Cyborg and Robin were the first to arrive at the scene, opening Raven's door using an override code. Cyborg had a medic's kit in his hand and they both ran to Raven's side. The sorceress was writhing on the floor, still shaking violently while she screamed in pain. Cyborg applied some electrodes to her skin, in an attempt to get some readings from her. He turned to the changeling.
"Yo, B, what happened to her?"
The changeling stood stunned, the chain dangling from his hand as he clasped the gem in his palm.
"Dude, I dunno, I broke the necklace when I accidentally pulled it off her, and this happened … Cy … is Rave gonna be OK?"
"Beats me, grass stain, though she seems to be getting better, though pretty slowly." Her replied as he stared at a display on his arm. "Her vitals are stabilizing."
Starfire and Rachel were the next to arrive. Rachel immediately noticed the chain dangling from Beast Boy's hand and snatched it from him. She raised her arm, so that the pendant dangled before her at eye level. She examined it quickly and a huge frown appeared on her face.
"I can't believe she did this … Gar … did you just pull this off her neck?"
He gulped nervously. "I did, but it's not what you think Rachel … Raven came on to me, but I didn't do anything … I swear."
Rachel ignored her boyfriend and turned to the woman she was copied from. "She'll be fine." She announced in a gravelly monotone. "It's just the shock of having this necklace removed, it'll be over soon."
"Rachel, is this the dark magic of which you spoke?" Starfire asked, wide eyed.
"Dark magic? What are you talking about, Star?" Robin asked, clearly stunned and overwhelmed with what he was hearing.
Rachel dangled the Star of Eradon so that everyone could see it. Now that Rage was no longer imprisoned in it, the gem had returned to its pure amethyst color.
"This is a powerful amulet, the Star of Eradon, created specifically for half demons like Raven. Its purpose is to control the demonic half of her soul, the part that Cyborg and Gar once saw in Raven's mind, in the place we call Nevermore."
"You mean Rage?" Cyborg asked, clearly astonished. "If that little gem can do that, it sure packs a wallop."
"It does, but at a terrible price. It reduces Raven's lifespan by the amount of time she wears it. And removing it not only is painful as we've just witnessed, but it also takes a whole month of your life from you when you do that, so it isn't practical to repeatedly remove it." Rachel lectured in a stern monotone.
"But that means her lifespan would be sliced in half!" Robin cried. "Why would she do something like that? That's crazy."
At this point Raven was able to sit up on the floor. She was suddenly aware of her partial nudity and crossed her arms across her chest. Starfire saw her cape hanging on a chair and quickly used it to cover up Raven's partially exposed body. Rachel turned her gaze back at Raven and two women locked eyes. Rachel threw the gem and the broken chain at her older twin, and they landed in front of her.
"Why don't you tell them, Raven?"
Raven turned away and stared at the floor.
"Please leave my room, all of you." She murmured.
"If you don't tell them, I will ... sister." Rachel threatened.
"Isn't it obvious? I did it so I could win Garfield back." Raven snapped.
Her four teammates gasped upon hearing her confession. Raven's face was wracked with guilt and regret.
"And before anyone lectures me about how stupid I was to do that, I know; but I was desperate, very desperate. Now will you please leave? Isn't it enough that I made a fool of myself? What more do you want from me?"
Beast Boy knelt next to her.
"We don't want anything from you, Rave. We're your friends. We want to help you."
She frowned at him.
"Unless you have a way to permanently remove Rage from my soul and are ready to dump her for me … then I don't see how you can help me, Gar … so please … go … seeing you with her is just too painful, it's more than I can bear."
"Ok Raven, we'll give you your space. But we need to talk about this later, you and I." Robin agreed as he gestured the others to follow him. Everyone did, except for Starfire, who sat down on the floor next to Raven. Raven gestured towards the door.
"Starfire … please … I need to be alone."
"No, you are wrong, my dear friend. I will not abandon you in your moment of anguish. I will stay with you."
Robin nodded at Starfire as herded the others out of the room and the door slid shut behind them. Once they were gone, Raven stood up.
"This is the most pathetic thing I have ever done; it's far worse than the time I made a fool of myself with Malchior."
"It is OK, Raven."
"No, it's not OK. I'm a half demon, Starfire, and nothing will ever change that. I've lost the man I love, even after trying to cheat with magic. And just look at me." She said as she raised her arms. "I look like a slut, that's how low I've fallen."
Starfire shook her head. "You were only trying to seduce your beloved."
"And I scared him away … you should have seen the look in his eyes … he was horrified. What was I thinking? That just because I slipped on a slinky nighty, that I would suddenly stop being the nasty, creepy, demonic bitch that I am?"
"You are none of those things."
"And you're not a very convincing liar … I'm sorry, Starfire … I didn't mean to say that, I know you mean well … but face it, my case is hopeless. With Rage back in me, even if there was no Rachel, I don't stand a chance with Gar."
"Perhaps you are giving up too easily."
"Yeah, right. He's going to pick me over my perfect twin sister."
Starfire harrumphed. "She is not so perfect. She is jealous and insecure. Have you not noticed, Raven? She is the threatened by you."
"Then she's even stupider than I am."
The princess shook her head. "No Raven, you are wrong. Rachel feels intimidated by you because so little of herself is her own, she feels that she is only an extension of you. And the way she reacted when she thought Beast Boy was choosing you over her, it was most immature. Believe it or not my friend, but you are superior to her in many ways."
Raven laughed.
"I thought you and her were BFFs."
Starfire smiled. "Rachel is a good friend and because of who she is, she needs the friends. I am trying to be impartial in your love triangle, but it has been difficult, especially when you were under the spell of the gem. While the Rage was controlled other negative emotions became stronger. I hate to say this, but you were behaving like a klorbag varblernelk."
Raven nodded her agreement.
"You know what was strange, I was aware that I was being a jerk, but I couldn't do anything about it. It's like I was possessed." She picked up the broken necklace. "This gem, I should destroy it."
"Perhaps you are right."
Raven smiled at her friend. "Thank you, Starfire. I feel better now. I think I'm ready to go to bed, but not wearing this!" She chuckled.
Starfire returned her smile. "I too am ready for the pleasant slorvaks."
The two women exchanged a hug.
"Goodnight, Starfire."
"Goodnight, Raven, I will see you in the morning."
As soon as Starfire left, Raven went to her desk and sat down. Using a large quill feather and an inkwell, she began to write on a piece of parchment.
Dear Robin: were the first words she put to paper. It is with great regret that I …
-( scene break )-
The next day
Robin took a bite from his sandwich, which he washed down with some milk. Back when he lived in Gotham, Alfred always chastised him for eating at his desk. But Alfred was now a whole continent away and Robin could eat anywhere he desired.
He was busy reading intelligence reports on Slade, which were published by various polices agencies from around the world. The reports, as usual, contradicted each other. Some said that Slade was in Europe, performing one of his old school "contract jobs". Robin knew that Slade ceased to be an assassin for hire many years ago, though in a way he briefly reverted back to that role when he worked for Trigon. Robin crumpled that report and tossed it into the waste basket. There was no way Slade would hire himself out for a Mafia hit job, at least not anymore.
The other reports were equally clueless and after finishing his sandwich, Robin tossed the stack of reports into the trash as well. He stretched as he sat in his chair when he heard a knock on his door.
"Come in, it's open."
As expected, the door revealed Raven's shrouded figure, which quietly floated into Robin's office. The Teen Wonder stood up and walked around his desk. The guest chair was buried under a box and a pile of paper. He quickly shoved the stray papers into the box, which he promptly removed from the chair.
"Have a seat, Raven." He gestured to the chair.
The gray sorceress sat down. Under normal conditions, Robin would have expected a biting remark from her about the state of his office, and on one of her better days maybe even a wise crack about him giving Beast Boy a run for his money as the sloppy Titan. But she said nothing. Her piercing indigo eyes stared at him from her shadowed face. He noticed that she was holding an envelope in her left hand. Rather than return to his chair, he sat on the edge of his desk, so they could be face to face. They stared at each other for a minute until finally he broke the silence.
"I'm worried about you, Raven."
"Join the club. Starfire and Cyborg already spoke with me since yesterday. Starfire is having conniptions."
Robin shifted his weight on the desk, looking clearly uncomfortable.
"How long have you had this Star of …" He paused as he tried to remember.
"Eragon." She finished his sentence for him. "I've had it for two years."
"But you never used it?"
"Until now."
"Right … so the question is … why do you have this amulet in the first place? Was it for Beast Boy?"
She stared at the floor.
"No, it was … insurance."
"Insurance? You mean if you ever lost control of Rage again?"
"Yes, I planned on using it to subdue Rage if she ever got out of hand, and hopefully being able to remove it as soon as that was accomplished. I had no idea about the side effects, though I was warned … but I refused to listen."
Robin was curious. "So … who warned you?"
Raven sighed. "Malchior did. I assumed he was lying. It turns out he was telling me the truth."
"Who would have thought?" Robin remarked lightheartedly. "At least that's resolved … so what are you going to do with the amulet?"
"I destroyed it this morning."
"That does seem drastic."
She shook her head. "No, it was the right thing to do. Because of all of its side effects the Star is useless. Destroying it will prevent anyone in the future from making the same mistake I did."
Robin leaned forward and took her hand.
"Raven, I'm sorry."
She frowned. "For what? You didn't do anything. I'm the one who behaved like an idiot, I should be the one apologizing."
He squeezed her hand.
"I'm sorry this happened to you … Rachel … Beast Boy."
She sighed.
"It doesn't matter, Robin. Rachel was unexpected, but then again, that's what life is, it's full of surprises, some pleasant some … not so pleasant. I chose to make Rachel an unpleasant surprise. I have no one to blame for that other than myself."
"Raven, you're not being fair with yourself."
She raised hand, shushing him.
"If that is all it had been, things could be mended. Rachel, while flawed, is a good person. I chose to make her my rival, which was pointless. That I used the amulet to artificially change myself was bad enough, but my behavior … it was disgraceful. I learned a lot about myself, Robin, and a lot of it isn't good."
"You're being too harsh with yourself."
She handed him the envelope.
"What is this?" He asked.
"It's my resignation."
Robin hopped onto his feet.
"Your what?"
"You heard correctly. I'm resigning from the team. It's the only honorable thing to do after how I behaved so shamefully."
"You can't be serious!" Robin shrieked. "What happened to us being a family?"
"I believe I have forsaken my membership."
Robin ripped the envelope into tiny shreds. "What about us? Have you thought about how your departure would affect us?"
"I … I thought you'd glad to be rid of me. It solves the whole 'who do we send to Titans South' problem."
"That's not the same thing, Raven, not by a long shot. Even if it was you who went to Titans South, you'd still be part of our family. And who says that you wouldn't come back someday?"
"Robin, we both know that won't happen."
Robin glared at his grey friend.
"You're running away from Beast Boy, that's what this is all about, isn't it? I'm ashamed of you, Raven. This isn't how my sister faces adversity … you don't run away."
"I'm sorry, Robin, but it has to be this way."
"No, it doesn't. You belong with us, Raven Roth; get that through your thick skull."
Raven sighed.
"Raven, don't you know that we love you?"
She lowered her hood. The first thing he noticed was that she had cut her hair back to her old A-Line. It made her look younger and brought back a flood of emotions and memories to him.
"Yes, I do know, and that is precisely why I have to leave. I have become a source of heartache for all of you. We all know that there will always be tension between Rachel and myself. The only sensible thing is to remove myself from the picture, and for that to work I have to stop being a Titan. I will simply disappear and eventually … you will forget about me … and be happy."
"Are you nuts!?" Robin shrieked as he waved his arms. "You aren't going anywhere and no one is going to forget you, end of story, you got that?"
Before Raven could reply, the alarms went off.
"Titans! It's Slade!" Cyborg's voice boomed over the PA system.
Robin ran out his door and stopped.
"Are you coming?"
Raven sighed and pulled her hood up. "I'm coming."
-( scene break )-
It looks like after her "crash" that Raven has given up. Though I think she still needs to have a talk with a certain Garfield Logan, who now sports Slade's bull's-eye on his back.
Also, thanks for your reviews. Since I've kept you waiting an extra day for this update, I'm going to post it now and skip the mail bag.