Good Day Ladies and Gentlemen.
i am sorry that it took..... nearly 2 months for me to update but things have not been easy for me on a personal level and i just couldn't get the words flowing for this story.
today we start the second last arc of this story. someone asked me how many arcs there are and what each of the arcs was about as she wanted to make a summary on her homepage or something so i do a small break down here:
Arc 1: Enter the Demon - Raziel's arrival and the first few weeks of him living with the Titans and him interacting with Raven
Arc 2: New and Old Allies - Enter Jinx, Blackfire and finally Terra into the Tower; things become more emotional
Arc 3: New Relations and Revelations - Things between Raven, Raziel and Jinx are taken to a new level as well as the Team's falling apart shows more than just a fleeting sight.
Arc 4: Leaving and Working - The group leaves for the Hive and enter Red X into the group
Arc 5: Returning to Where it started - THIS arc, starts this chapter.
Arc 6: Final Fate - Last arc and conclusion.
All in all, if things stay on a steady personal level, this story will be finished by.... latest the end of the year.
Now, enough pointless talk and enjoy the chapter.
-Ω-
Nearly two years had gone past in Jump City and finally Robin was back in full action. He had abandoned his face mask, wearing an eye patch of his empty eye socket. The nerves had been too damaged by the demon's Hellfire to attach a cybernetic eye to them. The Boy Wonder looked down at his cybernetic arm, a piece of art by Cyborg's design and looking a lot like a slender version of the metal Titan's own body.
'They WILL pay for this,' thought Robin darkly as he flexed the mechanical joints. It had taken three tries, three painful tries before his body accepted the fourth generation limb. The teen's hate for Raziel had been slowly brewing, growing stronger than ever and being only second to Robin's hate for Slade.
Robin's relation to Starfire had come to a stalemate, the Tamaranian not able to understand why the Boy Wonder held such hatred for his former team members. In her book they hadn't really done anything wrong, she understood that what they did to Robin was over the top.
Raising his attention from his thoughts Robin turned back to his computer, scanning through the many open windows. He had spent his time in recovery to try to keep tabs on Raven, Jinx, Blackfire and Him, but to no avail. The three, except for a couple of short appearances had disappeared from society. In the last 22 months they had fully vanished. The last news he had on them was that they had graduated as top students from the HIVE.
Even through his hatred for them Robin knew deep down that the four were not actually 'evil' as..... Slade for example. Slade was clearly insane, his mind had been set on domination at every second. Those four though...... they had the power to do as they pleased and they used that power to its fullest. If that meant steamrolling some bystanders they had little problem with that.
The sliding door to his room slid open with a hiss, causing Robin to focus on the reflection in the computer screen. In the door stood Bumble Bee. Titans East had been pretty much absorbed into the original Titans. Steel City had been utterly silent since someone had reduced the escaped Blood to mush. "What is it," asked Robin, his voice having turned dark and hoarse since that day nearly three years ago.
Bumble Bee walked inside, her eyes drilling holes in her 'leader's' head, "We have some news on that..... group. They have attacked and raided yet another lab and stole blue prints to even more advanced war gear."
"DAMN IT!" Robin slammed his right hand into the table, leaving a deep imprint in the metallic surface. Bee didn't even flinch at his outburst, they had become regular since he had lost track of his old 'friends'.
Jump had been victim to a strange group of individuals. They raided one lab after another, stealing more and more military weapon blue prints of any kind. Never had they been SEEN, nor had they triggered any type of security. Only when the researchers returned did the thefts get noticed. Strangely the group only copied the data and left the originals in their home main frames. It didn't make sense to the detective, something he couldn't stand.
Taking a few deep breaths Robin calmed down slowly and turned his chair around to face Bee, "What they get this time?" Having expected this Bee flicked him a small data pad, "You find everything in there. Sparky went over it and said that he still couldn't find a pattern in it. The tech has nothing in common with the rest they already stole, just like before. It's always only parts of the data for some bigger weapon, never the complete schematics."
Robin nodded and turned back to his computer, swift to get to work. Bee sighed and slowly left his room, making her way to OPS. On her way she was passed by a red-white streak, indicating the Mas and Menos were ones more on an errand for Sparky. She smiled softly at this, finally glad that she actually could understand the flood of words that often left the twins' mouths. After months of trying to teach them proper English she had given up and had went to Sparky for help. The metal Titan had thought about it for a bit before starting to construct translators for the twins and now everyone could understand the two.
She turned and reached OPS, letting her eyes wander the room. Speedy was slouching on the couch, munching away at sea food wraps while Aqua Lad was shedding tears in the background. Cyborg was at the kitchen isle, fixing dinner for them all. Starfire was not seen around and Bee had a good guess where she was. The bubbly alien had slowly moved into a shell after Robin was well enough to take care of himself again. She sighed as she remembered the last argument between Star and Robin.
Bee wasn't there when it happened but it sounded like Robin had really hurt the princess and right now they were in a 'not speaking' phase. She could only hope that the stupid boy would realize his mistake soon enough. She walked up to Cyborg, the metal teen turning to her. "Hey Honey," said the teen with a slight smile while Bee scowled at the nickname. Okay, so maybe she had a slight obsession with the sticky sweet stuff but still.
"Hey yourself Sparky," shot Bee back, seeing with some slight satisfaction how his smiled slipped just a bit before coming back. "I just told him the news." Cy nodded, "How he take it?" She shook her head, "He needs a new desk..... again...."
The male groaned, not able to remember how often he had to replace that desk since Robin got his arm. "It's no use getting upset over them; they left for good and it's his own fault for how they left. He got what he had coming for a rather long time." Bee saw the sad look on his face and softly patted his shoulder softly, "I know, I know."
Cy looked down at his hands, flexing them with anger. "If only I had reacted earlier, only if I had-" A soft finger on his lips stopped his angry rant and he looked down in the soft eyes of the brunette. Her voice was soft as she spoke in just a whisper, "They did what they had to do. I don't say I approve to HOW they did it but I can understand them somewhat." He nodded slowly. He knew that he couldn't have done anything but DAMN, he wish he could have.
Suddenly a small alarm blared through the Tower and within short notice everyone crowded around the main frame access, Cyborg answering the Level 3 message from the Mayor. Scanning the message quickly he summed it up for the others, "The Mayor has had enough of those raids. He..... He sees us incapable to stop them so he has hired a group of Freelancers..... He has summoned us to his office within the next 30 minutes......."
"Then we better not let him wait." everyone spun around and saw Robin walk into the room, his face an angry grimace. He spun around on his heel and left for the garage. All of them could feel the anger at having his capability questioned roll off him in thick waves. Cyborg scowled at the back of his long time friend when a soft hand landed on his shoulder and he looked up at the face of Bee. "I'll get Starfire..... you go and try to defuse this bomb....." He nodded his thanks before he crowded everyone down to the garage.
-Ω-
The Titans as a whole entered the Town Hall and were quickly led into the Mayor's office. The Mayor, a man in his late forties and dressed in a typical business suit, sat behind his desk, his face showing that he was VERY unhappy with the local heroes. "You called for us..... Sir," asked Robin, adding the title only at an elbow to the side from Speedy. The man noticed the slip and scowled, wondering what had really happened to the formally respectful teen. "Don't act ignorant," growled the man out, glaring at the eye patched leader. "You know exactly WHY you are here. Your inability to put a stop to those...... raids." "Sir, if you give us mor-"
"I have given you more time than enough," shouted the man while he slammed his fist on his desk. "27 labs, 27 LABS ROBIN! We have lost valuable contracts because of this, contracts that we NEED as a city! So far I was sure that you would put a stop to this in the end but now is enough!" The man balled his fists and took deep breaths, "Robin.... I value what you and your group have done for us over the years but as a Mayor I have to think of the city first. Thus I have contracted a group of Mercenaries who will do the job."
Robin let out a dark snarl at this, "SIR! You can't be serious. No Mercenary will be a match for this group. We wil-" "You had your chance and you fucked up!" Taken slightly aback by the foul language the Mayor used the Titans stepped back. "4 months, I gave you four months to catch them and bring them before justice but you FUCKED UP EACH AND EVERY TIME! Every 'TRAP' you laid out for them was busted and the bait was lost each and every time. No, this is no longer your problem. I only called you here so you can meet the group that will take care of things from now on so you know to leave them to their work unmolested."
The Mayor pressed a button and told his secretary to send them in. Folding his hands in his lap the man waited patiently while the Titans turned to the large double doors. After a few moments the door swung open and in walked ten people in total..... and 6 of them set all the Titans on edge while Robin was starting to feel his rage boil over.
"Hey Birdy. So we meet again, huh?" The speaker had a wide smirk on his face as Robin's face turned into a grimace of rage. "YOU! HOW DARE YOU SET FOOT IN MY CITY RAZIEL?!?!?"
And indeed the demidemon stood before them, smirking in his typical partly sinister way. His white hair had grown out a bit, reaching partly past his shoulders. He was dressed in an open black shirt and black jeans, his wings folded around his shoulders like a cloak and his sword rested in easy reach between his wings. A pink Fleur de Lys had been added on his right cheek bone.
On his left stood Raven, giving a focused dark look at Robin. She had grown a couple of inches since the last time they saw her. Her wardrobe had changed to a red, strapless top with a low cut in the middle and the two pieces were held together by a filigree raven made of silver metal. She wore black-purple jeans that hung low on her hips, revealing the straps of what was suspected to be a purple thong. Her wings were also folded against her back, the staff of her scythe visible between her shoulders. Her hands were covered in purple, long sleeved gloves that ran nearly up to her elbows.
On her opposite position stood Jinx, the Nekomata with a crazy smirk on her lips while she eyed up the Titans before her. Her hair had grown a tad bit and was pulled into two pigtails that swung on her back. Her outfit reminded of her old dress but this one was sleeveless and exposed her toned belly and her 'socks' were gone, revealing the soft skin of her legs. Her top was barely able to hold her definitely grown bust at bay. Each of her cat ears held several ear rings of varying color and she also had a collar black leather with a small bell around her neck, though she obviously could move without letting the bell jingle. She had a new, second Fleur de Lys on her left cheek bone in black color.
On Jinx' right stood.... Blackfire. The alien princess had changed her wardrobe a little bit as well. She wore a sleeveless purple-black top that exposed her belly. Her arms were covered in a gray mesh from the long sleeved shirt she wore under her top. A purple-black skirt held in place by a gray belt hung on her hips while a pair of gray shorts covered her thighs. Her shoulders and the back of her hands were covered with metal plates that were of a dark silver color. Her hair was free as always, swaying back and forth on her back.
Slightly behind Blackfire on her left stood Terra, her long blond hair by now reaching past the middle of her back and gracing her butt. A pair of round, yellow-red sunglasses rested on top of her head while a long strand of hair hung down the right half of her face. She wore a normal black t-shirt with a high collar, pairs of white fangs near her jugulars on both sides and small drops of red seemed to fall from them. Over her impressive bust, that the shirt barely was able to hold back, was the word 'Forsaken' written in jagged red letters. She wore a pair of normal jeans, held in place by a black belt. From said belt hung several small knifes and daggers. The grip of some kind of pistol or similar weapon was visible from behind her back.
On Terra's left stood...... Red X..... He wore the X-suit but without the skull mask. Instead he wore a pair of black shades that hid his eyes and a yellow-blue bandanna to keep his black, red striped hair from falling into his face. He didn't wear the cape though. Two ear rings of bright yellow respectively purple in each ear caught most eyes.
Behind the six people stood the three familiars of the demidemons. They had not changed much but..... their 'company' was a true shocker.
There were...... three girls..... and one boy....... Probably around..... 4-5 years in age...... the first girl stood just at below 3'4''. her blackish-blue hair stopped just above her shoulders with two long strands framing her cute face. Two large, amethyst colored with slightly oval pupils drew most of the attention. She wore a flowing purple dress with short sleeves while here hands and lower arms were covered in long, silken, black gloves.
The next one looked nearly identical to the first, her blackish-blue hair ran to the middle of her back though and had a few white strands here and there. Her eyes were of a ruby like red with a few purple streaks in them while she too had slightly oval pupils. She as well stood just short of 3'4'' and wore a dress as well, though hers of a near black color with long sleeves and two cuts running up its side nearly up to her hips.
The third girl had shoulder long pink hair pulled into two pigtails. A pair of catlike ears stood out from her mass of pink, black in color with bright pink tips and her left ear had three small, silvery earrings. She also had a cat's tail in the same coloration. Her eyes were pink with some yellow streaks in them, her black pupils slit to perfection. She wore a black, zip up hoody, a pair dark purple shorts and a neon-pink skirt that stopped 2/3 down her thighs.
The lone boy had bright white hair with a few pink strands, the hair cut short above his shoulders and untamed. Red cat eyes with a few specks of pink scanned the room with seemingly boredom. A pair of white, pink tipped cat ears twitched between his hair while his equally colored tail swayed back and forth behind him. He wore a red polo shirt and dark blue jeans along with fingerless, pink gloves.
All four of the kids had a small red gem on their foreheads, though in the boys case it was more of a blackish-red.
Both parties sized each other up before Cyborg stepped in front of Raven with a small smile, extending his hand in a friendly gesture, "Hey Raven, good to see you again." the demoness turned her gaze from the Boy Blunder to the metal man and her eyes softened. Ignoring the offered hand she stepped forth and gave the man, who she by now nearly matched in hight, a big hug. "Good to see you too." Cy's smile brightened while he returned the hug.
"Hey Stone! You looking sharp," smirked Jinx as she stepped in front of Cy after Raven had let go of him. "Jinx," offered Cyborg with a small smile before he was pushed aside by Bumble Bee who gave Jinx a wide smirk, "Hey Pinky." Jinx gave a short frown before she gave her patented Cheshire grin, "Brain, what are we going to do tonight?" Several people couldn't help but chuckle at the neko's come back.
The two Tamaranian princesses had a stand off at the side, Starfire glaring at her sister while Blackfire simply gave her an impassive look.
Speedy was seizing up Raziel, having been the victim of many of Robin's rants about the demon. From the rants he had expected some fire breathing, ugly, tentacled son of a bitch, not some obviously not overconfident male who wore the smirk that would the Devil make a run for the hills.
Mas and Menos were standing in front of Terra forming a two man tower, both with hearts in their eyes and drooling over the draculina.
Aqua Lad had little interest in the group, seeing as Beastboy was not with them either. The green changeling had been a sore topic for Cyborg and so the watery teen had no idea where the fella was.
Robin was alternating between glaring death into Raziel or Red X. it was hard to say for which one his rage bristled more.
The Mayor by now felt the high tension between some of the groups' members and was thinking if this really was such a good idea. His office was not designed to withstand super powered teens battling it out.
After what felt like ages to some, the Boy Wonder simply gave a dark growl as he walked up to Raziel, his single brown eyes glaring into the dual pools of sulfur. "Just one wrong move, one law broken and I will take you down," threatened the teen while stabbing the demons' chest with a finger. Raziel stared back, his lips quirked up in a smirk, "You are free to try, I am standing right here." Robin gave an impressive growl for a human and brushed past Raziel and through the group, his shoulder crashing into X's roughly on the way.
Starfire was soon to follow her leader and maybe still boyfriend with a last hate filled glare at her sister. Aqua Lad also left, though in a way more mannered way as he gave each of them a collective salute. Speedy gave them all one of his half-smirks before he left as well, telling Cy that he would wait at the car.
Mas and Menos also left with hung heads after they had seen how X had pulled Terra close in an obviously possessive way.
That left Cy and Bee with the large group. The Mayor had long since seen himself out, deciding that he would rather jeopardize his room than his health.
There was a certain level of awkwardness between them that was soon broken by the pink haired girl tugging on Jinx' skirt, "Mommy, was that the 'foolish idiot' that you, daddy and Mommy Rae told us to stay away from?" Jinx looked down and gave the girl a warm smile before lifting her up in her arms, "Yes, the one eyed one was. Be very careful around him; we know him to hold BAD grudges."
Cyborg and Bee were staring at the group with wide eyes and jaws on the ground. Their eyes circled over Jinx and the girl over the other kids, Raven and Raziel. Finally Cy got his CPU running again, "HOLD ON A FUCKING SECOND! You CAN'T want to tell us that THESE are YOUR kids?!?!" Suddenly a small hand of black-red energy manifested and gave the back of Cy's head a sharp slap. "No bad language in front of us," said the girl in the short sleeved dress while her eyes were surrounded by a small glow.
Bee couldn't help but giggle slightly at the metal man getting scolded by a kid. "But seriously, how can this be? They look way older than just 2 years since you vanished from the radar as I guess they were the reason for it." Raven gave a soft smirk as she leaned her shoulder against Raziel's side, arms crossed over her chest, "Well, we spent most of mine and Jinx' pregnancy on a world in the demonic realm. Time there flows differently, nearly 3 times as fast actually. We didn't want to risk Boy Blunder getting any ideas. Not that he COULD have done anything but neither me nor Jinx wanted to risk any... complication because we got too pissed in the later stages of our pregnancies. "
Cy had by now collected himself and looked the four kids over. "Let me guess: the girls in the dresses belong to your Raven and the tomboy and the little guy belong to you Jinx?" while spoken in a friendly tone Cy found himself suddenly attacked by the boy, the young Nekomata having grown claws and was trying to tear into the metal man, "I AM NOT LITTLE!!!!"
Cyborg was saved from the furious boy as a red claw picked him up the the back of his shirt and lifted him off and dragged his screaming and trashing form towards his father, "Temper Akuma, temper. Behave or we'll have some extra training with uncle Sergio later on." The boy now known as Akuma crossed his arms over his chest and started to pout, muttering profanities under his breath.
The large group gave a short laugh as Raven gestured for the two girls to step forth. She placed her arms on their shoulder as they flanked her, "The one that put Cy in his place is Erys and her twin Sheila."
The girl in Jinx' arms was giggling and her tail twitched what caused three bells attached to it into soft jiggles, "Heya! I'm Lethe! And just because I am a girl and young doesn't mean I can't kick your ass like Mommy!" They all gave a collective laugh at Lethe's declaration and to Cyborg it felt very good to talk to his old friends again.
Bumble Bee saw the tin man laugh heartedly with his old friends and couldn't help but smile as well. He had been not really himself since the old team had fallen apart. She had often found him late at night playing games by himself, celebrating shortly after a victory only to get moody when no one was there to share the fun with him. The metal teen had grown on her and over the time she learned to read him rather easily. "Hey Sparky, how about I drive the boys back and you catch up with your friends?"
Cy gave her a shortly surprised look before a soft but thankful smile appeared on his lips, "Thank Bee-" But whatever else he wanted to say was cut off by Jinx who had handed Lethe to Akuma and appeared between Bee and Cy, her arms dragged over both their shoulders, "You're not getting out of this Brain! You are coming with us. The kids can find their way home alone." Bumble Bee was honestly very surprised, "Are you sure about that?"
Terra answered her with a small smile, "Sure. From all of them only Cyborg, you and Archer Boy have no ill will towards us. Water Boy may be indifferent and the twins are..... not all that bad but I doubt they'd really warm up to us."
Cyborg couldn't help but smile slightly as he saw the group nod in agreement, 'Still as able to read others as they used to be.' With a chuckle he gave Speedy a short call and the words to go home without them before the large group left the town hall and went to search the city for a place they could catch up. On the way he couldn't help but smirk inwardly, 'Watch out Jump, Chaos is back in town.' Yes, things were certain to get interesting very soon.
-Ω-
I am sure many of you have many questions that need to be answered and i say this: the next chapter will be a reminiscent chapter of the past 2 years for Raven and her family, though to them it was more like 6 years actually. many things changed in the family dynamic and they need to be explained.
i hope i haven't been throwing people too much of a curveball here but this IS how it feels best to me. if you have really important/urgent questions for me review or PM me, i will answer all as long as it won't spoil the plot for coming chapters.
- Nelo Akuma