It was like a dense gray cloud had descended over the Titan Tower. Beast Boy wasn't cracking his usual corny jokes, Starfire slouched gloomily over her Forever Eighteen magazines, Cyborg was increasingly snappish when they overloaded the power grid, and Robin was even more raw-edged and brooding than ever.
This was to say nothing of Raven, whose black mood had persisted for days now. She knew her emotion-driven powers were responsible for the psychological turbulence that now plagued her friends, and so she had barricaded herself in room, hoping it would somewhat lessen the effects. However, the dark titan could still hear the bitter discord that carried through from the living room. Robin was furiously chewing someone out.
"Beast Boy! What did I tell you about sleeping during your patrol?" Something rattled with the force of a fist being slammed down on it. "Your screw-ups have endangered lives too many times, and if I catch you asleep on the job again I'm throwing your lazy ass off this team."
"Back off, man," the changeling seethed. "If you weren't such a whacked control freak who makes us train at five in the morning, I wouldn't be exhausted when I have midnight shift!"
Beast Boy threw down his game with disgust and stalked out of the room, casting his leader a murderous glare as he did.
Raven was poisoning those around her, and her awareness of this only further increased her anger at herself.
If I could just get a grip on my emotions, if I could suppress them the way I used to be able to so easily…
Being with Jason had made it harder for her to do this. Slowly but surely she had lost her masterful control, slipped into the habit of allowing herself to be human, seized by the tumultuous feelings that banged around inside her—no, it was more violent than that. Smashed around inside her, writhed and clawed and throttled and—
Raven clutched her temples and squeezed her eyes shut, trying to maintain calm.
There was guilt for losing control to Rage and for jeopardizing lives; anger and hurt that Jason had turned on her, made her feel like the monster—and confusion muddied the mix. A gut feeling told her he had been both right and wrong in his condemnation
The sorceress paced back and forth across her room, muttering to herself and taking deep breaths as she tried to empty her mind.
She abruptly stopped in front of the mirror and stared bluntly at the face before her. Pale, drawn skin—the dark hair falling like a curtain to hide her sharp features—the unusual amethyst eyes.
Raven gave a start as she saw the purple irises turn to a flaming red, her face contorting demonically. A forked tongue flicking out her mouth.
She leapt back, horrified by her own appearance, and the vision quickly faded, her normal—frightened—reflection returning.
I have to leave, she resolved. I can't stay here and allow this team to crash and burn because I lack the capability to keep myself in check.
The titan reached under her bed and dragged out a duffle bag. Without glancing at what she was grabbing, Raven began throwing clothes in; there wasn't a lot to sort through. She had just stuffed an extra pair of socks into a pocket and was zipping up the top when a sharp knock came at her door.
Raven jumped and didn't have the chance to growl "go away" before the door slid back, revealing Robin dressed in civilian jeans and a red shirt.
His eyes glanced at her packed bag—Raven had hastily tried to shove it away when he entered— before coming to rest on her.
"I guess you really can read my mind," he said, his mouth turning up slightly. "Glad to see you've already got our bag packed. I wanted to leave at noon."
Raven stared at him, trying to fathom what he was talking about.
"Today?" she asked, her voice rising in uncertainty.
"Yeah. Titans East are having some serious issues dealing with Plasmus and they called in backup. You and I are heading over to Steel City to sort this out while the others hold down operations here."
Raven opened her mouth to tell him of her own plans of leaving, of going to either the Monks of Azarath or Gotham—but then she halted herself. Maybe this was a better alternative, a way to take time to get ahold of herself while not abandoning the team entirely.
She nodded at him. "I'll head down to the garage in five minutes to put my bag in the trunk."
Robin shook his head. "We're not taking the T-Car. There's no reason when only two of us are going. Besides," the Teen Wonder added darkly. "I doubt Cyborg would let us have his car right now, considering the foul mood he's in."
Raven frowned, her brow furrowing. "You can't fly, and there's no way I'm carrying you across the coast. How are we getting there?"
Robin flashed her a smile, the first real one she had seen in days. There was a glint in his eyes that reminded Raven too much of someone else.
"My motorcycle, obviously."
XXX
They had torn out of Jump in a matter of minutes, Robin crouched low on the seat, his raptor vision focused on the road.
Raven vehemently wished she had opted for flying. The emptiness of the nighttime highway allowed Robin to push the throttle to death-defying speeds, till Raven's stomach seemed to sit in her throat and the cold rush of air stung her eyes.
There were few streetlights out here, and zooming through the barren landscape was vastly different from the blurred streams of color and light and sound in the city. Here there was only the whistle of the wind and the expansive rocky countryside.
Robin was determined to drive straight through to Steel City without resting, and it was with a great number of heavy-duty energy drinks he accomplished this. More than once Raven considered offering to drive part of the way, but she knew it would be a stupid suggestion when she hadn't even the slightest idea of how to operate the machine.
They arrived at Titan Tower East just after 2 A.M., a bleary-eyed Bumble Bee awake and waiting to let them in. She was wrapped in a pale yellow bathrobe; her usual sassy remarks were limited to a grumbling "'Bout time you all got here."
Raven felt ready to fall anywhere on the floor and sleep, but Bee insisted on showing them to each of their rooms, saying goodnight with a wave of her hand before shuffling off to her own soft bed.
Dragging her feet along the carpeted hallway, Raven collapsed as soon as she reached the pillows, barely pulling a sheet over her as sleep blackened her vision.
No sound could be heard, but everything seemed to cast in a bright glow, painted in cheerful tones.
She was warm, peacefully and happily ensconced in his arms, nestled together. He was smiling, saying something to her, and her own face reflected the expression back to him. She basked in this feeling, in this perfect contentedness, in this capability of being entirely complete.
Everything ended with a sound that shattered the mute silence; a bloodcurdling roar and a great crashing noise was followed by the appearance of an enormous lizard, its thick scales gray and its reptilian tail swishing back and forth. It released another rumbling growl and she could now fully see its face: it had her features. Her small, pointed nose. Her curving mouth. And four blood-red demon eyes. They glinted malevolently, surveying the stricken couple with a pitiless apathy. Its tongue darted out, flicking through the air as if to test their scent, before furiously rushing at them, tearing them apart.
Raven groaned, her fists balled up in the sheets and her face pressed against the pillow. Sleep gripped her tightly as she rolled over, a new dream overtaking her.
A single beam of pure light shown down into a dark room, and it illuminated a sole figure within it. He was dressed in a long robe of white, kneeling on the ground. His hands were clasped together in pious prayer and his face was upturned toward the golden light. His eyes were closed, lips moving silently as he murmured the same words over and over again. As the image became clearer, she could now see his long, flowing white hair, his tragically beautiful face with the thick lashes.
"Destroy the demon," Malchior murmured, as if communing with his god. "Purge the evil." The light seemed to grow brighter as he spoke. "Destroy the demon. Purge the evil."
He repeated these words over again, sounding more like a chant than humble communion. The sentences were becoming jumbled together, spoken manically, until it seemed like they would surely drown her—
Raven awoke with a start. Someone had just knocked at the door and said something about breakfast. The slightly trembling sorceress glanced at the sun-lit window, dismayed to see that morning had arrived already.
Running a hand through her lank, unwashed hair, she got up and stripped off the clothes she had slept in, pulling on her titan uniform.
When Raven entered the kitchen area, Aqualad, Speedy, and Más y Menos were already sitting at the table, full plates of eggs and bacon before them. They ate ravenously and Raven couldn't help being reminded of Cyborg and Beast Boy back home.
Bumble Bee and Robin stood in the center of the living room, deep in conversation. A large image of Plasmus was projected up on the screen of their super computer. Raven glanced at them for a moment, wondering if she should head over immediately and join in, but then settled on Robin debriefing her himself in a few minutes.
As Raven moved to the cabinets to find a mug, the seated Titans East offered out morning greetings.
"Good to see you Raven. Did you get in late last night?"
"Buenos días, chica. Estamos contento verte."
"Hey, Raven. How's Starfire doing? Does she mention me at all?"
"Good morning," Raven echoed back to them. Then she narrowed her eyes at Speedy, in no mood to humor his preoccupied vanity.
"The last time she mentioned you was when we were discussing what to do about the arrows you had shot into our TV."
Speedy's face fell, and his hair flopped in his eyes so pitifully that Raven almost felt bad. Almost.
"Do you have tea here?" she added, after a moment of rummaging.
Aqualad looked up, offering an apologetic smile. "No, but help yourself to some eggs."
Raven gazed at the hot plate of omelets and her stomach flipped over. She had never had much of an appetite in the mornings.
"I'll pass."
Bee and Robin seemed to have finished speaking, because they had walked back over to the breakfast area. Bee was all business, her hands on her hips and an authoritative look on her face. Robin stood beside her, his arms folded across his chest.
"From what I've heard," he said. "You guys have been having some serious problems taking down Plasmus."
There was some grumbling from the seated team members, as if unwilling to admit this shortcoming, but eventually they grudgingly consented that it was indeed the truth.
"So first, I want you to consider how Plasmus stages his attacks. What environment does he choose to fight in? What elements does he—"
Raven tuned the Boy Wonder out; she had heard this lecture before, knew all the key points of it by heart—Robin made sure of it. She rested her chin in her hand and stared blankly across the room.
A figure with flowing snow hair and shocking blue irises stood in the doorway, eves narrowed and a smile playing on the corners of his lips.
It was like an electric volt was shocked down her spine. Raven started, leaping to her feet.
How could Malchior have broken in without them knowing? How had he managed to follow them in such a short span of time?
"Raven?"
Raven whipped around to Robin, her pupils wide. His brow was furrowed, a disconcerted expression on his face.
"Are you alright?" he asked.
Raven opened her mouth to tell him that it was Malchior, that he was back, that he had followed them—but as her gaze traveled to the doorway again she found it empty, devoid of any menacing villain.
Raven stared at it for a moment. When she realized that everyone was silent, watching her, she turned back to Robin, her face flushing.
"Sorry. I thought I saw something. I didn't sleep much last night," she murmured.
Robin studied her a moment and then nodded absently, returning to his speech. Raven sank back down in her chair, looking steadfastly at the doorway. If he appeared again, she would catch him.
But he didn't appear in the doorway again that morning. Robin and Bee departed after breakfast to scout out Plasmus's current location; meanwhile, Raven had been tasked with putting the remaining titans through intense exercises that were designed specifically to target the criminal's weak points. Thus, at noon she found herself striding around the training room, critiquing moves and correcting errors.
"Más, try running in tighter circles without losing your formation. Aqualad, you need to bend more at the knee when you do that water whip."
Aqualad frowned, his face screwed up in concentration. Speedy smirked over at him, firing off a rapid volley of arrows at a target.
"Too bad you can only work with water, Squirt. You'd do much better if you had the ability to control Plasmus snot," the striking speedster goaded his friend.
Aqualad eyed him coolly as he honed his water whip. "At least I have actual powers," he replied. "Instead of relying on primitive darts."
Speedy colored a deep shade of red. "Keep running your mouth and I'll stick an arrow up your—"
"Speedy," Raven cut in sharply, glaring at him reprovingly. "Shut up."
Speed glowered but fell silent, returning to his firing practice.
Raven was about to continue pacing the room when she sensed extra movement. She froze. Out of the corner of her eye she swore she saw a flash of white. The sorceress spun on her heel, magic rippling menacingly across her raised hands—but they fell back to her sides, limp, when she saw nothing there.
Damnit, she swore to herself. Am I seeing things? How does he disappear so quickly?
Raven shook her head to herself, trying to maintain a sense of calm. I must be going mad. There's no way he can move that fast.
And yet he seemed real, and that was enough to send an uncomfortable prickle down Raven's spine.
X
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Part 2 to come tomorrow; stay updated and drop me a line, folks! I cannot express how grateful I am for all the wonderful, kind and helpful comments you guys leave me. It makes my day every time I get to read one.