Completely unaware about the lies that Slade was telling Robin, Raven sat in her spaceship her eyes glued to a large blue book. It had been two days since she had left earth and her friends. In order to take her mind off them, she tried to distract herself by reading. Her spaceship was drifting aimlessly through space, but Raven did not really care.
Raven read for several hours before putting away the book. Standing up, she went to make herself some tea.
While waiting for the water to boil, she thought about her friends and wondered what they were doing. As she stared absentmindedly into space, she heard something crash into the back of her spaceship. With a sigh, she wrapped herself up in her soul self and went to face hostile aliens who had not heard about the power of the demon princess. Materializing in front of the aliens who had boarded her ship, Raven glared at them. If a bear and a zebra mated, these aliens certainly looked like the product.
"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" recited Raven as she held out her hands in front of her.
Before she could focus her powers on the aliens, she was seized with a pounding headache. Falling to the floor, she knocked at her head with her knuckles trying to ease the pain. The aliens advanced quickly towards her with their weapons. A spaceship like hers would be a great prize.
"Saptim sergi sivere daemonicia!" said Raven as she backed away from the aliens. Immediately, seven fire-demons appeared in front of the aliens. Leaving the fire-demons to do the job, Raven fled back to her room.
"What's happening to me?" she wondered as she fell to the floor. "I must meditate." She decided as she assumed the lotus position and levitated into the air.
"Azarath Metrion Zinthos…" Raven cringed. The pounding ache in her head was now a stabbing pain. Never before had her mantra made her headaches worse. Perplexed, Raven flew over to her bookcase and took out a box that was shaped like a book. Opening it, she drew out a pendant shaped like a dove with its wings stretched upward. Clutching it in her hand, she closed her eyes and focused.
"Azar!" exclaimed Raven the moment she felt the connection between the pendants. "I don't know what's happening to me. Some aliens attacked my ship and when I used my incantation, I developed the worst headache I've ever had. What's happening to me?" There was silence for a moment. Raven waited patiently for a response.
"Have you ever used your soul self to enter someone's mind?" asked Azar.
"Yes, I used it to defeat Plamus when-"
"No, dear child. Have you ever gone into someone's mind whence you were allowed to see that person's memories?"
"Well, yes." Raven said finally. "I went into Robin's mind once."
"That is your answer." Replied Azar tranquilly. "When you enter someone's mind, you form a bond with them. If that person is in great danger or distress and recites your incantation verbally or nonverbally, you will get headaches the next time you use the incantation, that is provided you care for that person deeply."
"How long will it take for the headaches to go away?" Groaned Raven. "How long will it be before I can use my incantation again?"
"It'll wear off the third time you say it." Responded Azar. "Raven, do you know what this means?"
"Yes." Replied Raven, understanding. "Robin is in trouble which means the other titans must be in trouble too. And although I am really upset with them…" Her voice trailed off. "… I got headaches because I do care about them." She looked down at her shoes.
"I'll leave you to make the decision on your own. Goodbye Raven." Said Azar as the pendant stopped glowing. Silently, Raven put the pendant back in the box and placed it back on the shelf. Heading out of her room, she teleported herself back to the place where the aliens had entered.
"Azarath Metrion Zinthos." Said Raven softly before falling to the floor and clutching her head once more. However, she forced herself to focus and repaired the damage done to her somewhat magical spaceship. She then reabsorbed the seven fire-demons she had created and teleported herself back to the cockpit, which was shaped like a raven's head. "Hang on, I'm coming." She breathed as she opened a portal to earth and guided her spaceship through it.
Robin stared blankly into space as he waited for Slade to return. When he did, two Sladebots and a familiar looking uniform accompanied him. It took only one glance to tell Robin that it was the old uniform he wore when he was forced to be Slade's apprentice.
"I've made some adjustments to your uniform." Announced Slade as he briskly strode over to Robin. Robin was about to protest when unconsciousness seized him.
Meanwhile, Raven had stopped her spaceship over the city and was doing a psychic scan to search for her friends. Her arrival had caused quite a large stir in the city. Hordes of journalists gathered below her spaceship, speculating and snapping thousands of photographs. As the paparazzi used megaphones to ask questions, Raven levitated in her living room trying to concentrate.
"Who are you?" Blared a series of speakerphones at top volume. "If you are aliens do you come in peace?"
"Don't you dare invade earth!" Squawked another loudspeaker. "We have the STRIVE on our side!"
"Azarath Metrion Zinthos…" Raven closed her eyes and tried to concentrate. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos…"
"Talk to us or we'll shoot you out of the sky!" Blared a loudspeaker that drowned out the cries of the others. Raven opened her eyes, instinctively recognizing the voice of the mayor. Sighing, she touched down and held her hands in front of her.
"Azarath Phenatria Vertutim!" She recited as her hands were enveloped in dark energy. A large flag with the words 'TEEN TITANS' appeared in her hand. Raven then teleported herself to the left wing of the spaceship and attached the flag to it. As she levitated in midair, she glared at the reporters as if to say "Are you happy now?" before wrapping herself up in her soul self and disappearing from view. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos…"
"Raven! It's you! You're back! Tell us, why did you leave the titans?" Blared the persistent reporters again.
Raven opened her eyes, fuming. Storming over to the cockpit, she powered up the engine and blasted off leaving the wide-eyed reporters blinking and without answers. Raven zoomed away from the city back to the titans' house. Leaving the spaceship hovering above the house, she materialized in the hallway.
Having ascertained that no one was inside and that the house was empty, Raven ran to Robin's room and opened a portal to the inside. Hastily, she made her way over to his desk and began sorting through the piles of files on it.
"He always keeps the very latest cases on his desk." Mused Raven as she scanned through a green file. "That's weird. This file is from a long time ago; from the last time we fought the H.I.V.E. This file is on Gizmo, this one's on Kyd Wykkyd and this one is on See-More… Why would Robin be going through their files?" Raven wondered as she closed them. A light bulb went off in her head when she realized that titans must have had a confrontation with the H.I.V.E.
"It makes sense!" she thought as things began to click in her mind. "Kyd Wykkyd practices dark magic and Gizmo is a tech genius. They must have combined their abilities to make something to jam my psychic powers."
Fuming, Raven opened Robin's window and flew out, not bothering to take her spaceship. She was going to confront the H.I.V.E. ASAP. Once she neared the tower, she immediately set up a shield around her as Gizmo's security systems went off again.
"What do you want demon?" screamed Gizmo in his obnoxious voice as he disengaged the security systems.
"What have you done with my friends?" snapped Raven.
"The mayor gave us their jobs!" Said See-More defensively.
"I have reason to believe you're holding my friends hostage." Growled Raven.
"We would love to do that!" cried Gizmo as the others cringed. "But now that they have Terra we don't stand a chance!"
Raven remained completely unmoved for a moment. Then, without a warning, she developed four red eyes.
"Worthless mortal!" she cried in an unearthly voice. "What have you done to my friends?"
"Nothing!" cried Gizmo as he and the others quaked with fear. "Nothing at all!"
Raven stared at them and sensed that they were telling the truth, so she wordlessly teleported herself back to the house leaving Gizmo and his teammates with many nightmares to come.
"What's happening?" groaned Raven as the red eyes disappeared and she returned to her normal self. "If the H.I.V.E. doesn't have them, then who does?"
Since everything Cyborg had was electronic and encrypted and Beast Boy never wrote anything down, she entered Starfire's room and began going through her things. She knew the others would not appreciate the invasion of privacy, but she knew this was the only way she could get the slightest bit of information about what was going on.
As she opened the bottom drawer of Starfire's chest of drawers, she found a notebook inside. Curiously, she randomly opened it and found detailed instructions on how to care for someone in a coma. Realizing that this could be a lead, Raven started from the first page of the book and quickly scanned through it. Reality hit her like a ton of bricks.
"Slade!" she cried aloud. "Why didn't I think of that?" she exclaimed.
Furiously, she read all that Cyborg had written about Slade's plans and how he believed that the STRIVE was actually the H.I.V.E. This confused Raven at first; until she remembered that the five members of the STRIVE were all wearing different costumes. She finally figured that they must have taken on new identities, though their personalities made them easily recognizable to her. Completely certain that Slade was responsible for the disappearance of her friends, Raven began to concoct a plan to take Slade down.
When Robin awoke, he realized that he was in his old apprentice uniform. He tried to move his arms but was unable to.
"With this suit, I'll be able to control your every movement like I controlled Terra." Said Slade as Robin looked down and tried to get his legs to move.
To his amazement, they did. However, as he walked out of the room and down the hall, he became painfully aware that he was unable to control where he was going. Slade was controlling him as though he were a robot; an unwilling robot. Robin stopped in front of a reinforced steel door, which opened for him on its own.
"Robin!" cried a frightened voice from the inside. Robin tried to call out Starfire's name but nothing happened. Repeatedly, he tried to run to her only to find his legs were not working. Slade was in control of every muscle in his body except his brain. Controlled by Slade, Robin stalked into Starfire's room with Raven's usual deadpan expression on his face.
"Starfire!" he cried inwardly. "What's happening?" He strained and concentrated but no matter what he did, he was unable to regain control of his arms and legs. Though every fiber of his being resisted, he picked up a large knife. Robin became terrified as he walked over to her.
"Starfire, I just want you to know that I don't love you anymore." He said. Robin could not believe it! He actually said it! Slade was controlling his jaws and tongue as well!
"What?" she cried her green eyes brimming with tears. The alien girl trembled in terror as she began to sob.
"I never loved you." Said Robin coldly.
Inwardly, he was screaming, "I love you! I love you! I will always love you!"
"Robin!" cried Starfire her voice cracking under the strain. "Why are you doing this to me?"
"I work for Slade now. You titans were foolish to trust me." Robin could not believe what he was saying.
"Robin! I know that you are not yourself! Is Slade doing the controlling of you? Is he mail blacking you?" yelled Starfire not believing that Robin would actually say that.
"Yes, he is!" cried his mind.
"No, he is not." Said his mouth.
"Curse you mouth!" Shrieked his mind. For the first time in his life, Robin wished that he could destroy his own tongue.
"I've always wanted to join Slade. There's a certain thrill to being a criminal. I only stayed with you titans because toying with your feelings was fun."
"I don't believe you!" screamed Starfire.
"I don't believe myself either!" Robin's mind screamed.
"Believe it." Said Robin firmly. "Goodbye, Starfire." He went on as he placed the knife against her throat. Starfire closed her eyes as several tears fell onto the cold, hard metal.
"Goodbye, Robin." She said sadly. "Even if you do not do the loving of me, I will love you forever."
Robin put every brain cell into trying to control his hand. Time was running out for Starfire, just like he was sure that time had run out for Raven.
Just when he thought that he was going to kill her, his hand moved. It swiftly brought the knife down to her waist, which was not covered by her uniform. Plunging the knife in, he began to carve up her waist. As he dragged the knife through her skin like a plough through the soil, fountains of blood spurted into the air. Starfire writhed and screamed with pain, yelling and shrieking as though she had no tomorrow.
Hearing her screams and seeing what he was doing, Robin wished more than ever that he could just drop down and die.