All right, this is the chapter I've been wanting to write since I started this whole story. Not much to say except here we go!
I am flame and I am fire
I am destruction, decay, and desire
I'll hurt you
I'll heal you
I'm your wish, your dream come true
And I am your darkest nightmare too
I've shown you
I own you
And though you made me you can't change me
I'm the perfect stranger who knows you too well
-"I'm Alive", Next to Normal
The Titans backed away carefully, instinctively forming a defensive group as Raven rose to her feet, flexing her hands as her demonic side settled into control of her body. Physically, the change in her was subtle, other than the four crimson eyes, but that somehow made it more disturbing. A giant red demon would have been frightening, but a clear and obvious threat to take on. Seeing Raven's own features manipulated into an alien sneer, her body held with an atypically dominant bearing, there could be no denying that this enemy was holding their friend hostage with its very existence.
"Okay, so knocking Raven out wasn't such a good idea," Cyborg muttered as the demon explored its newfound freedom.
"Think it might work a second time?" Robin asked, adjusting into a ready stance.
"Technically, Raven's already out," Lilith said. "We need to wake her up."
"Right. Let's do it."
Robin walked forward cautiously, the rest of the team trailing close behind him. So far, the demon had not paid them any attention, but he had no intention of waiting until it was ready to face them.
"Raven, listen to me. I know the real Raven is in there somewhere."
The demon gave a derisive snort, glancing at him disdainfully. "'The real Raven'?" she snarled, her voice resonating in an inhuman way that made the skin on Robin's neck crawl. "I am as real as the pitiful whiner who has kept me caged for nearly twenty years. I, who have as much right to existence as any other part of our mind. But at last a window of opportunity arose. One you provided me, actually," she added, with a glance at Lilith. "It only took a nudge from me to get the rest of those bickering little idiots to rush the gates and take Raven down themselves." Her lips twisted in a dark smile, revealing razor-edged fangs. "Now it's her turn to see what it's like to be kept caged and silent in your own body."
"Oh, no…" Lilith breathed, closing her eyes.
"You will not hurt our friend!" Starfire's hands blazed with green energy.
Raven looked her over boredly. "Interesting. You actually consider yourself a threat to me."
"We don't want to hurt you," Robin said firmly. "Just put Raven back in control and there won't be any trouble."
Raven stared at him for a moment. "No."
She turned and walked toward the large window overlooking the bay, and the city beyond. With a wave of her hand, a portal sprang into existence.
"We're not letting you bring back Trigon!" Cyborg called, raising his sonic cannon in what he hoped would be an empty threat.
"I have no intention of releasing Trigon," Raven rumbled. "He used me for his own benefit, then destroyed me. Why should I assist him again?"
The Titans looked at each other in surprise.
"Oh. Uh, good," Robin said.
"Let Trigon conquer his own worlds," Raven continued, the sinister grin returning. "Earth is mine to reshape as I see fit."
"Not good," Beast Boy groaned.
Robin extended his bo staff. "Last chance, Raven. Back down."
She didn't even pause as she strolled toward the portal, already having dismissed them from her attention.
"I am sorry, Raven" Starfire said, looking away as she released a starbolt at her friend.
Without even glancing back, a black shield sprang up, absorbing the blast of energy.
Cyborg fired a blast of his own sonic cannon, but she blocked it just as casually. "Uh-oh."
"We do not let her through that portal," Robin commanded. "Titans, g—"
But Raven had stopped suddenly at the edge of the portal, head cocked. She turned, looking over her shoulder at Lilith, who stood a short distance away, eyes closed. "Nice try, but do you think I cannot feel you buzzing in my brain like a mosquito?"
"You don't belong in charge," Lilith gritted, focusing harder. "You must yield to Raven's consciousness."
"Must I?" Raven turned completely to the other girl and Robin realized she now stood taller than the redhead. "You have such an interest in my mind, little half-breed god? I should show you darknesses even those who forged Tartarus would tremble to know. How deeply I could reach right into the primal fears of the mind you have so naively opened to me." Her cloak began to ripple at the hem, shadows fluttering beneath it.
"Raven!" Robin yelled, preparing to leap her direction and guessing what kind of attack she would counter with.
But Raven paused, looking down at the telepath, who remained stubbornly engaged in her psychic endeavor. "However, it was your efforts that allowed my freedom in the first place. So, know that all that follows from here on wouldn't have happened without you, and sleep."
With a grunt, Lilith dropped to the ground, unconscious.
"Lilith!" Starfire cried, trying to fly to the girl's side. A wall of dark energy sprang up in her path faster than she could change course. She rebounded off with a groan, shaking off the impact.
"That's enough!" Cyborg yelled, firing again.
Raven raised a semicircular shield all the way around herself, regarding him with slightly more irritation than amusement. "On that we agree."
She turned and started toward the portal again, but Robin darted into her path, staff raised. The boys formed up around him as Starfire took advantage of the distraction to sneak to Lilith's side.
Robin glared at the distorted version of Raven's face, slightly troubled how easy it was to see her as just an adversary. He knew Raven was buried somewhere in there, hopefully unaware what her body was doing. However, the force possessing her was a threat to his team and his world, and if it came down to it, he would do what needed to be done.
"I will not let you do this," he threatened, no longer even trying to connect with her by name. "We will put you back down, and if we can't do it alone, we'll just have to find someone in Azarath who can!"
"Uh, dude?" Beast Boy muttered dubiously.
Raven snarled a laugh. "Even if you could find the spell, those fools are useless to you. Azar is dead, and soon the rest of her people shall join her. As Raven restored Azarath, I shall destroy it once more!"
As she spoke, dark tentacles of energy extended from under her cloak, creeping along the floor.
"Robin, what are you—?" Cyborg asked, but Robin pressed on.
"Why start there?" he challenged, stepping toward her. "You hate them for giving Raven a way to keep you locked up? Then you should hate us too! We've been helping Raven keep you in check for years. Every time she pushed you further and further down, we celebrated with her. And when she takes you down this time, we're going to be right there at her side helping her throw away the key."
"Yeah!" Beast Boy turned into a tiger and roared his defiance at the demon as Cyborg charged his sonic cannon even higher. Starfire flew back to their sides, setting Lilith's body carefully behind the wall of Titans, then joining their ranks.
Raven surveyed them coldly, oily smoke beginning to flow from beneath her cloak to fill the area between them. The air grew clammy and made the hair stand up on the back of their necks as their brains started to involuntarily release fear hormones, but Robin didn't blink. He had exactly what he wanted. The demon was entirely focused on them instead of the portal or the city.
"Your childish hope gives you unfounded confidence," she rumbled. "For all your powers, I could stop your tender hearts with a thought."
Robin felt a sensation in his chest as if icy fingers were tightening around his heart, preventing its normal rhythm. From the grunts around him, he assumed the others were under similar attack. His head started to pound, fingers and feet numbing, but he struggled to hold his ground.
A darkly amused glint appeared in Raven's eyes and the pressure suddenly ceased. Robin tried not to show his relief as blood thudded back through his arteries.
"However, I have a much more interesting idea." Her eyes flickered to Robin's right. "Garfield."
Beast Boy, still in tiger form, jumped in shock beside him, then stilled and began padding purposefully across the room to position himself between them and Raven.
"Beast Boy?" Starfire called nervously.
He shifted, his already large feline form stretching even more massively until he had become the Beast. When he turned back to them, fangs bared, his eyes glowed fiery red.
"I don't think Beast Boy's in charge anymore," Cyborg said grimly.
Raven increased her own size to look over the Beast's back, running her fingers possessively through the fur on his neck. She gazed down at the Titans with a predatory smile.
"Kill them."
Beast Boy lunged at the Titans, holding nothing back. Robin and Starfire leapt out of the way while Cyborg braced himself to absorb Beast Boy's impact and deflect him off to the side, away from Lilith.
"B, I know you don't want to do this," he said as Beast Boy scrambled back to his feet.
The Beast simply snarled back with no hint of recognition in his eyes and bounded to attack again.
As Cyborg and Starfire struggled to subdue Beast Boy without getting taken out themselves, Robin took temporary cover from the fray behind a kitchen counter to focus his attention on Raven. This attack would be the perfect distraction to let her slip away through the portal that still gaped in front of the window. To his relief, he found she had stuck around to watch the fight, a cruel, satisfied look on her face as Beast Boy's slash connected with Starfire, slamming her through the air into the kitchen.
Robin glanced over to ensure she was all right before checking back on the progress of the battle, mind racing through options fruitlessly. He couldn't stop Raven's demon form alone—he was barely convinced they realistically could stop her as a team—and he knew as long as the team was divided what narrow chances they had dwindled significantly.
"This is terrible!" Starfire crouched beside him, driving Beast Boy back with a few starbolts over the top of the counter. "Even though our friends are not in their correct minds, they are still Raven and Beast Boy!"
Something sparked in Robin's mind. Out of all of them—Cyborg with his sonic cannon, Starfire with her starbolts, both with extreme strength, and Robin himself as leader, a prime symbolic target—she had chosen to mess with Beast Boy.
She had been saying it all along, no matter which version was in control. He looked at the dark figure with new resolve. "She's still Raven."
"Yes!" Starfire agreed, ducking a thrown chair. "We must stop them without hurting them!"
I don't know about that, Robin mused. "Starfire, you guys keep Beast Boy busy and away from Lilith. I've got an idea."
"Best of luck!" she called, flying out to rejoin the fight.
Robin put away his staff and strode out of the kitchen toward Raven.
She didn't even look down as he approached, but acknowledged him verbally as she watched the battle. "What a surprise. The Boy Wonder thinks he can defeat me with words. So, Robin, what do you think you can say that will reach deep down to the good that is within me?"
"I'm done coddling you, Raven," he said coldly. "And I'm done talking. You want to be an enemy of this team? Fine. Just makes my life that much easier since I won't have to worry about you anymore."
She cocked her head toward him slightly, intrigued. "You're giving up on her so quickly?"
"Don't get me wrong, I will fight you to the end, but it's a lot simpler to just banish a demon than to try to save part of it."
Deep in those opaque, red eyes, he saw a flicker, and he knew. Raven herself was still in there, and she was hearing him. As much as it hurt to do it, he hardened his resolve to carry on with his plan.
The demonic side of Raven sneered down at him. "Bold words when you have nothing to back them up."
"It's true, we might lose today, but then what? You going to kill us? Or will you keep us brainwashed like Beast Boy? Because that's the only way you could get us to follow you. How long can you keep someone possessed before their brain gives out and they die? If you do end up ruling this world, you're going to do it alone. No one wants you around; not even your own father. You did exactly what he told you and became the Portal, and even then he still didn't want you!"
Her rage swept over him in a wave of dark energy.
"Enough!" she roared. Her expression settled back to dark malice, but he could tell her cool, controlled demeanor had broken. So he was right; whether demon or human, she still responded to the same triggers.
She glared down at him, likely sensing his slight satisfaction at managing to score a hit against her. "Robin, the powerless one, so dependent on his words in the face of evil," she snarled patronizingly. "I wonder how much of a leader you would be without them?"
Robin cried out as claws of fire ripped across the left side of his brain. He clutched the side of his head, expecting to feel blood soaking his hair, but the pain seemed to be purely internal.
"Robin!" Starfire called, landing at his side with fear in her eyes.
"I'm all right, Star." Robin froze. Although he had formed the words in his head, what came out of his mouth was pure gibberish. "Star, can you understand me?" he tried again, horror creeping through him as he produced only garbled sounds.
Starfire gripped the sides of his face in confusion. "I do not understand, Robin. What new language is this?"
"It's not a language," Raven said smugly, watching them with a cold smile. "I destroyed the speech center of his brain. He can understand you, but words are no longer his to use."
Starfire's eyes widened in horror. "No," she breathed, turning back to look at him desperately. "Robin…"
He squeezed her shoulders in return, trying to soothe her without speaking, as it would only upset them both. Part of his mind was already whirling with contingency plans. Jericho functioned well enough without speaking. After they stopped Raven, he would find a way…
His silence only confirmed Starfire's fears, though. The sadness in her eyes hardened into anger even as they welled with tears.
She turned back to Raven. "I have argued on your behalf and I still hope that we will be able to save the Raven we love, but I fear that even if we do, what you have done might actually be…unforgiveable." She took a deep breath, eyes glowing as she looked up at the demon. "You are not our friend, Raven."
Robin saw the break happen. Rather than laugh in sadistic amusement at Starfire's seemingly insignificant declaration, Raven's eyes flared with rage and the temperature in the room dropped even further. The floors and furniture warped and transformed into red rock and brimstone, spreading across the room. Outside, dark clouds began to gather above the Tower.
Raven herself began to lose any remnant of resemblance to the girl they knew. Her skin darkened, what they could see of her face stretching into something entirely inhuman. Tendrils of red energy snaked hungrily toward them and her soul-self flared up as a black bird behind her, augmenting her already frightening form.
Robin's hand reached out and pulled Starfire toward him. There was nothing he could do at this point, but his last thought was to put himself in front of her regardless.
As Raven drew back her hands to unleash an energy blast, the wings of her soul-self suddenly swept forward, wrapping tightly around her body like a straightjacket. She hissed in surprise at this unexpected source of attack, but the bird-like head clamped down over hers as if it were a hood, engulfing her completely in dark energy. Her demonic power fought against its sudden confinement, the opposing forces twisting and condensing into a sphere of black and red energy slashing at each other.
Across the room, the stony ground began receding toward the ball of energy like the tide going out, leaving the world restored to normal in its wake. Robin heard the sounds of battle behind him end with a confused, but very Beast Boy-sounding yelp. As the demonic influence ebbed past him, Robin felt a soothing sensation in his brain, phantom cool fingers caressing the damaged tissue.
The orb writhed, the red energy gradually being subsumed until it was a uniform black. Slowly, the energy began to resolve itself into a familiar shape, coalescing to reveal Raven's hovering form, seated above the ground in meditation. Her eyes were squeezed shut, lips moving with desperate commitment in her mantra. All traces of the hellscape that had taken over the Tower finished their retreat into her body, leaving an eerie silence behind it broken only by three whispered words, repeated with as much passion as any priest in prayer.
"Azarath, metrion, zinthos," Raven murmured, voice slowing, although her brow was still deeply furrowed and her body shaking slightly with the internal struggle. "Azarath, metrion, zinthos. Azarath, metrion…zinthos. Zinthos…"
On the last word, she clenched her fists, a shudder running through her whole body, then she breathed out, muscles relaxing slightly at last. She lowered her feet to the ground and stood, cloak clutched tightly around her as she huddled in on herself.
"Raven?" Cyborg asked cautiously, coming up to stand behind Robin and Starfire. Beast Boy and Lilith moved in as well, very much awake and themselves, if a bit scuffed and shaky.
The eyes that opened in the darkness of her hood were a single pair and blessedly violet. The misery in them, though, clenched Robin's heart in a different way. "Is anyone hurt?"
"No. I'm fine now," Robin answered clearly. Relieved, Starfire squeezed his arm gratefully. He clutched her hand back.
"We're okay, I think," Cyborg said, looking over at Lilith and Beast Boy. "No physical damage."
Raven's eyes closed again, head sinking further as she stood before them. "I'm sorry," she said, voice cracking. "I'm so sorry."
"Raven—" Robin reached out to her.
"No!" A barrier of dark energy shot up between them, its edges crackling. "I haven't rebuilt my shields completely yet." She winced, a ripple of dark energy fluttering across her, and he realized how fragile a skin of control she had managed to pull together.
He let his hand fall, using his voice and emotions instead. "Raven, I just want to make sure you know. Those things I said, I didn't mean—"
She cringed. "Please, Robin, after everything I just did, do not apologize to me. You did the right thing. Invoking Shame weakened the demon enough that I was able to retake control."
Relief flowed through him. The gamble had paid off. "Still, I'm sorry."
"Why did you have to provoke it in the first place?" Raven snapped, looking up bitterly.
"What?" Robin asked.
"The one safeguard I was able to put in place should my demon ever escape was to convince it that all of you were unworthy of its attention," she explained. "That way it would spare you long enough that you could do something."
"It was better it turned its energy on us than the rest of Jump City," Robin retorted.
"Well, it worked," she shot back, "because it really hates you now." Although it was still clearly Raven in charge, something in her eyes sent a chill down his spine as she said that.
Cyborg cleared his throat, attempting a lighter tone. "Well, good thing you woke up just in time and put the demon back to bed."
Raven shifted her pained gaze to him. "I've been awake since Lilith prodded my mind," she said regretfully. "I wasn't able to fight back the demon until Robin and Starfire weakened it. It was going to win."
"I don't believe that—" Robin started.
"You should!" Raven snapped. "I couldn't stop it. I couldn't stop it and all I could do was watch…"
For a moment, her eyes caught Beast Boy's, silent so far since returning to human form. Immediately, hers dropped to the floor and closed. "I need a little while to strengthen my shields, then I'll heal any injuries you have."
"The hell you will," Robin said sharply. When she flinched, shame almost visibly pouring off her, he cursed himself and softened his tone. "Raven, you just went through a traumatic ordeal. Just take care of yourself right now."
"You really are a fool," she growled, anger making dark energy flare around her, though it stayed close to her body. "After what I did, you shouldn't still be nice to me! Even Starfire said it! That was unforgiveable."
Starfire's eyes widened in regret. "Raven, no. I did not—"
"Don't. Please." The energy dissipated as her anger faded to resigned sadness. "You may not have meant it, Robin, but you were right. Your lives would be easier if you didn't have to worry about me."
"Raven!" Robin yelled, but she had already turned into her soul-self and phased through the floor. He cursed to himself, fists clenching in futility.
"You do not think she…?" Starfire asked worriedly.
Robin turned to Cyborg. "How far did she go?"
Cyborg checked the screen on his forearm for her locator signal. "Looks like she went back to her room."
Robin sighed with relief for that small blessing. She hadn't run away. At least, not yet.
He looked around at the aftermath of the battle. The kitchen was still a mess, but the living room area had been completely restored to normal, without a trace of stone or a whiff of brimstone in the air. Outside, there wasn't a cloud in the sky. While he should be reassured, the utter normalcy of the room bothered him. Raven had a troubling amount of skill at healing wounds so they left no scars. But that didn't erase the memories of what happened.
Robin rubbed the headache clamping between his eyes, turning back to his shaken team. "Okay. Then we'll let her regroup for a while. After that, we'll figure out what we're going to do about all this."
"What we're going to do?"
They jumped. It was the first Beast Boy had spoken since everything went to hell. He stood slightly apart from the others, eyes narrowed. His voice was low and dangerous. "What's to figure out? We need to get rid of that demon!"
"Beast Boy!" Starfire gasped.
"Whoa, B," Cyborg said, raising his hands calmingly. "I know she just made you do some bad stuff, but you don't really want to kick Raven out."
"What?" he frowned, still furious. "Dude, I'm talking about her demon, not her! That thing was in my head, making me hurt you guys, and it's doing the same thing to her! It's been doing it her whole life!" He kicked one of the pots lying on the floor so it crashed loudly against the counter.
"I know," Lilith said quietly, an air of defeat around her. "But it's part of her. We can't just remove it."
"Well, we need to do something, 'cause she doesn't deserve to have to live with that! How much more is she supposed to suffer before life finally gives her a freaking break?" Beast Boy ranted, storming out of the room.
"Man. I know he's upset, but he's known that was her deal all this time," Cyborg commented.
"I think knowing it and seeing it firsthand are two different things," Robin said, looking back to where Raven had stood.
"Yeah," Cyborg agreed sadly, following his gaze.
Starfire cleared her throat. "If there is nothing we can do to help Raven now, perhaps we should clean up the kitchen and let ourselves rest so that when we can help we are ready."
"Sounds good, Starfire." Lilith moved in to clear the table, every movement weighed down with regret. "At least I can do some good somewhere."
Robin watched them begin to work in silence, the air still heavy and thick. Every member of his team needed some kind of reassurance, but for once, even though his voice was functioning, his words seemed completely useless. Instead, he settled for just being there with the others, taking comfort in working beside his friends, while trying not to think about the two who weren't with them.