Chapter 23 Consumed

"Looks like our shorter Titans are short on contestants!" The Master of Games announced.

A pit formed in Raven's stomach, a sour flavor filled her mouth. She tried not to shake as she looked at the people who she was expecting to fight. Robin, smiling as he held the bo staff that he clearly valued as one of the best weapons. Cyborg, staring her down while he had his sonic cannon up and activated. And who could forget her double, Raven; giving her the same stoic expression as before as she had a dark aura surrounding her hands.

Raven gulped. Her heartbeat pounded in her ears. The only times where she could remember feeling this afraid were when she interacted with Trigon. She knew, instinctually knew, that if she were do so much as lift a finger, her demon could and would take over. This fact created more fearful emotions within her, which of course fueled the fire that the demon existed on a diet of. This was not an ideal situation, to say the least.

"Come on, Raven!" Cyborg called out from his cage.

"You can the do it, Friend Raven!" said Starfire. "You've got this in the bag!"

These cheers only made the fearful emotions worse. She felt like every set of eyes in the world were focused on her. Every action she would take would create a ripple effect that would negatively impact the situation. This…this…she needed to get out of this. She needed to leave, leave before everything went downhill in the worst way possible.

"So," Robin said. "You're the only member of your team left, Raven." He twirled his staff around in his hands. "You are the only hope your team has for a victory. Do you want to fight?"

Raven got one more glance of the remaining serious Titans. They looked like they were looking forward to this fight, on some level. Even Raven was getting her body ready for the showdown that she clearly believed they were going to have. Which, on some level, gave the response Raven gave to them a little bit of entertainment value.

"No."

"WHAT?!" The other goofy Titans, with the exception of Beast Boy, all yelled.

"Yeah." She looked at her very surprised, very taken aback opponents. "This whole thing…" she shrugged. "This whole thing is stupid and childish. I really don't see the point in all of this."

"RAVEN!" Robin yelled at the top of his voice. "Raven, how can you reject something stupid and childish? We're the exact definition of stupid and childish!"

"Yeah," said Cyborg as he lowered his cannon. "This is a chance to prove yourself in combat. If you win this for your team, you could be viewed as the most powerful superhero in the uni…oh, sorry, multiverse."

Raven gave him a sideways glance. "She is literally handing us victory on a silver platter. Why do you feel the need to tempt her like that?"

Raven sniffed. Even though her double's words contained a very sharp point, she wasn't going to take the bait from anyone She couldn't let her demon loose. She would never live with herself if it did. She would never live with herself if the nightmares turned into prophetic visions.

So, ultimately, she gave the serious Titans an ambivalent grunt. "Honestly, there are a million better uses of my time." She turned around, making her way toward the force field. "Congrats on your victory, you guys."

She could sense the disappointment emanating off of everyone. For some of the present Titans, more specifically Robin, even experienced some very vehement and palpable rage. Oh well. They would get over themselves. Sure, dealing with her leader's ire would be annoying, but not impossible. She could deal with all of this without any regrets or any…

GRRACK!

Raven blinked. "What the…" the force field, that transported all other Titans into the crystal cages above the arena, buzzed when she ran into it, all without taking her to where she wanted to go. She tried again, but the same thing happened. "Why is…"

"Whoops!" The Master of Games announced. He floated closer to Raven, a grin on his cyan face. "Sorry, Raven! No room for quitters in this game!"

Everyone in the arena gasped. The serious Titans who were still in the arena gawked at the Master. The goofy Titans all stared, stupefied. With the exception of Robin, of course.

"Good," he said, his tone grumpy. "At least someone has some common sense around here."

Raven gave the Master a look. "Why…why not?"

"Yeah," Raven said. She took a step forward. "Let her step out of the ring. She forfeits."

"Nope!" said the Master. "She can't do that! She has to fight!" He pointed toward the taller Titans. "Or, at the very least, eliminate two more of you."

Both Ravens gave them a confused, quizzical look. "Why?"

"Because! That's just the way it is! If you don't like it, you can take it up with the fight organizer."

Robin shook his head. "You are the fight organizer!"

"Seriously!" Cyborg said. "Let Raven go! If she doesn't want to fight, she doesn't have to."

Raven nodded. She rammed herself against the force field again, but it produced the same result as before. An emotion welled up in her. It sprouted as frustration, grew into anger, and bloomed as rage.

"Let me out!" Raven said.

"Nope!"

"Let me out!"

"No!"

Raven felt like she was going to explode. "Let…me….OUT!" When that last word was said, her hood flew off of her head. Her eyes glowed red. Her gem?

Crack!

…

Admittedly, Raven hadn't been that enthusiastic about the fight, so she had been more relieved than anything else when her double decided to throw in the towel on the whole thing. There were just more productive ways to use her powers than to waste her mental energy in a pointless tournament. Sure, she had made sure to at least put up a passable fight, but she really couldn't care less about this whole thing. Heck, if anything, she participated in the fight just so she could get back to her meditation as soon as possible.

And really…what her double had tried to do was gutsy. A little on the odd side, but still very gutsy. Raven could imagine that her double's teammates would give her a lot of trouble when the fight was over and done with. But hey, that was less of a load on her back!

At least, that's what Raven thought. When she saw Raven's hood fall back, as well as see a very noticeable and very loud crack occur in her gem, that's when alarm bells went off in her head. There was something wrong her. Something hideously, insidiously wrong.

"Raven," said Robin as he kept his eyes on Raven. "What's wrong with her?"

Raven took a step closer. Her double struggled, very noticeably struggled. Her form quaked as she put her hands to her forehead. She seethed, grunted, and whimpered. It honestly made Raven's sympathy receptors go into overdrive.

"...Raven?" Raven got even closer to her double, dangerously closer. "Are you okay?"

Raven whimpered again. When she faced Raven, burning hot tears spilled out of her glowing red eyes. "Get….BACK!" A black sludge spurted out of her gem. It engulfed her, covering her form in a grotesque display. Raven couldn't help but gawk as Raven's form grew longer, morphed into a being with giant wings and gargantuan tentacles.

"NOOOO!" Beast Boy yelled.

"YESSS!" Robin exclaimed.

"That's not good…" Robin said.

"What in the world is happening!" Cyborg screamed. "Raven, what's going on!"

The beastly being that had been Raven roared. The sound, otherworldly and bloodcurdling, grated against Raven's ears. It sounded ferocious, menacing, evil. And yet…there was another layer to it. Maybe it was because she had empathic powers, but Raven could sense a fear in the roar. Tantalizing fear. Horrid dread.

This made it very clear. They had to help Raven. She didn't know how they could help her, but they needed to. Raven had a deep, inescapable feeling that a lot depended on it.