Ch 15: Sycorax
Here we are! A lot is going to come together in this chapter. After this, I think I'm only doing one, MAYBE two more chapters. But I haven't exactly written out the plan for those yet (oops!), so we'll see what happens! Regardless, here it is, chapter fifteen! Lots of action.
Sorry for the delay (literally this past Friday I was at work until past 11pm)! For anyone who didn't see, I wrote a RobRae oneshot to makeup for it. Tis called 'Anxiety' and can be found on my author page =)
Overhead, clouds whistled in the air, geometric patterns weaving around each other in a dance of chevron and almost-argyle. Black and grey dominated the horizon and the wicked basket weave sky stretched on as far as the eye could see. To look up was to be unnerved. The sky would have been beautiful if it wasn't so sinister.
And if there wasn't a half-crazed man shooting lightning bolts out of his hands.
"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" Raven threw yet another rock at Tempest and watched him fly backwards into the shallow waters lapping at the shore. The Titans had managed to push him away from their home for now. He had lit it on fire multiple times with well-placed lightning strikes, but Beast Boy was doing his best to keep the damage to a minimum with his elephant trunk. The dull screech of the fire alarm kept a steady beat while the Titans battled on.
Robin threw first one, then three freeze discs. Tempest rolled away as the water turned to ice in front of him.
"Nice try!" he hollered, emphasizing the 'ice' as he cackled. He sent blasts of wind back to the beach, knocking Cyborg and Robin off their feet.
"Dude, and I thought Robin had bad lines," Beast Boy quipped as he returned to the fight, the fires doused for the moment. Starfire jumped into the sky and shot off a quick volley of starbolts, dark energy blasts hot on their heels as Raven mirrored her attack. The combination drove Tempest further out into the water and Cyborg fired his cannon from where he lay in the sand.
"Now, Raven!" Robin commanded as he stood. Raven quickly grabbed Tempest with her powers, lifting him out of the water. Her dark magic fully encased him; she was finally able to get a hold of the weakened man. Tempest bled heavily from one side, but he still had the same wild grin on his face that he came with. Despite the wound, he had managed to do plenty of damage to the team. They had the burns and bruises to show for it. Beast Boy wiped blood from his swollen lip as he watched Tempest hover above the angry waves.
"Just wait until the mages descend upon your earth!" Tempest crowed. "You humans may be fine, but the alien girls… mark my words, Azarathian! You will be destroyed!" He laughed, body sparking with unleashed power. Raven kept her focus and the magic bonds around him tightened.
Robin bit his lip, eyes narrowed. He would see no more damage come to his team if he could help it. Glancing to his left, he could see Starfire was not worried about Tempest's threat to her, but on his right was Raven… and he knew her so well. There was fear hovering in those bright orbs beneath her cowl, focused as she was on the task before her. The slight widening of her eyes beneath her scowl, the gentle jut of her jaw… yes, she was worried. And that, more than anything, worried Robin.
"No one is touching our girls!" Cyborg bellowed. His cannon whined and Raven released Tempest just in time for the full force of the sonic cannon to punch into Tempest's gut, sending him back into the surf. He disappeared with a splash, but Cyborg's celebration was short-lived as the ground began to rumble and the waves roiled.
"Beast Boy, go!" Robin called. The changeling dove into the water, but it was too late. The tidal wave rose up and raced towards them, sucking the tide back and exposing a hundred yards of sand. Beast Boy had disappeared into the wave, his aquatic form no doubt taken in just as the water was.
"Move!" Cyborg yelled as he scrambled backwards, away from the wall of water. Starfire swooped over him and grabbed his outstretched hand as she flew towards the tower, pulling him with her as they flew to safety above the water's path. Raven pushed off the ground towards Robin, their hands stretching out to meet each other as they raced away from the oncoming attack. She just caught his hand as the wave swept through, but their grip was not enough to combat the force of the water, and Robin was sent spiraling out of reach.
"Robin!" she cried, flying into the wave after him. The current caught her and pulled her down, sending her tumbling in the curl of the wave. Raven opened her eyes, dizzy as she tried to figure out which way was up while she searched for Robin. Spying a flash of red shirt behind her, she grabbed for his cape and pulled him towards her. She wrapped her arms around his chest, his back pressed against her, and tried to calm her heart rate as she looked to see where the bubbles were floating. Where was up? Robin's hands closed over hers and she felt his finger tap her first knuckle. She squeezed her eyes shut and shot straight ahead, trusting Robin to know which direction they should go. The pair emerged from the flood just as it crashed into the tower, sending glass and water everywhere.
Tempest flew out of the water and into the building with the wave, body forcefully hitting the concrete panels. He dropped to the ground as the water receded, unsteady as he tried to stand again. Beast Boy came charging out of the water, his dolphin form fading into a rhinoceros. He slammed triumphantly into Tempest's body.
"Boo-yah!" Beast Boy cheered to himself as he punched the air. His fists suddenly flew to his ears, hands clapping against his head as a great howl shot through the bay. Robin saw Beast Boy cringe and then felt Raven's grip falter as she almost dropped him the five feet it took to reach the sand. His eyes widened beneath his mask, but her grip quickly readjusted on him and tightened, sheer determination keeping her from dropping him. He could practically feel the pain radiating off her, so strong it was through their bond. Robin quickly scanned the sky for Starfire and Cyborg, glad to see both were mostly unaffected. The howl was only an unpleasant whine to Robin, but he felt Raven quiver, and his instincts told him all hell was about to break loose.
The ground approached quickly, and then Raven did drop him, but it was only a foot or so. He landed softly on the sand and winced as he saw Raven drop next to him, her form immediately crumpling as her knees hit the sand. The dark mystic's hands moved to cover her ears as Beast Boy's had, only she was hunched on the ground, as if her posture could shield her from whatever sound she could hear. For Beast Boy, the keening was painful only because of his heightened animal sense, but to Raven, something beyond Robin's senses was at war with her.
"Raven," he began, moving to kneel next to her.
"Cyborg!" Starfire called, causing Robin to whip around. Seconds ago, Starfire's eyes had been trained on Raven while Cyborg scanned the skies for the source of the noise, but shadows in the sky had twisted out of the clouds and now flew towards the Titans' little island. One such shadow shot past Cyborg, sending him flying backwards into the ground in a burst of sand. Starfire shook herself into action and flew towards Raven, but she was quickly knocked aside by another shadow. Robin squared his jaw and drew his staff as he moved to stand over his teammate. She was still crouched on the ground, shoulders up around her ears as she squeezed her eyes shut against the world. Her head felt like it was splitting in two, immobilizing her as she tried to block it out. The magical residue on her wrist burned. The mages were here.
"Stop!" Robin cried out. The dark shape zooming towards him came to a sudden halt. Shivering before him, the shadow wavered in and out of focus. Robin blinked, his eyes twitching as they tried to assign shape to the formless entity. But it was as fluid as liquid in space, particles not sitting still long enough to look human, but imposing enough to send a shiver up Robin's spine as he stood between it and Raven.
"There is a thief among you." The voice seemed to come from all around, but Robin somehow sensed that this particular message came from the shadow in front of him, the one so intent on getting to Raven. The words echoed in his ears.
"The Caliban is here!" Starfire shouted. "He is here!" She had moved to stand next to Beast Boy near the base of the tower. The green gorilla was holding a struggling Tempest. Before Robin, the shadow whipped around and approached Caliban. The boy wonder let a quick sigh of relief escape him, and five more shadows materialized in the space left on the beach.
"Where are the swords?" Their voices sounded like water—the six were a chorus of lake waves burbling against submerged rocks. Robin felt Raven move next to him, her hand gripping his arm as she struggled to stand and shake off the effects of the sound of the shadows' arrival.
"We have them, for you," Raven answered, her breathing labored. Robin briefly wondered what exactly the noise was for it to have such an effect on Raven, and Raven only, but the first shadow flitted back over to them and he snapped back into high alert, one arm protectively thrown between Raven and the world and the other tight on his Bo staff.
"Azarathian," the shadow hissed. "You have the sword's power on you." Robin could sense the shadow's desire to get around him and he moved sideways, part of his body now between Raven and the shadow. He felt her grip tighten on him, one hand on his forearm and the other pressed on his back.
"Because he attacked her with them," Robin hissed back, jutting his chin towards the still-struggling Tempest. Cyborg approached them, tired of standing in no man's land between the birds and Starfire and Beast Boy.
"Me too," Cyborg shot, thrusting his shoulder forward. "What are you going to do about it?" The head of the shadow seemed to shift towards Cyborg, studying the weld marks. It sniffed at him, dismissive. If it had a face, Robin was sure he would see a sneer.
"Human," the shadow burbled. "We are not concerned with you." Cyborg frowned and looked like he was about to take a step forward, but Robin gave a slight shake of his head and Cyborg fell back a step, standing at the ready. The shadow turned back to Robin.
"Step aside, warrior," it said. "We have heard of you and do not wish to harm you. The Justice League has been good to us in our search for the Weapons of Medeca."
"I will not let you touch her," Robin growled, practically pushing Raven behind him as he tensed even further. He felt Raven gently squeeze his arm as she moved against him, stepping back out to stand next to him.
"It's okay," she whispered to him, as if inside his head. For all Robin knew, she could very well have said that only in his head. She allowed his arm to stay stretched in front of her, palm against the curve of her waist as his fingers stretched around the far side of her body in his never-ending attempt to keep a barrier between her and the menacing shadows that now haunted their beach. But she was next to him now, no longer half-safe behind the shield that was his own body. Raven kept her right arm pressed against the protective arm of Robin as she stretched her left arm out, hand turned upward to let the shadow inspect the leftover mark from Tempest on the soft flesh of her wrist.
The shadow seemed to bend down, shimmering head close to Raven's wrist as it studied the light scar. If it had eyes, Robin was sure the gaze would be flickering between Raven's face and her arm. It suddenly stood up straight, as if a grand realization had struck. With a short bow of its head, the form held a shadow hand out. In one quick movement, the shadowy appendage flew down through Raven's arm, easily passing through with a sound like a train in the distance. Raven's knees buckled slightly and she caught herself against Robin, glad his arm was there.
"You are the one of Trigon, daughter of Earth and Azarath," the shadow mused, finally studying her up close. Robin shifted his arm so that it was now wrapped around her back, holding her tightly against him as she shook with the remnants of whatever the shadow had done to her arm. He could feel her trying to stand tall, but every time she tried to move even an inch from his side, she sank towards the ground. The shadow continued, ignoring her struggle.
"We have a legend about you on our planet, but you wear white," the shadow said thoughtfully. Robin sensed the other shadows turning to look at them, to look at Raven. "We did not recognize you in your darker garb. Forgive us." Raven bowed her head slightly in response, but before she could say anything, Starfire appeared with them.
Starfire had watched the exchange between Raven and the shadows, had seen the final erasure of Tempest's spell and the shadow's acknowledgement of Raven's status as one of both Azarath and Earth. She still worried, though. The mages of Sycorax, while respected and friends of Tamaran, could be unpredictable and volatile when they were wrong or did not have full knowledge of a situation. It was only because of Starfire's upbringing that she could sense the mages were still on edge about Raven, and so she decided now was the time to intervene, lest something go wrong. She and Raven were really the only ones equipped to deal with the mages, and Starfire's keen eye could see that while the mage had taken care of Tempest's spell, it had done so with an unnecessary amount of power, leaving Raven useless should a fight break out.
The redheaded alien stood tall, chin up and green eyes looking down at the shadows over the bridge of her nose. Each motion was deliberate as she took a step forward, effectively placing herself between her teammates and the shadows.
"I will show you to the weapons that are rightfully yours," Starfire said firmly. "Then you must leave our planet." Her left arm moved to gesture towards the tower, and in that moment, the Titans saw the royalty Starfire was destined for. The shadow bowed slightly, also sensing her power and poise.
"Yes, Tamaranian," it said respectfully. "Your Galfore has sent word to us. We will take the weapons and the traitor and leave you in peace." The shadow gestured to one of the sentries and it floated towards them. Starfire made another sweeping motion with her arm, and the two flew up towards a broken window near the top of the tower. First the shadow, then Starfire, disappeared into the dull red glow of the still-flashing fire alarm.
Robin felt Raven's chest heave with her harsh breathing, lungs still looking for ragged breaths as she swayed against him. He chanced a look down at her arm, her pale inner wrist still facing outward where it rested, half against his leg and half on hers. The cloth was smoldering. He quickly swallowed and looked back up to check on Beast Boy and Cyborg. Raven was, for the moment, safe.
Beast Boy had since relinquished possession of Tempest and the shadows now held him, their wavering black borders forming an odd bond around the villain. Cyborg and Beast Boy stood shoulder to shoulder near Robin and Raven, both solemn in front of these shadows of Sycorax. The lead shadow, the one who had spoken to Robin and Raven, seemed to regard them with careful thought.
"You are the Teen Titans." It was more statement than question. Robin waited for a comment from Beast Boy about there being a legend about him, but to the changeling's credit, he kept his mouth shut and face impassive. Minutes passed and no more words were exchanged. Finally, Starfire emerged from the broken window and flew back down to them, shadow close behind with a bundle in its possession.
"Thank you, Titans, for your service," the lead shadow murmured. "We apologize for the rogue and your city. Go in peace." The last syllable seemed to flow like water from the shadow's being, and with a forceful gust of wind, the shadow and sentries disappeared with Tempest. The stream of flickering mages crossed back into the sky on the gust and suddenly the clouds were gone, leaving the waning afternoon sun in their place. The Titans were quiet a moment longer.
"Friend Raven?" Starfire finally ventured. Raven was still leaning heavily on Robin, unable to quite support herself fully. Robin eased her down to the ground, his crouching form providing support for her to lean on as she sat on the sand.
"Rae?" he whispered. She held out her arm and they saw the lightning scar was completely gone.
"A powerful bit of magic," was all she said, eyes half closed. Robin remembered the sorceress had not slept much in the past few days, and had performed some powerful magic herself last night. One hand moved to rest on her shoulder, and she leaned her head back into the cradle of space created between Robin's leg and arm.
"I think it's time we all go back inside," Robin murmured, laughing softly as Raven gently shook herself. In that short second, she had almost fallen asleep. "Good job, Titans."
AH SORRY THAT TOOK SO LONG! Anyone have requests for next chapter? For how many more chapters? One? Two? If the government shuts down tonight (yay politics..) then I won't have work for a few days and will have more time to work on this story!
Review, please!