Hey yo, author here! Nice to see some interest in this! Early days and have a lot of ideas, just wanted to say thanks for all the early love; means a lot. Going to be going through reviews/messages later today!

As always, much love - Seadavid41

Ch. 3 Shifting Perspectives

Raven had hated Jump City chemical plant the first time she'd been there, and she hated it even more the second time around. She'd been in every corner of Jump at one point or another and she could say, without question, this was her least favourite place that the city had to offer. Some of that was down to the bad memories it brought back. Some of it was down to how the sadness of the animals leeched into her mind. However, if there was one thing she hated about it more than anything…it was the villain that seemed attracted to it like a moth to a flame.

"Oh baby...I've always been able to make an entrance."

Raven grit her teeth as she removed herself from the desk she had just been put through.

Azar, there wasn't a villain alive that Raven hated dealing with more than Adonis. Even putting aside, the past where he, in the form of a beast, had nearly killed her in her sleep, which, was not a very simple thing to do, he was a petty, annoying, misogynistic…

"I was wondering where you'd got off to Raven! I'd been meaning to give you a call! Last time was fun, but we're going to my place the next time you want some of this."

…meathead.

Raven levitated off the ground, hood pulled up, eyes glowing white.

"Adonis…the real reason the rest of the Titans put you behind bars was so that you would be kept safe from me."

Adonis wiggled his eyebrows. "Ooof! Where was this fight last time little girl?"

Raven grit her teeth and was about to launch herself at Adonis when she froze as she suddenly realised that the dog she had so patiently been helping before had also been caught in the blast. Trying not to give her panic away to Adonis, she cast her eyes quickly around the room. Debris from the now ruined wall covered the floor, with the farthest-reaching pieces having slammed into the few pieces of furniture that had littered the corners of the room. However, the more she scanned the room, the more she felt confusion welling up inside of her. There simply wasn't anything big enough in the room to obscure an animal as big as the German shepherd she had seen.

And yet, it seemed the dog had completely vanished.

Raven was snapped out of her train of thought as Adonis suddenly stumbled forwards, the trademark green explosion of a starbolt shining from behind him as it collided with his back. Raven shook her head and raised her hands. As much as she wanted to ignore Adonis and go look for the dog, the Titans were her on a mission, and that mission was to take Adonis down. Engulfing both broken halves of the desk she had just been put through in her magic, Raven slung the two pieces forwards towards Adonis, with both missiles slamming into the metal chest of his armoured suit. Adonis looked up at Raven in anger, but before he could react, Raven brought both her hands together, closing her fingers around each other.

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!"

In an instant, Adonis' entire suit was completely surrounded by Raven's magic, pinning his arms to his side. Raven ignored the drop of sweat that she could feel trickling down her forehead and dug her boots into the ruined ground around her before, with a grunt of effort, she pushed forwards with her arms, lifting Adonis clean into the air and propelling him backwards back out of the hole he had just made in the wall. Raven let her hands drop to her knees as she tried to catch her breath. At that moment, Starfire flitted into the hole in the wall and upon seeing the empath, flew straight to her side.

"Raven! Are you in anyway hurt? We tried to warn you, but Adonis made his entrance through the roof, and we were caught unaware!"

Raven ignored Starfire for a moment, having realised a long time ago that sometimes it was simply easier to allow the Tamaranean to finish her fussing before politely informing her that she was fine. Raven stood and gave Starfire an assured look.

"I'm fine. Has Adonis managed to get to the chemicals?"

Starfire shook her head. "As far as we can tell, he hasn't been able to obtain samples of it yet."

Raven pulled her hood up as she cracked her knuckles. "Good…let's make sure we keep it that way. Come on, let's go help Cyborg and Robin."

Starfire nodded before turning back towards the now ruined wall. The empath had been fully set on following afterwards, but after a few steps, she stopped in her tracks before hesitantly turning around and eyeing the room. She desperately tried to remember the moment that Adonis had burst through the wall and what had happened to the dog, but no matter how hard she thought, she had no memory of a dog's cry or bark.

She hadn't heard anything.

The sound of shifting rubble to her left immediately grabbed her attention and she couldn't ignore the disappointment when she saw it was just a handful of bricks from the wall being dislodged from each other…not something that could hide an animal like the one she had been speaking to.

Starfire, having realised Raven had stopped following her, had turned back to the empath, a look of confusion on her face.

"Friend Raven…is everything okay?"

Raven glanced around the room for a final time before she gave a sigh of disappointment.

"It's nothing…it's just th-"

Raven was cut off as a large blast shook the very ground that they were standing on, the canine lab behind them bursting into blue light, the trademark sign of Cyborg's sonic cannon. Raven shook her head.

"It doesn't matter. Come on, the boys can't hold Adonis forever."

With that, Starfire and Raven flew out of the room, leaving nothing but the devastation from Adonis' entrance behind them. After a few seconds of silence though, a barely noticeable noise echoed out from the pile of debris that had caught Raven's eye and after only another moment or two, the bricks fell off each other as the head of a green armadillo peaked through the wreckage. It scanned the room, searching for any signs of danger.

In an instant, the armadillo was gone, replaced with the green German Shepherd who sniffed the air, his keen sense of smell eventually leading his gaze upwards to a vent in the roof, where the faint trace of fresh from the outside world had always trickled through while he had been imprisoned in the chemical plant.

He was home free. The device that kept him trapped here was gone. He could dissapear into the vent and vanish into the night without there being any chance of someone finding him. He could simply…vanish.

The dog reared back, almost as if he was about launch himself at the ceiling.…before he stopped and very slowly, craned his neck backwards and stared back at the hole in the wall that now stood where the iron doors of his prison had held firm for so long. He didn't know that girl but…she'd spoken to him…God, he'd almost forgotten what that felt like. She didn't know him, let alone what he actually was…and yet…she'd freed him.

And it seemed like she was in danger

The dog looked between the crumbled wall that led back into the plant and the vent one more time before its form shrank away, replaced by that of small lizard. He blinked a few times, getting used to his new perspective of the room before he began to move across the floor, towards the hole in the wall where the purple-haired girl had gone.

Cyborg took aim and fired his sonic cannon at Adonis before his eyes widened and he dived to the side of the laboratory as Adonis sprinted passed him like a raging bull. Robin and he had managed to temporarily draw the villain away from the chemical tanks, but that was where their successes had ended. Cyborg rolled to his feet only to find that Adonis was already on top of him. Cyborg raised his arms at the last second, just managing to block Adonis' overhead strike, the force of which was so strong that Cyborg could feel his feet make impact craters in the ground. Adonis, looked downwards at Cyborg struggling under the pressure of his attack with an evil grin.

"What's wrong Cyborg? Not enough juice in the tank?"

Cyborg was about to respond when he saw Adonis' freehand rear backwards.

"Oh sh-"

Adonis launched a punch into Cyborg's mid-section sending him flying down the across the lab, crashing through the doors that the Titans had entered through not long ago. Robin, who had been recovering from a backhand he had taken on the other side of the room grimaced as Adonis turned towards him.

"You know, I never got how you managed to be the leader of this pathetic little group…you're just a dude…you don't even have any powers."

Robin reached into his belt and withdrew two birdarangs. "And yet, I've taken you down before."

Adonis snickered. "Yea, and how long did that take you? You couldn't even protect your own team! In your own home!"

Robin's face screwed up in anger before he sprinted forward, using a fallen piece of concrete to on his right to vault himself into the air. As he descended towards Adonis, he sent both of his birdarangs flying towards the villain and while Adonis managed to raise the hand and block the first one, the second one spun through his defences and Adonis couldn't help but hiss in pain as it sliced a gash into his cheek. Adonis turned towards Robin in rage only to be on the receiving end of a stiff kick to the jaw, causing him to stumble backwards.

Robin didn't wait to give Adonis any time to compose himself, pulling out his escrima sticks and advancing on the mecha-suited villain while he was still stumbling backwards Robin ducked underneath Adonis' wild swipe and delivered to swift shots to the back of Adonis' knee and while Adonis did let out a grunt, his suit offered enough protection that the villain stayed standing. Adonis lashed outwards with a kick that forced Robin to dodge by flipping backwards on his hands, creating some separation between the two.

It was at this point that Starfire and Raven emerged on the far side of the room. On the opposite side to them, Cyborg had finally managed to remove himself from the ruins of the doors that he had just gone through.

To say he looked pissed would be an understatement.

Robin glanced around and upon seeing all his teammates at his side, he couldn't help but smile. Adonis, having also taken a moment to scan his surroundings, cracked his metallic knuckles.

"Four versus one? Hahahaha…I don't like your odds!"

Raven rolled her eyes. "Genuinely surprised you can count that high…"

Adonis turned to look at the empath, a malicious look on his face. "Oh, I can count pretty high Rae…I can count how many days I terrorized Jump City for the last time I was out and about before any of you could take me…not that you were able to help with that…you were still nearly breathless from when I was in your bedroom."

Raven's eyes glowed white in an instant. Robin noticed Raven's rage in an instant and knew there would be no holding the empath back. His knuckles turned white; such was the strength of his grip on his escrima sticks.

"TITANS! GO!"

None of the others need any encouragement. Before Robin had even finished shouting his trademark command, Cyborg was charging Adonis down like a rhino on the loose, sonic cannon firing on all cylinders as he moved. Meanwhile, from the other side, Starfire shot through the air like she had been let out of a trap, both her fists glowing green as she summoned her starbolts so that they were ready to fire. Adonis eyed Cyborg as he approached, his smug smile not disappearing for a second. Choosing to ignore Starfire for a moment, Adonis sprinted head on towards Cyborg, catching the metal Titan by surprise. Cyborg tried to track Adonis movement's, but Adonis' suit allowed him to react with agility far beyond that of a human. Closing the distance, Adonis dipped inside Cyborg's guard and delivered a crushing blow to his mid-section, the impact causing Cyborg to stagger on his feet. Without hesitating, Adonis spun around, delivering a savage backhand that sent Cyborg flying across the room and left him ready to face Starfire's assault.

Starfire gave a roar of fury at the sight of her teammate being sent flying and unleashed a torrent of starbolts at Adonis, who brought his metal arms in front of his chest and braced himself against the blow. Each bolt slammed into his metal armour, each one resulting in a dazzling explosion of energy, briefly covering the villain in a smoky haze. Starfire hovered over the now obscured area, her eyes looking for any signs of movement within the murk. Unfortunately for her, she didn't see anything until it was already too late. Adonis leapt directly upwards directly towards Starfire, his arm reared back, ready to deliver a lethal punch, as he had been able to see the green glow of her eyes through the smoke. Starfire only had time to bring her arms in front of her in a small form of defence before Adonis's metal fist, which was the size of Starfire's torso, collided with her full on, propelling the Tamaranean upwards and straight the crumbling roof of the lab, sending rocks and concrete cascading to the ground.

Adonis landed back on the ground with a deafening thud and was about turn his attention to the next Titan when he nearly pitched forwards, glancing down at his legs, he noticed his feet were enveloped in dark magic, pinning them to the floor. Adonis raised his eyes to meet those of the empath, who had her arms outstretched, concentration etched on her face as she attempted to restrain the rampaging villain. Adonis grinned at her.

"If you wanted to pin me down Raven…all you had to do was ask."

Raven grit her teeth and tightened her grip on Adonis legs and for the first time, Adonis stumbled as Raven's magic dug so ferociously into his armour that the metal had begun to bend under the force. Adonis was about to try and break free when his head was suddenly sent whipping backwards as one of Robin's escrima sticks crashed into the underside of his jaw. Robin rolled backwards to get out of thew way of an errant swipe before lunging forward again, this time sliding on his knees beneath Adonis attempt to grab him and through his legs before climbing up on his back and wedging one of his escrima sticks underneath the villains' enormous metal neck. At the same time, he reached into his utility belt and planted a limpet charge on the back of Adonis's suit, sending a wave of electricity into the armour and through the villain's body. Adonis gave a roar of pain and tried to step away but found that his feet were still stuck to the floor. Adonis growled before reaching over his head to snag Robin from behind him.

"ENOUGH!"

Adonis finally managed to grab Robin by the scruff of his collar and yanked the leader of the Titans in front of him, where in one swift motion, he pitched him into the air and punched him out of the sky as if he was knocking a volleyball over a net. Robin didn't even have a second to react before he was sent flying across the room, crashing into a stack of empty animal cages which crashed to the ground around him, obscuring him from Raven's view. Adonis reached over his shoulder and ripped the limpet charge of with one rip before looking down at his feet and with an enormous amount of effort, he yanked his right foot free from the ground, breaking Raven's concentration, causing the empath to stumble. Adonis looked over at her with an expression that had moved from cocky to something slightly more sinister.

"Alone at last…"

Raven stood up to her full height and rolled her shoulders.

"Good…no one should get to take you down but me."

Adonis winkled at her.

"Ata' girl."

"AZARATH METRION ZINTHOS!"

Raven summoned a shield of her powers in front of her before sending forward a barrage of dark energy blasts. Adonis, undeterred, charged at the barrier, abandoning any attempt at dodging the incoming missiles and opting for brute force. Each sphere of magic crashed into Adonis as he sprinted forwards, but the villain, with the aid of his mech-suit simply shrugged off the attacks as he closed in on Raven.

Raven, sensing the danger, changed tact and lashed out with magic tendrils which wrapped around Adonis to restrain him, finally slowing the marauding villain down. Adonis struggled against the constricting shadows, and for everyone he ripped through, another one took it's. But still, he hadn't been stopped entirely and once he had finally trudged within range of Raven's barrier, with a cry of rage, he slammed his face against the shield, causing cracks to form. However, Raven's didn't let her focus up and in a split second, extended one hand behind her, allowing her powers to wrap around an item she knew was only a few feet away.

Raven let her barrier down and released her tendrils, causing Adonis to stumble forward with the sudden lack of support, only for Raven to propel the metal door from the wall he had blasted through straight into his chest, sending him staggering backwards. He looked up at Raven, all evidence of his sleazy face gone, replaced with pure anger.

"God, I should have killed when I had the chance."

Adonis charged towards Raven, forcing the empath to create a portal beneath her, which she dropped through just in time to avoid Adonis' attempt at a takedown, reappearing a few feet behind him. However, Adonis had turned on a dime and with his suit powering up his bursts of strength, he had launched himself at where Raven had come out of her portal and with the empath not considering Adonis' speed, the villain managed to land a powerful kick that sent Raven crashing to the ground.

Raven crashed to the floor, coughing as she desperately tried to catch her breath only to be forced to roll out of the way of an overhead strike by Adonis. Raven scrambled to her feet, summoning a dark energy shield just in time to block a series of quick-fire blows. Raven reached downwards and with a cry of effort she raised her hands above her head, summoning the form of an enormous corporeal Raven which separated the two from each other. Adonis jumped backwards at the sight of the bird but quickly turned his attention back to Raven who, on the other side of the divide between them, he could clearly see was visibly exhausted.

This was his chance.

Adonis felt his metal feet dig into the ground as his entire suit braced for impact as he reared his fist back. With one enormous punch, Adonis, crashed his fist into the corporeal Raven between him and Raven, causing it to shatter in the air, sending Raven flying backwards. She skidded along the floor until she came to a stop in a crumpled heap. Adonis looked over at her with a smirk, before he allowed his attention to drift from her and the other Titans for a split second. After all, he was here for a reason.

It took Raven a few seconds, but she eventually began to stir but she managed to push her arms beneath herself and crane her neck upwards, only to see Adonis finishing up placing some bottles of the chemical they had been trying to keep him from into some kind of storage compartment in his arm. Raven tried to get to her feet as Adonis walked over to her, a smug grin on his face.

"New suits not bad is it. Made a friend who was able to juice it up for me and all I need to do was snag a few bottles of this for him…and maybe just one for me."

Raven raised her hand to cast a spell, but Adonis kicked her arm back, sending Raven crashing to the floor again. Adonis' expression turned to one of disdain at the sight of the empath.

"You know…I was supposed to just get in and get out…but I think I'm gonna do something I should have done the last time we met…"

Raven looked up at the advancing Adonis and tried to summon her powers but felt her magic only in the form of an ebb beneath her fingers.

She had nothing left.

Adonis walked towards Raven with a look of triumph while Raven's face slowly morphed into one of almost acceptance…

"BARK!"

Raven wasn't even able to track the shadow the flew over her head before a familiar green German Shepherd had landed in front of her, standing between her and Adonis. Adonis looked down at the dog before him in confusion before looking at Raven, amusement in his eyes.

"What? You made a friend here? This is what you've got? A goddamn puppy!?"

Raven ignored Adonis and stared in horror at the animal in front of her, who's eyes were firmly fixed on Adonis.

"NO! Get out of here! I'll be fi-"

Adonis cut off Raven's pleas to the animal with a laugh.

"Fine, fine…I'll put the dog down first…"

Adonis raised one fist high above his head and in one sweeping motion, brought it crashing down to completely crush the animal that stood between him and his prize. Raven shut her eyes, not wanting to see the animal she had helped get crushed and simply waited for the impact….

…but it never came…

Raven tentatively opened her eyes…and immediately felt all her breath leave her body.

The German Shepherd was gone. In its place, stood an enormous and very angry green gorilla, who had caught Adonis' downward swing in one hand, his green fist easily matching up with the metal fist for Adonis' mecha-suit. Adonis, for once was lost for words. The gorilla let out a huff before it reared back and slammed its free fist directly into Adonis' face, sending the villain flying backwards and crashing to the floor. The gorilla took a second to glance backwards at the empath before turning his attention back to Adonis.

The gorilla cracked its neck to one side before it placed it's knuckles on the ground as if it was about to break into a sprint, but Raven could only watch in amazement as its form began to shrink away, it's enormous muscles seemingly disappearing beneath its skin. Black dots began appearing across the surface of its green fur as its arms thinned down, the back of it heels thinning and extending upwards. Raven could only stare in utter amazement. On the other side of the room, Robin, who had finally managed to get back to his feet, was also watching on past Adonis and even he couldn't help but let his jaw drop.

Where a towering gorilla had once been, a cheetah now stood in its place.

Adonis, who had finally managed to catch himself, glared back at the shapeshifting animal in annoyance.

"Okay…so your pets got a party trick…I'm still gonna crush it."

If the cheetah understood what Adonis had said, he didn't let it on. Instead, it surged forward, its acceleration allowing him to close the gap between the two in seconds. Adonis reared his hands back, expecting to punch the creature out of the air the second It jumped at him. But, as the creature left the ground, Adonis had been expecting a cheetah…maybe the gorilla again…

He had not been expecting the ankylosaurs that seemed to form out of thin air. The green dinosaur slammed into Adonis with the weight of its entire body and the two of them were sent flying across the room where they smashed through a set of metal lockers that were holding lab coats and hazmat suits. Raven had watched the entire scene that had just occurred from the floor, her mind still in shock at the fact that the animal she had helped only moments before was…well, she had no idea what it was.

Robin, who had traversed the room by going along the walls, avoiding the fight between Adonis and the shapeshifting animal, arrived at Raven's side and shook her shoulder.

"Raven, you okay?"

Raven nodded numbly.

"Yea, but did yo-"

Robin cut her off.

"Yea, I saw the whole thing. We don't know what it is, but for the moment, it's on our side. Adonis won't be able to take us and it and the same time."

Raven shook her head, pushing her shock to one side as she got to her feet, yet she was still unable to drag her eyes away from the outline of the green dinosaur on the other side of the room. However, with the moment of reprieve she had been granted, she clenched her fists and couldn't help but smile as her magic crackled beneath her fingertips.

Off to the side, Cyborg rubbed his head as he stood up from where had been sent crashing through a surgical table where, upon scanning the room, was immediately greeted with the sight of Adonis untangling himself from a dinosaur. Cyborg's eyes widened before he shook his head and loaded up his sonic cannon

"Well…I might have a concussion."

From above, Starfire flew back in the hole she had made when Adonis had punched her through the roof, her gaze finding Robin and Raven and first before she glanced across the room just in time to see the form of the ankylosaurus shrink away, only to be replaced velociraptor. Starfire tilted her head in confusion before she flew down to Robin and Raven's sides.

"Friends, I was not aware you had shapeshifting creatures on this planet. Are they common here?"

Robin withdrew his escrima sticks again, casting Starfire a quick.

"They're not common…and we don't have them on Earth…or at least I thought we didn't…"

Raven cut in.

"For now, we help him. Adonis has some of the chemical already secured. If he gets away with that, the whole city is in danger."

Robin turned to Raven with an eyebrow raised. "Him?"

Raven rolled her eyes. "I'll explain later. Now, let's move!"

Raven surged forwards, with Starfire and a slightly bewildered Robin following not far behind. On the other side of the room, Cyborg was sprinting towards Adonis, his sonic cannon pulsing blue. In front of all of them, the velociraptor continued to weave in and out of Adonis' attempts to grab him, whilst covering his armour in slash marks inflicted by his savage claws. However, it was clear that the animal was tiring and after one attack to many, Adonis managed to close a metal fist around the creature's neck. The velociraptor clawed at the hand that was holding its neck, but its efforts were in vain. With one massive heave and a cry of anger, Adonis lifted the velociraptor over his head and threw it across the room, where it slammed against the wall with a sickening thud.

However, upon the impact, every single Titan heard a new noise, which in turn caused every single one of them to turn towards where the velociraptor had hit the wall in an instant. The noise they had heard was a cry of pain, but it wasn't the cry of animal…

It was the cry of a human.

Raven had been the closest to where the animal had hit the wall and if it wasn't for the shapeshifting she had already seen today, she would've convinced herself her mind was playing tricks on her. But she'd seen him change shape multiple times…she knew it was possible…she'd heard him think like a human…and she knew that there was no denying what she had just seen.

A dinosaur had hit the wall…but it was a human that fell from it.

Adonis assessed his armoured mecha-suit, visibly annoyed at the damage that had been caused by some random science experiment the Titans had managed to come across. Looking up and seeing all four Titans in front of him, albeit temporarily distracted, even he knew when a retreat was the right call. After all, he had what he had come here for. Adonis grinned at Robin, Raven and Starfire as they turned back towards him

"It's been nice you guys, but I think it's ti-"

Adonis was cut off as a shot from Cyborg's sonic cannon slammed into his back causing him to stumble forwards. He looked back at the oncoming Cyborg in annoyance.

"God damn it…can't even finish my exit speech."

With that, Adonis turned away from the Titans and sprinted down the gap between the three of them and Cyborg towards the entrance to the room. Raven, in an instant, sent out a tendril of her magic, with the intent of wrapping up Adonis' legs while Starfire took to the air in pursuit, but as Adonis went through the doorway, he slammed his fists into the supports on either side, sending the entire roof section above the door crashing to the ground. Starfire's eyes widened at the sight of the incoming rock, but Raven thought quickly, and wrapped her magic around the Tamaranean instead, yanking her backwards out of harm's way at the last moment. When the dust settled, the exit was blockaded, and Adonis was nowhere to be seen.

Cyborg slowly walked over to the other Titans, a grim expression on his face.

"Please tell me he didn't get away with what I think he did."

Robin didn't lift his head up.

"At least three vials of it."

Cyborg brought one hand up and rubbed his forehead. "Oh man…"

Raven pulled her hood up. "It's not as simple as that though…Adonis told me that he had help…someone buffed up his suit. He's not working alone on this."

Suddenly, Raven's blood ran cold as she remembered the shapeshifter that had helped them when the Titans were all but defeated, spinning on her heel in an instant. Raven began to run over towards where she had seen the body fall and Robin's eyes widened as he realised what had suddenly caught the empath's attention.

"Raven! Wait! We don't know if it's sa-"

Raven ignored him, feeling Robin's voice fade away in her head as she jogged over towards the debris. However, when she was only a few feet away, from behind the fallen animal cages, a green songbird flew into the air towards the roof and perched itself on the edge of the hole that Starfire had created when Adonis punched her through it. It peered back into the lab, and Raven could have sworn it locked eyes with her. A few seconds seemed to pass by like minutes in the empath's mind, before, with what almost seemed like a slight nod, the bird turned around and flew upwards into the cool, Jump City night.

Raven could only stare at where the bird had just been stood as the other Titans came to stand by her side. Cyborg was the first to speak.

"Man, I thought I'd got a head injury but…what was that thing?"

Raven cut him off in an instant. "Not a thing…a he…Cyborg you were right about this place…except that wasn't an animal…that was a human being."