Chapter 14: Raven Sees Red

--

"I didn't know you were a witch."

Raven ignored Red X's comment and finished drawing the circle. A perfect crimson circle ran around the bed where Starfire lay as Raven set the last of the syringes on a nearby table. She hated having to use some of her blood, as well, but it got the job done. Red X had since become bored with counting the tiles on the ceiling of the medical ward as he watched Raven draw a certain amount of blood from her body.

"So you're a witch now?"

Not turning to face him, Raven answered. "It's a simple healing spell that I found in one of these books. It won't heal her body, per say, but it will slow down the blood flow."

They'd had to replace the carpet under Starfire several times, as blood from various wounds had never stopped seeping out.

When Raven had the proper amount of blood, she began tracing a circle around the stretcher Starfire was stationed on. This required a high amount of concentration, as one slip up could kill Starfire, or even Raven if she was careless.

Once the circle was finished, Raven stood on her feet. She placed her hands on Starfire's head and began muttering some strange incantation.

""Rivers Shall Flow Be Pure and crystalline…"

Red X raised an eyebrow behind his mask as he watched this supposed show of witchcraft.

"…But red rivers must not they must be trapped inside my being…"

I knew she was a witch, X thought to himself.

"…this River so red must Be Stopped with a Golden Net…"

The drawn circle of blood began to glow a radiant green as Raven felt herself being taken over by another aura.

…now stop this blood!"

Raven repeated this incantation twice before it happened.

Backing into a corner, X looked over and saw that Starfire's various wounds were began to close bit by bit. Starfire gripped her restraints and felt the urge to break free as she felt that demonic ego of hers beginning to emerge, but Raven, after getting a bit of blood on each of her fingers, placed her hand on Starfire's head, dazing the alien girl and putting her back into a temporary sleep mode.

The circle of blood lost its radiance as Raven's eyes returned to normal. The room, no longer bathed in darkness, returned to normal and light illuminated the hospital ward again. Placing one hand on the stretcher for stability, Raven let out a deep sigh of relief; these types of spells and incantations did not take a lot of time, but depending on the usage of them, it would take put some temporary pressure on her body. She turned to face Red X. "To put your mind at ease, that was a special incantation that will slow down how much blood Starfire is losing. Some will still be able to get out, but thanks to that…demon inside of her, she'll be able to heal a bit quicker than she would without it."

"I never knew you were into black magic. You always seemed to be the cold and submissive one if you ask me."

Raven gave a simple shrug as she went over to the sink, turned on the taps and washed her hands. "That's why I'm not asking you, X. If you think that the only spell I know is the one that I use in battle, you're wrong."

In stepped Beast Boy, who had a look of concern on his face. Raven didn't even need to turn around to see who it was and she didn't need to think of what she was going to say, as Beast Boy had been coming in and out for the past fifteen minutes.

"For the thirty-seventh time, Beast Boy, it's going to take awhile for Starfire to heal--"

"It's Slade."

Eyes widened, Raven fled the medical ward with Beast Boy and Red X running behind. As they rushed downstairs, they found Cyborg already looking at the giant screen displaying Slade's face.

"Greetings, Titans. I do hope all is well with your…dear Koriand'r. I assume that she is still wishing she'd been killed?"

"You bastard!" Beast Boy leapt forward to smash the screen, but got caught by Cyborg's hand. He still let his anger show. "Let me go; I'll never forget what he did to Star!"

"What I did, my green friend? I believe you have me mixed up with a certain other fellow of yours. What was his name again?"

"Don't do it, Slade." Cyborg raised his arm and converted it to cannon form.

"Dear Titans, you have not forgotten all about your dear ally, have you?"

As the Titans and Red X stood before the screen, none of them happened to hear the medical ward door slide open…

"The recent battle that has occurred has taken a toll on both sides, I assure you that," Slade continued, "though how long do you believe your wild card will last you? Do you really believe that you are a match without her to help?"

Raven clenched her fists as a sphere of energy surrounded it.

"Due to the fallout of your supposed leader, it's almost positive that your entourage will begin to break down from the inside, and in more ways than one. It amuses me to see you run around like trapped mice, always scurrying for the main prize: your beloved friend and leader, Robin."

"He…is NOT…our…friend…"

Starfire appeared at the top of the staircase, blood leaking from her eyes and bones cracking with each step as it pained her to breathe. "The one….that you speak of…is no longer an ally and no friend of ours, Slade. You have corrupted him…made him abandon all of his morals and sense of justice! Rest assured, Slade, the one you have with you is not the hero we knew as our leader…but another one of your pawns!"

"Your friend came to us of his own free will. I forced him to do nothing and I do not consider him a pawn. Think of Robin what you will, but it was his decision to leave-"

"LIAR!!" Starfire lurched forward, but her body shut down on her again and she tumbled down the stairs. Pain burned in her body again as she strained to lift her face. "He…WILL return to us as the person he was, NOT who you have made him out to be."

Slade didn't falter. "Strong words coming from one who can't even stand on their two feet."

"Her name is Starfire!" Beast Boy argued while still having the same confused look as Cyborg.

Starfire rose, trying to ignore the cracking of her bones and twisting of her organs. She would have given anything to just jump through the screen and strangle the life out of Slade, but her body would not allow it. A starbolt fizzled in and out of focus in her hand, but soon faded altogether as she crashed against the carpet with a thump. Her pitiful display amused Slade as she tried to muster every ounce of strength to fight. "N…no…"

The screen wavered out of focus as Slade's image began to disappear. "Farewell, Titans. Until we do battle again."

Darkness filled the screen.

After a few seconds of silent acceptance, Raven looked to Beast Boy and Cyborg. "Help her back upstairs and get her strapped in so she can't get away again."

"After all, you do not wanna be on her bad side right now."

Raven and Red X- trailing more than usual- fled right behind Cyborg and Beast Boy.

--

"Please friends, allow me to return to-" Starfire's body failed on her again, cutting off her plea as she collapsed again. Beast Boy looked to Cyborg as every inch towards the medical ward felt like a mile.

The door slid open. Raven took control of Starfire's body and guided her back towards the bloodied cot. "Cyborg, get me some bandages and that book over there. Beast Boy, hand me that syringe."

"What about me?"

Ignoring Red X, Raven looked to Starfire and spoke even though she knew Starfire couldn't hear her. "Your wounds aren't even closed halfway, so if you want to die, keep moving."

"Better crack out the witchcraft again, witch."

Fed up with the interruptions, Raven whirled around to face Red X. "I'm not interested in a relationship, thank you."

"Perish the thought; where would you get such a fancy idea?"

But Raven went on the offensive. "You seem to prefer the company of women as opposed to men, and considering that you and Robin were one in the same, I find it hard to believe that you spend your hours here stalking me as opposed to the two-"

Cyborg cleared his throat, getting Raven's attention as he handed her the book before stepping back.

"If it's any consolation, I think that Robin was a great leader."

"No consolation."

Beast Boy thumbed through Raven's book of spells, Cyborg monitored Starfire's heart rate and Raven rolled back her sleeves, not even facing Red X when she responded.

"And," he continued, "that girl should just give up and move onto another guy."

Red X had ducked in time to avoid the test tube that thrown over his head.

"Robin always fought for the benefit of others and kept his sense of justice at the forefront of his beliefs. Even when we weren't on missions, he would every now and then remind us of what and who we were fighting for. Something like that doesn't just disappear overnight because you got the idea that being evil could be a good thing."

"And he's evil, too," Beast Boy added.

"But at the same time, you don't know Robin's predicament, either. Maybe he's bored. Maybe he's gonna end up saving you all from Slade and wants to break him down from the inside."

Raven did not respond for a good twenty seconds before turning towards X.

"Look at her. If Robin wanted to convince us that he was doing all of this for our sake, he tried a bit too hard to accomplish that goal."

He shrugged. "Would you rather that he had kept her alive and this entire thing become one big sappy love story? Sorry, witch, but that's not how reality works nowadays, and if Robin wanted to go to Slade because he felt he was in the right, maybe he feels it's for the best. Maybe he can get more out of Slade than he did from you four."

"Hey, man," Cyborg rushed over and seized Red X by the chest, "since when do you think you know so much about Robin? You tried to break us up before through him and now-"

"You want to try it again." Raven drew the sleeves back over her arms.

"Yeah, so bug off!"

Red X found himself cornered as Raven, Cyborg and Beast Boy gazed at him with unmoving eyes. He didn't falter. He could handle this. "You guys just need to trust me. I'm trying to get you to let him go."

"We have-"

"She hasn't-"

"So we have to keep her from going off the deep end."

"But you failed. I know how to get into Robin's head, but you all can't even though you're his teammates. Let me hang around for awhile and I'll bring your Robin back, and make his girlfriend happy, too. You know, something you couldn't do."

The quiet beeping of the monitors trailed for minutes. The sudden loss of air put everyone on edge, Cyborg's arm converting to blaster mode.

"Don't do it."

Cyborg and Beast Boy stopped in their tracks, incredulous at Raven's command. "What for?"

It pained Raven to admit it, and she sensed the rise in Red X's temperature as he waited for those fateful words.

"Because he's right."