Dear Readers, it's been over a year since I published chapter one of this story. To be honest I had been feeling uninspired to write, but now I will take a shot at continuing writing. Please let me know what you think. At this point I'm not sure how long this story will be. Perhaps you can help guide me.
-(-)-
With her fist still raised above her head, Raven barreled into the cosmos, greatly exceeding the speed of light, as stars shot past her. She had no destination and simply followed her instincts while the yellow ring glowed on her finger.
She felt a mental clarity like never before. She was at ease with her emotions and found herself settling into a symbiotic relationship with the ring of power on her finger. Most Lanterns, regardless of their ring color, were utterly dependent on their rings for their power, which the rings possessed and the Lanterns would wield as best they could. Some were exceptionally good at wielding the power of their rings, such as Hal Jordon, Thaal Sinestro or Atrocitus of the Red Lantern Corp.
Raven continued to fly, oblivious to the passage of time. It wasn't until she was in another galaxy that she finally understood what made her different: instead of drawing power from the ring, she fed it power, and the ring seemed to relish their intimate relationship. They continued to fly as the universe was now her backyard and she would have flown all the way to the other side of the cosmos has she not been suddenly snapped out of hyperspace by an unknown force.
Raven briefly tumbled as she re-entered real space before stopping and righting herself. She was dazed and a bit disoriented, and it took a long moment to for her vision to clear and to reorient herself.
That was when she gasped.
Raven was surrounded by a multitude of grim faced Yellow Lanterns. Her ring, without being prompted, informed her that they numbered one hundred and seventy three. One of the Yellow Lanterns, who looked like a gorilla with horns approached her. He pointed an accusatory finger at her.
"You are wearing Cal-Mare's ring. How did you come to possess it? Did you kill him?"
Raven did not answer. They were many, but she did not fear them. And why would she? They were mere mortals with power rings.
"Do you know who I am?" She asked in a dead pan.
"We know not your name, usurper, but that is irrelevant, for we need not know it to kill you and take back the ring from your corpse, which will be left forever frozen in space."
Raven betrayed no emotion, but mentally spoke to the ring.
Shall we fight or fly?
They are no match for you, mistress. The ring replied.
"That will be enough Tremolo. We have an honored guest in our midst" Another voice interrupted.
Raven turned and saw that it was Sinestro himself, who approached Raven.
"Forgive them, daughter of Trigon. They are ignorant."
Raven was unable to completely hide her surprise as she continued to look at Sinestro.
"How did you know? I have told no one of this, not even the Titans."
"The Titans? Oh, you mean your weak friends back on Earth. They are far below your station, my dear."
"You still haven't told me how you know who I am."
Sinestro smiled. "You have heard of Parallax?"
She nodded. "He was one of my father's servants, a lesser demon. He abandoned my father when he was sent into exile. I take that he is the source of the Yellow's power."
"You guess correctly."
-(-)-
The four Titans stared at the yellow blur that shot into the sky, which left a sonic boom in its wake. A few seconds later it was no longer visible and the boom was now silenced.
Raven was gone. There was no sign of her.
Beast Boy was the first to react. He threw his head back and screamed "no" in great anguish, after which he began to sob uncontrollably. Cyborg grumbled something unintelligible sotto voce, and the look on his face was a mixture of incredulity and anger. Robin crossed his arms and stared at the floor silently.
Starfire stared at the sky, trembling with fear and impatience. She raised her right arm, signaling she was going to pursue Raven, until she felt a cold, metallic hand on her shoulder. She turned to look and it was Cyborg, who now looked sad.
"You'll never catch up with her, Star. She's going so fast that the new sensors I installed on the Tower already lost track of her, I don't think she's in the galaxy anymore … I have no idea where she is."
The princess lowered her arm and nodded her understanding, after which she resumed weeping.
"Why? WHY?" Beast Boy shrieked as he fell to his knees.
Robin finally broke his silence. "Raven can instill fear in others."
Gar leaped to his feet and faced his leader, face to face, so close that their noses were almost touching. Robin could feel the anger emanating from the green changeling.
"Are you saying Raven's evil? She isn't evil!"
Robin sighed. "She put on the ring of her own free will. She said the one day we would understand why."
Gar bared his teeth. "The ring seduced her, it lied to her. Raven isn't evil, she's a hero."
Robin frowned. "She was a hero. She's a Yellow Lantern now."
Gar steeped back and looked away from Robin, with tears welling in his eyes.
"I won't accept that. Raven has a plan, I know she does. She isn't a Yellow Lantern."
Cyborg cleared his throat. "The ring came from very far away and it chose her. That's how power rings work. They don't just settle for the first suitable recipient they find, they're picky and will take their time until they find the right person."
Gar shook his head. "No, Raven isn't evil."
Cyborg sniffled and wiped away a tear from his human eye. "B, we went into Raven's mind. You know what we saw in there."
Beast Boy stifled a retort, and instead asked "So what do we do?"
"We contact the Justice League." Robin interjected. "We need to tell them, especially Hal Jordan, what just happened."
-(-)-
Raven cautiously eyed the plethora of Yellow Lanterns that surrounded her. She had not forgotten their earlier threat, and while Sinestro seemed amicable at the moment she knew that his goodwill could quickly evaporate, especially since he might regard her as a threat. She considered the options of fight or flight and her ring spoke to her.
We can take them, mistress. You have the power.
Perhaps she did have the power, but it was new to her and she wasn't quite sure of how to properly wield it. She crossed her arms and glared at Sinistro before speaking in her deadpan.
"I suppose that I'm now a member of your club."
Sinestro chuckled before replying. "I've never heard of the Yellow Lantern Corps referred to as a 'club'. The blue midgets on Oa and their green lapdogs often describe us as a 'threat, or, my favorite. As 'evil'. Others call us a force to be reckoned with. But I have a question for you, Raven daughter of Trigon: do you intend to bring your father into this universe, as the prophesy foretells, Gem?"
"Do I have a choice?" Raven replied.
"We all have choices. Bring your father into this reality and he will destroy everything, including you, if what Parallax has told me is correct."
"He is correct."
"I see. Well then, tell me, Lady Raven, what is it you desire?"
At first Raven envisioned ruling the universe via the power of fear. She could see races everywhere cowering in terror before her might, but she wouldn't destroy them, at least not for sport as Trigon would. A small smile appeared on her face as she imagined mighty races like the Thanagarians, the Gordanians and even the Tamaranians cowering before her. It tasted sweet and she craved it.
But then another image crossed her mind. She was sitting on the crescent shaped couch, reading one of her dusty books, and sitting next to her was what in her opinion the most beautiful thing in the world, playing an inane video game on the console: Beast Boy.
OK, where did that come from? She pondered before chasing the thought away.
"I want to bring order to the universe."
Sinestro smiled. "Spoken like a true daughter of the Yellow Lantern Corps."
An imperceptible smile appeared on her face.
Daughter? I don't think so. You will all eventually bow to me.
"I am honored." She audibly replied.
-(-)-
Two Green Lanterns, Hal Jordon and Kyle Raynor, stared at the big screen in the Titans common room. The Tower of course had cameras everywhere, and Raven's transformation had been recorded for posterity. Raynor looked grim faced while Jordan's brow was furrowed.
"Do you guys have any idea of why the ring chose her?" Robin asked.
Jordan shrugged. "To be honest, we don't. No offense, Robin, but the Green Lantern Corps regards Raven as a bit of a light weight."
"A light weight?" Gar growled.
"Hal's right. I mean, sure, she can easily handle losers like Dr. Light, Control Freak and what's his name … Mumbo Jumbo. But she's a minor leaguer. Could you see her going up against Darkseid or General Zod?" Raynor added.
Starfire had been standing by quietly with her arms crossed. The Green Lanterns were forbidden by treaty from entering the Vega system, and the orange alien, like most Tamaranians, thought they were overrated. She cleared her throat.
"Raven could easily handle those whom you fear."
Beast Boy had also been standing by quietly, and took his turn to speak up.
"This doesn't make any sense. Raven would never join up with Sinestro. I know her."
Jordan pointed at the screen, which was showing Raven sliding the yellow ring into her finger on a continuous loop.
"And yet, she did, of her own free will." Jordan replied. "Tell me, changeling, was Raven obsessed with order?"
"Yeah, duh, her room was like the tidiest in the Tower, even tidier than Rob's room, and she has a lot more stuff. But she isn't evil, I know her."
Raynor turned to face Gar. "Maybe you didn't know her after all." He then turned to Robin. "What do you know about her?"
"What do you mean?"
Raynor shrugged. "Where is she from? Does she have relatives? Where did she learn magic? Is she a metahuman or is she an alien?"
"All we know is that she is from a place called Azarath, and that she was trained by a woman named Azar." Starfire replied.
Jordan looked at his ring, then back at the Tamaranian. "Azarath is unknown to the Guardians. I'm afraid that doesn't help."
"She has this creepy book called the Book of Azar. She keeps it in her room." Gar announced. "Maybe it could help?"
"I'll get it." Robin interrupted as quickly left the common room.