, what's this about?" Robin demanded once the panel was safely shut; he had a nasty feeling, however…
Raven pulled down her hood; at once he saw how pale she was, even paler than was normal, how gaunt her face had become, taking note of the dark circles beneath her large violet eyes… It was an awful – and terribly shallow – thing to even think, but his first thought was that she looked terrible; he had never seen anyone look so ill in all his life.
"I know," Raven said quietly, a trace of a smile gracing her lips as she registered his shocked expression. "I look dreadful, don't I?"
"I… no." Robin shook his head firmly. "No, you don't. You look fine…"
"I look far from fine, Robin, but my appearance is the least of my worries…" She sighed heavily. "Look, I need to borrow some of your clothes until I can go to the mall and get some maternity wear…"
Robin's eyes widened.
"What? Maternity wear?" He spluttered, staring at her. "Raven, you've been pregnant for a week!"
"I know," Raven replied wearily. "The morning sickness is enough to remind me of that…"
"Then why do you need to borrow some of my clothes?" Robin probed suspiciously, getting a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach even as he asked the question…
Raven regarded him for a few seconds; then she sighed and moved her gaze to the floor.
"I should have told you sooner…" she said miserably.
"Told me what sooner?" Robin barbed, fearing a replay of that night down in the kitchen, where she had constantly evaded what she had been meaning to tell him…
"I… before I do, promise you won't get mad."
Robin blinked, thrown off guard.
"What? Why would I get mad?"
"I don't know… you usually fly off the handle about this kind of stuff…"
"What kind of stuff?" Robin asked, exasperated.
"Promise you won't be angry; promise me you won't freak out…"
"I won't."
"Promise."
"Okay, okay, I promise!" Robin held one hand to his heart and the other up as though taking a Boy Scout pledge. "No Dick Grayson major flip-outs…"
"Alright…" Raven looked up at him briefly, then averted her somewhat-frightened gaze to the floor again. "I… I guess I can show you better…"
And she allowed her cloak to fall back, baring her frame in its tight black leotard.
Tighter than usual…
Robin stared at her stomach, utterly speechless. It was… she looked four or five months pregnant at least, maybe even six…
And he had impregnated her only the Wednesday before. A week and two days, to be precise.
"I… I…" He looked at her desperately. "It's a joke, isn't it? You're just trying to scare me… come on, what have you got stuffed inside there?"
"Robin, I wish I was…" Raven smiled faintly. "But I'm not. It's been growing so quickly… I felt it first kick three or four days ago, and it's been kicking me ever since. I… I can't explain why it's growing so fast…"
Robin backed against his door, not taking his eyes from her swollen abdomen.
"I was fine Friday and Saturday, you know, apart from the terrible morning sickness," Raven went on as though she had not noticed his movement. "But then, Sunday morning… my stomach looked a bit swollen, but I figured it was just my body reacting to the fact that I am pregnant, so I didn't think much of it. But Monday, my stomach was even bigger, and Tuesday I felt it kick. It's just been getting bigger ever since…"
All this time she had been speaking in a pretty much deadpan voice but now an incoherent sob broke the icy façade and she buried her face in her hands. He watched her, his mind still reeling with the shock, and without even thinking he went to her, put his arms around her, pulled her firmly to his chest. It was slightly more difficult with her bump in the way but she clutched at him even so, burying her face in his chest.
"I'm so scared, Robin," she whispered into him, tears running down her abnormally-pale face.
"I know, Ray… so am I…" He clung to her more tightly, not sure if the gesture was more for her comfort or his own. "So am I…"
"It's not normal…"
"No, it isn't…" Robin frowned. "It's as if… the baby is developing like, ten times faster than it should be…"
"But I'm still getting the morning sickness," Raven said miserably into his chest. "Everything's just so… mixed up…"
"I know, I…" Robin trailed off, not being able to think of anything to say.
There was only one thought going through his head, and perhaps, admittedly, it was a little reckless; kill it, abort it, destroy it by any means possible…
But that uneasy feeling was overriding him; his suspicions were being confirmed. There was something strange about this pregnancy, and something strange about the baby, and this only proved his theory… He hadn't wanted the baby in the first place, and now he definitely didn't want it to come into the world. He'd heard of premature babies, but this was ridiculous; at this rate, they'd have their "bouncing bundle of joy" in their arms by this time next week. Not a pleasant thought, especially now that Robin got the feeling that it wasn't going to be such a bouncing bundle of "joy"…
Maybe he was jumping to conclusions, maybe not. Either way, it could not be denied that this was very strange indeed. And if it scared Raven, it scared him.
But how could he put something like that?
Okay, I'm freaked. Let's abort it.
She wouldn't hear of it, no matter how frightened she was by the baby's abnormally speedy development. He had a feeling that she knew as well as he did that this child was not normal. But he knew she would still never abort it.
He had to try and convince her. He was scared, scared for her… What if this pregnancy killed her? He looked at her again; only a week and she looked so ill…
"Raven…"
She looked up at him, her face streaked with tears.
"Yes?"
"I… Look, I think… you're not going to like what I'm going to say, but… I think that maybe…" He took a deep breath and just went for it. "I think we should consider an abortion."
Now Raven stared at him; stared and stared and stared, as he had done when he had first set eyes on her prematurely swollen abdomen.
"Did you… did you just say what I think you said?…" Raven whispered eventually.
Robin gripped her all the more tightly as he felt her stiffen in his arms.
"Yes, I… Raven, I'm sorry… I know you would never even think of it, and neither would I, but this isn't a normal situation. I… I'm worried about you…"
Raven had started to cry freely again, trying to break his strong grip on her..
"I can't believe you!" She sobbed wildly. "I can't believe you, Robin!"
"Raven, please, I-" Robin started desperately, struggling to cling onto her; she was thrashing wildly in his grip, still crying uncontrollably.
"You want to kill our baby!" Raven screamed at him. "You want… to kill… my baby!"
"No, I don't want to kill it," Robin said, trying to calm her by not raising his own voice. "It's just… Raven, you gotta understand, this baby's not-"
"Shut up!" Raven screeched; in her blinding fury at him her eyes became four red slits and he jumped backwards in shock, releasing her. Raven took a deep breath to calm herself, her eyes fading back to normal, then pushed past him towards the door. He grabbed her wrist perhaps harder than he had intended and she whirled around angrily.
"You get off me, you conniving murderer!" She shrieked at him, trying to tug her wrist from his grip. "How can you want to kill your own baby?"
"Raven, I don't want to kill it," Robin said impatiently, struggling to hold onto her as before. "I… oh, will you just listen to me, for once?"
"NO!" Raven yelled furiously. "I'm not listening to anything you've got to say! I know the baby's not "normal", I don't why it's growing so quickly, but I don't care! It's still my baby, it's still my son or daughter, and I'm not aborting it, and you can't make me!" She wiped tears from her eyes even as she shouted at him. "I knew I shouldn't have confided in you… although of all people, I thought you would have understood!"
She wrenched her wrist from his hand and threw back his panel using her telekinesis, storming through it into the corridor with the same ease she would have done had she not been the equivalent of six months pregnant.
"Raven!" Robin burst out into the corridor after her, just in time to see her disappearing through a vortex in her own closed panel.
Crying.
Oh, smooth, Boy Blunder. Way to handle that… not.
Clothes. She had only come into his room to ask for clothes, and now he'd done this… But he knew he was right; Raven was an expectant mother, of course she was disillusioned about the precious life inside her. He might have been the one who had impregnated her, but he was an outsider now. It was not his abdomen that was swollen, it was not he who could feel the life within kicking restlessly… no, he knew he could not possibly see the situation from Raven's point of view. But it was essential that she saw it from his point of view, before something terrible happened…
He went back into his room and rummaged through the box of clothes Bruce had sent him months ago. A lot of it was very tight, but he knew there were some bigger T-shirts and stuff from design houses that thought it fashionable for your shirt to look four sizes too big for you. Of course Raven could no longer wear her leotards; it had looked positively stretched, and she was only going to get bigger from here on in.
He found three T-shirts – one blue, one green and one black-and-red – that looked as though they would fit pretty comfortably over Raven's growing bump, and a pair of jeans that were still stiff as cardboard owing to the fact that he had never worn them because Bruce had read the size wrong and they were miles too big for him. They should do for Raven, though.
He left them on the floor and went to his desk, finding a pen and his notebook among the mess that had accumulated there once again. He flipped the notebook open to a blank page and scrawled a note to Raven;
Ray; Sorry, I handled that wrong. We'll talk. R
He tore the page from the notebook and folded it once, going back to the pile of clothes he had picked out for Raven and placing the note on top. Then he picked them up and left his room, the three T-shirts and the jeans folded neatly in his arms. He didn't knock Raven's door, knowing perfectly well that she wouldn't answer anyway, and that if she did, he would end up the worst off. Instead he left the clothes in a neat pile outside her door and slipped the note through the crack at the bottom. Straightening up, he was just about to leave before she opened the door—
"ROBIN! COME HERE NOW BEFORE I STRING YOU UP!"
Wincing, Robin turned and positively ran to the elevator; Cyborg, the Boy Wonder concluded, was not happy…
First of all, anyone who read my six-part fic Monsters in the Closet… Please forgive any similarities. This came first, and this is better.
Ooh, intense already, huh? And surprise, surprise; Robin has screwed something up already…
Although, yeah, as most of you have predicted, there is something seriously up with that kid.
Okay, things to say: The whole reason I even updated today was because today, 3rd October, is my one year anniversary of being a member of this site! And what a year it's been! My first fic on here, The Thing, didn't actually go up until the 8th October, but I just didn't want to make you wait that long! Aren't I nice to you? So "happy birthday" to me… yay…
Secondly, to take up some things in reference to Black Magic; remember I was saying that I assumed Robin's birthday is in March because it says in Robin: Year One he was born in spring and also he seems like an Aries? Here's another interesting coincidence – I have the Teen Titans 2005 calendar up on my wall. The Titan on March is… Robin. Think it ends there? I have already bought the Teen Titans 2006 calendar (it can be found on Amazon, BTW). It has some nice new additions, like Terra, the Titans East and even Trigon (funny, Slade's not on there… and neither is Aqualad, come to think of it…).
But which Titan is on March?
Robin.
Two years running. Strange, no?
Also, thankyou to all who checked out the Black Magic art on my shared DeviantART account. I will be putting more art up soon; more from Black Magic, some from Asylum and some from Remember the Titans. There is some Small Print art up there, BTW. And yeah, to everyone who commented that Marcus and Jonathon look kinda girly… Couldn't argue with you. They do. Oh well…
And on a movie note: I haven't seen Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo yet. I have seen High School Musical; they showed it on British Disney Channel about two weeks back. It was very good and I even bought the soundtrack. And did anyone else see Dead or Alive? I really enjoyed it, but… it had two major plot devices in it that have also been in Teen Titans! The fighters are injected with nanobots identical to those in Apprentice; and the actual plot itself was about the guy who organised the fighting tournament downloading the moves of the best fighters so that he would become all powerful.
Sound familiar?
It's Winner Take All, isn't it?
It was good, though; I thought so, anyway. Hey, compared to the last few movies I've seen in the cinema (Ultraviolet, Lady in the Water) anything is good…
Anyway, thankyou to everyone who reviewed Black Magic and who has reviewed Remember the Titans so far. It all starts to really go down from here; please strap yourselves in and DO NOT remove your safety harnesses until the ride has come to a complete stop.
You have been warned; oh-so-warned.
Both Small Print and Seven have been updated recently, by the way…
And check out the trailer on my profile! Once again, thankyou to Flying Fish!
See you next time!
RobinRocks xXx