Chapter 4 Her Dark Side
"Raven!" Beast Boy bolted down toward her. He grabbed hold of her arms, desperation leaking into the very fiber of his being. He shook her, causing her head to rattle like a top. Still, Raven did not respond. The only thing that happened was that her hood was shaken off her head, allowing Beast Boy to see that her eyes were glowing a bluish white. "Come on, Mama! Wake up!"
Starfire, with her hand on her forehead, looked at the display in front of her with confusion. "What...what is the happening?"
"Gentleman Ghost stopped possessing you and is now possessing Rae Rae!" Beast Boy exclaimed as Cyborg and Robin came over. The former looked as worried as the rest of them. The latter was irritated, as he was covered in garbage from the dumpster that he had landed in.
"What do we do?" Cyborg asked.
"I don't knows!" Beast Boy slapped the shadowy sorceress across the cheek, but that did absolutely nothing. She didn't wake up, nor did the Gentleman Ghost come out of her. "Raven! Raven, wake up!"
"It would appear that the Gentleman Ghost is experiencing the hiccup when it comes to possessing her," said Starfire.
Beast Boy stopped shaking Raven. He stared into her eyes, still glowing a ghostly blue. They looked so empty, so vacant. He wished he could hop into her mind and get the Gentleman Ghost out. But he couldn't do that. He bit his lip.
"Oh, don't be so down, Beast Boy!" Robin said. He grinned a wicked grin as he pulled a deck of cards and a marker out of his pocket. "I know the perfect thing that will cheer us all up!"
…
If there was one word that the Gentleman Ghost would use to describe Raven's mindscape, especially in comparison to the others, it would be dark. Sure, there were other words, like bone-chilling, mysterious, and frightening. But he supposed dark was the most appropriate out of all of them.
Squelch!
The Gentleman Ghost cringed when his foot came in contact with something slimy and wet. He shook his foot, determined to get the vile stuff off. Once he was satisfied, he explored some more.
"I must admit," he said to himself, "that I never thought I would meet a teenager with such a depressing mindscape." The other teenagers he had recently taken possession of, Starfire and Robin, had mindscapes that were completely different. Starfire's had been all butterflies, pretty skies, and laughter. Robin's had been...well, let's just say that Robin was a little full of himself.
If anything, Gentleman Ghost had expected Raven's mindscape to be somewhere in the middle of those two scenarios; bright yet a little egocentric. He hadn't expected it to be so...empty.
"Is there nothing in here for a gentleman to do?" Gentleman Ghost asked himself. "Is there nothing in here at all?"
As soon as he finished saying that, he heard something quite peculiar. It was very quiet, so much so that he had to strain himself in order to hear it properly. But once he did here it, his curiosity was piqued. It sounded like a very floaty, very windy whisper. It wasn't saying any words; more so, it was just moaning a little. Moaning incoherently,
As if in a trance, the gentleman Ghost followed the whisper. He didn't know where it was leading him, but he was determined to find out. He was determined to see for himself the great and awesome power this poor, empty mindscape housed. After all, with the beating that Raven had given him while he was in possession of Starfire, he just knew that girl had amazing abilities.
Abilities that he wanted to be in possession of.
He wound around corners, following the sound. Soon enough, he arrived at what appeared to be a vault door. It had multiple locks, as well as a sign posted above it saying "turn back." Clearly, Raven did not want anyone to get into that vault. Clearly, whatever was behind it was of great value. Of great power.
Gentleman Ghost smirked. "Your vaults are no match for me!" He slid through the vault and gasped at what lay before him. It was a gem; a glowing red gem. It pulsated, similar to a beating heart. The whispering was also strongest here. Clearly the gem was the source of the whispers.
Clearly, the gem housed an amazing power. A power that Raven wanted to lock up, a power that she had no desire to experience or use any time soon.
Gentleman Ghost grinned. "You thought you could keep your power locked away from me." He floated toward the gem. "Well, I am just minutes away from discovering your darkest secret, my love."
He reached his hand out, inching it toward the gem. He giggled to himself, feeling overwhelming amounts of satisfaction and self gratification. Once he got a hold of this extraordinary power, he would be the most powerful supervillain the world had ever known. No longer would he have to take possession of some random Joe's body. He would rule over this one. He would use it to control the world with an iron fist.
Tink!
He touched the gem, causing a crack to form right in its side. At first, he was dead set on touching it again, mining through to the center so he could unlock this mysterious power.
But then, the ground rumbled. This confused the Gentleman Ghost, confused and frightened him. How could the ground in someone's mindscape rumble? He had never experienced this before, and he had taken possession of a plethora of people in the past.
"Oh dear."
He backed away from the gem, but at the same time, couldn't stop looking at it. It seemed to be the cause of the rumbling, as the edges appeared blurry. This could only mean that the gem was vibrating, causing the surroundings to shake.
Boom!
A shard, pointy, big, and red, flew away from the gem. The Gentleman Ghost was just quick enough to dodge it, but that brought him little to no comfort. For there, leaking out of the area where the shard had once been, was a gooey black sludge. It reminded the Gentleman Ghost of tar, but it had a purplish blue sheen that tar didn't typically have. He watched as seeped from the gem across the floor, shadows dancing around the substance in the most unnatural of ways. Whatever it was, it clearly wasn't of this Earth.
"What's happening?"
An explosion occurred, knocking him out of the vault. He picked himself up and stared at the open door. That was when he almost screamed.
Staring back at him through the open doorway was a big pair of glowing, red eyes. They squinted at him angrily. Hungrily.
"I..I need to get out of here."