Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

- Part One -

THE BEGINNING OF NIGHTMARES

"Between living and dreaming, there's a third thing.

Guess it."

Antonio Machado, Proverbs and Songs.

Everything was submerged in a crushing darkness, in perpetual silence. Fear was invading her in every space of her mind. The only thing around her was complete darkness. Standing in that thick black was extremely disconcerting to her. There was nothing around. She felt really stunned. She closed her eyes and opened them again in the hope of finding another outlook, but nothing happened. All she had left to do was walk. In spite of not seeing anything or anyone around, as if it were blindness, she felt completely watched. Stalked. She felt exposed and helpless, a strange instinctive sensation, as if a beast was going to jump immediately to attack. With her heart in a fist she scanned the darkness in search of the slightest hint of movement. In the midst of blackness, she perceived an oscillation. There was something in there with her. Drowning a deaf scream that only increased her torment, she felt as if sharp eyes had rested on her, succeeding in oppressing her chest. But there was only silence. An uncomfortable silence. Though now the perception of her own breathing gave way to an unbearable and disturbing sound. All she had left to do was keep walking.

She hated the feeling of being blind in this darkness. She hated this strange place. She was... afraid to be alone in the dark. 

Alone.

She wanted to get out right now. But how could she do it? Was there any way? There seemed to be no way out, no sign of opening, no sign of light to indicate a way forward. She wasn't even sure if she was walking in any direction, her sense of spatial location in this place was null.

She went on marching, breathing heavily from fatigue. She looked up, and everything remained the same. The sense of imminent threat continued. But she still had to move on, she had to get out of there immediately. After a few steps further on, she found with astonishment that she was immersed in water up to her waist. The water was icy and dark, matching where it was. She directed her gaze at it and couldn't even see her reflection. Her body was already numb from the cold liquid and then she felt it. Something grazed her foot as if it were slipping down there, causing a start in her to avoid contact with whatever was in there. Then it was only engulfed in the depths of that dark sea that now seemed to have no soil.

She just tried to find something to hold on to, anything, but there was nothing. The only thing she could scratch with her hands was more water. She tried to shake her arms and legs and swim to the surface, but the icy water seemed to push her deeper into that shady bottom, as if something was absorbing her. The cold and the agitation were causing her to run out of oxygen. The feeling of choking and suffocation was invading her.

She wanted air, and by a reflex act, opened her mouth in search of that longed-for breath, and ended up drinking a large amount of water in the process. She inhaled water, babbled, coughed and inhaled more water. It was inevitable to swallow water in those mouthfuls desperate for some air. The sensation of the liquid invading her airway was unbearable. Her hands clung to her neck. It burned a lot and she felt like her lungs were about to explode. A somatic burning sensation in her chest was felt as the water descended through her entire respiratory system. Then, when her body felt faint, there came at last a kind of fall into a sense of calm and tranquillity as she continued to sink into nothingness itself. Before she lost consciousness, she noticed a strange glow emerging from her hands.

In a frantic manner, agitated by the bad dream, Raven woke up with unease. The sensations had felt too real, almost like a lucid dream. As an act of consolation, she took a large breath of oxygen in order to take away a little of the feeling of suffocation that tormented her until a moment ago. She closed her eyes and inhaled and exhaled the air from her lungs. "Relax, it was just a nightmare." She tried to calm her troubled emotions a little more before she opened her eyes. Her vision was now directed at the landscape that was glimpsed through the window of the train where she was at this moment. She tried to focus her head on the goal of this journey to try to clear her thoughts. The sorceress had been assigned on a mission to escort a team of heroes to a safe place, a monastery specifically, to keep them away from the Brotherhood of Evil, one of the most prominent criminal groups in the world now behind the Titans and any subject with powers that might threaten their preservation.

Gone are the urban landscapes of the city of Jump City, and now you could only see the vast green space of the countryside. As the railroad advanced, she could notice the wide meadows and spaces dedicated to agricultural cultivation.

She had been travelling for some time and honestly felt a little bored, and she didn't even have a book at hand to distract herself. The swaying of the train soon became too monotonous and the girl felt the need to stretch her body a little and move her legs before falling asleep again. She got up and walked into the hallway towards another waggon.

Raven walked until she found a metal toilet door. She entered into the small bathroom and opened the cold water faucet to wet her face a little. She relaxed her body a little and moved her neck to the sides, it was so tense that it even hurt, an obvious product of sleeping for some time sitting in the same position. She looked at her reflection in the mirror above the wash with a grimace as she delineated with her fingertips some of her particular characteristics. Her pale skin, purple hair, amethyst eyes. Features that showed her that she was not someone normal. That... she was a freak. Features that reminded her of her inheritance, and sometimes told her that she was nothing more than a simple portal for her demonic father to enter the Earth. Although Trigon had already been defeated, his latent presence was still present. She continued to look at the reflection that the mirror returned to her until the voice of Malchior, that dragon demon who tricked her and used her to escape from her prison in the book, rumbled in her head.

«Beautiful maiden» ... «A lock of a beautiful girl's hair».

«It was just a hoax. A lie», thought the sorceress.

Malchior had attacked her at her most vulnerable point, her feeling of loneliness. The wound had not yet disappeared, it persisted like a sore in living flesh. Her hands clutched tightly in the sink as her knuckles turned white from the pressure. She noticed how her emotions were disturbed by the cruel memory, causing a black glow to fall from her body, as if it were an electric current, causing the mirror to fragment into pieces, now seeing her image split and divided. Fractured.

She came out of the bathroom and went back to her seat. She was hoping to get to the location soon, she had already been traveling for several hours. Her eyes turned again to the window, seeing the fresh and beautiful landscape. About ten more minutes passed when the train finally sounded its whistle announcing the arrival, as it began to gradually slow down. When it finally opened its doors, Raven finally came out of it breathing some fresh air. Now she was at Myrberg Station, where they were supposed to be waiting for her. But it was totally empty. She looked at the big clock at the station and saw that it was almost ten o'clock in the morning.

In the distance she could see a vast open plain surrounded by mountain ranges that had their peaks covered by ancient forests of tall trees. White clouds advanced almost touching the peaks of the high mountains that delimited the horizon; the leaves of the surrounding trees moved gently with the breeze; the air breathed was warm. Everything was beautiful, it looked almost like a painting, that combination of shades was perfect for that morning. The birds sang harmoniously and when they reached the summit, the sun appeared over those mountains that looked like giants protecting it. Yeah, everything was really nice, but that didn't stop Raven's mood from starting to sour. They must have been waiting for her by now, and here she was, standing without any trace of the subjects she had to guard towards the location assigned to her to leave them. Well, it was time to ask for explanations, so she took her communicator.

“Raven calling Robin. Over," she announced as she sent a signal to the transmitter.

But the video call didn't show the face she wanted to see, quite the opposite. And honestly, she wasn't in the mood to talk to the green boy and his jokes.

“Robin's communicator. May I help you?” asked the changeling as he looked at Raven's face.

“Beast Boy, put Robin on,” ordered the sorceress frowning.

“He's fighting crime at the moment. Perhaps I can be of assistance?”

“I'm at the train station and no one's here. Are you sure I'm in the right place?” she asked, looking around, hoping to see if they had already arrived. Not a thing. Wait... was that a dry bush across the road? Well, she wasn't surprised, the place was practically deserted.

“Yep. That's the pickup spot," said Beast Boy.

“What if they don't show? Am I supposed to just hang around here in the middle of nowhere forever?" Raven complained, irritated by the delay and the smile on the boy's face that only seemed to irritate her more than she was at the moment.

“Stay put." he said in a tone of voice that seemed to minimize the importance of the matter. “Robin's trusting you to meet that team and take them to the place where the Brotherhood of Evil can't get to them.”

Raven cut off communication when she managed to scan a bus approaching from the roadway. It braked for a moment, and then went on its way. After the engine exhaust fumes dissipated, she stared in front of her eyes waiting to see who she had to guard but nothing was shown there, yet she felt theirs presences. Slowly she lowered her eyes as if fearing what was about to happen. She only begged internally. By Azar, don't let it be what she was thinking.

.

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«No, please,» begged Raven.

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“Are you Raven?” asked a voice that was too shrill for her ears, and only gave her a headache.

.

And she finally saw them.

.

And she wanted to run and escape as far as possible.

.

Or that the earth would swallow her right now.

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Oh, no.

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Oh, no.

And it wasn't just one, it was three...

Three kids!

Kids!

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She had a sudden desire to take the first train back, or maybe a portal? And to arrive and kill Robin; a duel to the death with knives sounded tempting to her; or perhaps some method of torture in the best style of the Middle Ages: the wheel didn't seem like such a bad choice to her, or the pulley... or the guillotine directly; or why not just let her demonic side take charge of her leader?

«Stupid Robin».

“You've gotta be kidding," she muttered, watching as her eyes met those three pairs of beautiful... little devils. Well, it was time to finally communicate with her leader.

“Robin,” called him again with a slightly acid tone even for her.

Her head hurt even more when she heard the "touching" sound coming from the suction of the pacifier of the smallest. But the day didn't seem to be in her favor.

“Robin's communicator. May I--?”

“Put Robin on. NOW!” Raven shouted as Best Boy's face was again shown on the screen.

“Uh, he's kind of in the middle of something.”

“Well, tell him I don't do babysitting,” she shouted louder if she could, perhaps so that stupid Robin could hear her complaints.

“Raven told me to tell you she doesn't babysit!" he told Robin, who seemed to be in an interesting fight dodging shots from a robot. More interesting than her mission, surely. “Robin says you have to," said the green boy.

“Can't someone else do it? Starfire likes people, or Cyborg.”

“Everyone else is on other missions. You're gonna have to-”. Well, she cut off communication again before her anger came out. She tried to relax, because anyway this was not a game, it was an important mission in which the Brotherhood of Evil was involved. And the sooner she was done, the sooner she could get home.

“Are you gonna help us, lady?” asked the girl in a shrill voice.

“Which one are you?” she asked a little more calmly now. Just a little bit.

“Melvin," said the blonde girl.

“Melvin, huh? You're the leader of this team?”

“I guess. They're always following me around," she said pointing to the other two.

"All right, Melvin. I'll take you and your team to the drop-off, but that's it," Raven announced, sighted the train that would take them to their destination and was already approaching on the tracks. Great, now the baby had taken one of her hands, while the screaming girl took the other. The other boy with that blanket had now begun to cry. If the girl had a squeaky voice, the redheaded boy had just taken the first place by far. His crying seemed to drill deep into her ears.

“What's wrong with that one?” she asked, looking at the boy whining and kicking on the floor.

“I don't know. What's wrong, Timmy?” Melvin asked her brother.

“Nobody...holding...my hand!” he cried as the volume of his crying increased.

Raven just got an amazing nervous tic in her eye.

“Melvin, hold Timmy's hand,” ordered the sorceress to be able to calm the screaming child.

“I can't. I've gotta hold Bobby's hand. Bobby's afraid of trains," Melvin exposed as she showed the sorceress her free hand grabbing... only air.

“Right. Bobby is afraid of trains," Raven muttered as she arched an eyebrow, now there were three children and an imaginary friend. What an interesting and entertaining trip she had ahead. “Timmy, you'll just have to hold his hand.”

.

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«Like I said, stupid Robin».

Chapter Text

Raven was again seated aboard the railroad observing the beautiful landscape that was shown by the window and that, unlike before, began to become more leafy and mountainous as it advanced in its route.

“Just a two-hour train ride, and it'll all be over," she sighed as she resigned herself to the almost nanny mission ahead of her. Then she looked at the three... angels, who were sitting in front of her looking at her with apparent curiosity. “You've all got powers? What can you do?” she asked directly. After all, they were "heroes", and if they were persecuted by the Brotherhood of Evil, they must have marvelous powers that would make anyone tremble.

“Timmy can scream very loud," Melvin said pointing to the kid. "Do you want to hear it?”

“Mm, no thanks," said Raven sharply, she had already heard it while crying, it was really unbearable. “What about the rest?”

“Teether can eat anything and spit it out," she said  pointing to the baby with a pacifier.

“Next.”

“Bobby can dance," Melvin added excitedly as she clapped her hands. "Wanna see?”

“Uh, no.”

«Sure, wonderful powers».

A great threat to a criminal organization formed by evil and powerful high-ranking villains. Sure they were shaking with fear right now. Not even Madame Rouge's psycho could compete against that.

Raven snorted with annoyance when Teether spit out his pacifier and tried to remove Timmy's blanket.

“Mine! Gimme!”

Another masterful nervous tic arose in Raven's eyebrow when the children began, at full volume, to scream, cry and tantrum, all at the same time as if it were not enough to do it separately.

“Quiet!” she shouted already, losing patience and drawing the children's attention and pulling them out of their stupid fight for a stupid blanket. “We're going to play a game. It's called "Don't Bother Raven." Rule number one... no talking!" ordered the sorceress, she closed her eyes and joined her hands as she recited her mantra in a clear attempt to keep her emotions, especially anger, under control. “Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos,” she sighed, feeling the tension diminish and her mind clear a little... a little until she opened her eyes and the children had vanished from her sight. “Good idea, Robin. Put Raven in charge of the kids.”

«As I was saying before, stupid Robin».

She rose from her seat and walked out into the corridor towards the next wagon with the intention of looking for the three brats.

“Melvin? Timmy?” she called to get the children's attention and for them to come out of wherever they were hiding.

She marched until she found the first one, the baby, who was... eating a piece of seat? She didn't even want to think about the surprise she'd get when she had to change his diaper.

“Get out from under there!”

She took the baby in her arms and walked to the other wagon when Timmy's crying reached her ears. The redheaded boy was lying on the ground kicking and throwing another one of his tantrums. She was able to hear people around her whispering about her caregiver's irresponsibility, which only embarrassed her and further altered her growing stress.

"Whose kid is that?"

"What a brat!"

"My child never threw a tantrum."

She approached the boy and threw it with his blanket and continued walking. Well, two down and one was missing... or "two" if she considered Melvin's imaginary friend. She opened the following doors with her powers because her hands were busy holding the two boys. She finally found her in the train depot.

“Melvin! What are you doing in here?” she asked, seeing the little girl sitting in a box.

“Bobby couldn't fit in our car," she said simply as she pointed... to nothingness itself.

«Oh, yeah, sure, Bobby».

“Just squish your imaginary friend down, and let's go back to our seats," established the sorceress, losing patience again.

“Bobby is real!” the girl shrieked in anger. “Yeah. The blue girl is scary,” she whispered to her imaginary friend as if it were a secret in the air.

Did she scare her? Was she that creepy? Although Raven did not express it in her body language, Melvin's comment hurt her, managing to puncture her soul sores.

“Come on. You can leave Bobby here. He'll be fine," Raven muttered, trying not to damage the girl's susceptibility to her friend any more and be able to theirs seats and take a break.

“Timmy's gotta go," Melvin warned, pointing to the appointee who was squatting in a gesture of discomfort.

"What do you mean, he's gotta-?"

Just great. Raven counted the minutes while Timmy, the weepy, was inside the bathroom cubicle. What took him so long?

“You okay in there?” The sound of the toilet chain warned her that the boy had finally finished doing whatever he was doing in there. “If you're done, can we get back to our seats now?”

The children nodded as they began to follow her. All right, now she could finally relax for a while during the journey as the train finished its journey.

“Monkey Man! Monkey man!” the redheaded boy muttered worriedly as he ran towards Raven to hide behind her.

Or maybe not.

“Timmy, what's a monkey man?” Raven questioned until the most obvious answer came to her head.

 .

«Had Beast Boy come to help her with the three kids?», she thought.

. 

No, that didn't make any sense, so the second hypothesis didn't take long to get to her brain and she didn't like it at all. Nothing at all.

The Brotherhood of Evil had finally found them.

“Mallah!” Magnificent, truly magnificent, the day was becoming more and more peaceful for her mental health. Now she really believed in Murphy's law: if something can go wrong, it'll go wrong. Or spectacularly wrong in her case.

“Give me the children!" ordered the gorilla as he broke one of the walls and entered the train that was still moving.

“Run!” Raven ordered.

Melvin and Timmy rushed to escape the enemy, while the sorceress followed, holding Teether tightly.

“Quick, hide!” said the blonde girl to Timmy, as they both hid under one of the seats.

“We don't have time for games!” shouted the empath.

Raven used her powers to close the doors, which was an unnecessary expense because Mallah broke everything in his path with his super-strength, knocking her to the ground. She received the full impact of the fall to protect the baby in her arms.

“Come out, come out, wherever you are,” Mallah commanded as he ripped out the tables and seats that were in the way. “I found them.”

The children's scream pulled Raven out of her fall disturbance. She directed her telekinetic powers to take control of most of the seats and tables of the wagon, which were now surrounded by dark energy, and threw them directly at the gorilla, sending him away from the two children.

Melvin and Timmy rushed to the sorceress and the four of them ran to another wagon on the train, but Mallah broke the roof and appeared again in front of them. Raven concentrated her energy, creating a telekinetic extension of her arm, which lunged at the enemy and squeezed him to the ground, and immediately buried him with the elements that were also in that wagon.

“This way, children!” Raven guided through the vehicle as she tried to think of something.

They kept running until they found the end of the train. Well, there was no more escape. Raven moved into an attacking position in front of the door waiting for it to appear, but Mallah entered the side of the vehicle, falling over her with a big push, leaving it a little stunned. Then the gorilla approached to take Melvin who was terrified on the floor.

“Bobby, help!” called the desperate girl as she squatted in a clear gesture of fear.

At that precise moment Mallah was strongly pushed by an invisible force, which also disjoined the wagon from the rest of the train and left them standing halfway.

«Interesting... Did Melvin have telekinetic powers like her? It was the most logical explanation she could find in front of what her eyes showed her».

“Yaaaay! He did it! Bobby just saved us!” The three children celebrated as they jumped up and cried out really happy.

“We're stranded in the middle of nowhere and we've got a big gorilla chasing after us. How are we saved?” Raven replied, taking the children out of their momentary happiness and making them cry intensely. She just rolled her eyes. She took the children and they got out of the van, watching the train leave.

“Choo-choo gone," said Teether greeting the only method of arrival for them at their destination.

“Yes, choo-choo is gone. I'll just have to carry you over the mountain myself," exposed Raven, creating with her powers a disc of dark energy beneath them with the intention of getting out of there.

“We can't fly. Teether's tummy gets dizzy," Melvin said.

“We don't have that far to go. I'm sure he'll be fine," Raven said as the big disc began to levitate. Everything was going great... until Teether threw up the piece of seat he ate on the train over her boot.

“Nice," said Raven, looking at the beautiful gift on her foot with disgust. Now the baby was turning green from the motion sickness, which heralded a second and next little regurgit on her. “Fine. We'll walk," she finally announced, surrendered as she descended back to the ground.

And now the two boys were asking her to carry them, and she had to lift them because they had started the tantrums again. «Sure, we'll walk. Rather, I will walk».

They marched for a few hours until the sun finally set, giving way to twilight. The atmosphere had become quite cool so the sorceress hoped to find some shelter soon before the children ended up with a cold. They were also really tired, as they had not stopped yawning all the way. Raven noticed a small cottage in the distance. She concentrated using her powers to detect if there was anyone inside and for luck was uninhabited.

“It's past Timmy's bedtime, and we missed dinner," Melvin said as she sighed for exhaustion.

“We'll stop here for the night," Raven said, approaching the place.

«It'll be a good hiding place... or so I hope».

The sorceress used her powers to open the latch that kept the wooden door closed and entered, turning on the lights of the place. Well, the place wasn't so bad, just a little dust but everything seemed tidy. Chances are the place would have been recently abandoned or the owners would have been out. There was a bed, two sofas, and even a small kitchen. The only problem was that the place was a little cold due to the outside temperature. She needed to heat the place up a bit, so she took some logs that were in a corner and put them in the chimney while she lit it and stoked the fire in the process. The little place warmed up and became a little more cozy. Raven smiled when she saw the kids warming up in front of the fire. Now she had to get something to eat. She opened the cupboards and all she found were canned foods like soup, beans, peas, carrots, fermented vegetables and... more beans. She took a spoon and approached Teether for dinner, but Teether refused each of the things she offered as he whimpered.

“No! No! No! No!" protested the baby as he bawled and hit the table with his two little fists. The little devil had eaten a piece of a dirty train seat but didn't want to eat a simple canned meal. Quite a tenderness for her eyes.

“I don't know what he wants!” Raven grumbled as she held one hand to her head to soothe her headache a little. Great, now the baby was eating some stranger's boot. He did have a rare choice for meals, though not as much as Beast Boy. Raven observed that now the weeping child was approaching her with clear intentions... to start crying again.

“My...blankie...you...see...my...blankie?” Timmy sobbed as he held his blue blanket tightly.

“Yes, I see your blankie. It's, uh," she thought a word that might cheer up the kid, "pretty," said Raven simply. Now Timmy and Teether were crying in front of her. She really admired the strength of those lungs.

“Uh, there, there," lamented the sorceress as she covered her ears to cover as much noise as possible. This was too much for her. She needed to rest, meditate urgently or... kill Robin. Any one of these three options was within her primary needs now. She was thinking again about the methods of punishment for her leader when the girl's screaming voice pulled her out of her thoughts.

“Raven, you forgot to feed Bobby," Melvin said as she shook her cape to get her attention. Or else, and now she too would have to feed the imaginary thing.

“Bobby doesn't need food. He's not real!" said Raven, who wasn't in the mood for more nonsense.

“Yes, he is!” bellowed the angry girl.

“Fine. Bobby can have my dinner," she snorted in frustration.

“Bobby's not in here. He has to stay outside 'cause he's too big.”

"Of course. Bobby's outside," Raven rolled her eyes. She took her plate of food and went out onto the porch of the cottage, as she sat on the steps. A sigh came out of her lips. “Eat up, Bobby,” Raven mumbled as she put the plate aside and thought of some plan of action.

“I need backup," said the resigned sorceress as she took her communicator and sent a signal. “Raven calling anyone!”

“Raven!”

«Was this some kind of divine punishment for almost bringing about the end of the world?».

“Anyone other than Beast Boy,” she shouted as the vein in her forehead throbbed in rage and threatened to explode.

“Did you finish your mission?”, he asked with a big smile, ignoring the obvious anger on the empathic woman's face.

“We had a little detour. I'll drop them off tomorrow," she explained, "if I survive the night.”

“Kids are easy. All you gotta do is make silly faces," said the green boy, "Oh, a-and kids love jokes. This one never fails. Why did the cookie go to the doctor?” he asked excitedly the changing one because of the spectacular and funny joke he had heard the other day on the radio.

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Silence...

Cri cri cri

Wait... was that a cricket?

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“You're supposed to ask why,” added Beast Boy disconcerted by the lack of response.

“Why?” asked Raven dryly and really bored by the boy's stupidity.

“He went because he was feeling a little crumb-y. Get it?" he laughed out loud as he spit out the transmitter screen, as if it had been the most sublime joke ever told in the whole world. She only closed the device before making the decision to open a portal directly to that place and dismember the Green Bean.

«Stupid Robin and Stupid Beast Boy».

“I guess I'm on my own," she finally resigned herself. She rose from her place on the stairs and entered the hut again. The two boys were still crying and screaming inside as if there was nothing more interesting to do. Didn't they ever get tired? Well, she'd try the "erudite" teachings of Beast Boy.  First she made a strange and a little terrifying grimace at Teether making him cry louder if possible. Then she approached Timmy and told him the "fabulous" cookie and crumbs joke she heard a while ago, only increasing his screams and tantrums.

“Beast Boy's jokes are too immature even for babies," snarled Raven as she massaged her temples to soothe her already greatly increased migraine.

“You don't babysit much, do you?” Melvin interrogated with curiosity from the comfort of the bed.

“You can tell?” she asked sourly.

“Teether's got gas," explained the girl.

“And what's wrong with Timmy Tantrum over there?”

“His blankie's ripped.”

Well, she'd follow Melvin's advice better. Raven first took the baby in her arms, resting his little head on her shoulder and patted him gently on the back... getting a big burp to fill her whole face with saliva and pieces of the newly digested boot. Great. One down, now it was the whiner's turn. She picked up his blanket that was torn in half and put it back together with a stapler that was on the table. Then she laid them on the bed, seeing that now they looked at her with those lovely eyes as if waiting for her to do something else.

“Now what?” Raven asked, frowning.

“Well, you could tell us a bedtime story,” Melvin said with a smile as she embraced her brothers.

“I don't really know any stories," the sorceress objected to the girl's request.

“Want story, story, story, story, story, story, STORY!” Timmy voiced with that powerful, terrifyingly strident and scandalous voice of his.

“Okay, okay! Let's see,” Raven reflected on what story might be to the liking of infants. Until she came up with something... well, that was perfect. “Last year on my birthday, my friends got me a cake and some balloons,” she began to tell her story by seeing the exciting faces of the kids who were clearly delighting in the story. “But I couldn't enjoy it because my dad Trigon, this scary red demon with horns, took over the world, and there was fire everywhere, and then this ugly guy Slade, who had a skeleton for a face, came after me and-”. Oh, now the story wasn't being to their liking anymore, well that's what she assumed because now the kids's faces were really pale and full of dread. She had to give it a good and creative ending, if she didn't want to change a couple of dirty diapers at that moment. “-My friends saved me and we all had cake. The end.” she ended up proud of her improvised story.

All right, it had worked because now the three kids were asleep and snoring. She assumed the day had been exhausting for them, not to mention for her. Raven looked at them with a smile on her face, they were really nice... while they were resting and not screaming. She came over and reclined on the sofa, only to rest a bit as she could not let her guard down completely while Mallah's threat was still present. Well, she wouldn't fall asleep, she would just close her eyes a little to relax, just a little... until she opened them when the dawn sun that entered through the window hit directly on her closed eyelids. Yeah, she'd finally fallen asleep.

«That was a little reckless of me».

Chapter Text

In the distance one could glimpse the steep slopes and the cable car crossing the high mountains. The landscape was completely white due to the thick layer of snow that now covered everything around. The covered hills were quite high and the pines around them were also dyed in frost. They could appreciate the deep valleys and ravines. With the snowy peaks of the picturesque mountains in the distance, Raven could not fail to appreciate the splendor of the entire panorama. The whole town looked like it was taken from a postcard, it was simply beautiful. She walked with Teether in her arms, while holding Timmy's hand, and Melvin marched hand in hand with her imaginary thing. They made their way on foot to the station to get into the cable car cabin and reach their destination, the Myrberg Monastery where the monks were waiting for them.

“We can take this over to the other side," said Raven in front of one of the red cabins of the cable car. She used her powers to open the door and enter it.

“Bobby says it doesn't look safe," Melvin replied.

“Of course it's safe. Get on," Raven ordered as she sat the children in the cockpit seats.

Immediately after the girl entered, the cabin moved all the way to one side, as if something of great weight had entered. Well, Raven thought it was obvious that the girl couldn't fully control her powers and needed training.

“Melvin!” Raven exclaimed angrily, knowing beforehand that she would blame her imaginary thing.

“Wasn't me. It was Bobby," said the blonde girl as she pointed at the air.

«Well, there he was... Bobby... Sure. Stupid Bobby».

Raven only shook her head in frustration and used her powers to turn the lever and move the cable car. It began to climb the cables up the steep mountains. The sorceress sighed eliminating all tension, the more the cabin advanced, the closer she was to her objective and to finish this mission. She was getting closer and closer, at least today if it would be her lucky day. She didn't think anything bad was going to happen to her now.

“Monkey Man! Monkey Man!” Timmy applauded excitedly as if it were a show.

A subtle nervous tic appeared in her eye. That's great. Simply magnificent. A day of complete luck, which she would surely keep jealously guarded forever among her best and most wonderful memories, competing hand in hand with her last birthday... or the day when her demonic side almost cooks Doctor Light alive.

Mallah, standing on one of the cabins that came from the front, was approaching them. Raven thought that if the fight on the train had seemed really complicated to her, to be attacked by a ruthless gorilla with excessive force in the middle of a cable car thousands of feet above the ground didn't really seem tempting. And less with three kids to take care of. The enemy finally jumped over his cabin and used his strength to make a hole in the ceiling, leaving his "nice" and hairy mandrill face visible.

“He's going to get us!” Timmy sobbed holding his blanket tightly.

“No, he is not," said Raven, feeling the emanation of energy all over her body. The situation was really threatening and she had to keep the kids alive. Her empathic sensibility could perceive the terror coming from them making her angry. She could feel the flow of her emotions through her mind and her eyes turned a glowing white color. She was really ready to fight and protect them.

“Stay in here!” she ordered as she flew out through the orifice that Mallah opened a moment ago. There wasn't even much physical space to fight.

The gorilla immediately lunged at her to hit her but Raven dodged him as best she could, standing behind him and kicking her enemy. That thing looked like a rock. Mallah turned and struck a direct blow that almost knocked her out of the cockpit. «Well, that was close». She kept dodging as many blows as he could until one hit directly against the cable car's cable holder, wobbling it. If the fight went on any longer, they'd end up falling to a direct death. She created a black shield with her magic to avoid a punch. Raven felt she was already wearing herself out. She needed to stop this and quickly eliminate her enemy. She focused her telekinetic power on the roof of the cabin. Maybe that way she could push him away from there.

“Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!” Raven swore, breaking the roof and pushing Mallah out of the cockpit, but the very astute clung to one of the wires as he moved in their direction again.

Wait... what was the baby doing on one of the wires and how did he get there?... and was he biting it? Well, nothing strange for what she saw him eat before.

“I told you to stay inside!" said Raven taking Teether in her arms and entering the cabin again.

“Monkey Man!” Timmy shouted for the third time on the entire journey.

Mallah approached by sliding over one of the cables. When he reached the middle of the road, the rope began to give way because of the gorilla's weight and the fact that the baby had bitten it and torn with him teeth. And the rope broke. And Raven saw with a victorious smile as Mallah fell... which didn't last her long because, without the supporting cable, the cabin where they were also fell down the snowy slope. She held tightly to the screaming children as the compartment slid down the mountain. The trip didn't last much longer because they finally crashed into one of the pines of the lush forest leaving the cabin destroyed. Well, at least they were still alive.

“Is everyone okay?” the empath asked. Oh... she felt a particular sound near her head, the little "walk" made the baby dizzy again... now he ended up vomiting. At least the luck if it help her now because the filthy bile liquid couldn't touch her.

“Do it again! Do it again!” applauded really ecstatic Melvin and Timmy. Well, at least some had enjoyed the tour.

“No again,” Raven said threateningly, forcing them to continue their journey.

The sun was beginning to set on the horizon. They followed the path on foot a while longer until the darkness of the night made an act of presence. The moon shone brightly in the firmament. Her feet already hurt from walking so much. Raven was really tired, it had been a really exhausting journey both physically and mentally. She felt that her strength was already waning and she didn't know how much longer she would be able to resist. She could finally glimpse the enormous structure carefully constructed of pale bricks that stood in front of her eyes, the monastery where she had to leave the kids.

“There's the drop-off point," Raven told the children as she began to walk towards the abbey. “Finally. Come on.”

They began to walk to the entrance of the convent, but before knocking on the door Melvin returned with the advice offered by her imaginary thing making Raven lose her patience.

“Bobby says he doesn't think it's safe here," Melvin said.

“It's fine," said the sorceress as she left the children at the entrance.

“But Bobby says-”

“For the last time, Bobby isn't real!” exclaimed Raven shouting to the girl.

“Yes, he is! And you just scared him away!” Melvin shrieked really angry as she ran towards the forest. “Bobby! Wait!”

Raven put her hand on her forehead and snorted in frustration, that girl was exasperating. She used her powers to teleport herself and appear in front of Melvin and prevent her from entering deep into the forest.

“There is no Bobby. It's you, Melvin. Your powers. You move things with your mind," explained Raven as she crouched and grabbed her shoulders. The girl needed to come to her senses at some point. “You're a big girl now. You've got to take charge of your powers and stop blaming things on your imaginary friend,” she finally said.

“Bobby is real!” Melvin complained as her blue eyes filled with tears that only made Raven feel bad. “You just can't see him because you're a mean lady!”

Again that comment, which penetrated into the depths of her being, bombarding her mind with bad memories. «Relax, she doesn't really mean that,» she thought. She lifted the girl and headed for the entrance to the monastery. Then she took a rope that was hanging from the side of the door and threw it several times to ring the bell and announce their arrival. It did not take long for three elderly monks dressed in brown robes to receive them. Some vestiges of her life in Azarath and her training with the local monks quickly passed through the head of the sorceress. Memories of being locked up in a tower with no one but her mother, Azar and the monks with whom to interact. She knew she was a special case. Did these kids also have an exhaustive destiny like hers? Locked up in that monastery? But... what is done is done... and what has been done cannot be undone, so the sorceress let her memories return to the dark corners of her mind to refocus once again on her current situation. The mission was to be carried out as agreed.

“Welcome. I have been awaiting your arrival,” mustified one of the monks with a serene and calm voice.

“They're all yours," said Raven as she left Melvin on the floor.

“I shall take good care of them. You need not worry.”

“Great. Guess that's it," the sorceress encouraged the kids by giving them a little push to encourage them to enter the monastery.

When they finally did and the doors closed, Raven felt strangely... alone.

Alone.

She had become a little accustomed to the presence of the three kids. However, she wrinkled her forehead in confusion, could hear nothing behind those doors that indicated the kids were inside. They were always too loud and rowdy.

“Quiet. Too quiet.”

She opened the wide gate with her powers. As she entered levitating through the abbey, she noticed in her passage how all the monks were unconscious on the floor. She flew into the backyard until she could see, at the back of the structure, Mallah in an armored truck with the three kids imprisoned inside some contraption.

“Say goodbye to your friends, witch," Mallah mocked as he closed the top of the truck with a hatch and spun quickly to escape the place.

“Nobody messes with my kids!” Raven shouted as she began to fly in the direction of the vehicle driven by the gorilla, also trying to avoid the shots coming from a machine gun in the back of the vehicle.

The sorceress was really frustrated, she had been able to stop two Mallah attacks before, but now she knew she was not going to be able to do it alone. The tension that she accumulated during the whole previous day, today's as well and added to the null meditation that helped to accommodate her emotions, was wreaking havoc in her fight against the gorilla. She had no more strength to go on, she felt her powers were really weakened. She would have to call once more for her communicator and hope that the idiot Beast Boy understood the gravity of the situation and that at this moment she needed some support. Or that stupid Robin would deign to answer her call for once.

“Raven to Robin, please," she begged as she sent a signal through the transmitter.

“Raven, are you done with your mission?” finally asked the voice she wanted to hear, Robin's voice.

"Robin, finally. Listen carefully and do as I say, okay?" Raven pointed and continued when Robin nodded. "I need you to send some support right now, I don't think I can hold out for much longer. Mallah is causing me too many difficulties. I don't think I can take much more, I'm on the edge. Without meditation, my powers..."

“Raven, I understand perfectly. Well, I've got someone who can get there in no time, your help will be there shortly," said the Boy Wonder.

“I sincerely appreciate that help," the empath whispered, swallowing some of her pride. "I have a big problem here, and please don't send Beast Boy, I had enough dealing with animals and kids today.”

“Don't worry, I'm not talking about Beast Boy. I must cut off communication and ask for your support.”

“Great, hurry," she said, turning off the transmitter as she headed for the truck. Just because she was about to get help didn't mean she was going to be left behind without a battle. She needed to follow Mallah and do what she could to stop him.

Meanwhile, in another part of the world, the blue sky, free of clouds, was so intense that it made his pupils burn and the evening wind, which wrapped around his whole body, was warm and soft. From a white sand you could see how the sea was calm, the waves moved like arms and formed a mother-of-pearl foam.

A young redhead was lying on a beach with his arms crossed behind his head, relaxing after a long journey. He loved the adrenaline rush of running at high speeds, feeling the fresh wind hitting his face. But from time to time it was good for him to take a break to stretch his muscles and relax his legs a little. He had stopped at that place after having passed through it several times. It was a beautiful virgin beach, surrounded by dense forest and mountain ranges, which hid it from any visitor or the perverse destructive hand of man. No noise pollution, no horns from piles of vehicles or the hustle and bustle of crowds of people. Without the typical toxic fog composed of gases produced by cars and multiple factories. The beach itself was embellished with clear, calm waters. A hidden refuge, free of civilization and pollution, for which the air was totally pure and renovating. He had discovered the place in one of his many rounds around the world and had been enchanted by the beauty of the landscape. It was like walking through an empty, unexplored land. Forests, sea, beach, mountains; simple pleasures of nature that people easily forget to enjoy. He felt that this place, metaphorically speaking, was recharging his batteries and energies, completely renewing himself and dispensing any kind of stress. Nature contributed a good environment that somewhat appeased his hyperactive mind and body.

A place only he knew.

He lifted his glasses, which protected his eyes as he ran at his typical super speed, while accommodating his reddish hair. He took some time to get up and stretch his numb quadriceps. Then he leaned over to soak his face a little with the beautiful saline liquid that was within his reach and took a large puff of clean, iodized air which filled his lungs completely, feeling how his whole being was appeased in that simple act.

“Such peace and tranquility.”

He loved to run in different countries and cities. He had been touring different places and only stopped when he felt that he could no longer continue or that he needed some fuel, such as a large meal and several menus containing large amounts of caloric intake to keep active and in shape his metabolism and muscles that were in continuous movement. Basically eat like a pig. But he also had to get going when he received an alert to kick some villain's ass. At this time he still had the energy to continue running, but it didn't hurt to take an occasional light breath.

Being completely alone, he took the liberty of removing his mask and dropped back into the sand, allowing the sun to permeate his entire body. A sigh of relaxation came from his lips.

Just when he thought he was completely relaxed and about to doze off for a few minutes, his communicator alarm rang. He quickly put on his mask again and grudgingly took his communicator, seeing the image of a young man with pointed black hair and a mask that hid his eyes, was Robin. The leader of the Titans and old friend, had offered him a position in his team some time ago when it was formed, but he had rejected his proposal on the grounds that he liked to work alone. The Boy Wonder had not been angry, at some point he understood because he also worked on ostracism for quite some time. However, to his surprise, a few days ago Robin had contacted him again and had given him an artifact to keep in touch with in order to be aware of an approaching threat. He didn't take the time to explain, claiming that he was in a hurry for another arduous mission, but that he would call him to inform him when the time was right. Well, he assumed that would be now.

“Wally,” Robin said in a monochord tone.

“Hey Dick, what's with your call, buddy? Any problems? Any date with a lovely hot girl and you need my advice?” He joked as he wiggled his eyebrows. Yeah, bothering Robin could be fun.

“Where are you?” asked his interlocutor, ignoring his friend's comment.

“I think unfortunately I can't tell you. This is my secret paradise," he smiled and Robin snorted.

“Secret place? Look, I'm not interested, and listen well that this is important. How long do you think it will take you to arrive at a monastery located in the village of Myrberg? I'll run the exact location data through the transmitter's GPS right now.”

“Mmm… Forgotten who are you talking to buddy? Just a few minutes I think, even less. Why do you ask?” He said with a smug smile on his face at the same time as he saw the location of the place.

“It's about the threat I notified you of in our last conversation. Listen, one of my teammates is having difficulty in her mission protecting three children while keeping at bay the personal assistant of The Brain, the leader of a criminal organization known as the Brotherhood of Evil. I don't have time to explain much more, but she needs help. Your help. Right now.”

“And... are we talking about an attractive young woman?” Wally asked now with growing curiosity as he sat watching his communicator.

“I sincerely believe that this information is irrelevant for the mission," said the Boy Wonder, frowning at the sprinter's lack of seriousness on matters that seemed urgent.

“Well, in short, we have a damsel in distress who needs the help of the great Kid Flash.”

“Yes. I think so, although I'm not sure Raven is very pleased and happy that you call her damsel in distress," Robin said, "if you value your life.”

"Raven uh. Interesting name. And what's she like...?"

“Wally!”

“Yes, yes, I'm sorry. Well, I'll be there in a blink of an eye," he said, rolling his eyes as he cut off communication with his friend.

“Always so bitter," he sighed. “Well Wally, it's time to run," he said as he put on his red glasses and the only thing that was glimpsed in the place when he started to run was a curtain of sand and dust.

Raven continued her attack on Mallah's armoured truck, levitating rocks from the ground with her magic to block and brake the vehicle and rescue the kids once and for all. Her time and patience were running out, and her magical power was basically at its limits. She needed to rest and meditate urgently but she knew there was no time for that. But there was something else she didn't understand... "What the hell is wrong with my powers?" It was as if her entire being was exhausted, as if something was draining her from within. Was all this due to the burden of the mission? Her hands burned, as if lava ran from her fingertips, as she continued to conjure her powers. She's never happened to her before. Even maintaining her levitation was proving to be an arduous and exhausting task.

“Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!” she conjured to eliminate the top of the truck and thus have a better view of the gorilla. Another twinge in her hands that ran all over her body made her moan in pain.

“Enjoy this, harpy," Mallah muttered. He then activated a rocket-launching weapon that sent a large number of projectiles into Raven, which dodged everything with great skill and grace.

Mallah spun the car quickly while it was now in front of Raven. 

“Don't hurt Raven!” Melvin shrieked.

“Bad monkey!” Teether screamed.

“Stop it!” Timmy shouted.

“See you later, little bird," Mallah laughed as he kept a sinister smile on his face.

Raven heard the screams of the kids and used the last remaining forces to try to contain the armored car with her telekinesis, praying to Azar or some existing divinity to help her, but her exhaustion had its consequences and the vehicle rammed head-on against her, hitting her hard and pushing her directly into a hard impact.

«I failed», thought Raven in the deepest part of her mind, then she felt faint, her deficiency of physical and especially psychic energies, added to the accumulated stress, would not allow her to go on with the battle. «Help»,  was the last thought that went through her head before she fainted. Then everything went black for her.

A red and yellow blur flew out of the foliage, leaving behind a trail of dirt and small pieces of grass, appearing just in time to catch and prevent the girl's fall; but the impact was so hard that the two ended up staggering and spinning through the grass. The sprinter surrounded her with his arms in order to prevent her from suffering the least possible damage, and he received the greatest impact.

“Ow! Shit! That was a hard fall," complained Wally, his eyes tightly closed, rubbing his head. «This is really going to hurt in the next few days,» he thought as he felt the pain running all over his body. Then he turned his eyes to the girl in his arms.

The intensity of Raven's fall caused her hood to fall backwards leaving her face completely uncovered. Kid Flash couldn't help but capture her strange beauty, being enthralled by it. «Yes, she was a pretty girl, Dick,» Wally celebrated. Her face, with its fine, delicate features, pale, alabaster-like skin, was framed by a beautiful short indigo hair that shone brightly in harmony with the moon. To his eyes she looked like a porcelain doll, an extravagant beauty he had never seen before. She also showed a curvilinear and slender figure beneath that black cape and leotard she was wearing, leaving beautiful legs exposed. As the two were so close, a delicious and captivating aroma of lavender, jasmine and what appeared to be incense or myrrh reached his nostrils. For the first time, the sprinter had been hypnotized. But he must not forget that they were in danger, he must concentrate on the enemy in front of him. He rose and looked at her for the last time. He had to protect her, after all it was the mission Robin had arranged for him. He moved into a battle position, protective of Raven, as he looked at the gorilla in what appeared to be an armored tank. Well, he had to analyze the situation well, the three kids were confined in rare devices. He did not have much information about the Brotherhood of Evil but, as little as he knew, he understood that they were not a force to be underestimated, so he had to be careful.

“Wow, and I wanted to crush the little dark bird," lamented Mallah with a false sadness.

“I think the only thing crushed here will be your mandrill hairy ass," said Kid Flash with a smile, running at high speed and delivering a direct blow to the gorilla's jaw, throwing him out of the vehicle.

“This monkey has a very hard head," the sprinter complained as he waved his hand violently, which had been stiffened by the hard blow he dealt to his enemy. Great, now added to the headache, his hand was going to end in swelling.

The blow left Mallah stunned for a few seconds. He got up rubbing his sore jaw. A growl of frustration broke his throat. Things weren't going as he planned. The task he had was simple: he aimed to capture three useless children who were escorted by the unsavory witch of the Titans, whom he was able to handle quite well despite having a disadvantage against her dark powers. But what wasn't expected was for Kid Flash to show up in the middle of the fight. He wasn't dumb, he knew he wouldn't stand a chance against him and his super speed.

“Are you too slow, or are you a little heavy? You should diet, you're too chubby.”

Mallah rose furiously, running towards the speedy brat. He would wipe that filthy, petulant smile from the sprinter's face. When he was only a few steps away from hitting the boy, again a great invisible force threw him away, just like that time on the train.

“Wow, I didn't expect that...” the sprinter commented, scratching his cheek in confusion. He was waiting for the gorilla to get close enough to keep dodging and irritating him, it wasn't bad to have a little fun from time to time, but something pushed him away from him. Had the pretty girl woken up and sent him flying with her powers? He rejected this theory when he turned around and saw her in the same position she was in at the beginning, so she hadn't moved an inch. Then out of nowhere appeared in front of Mallah... a giant teddy bear? Well, that was weird even for him.

“Yeah! Bobby saved us!” shouted the girl who was in the truck

“Yes, Bobby! Bobby!”

Bobby? That thing that looked like it came out of some horror movie had a name and was it real? Well, what did it matter? He was really beating up Mallah anyway, which was an advantage for them. Kid Flash watched as the big plush bear kept the ape cornered, so he ran at high speed to save the three kids captured in the vehicle.

“All right, kiddies, stay still.” Then he broke the machines that had them imprisoned.

“Thank you so much for saving us, sir," said the blonde girl cheerfully. "And- who are you?”

“Don't you know me? I am the great Kid Flash at your service” he boasted with a smug smile, opening his legs and putting his hands on his hip in a typical superhero pose, causing a chuckle in the children.

“I'm Melvin, the bear over there is my friend Bobby, they're Timmy," she said pointing to the boy who had a blue blanket, "and this here is Teether” now pointing to the baby.

“Nice to meet you, brats.”

Mallah dodged the last blow of the giant bear. He had decided there was nothing left to do there. His plans had been thwarted and he had to return to his secret lair to report the mission to his leader, especially the presence of the fast boy who was apparently working alongside the Titans. He knew The Brain wouldn't be happy about this. He pressed a button on the suit he was wearing while some sort of helicopter propellers came out of it, finally escaping by flying.

“It's the last time I work with kids," he sighed at escape before things got worse for him.

Kid Flash watched Mallah flee, debating internally whether to pursue him or not. The children's squeaky voice got him out of his internal quarrel.

“Raven, Raven, wake up... please," sobbed Melvin as she moved the young woman's body slightly.

“Will she be all right?” Timmy whimpered as he covered her with his blue blanket to give her some warmth to comfort her.

Kid Flash rushed to where the woman who had captivated his attention minutes earlier was, surprising the children with his speed. He squatted to her side, moving his eyes and head very quickly around her figure to see if he could locate any serious injuries. He was actually quite worried, she didn't seem to be hurt beyond a few scrapes on her body, but if it gave the impression that she was really exhausted and without strength. Didn't he protect her fall well and therefore she ended up hitting her head hard? Is that why she didn't wake up?

“I think she's just passed out or knocked out," he said, trying to reassure them and himself.

She was sweating a little. He placed his hand on her forehead to measure her temperature but had no fever, her body heat was a bit below normal but he assumed it was due to the cold at night and the fact that she was lying on damp, cool grass. Then why was she sweating if she did not seem to have a fever? He carried his index and middle fingers to the carotid artery at the front of Raven's neck, applying light pressure, with the intention of taking her pulses. She had a good pulse and that relieved him a bit, but it seemed that her palpitations were above a hundred beats per minute, which surprised him too much. In spite of seeming to be asleep and really calm, in an evident soporific state, she was suffering from a notorious cardiac acceleration that did not coincide with her present state, it did not make sense for him and so he asked himself internally- 

«Was she having a nightmare?».

Chapter Text

The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed.

Carl G. Jung

 

The light went out and the darkness entered again, coming out of the tomb and rising into the air, seemed to swallow everything around it. A brutal darkness that threatens to annihilate those who suffer it. Shadows could be dangerous.

It was night and Raven was somewhere unknown, advancing slowly and painfully in the midst of a mighty gale. A high wind shook her whole body, causing strong shaking.

The fog covered everything. She held and protected with her hands a weak little light that threatened to go out at any moment due to the storm of the dark place in which she was. Everything seemed to depend on her keeping that light alive, she felt that her own life depended on it. She felt the adrenaline running all over her body. Her heart beat so fast that she could feel the rumbling of palpitations in her ears, her hands were sweaty and her legs were stiff.

“Robin! Cyborg!” Raven howled shouting with all her might, feeling her throat burn from the effort, “Starfire! Beast Boy!.... Someone... please ,” she begged, hoping that someone would appear to help her. Why did she feel so desolate? She was totally helpless.

Alone.

She closed her eyes and concentrated on her mantra.

“Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos,” sang with the hopeful expectation of being able to flee from there with her powers but nothing happened, she didn't feel the flow of magic inside her, it was totally extinguished.

Suddenly she had the feeling that something was following her. Then she turned around and discovered a huge black figure advancing behind her. Despite the terror she experienced, she did not cease to be aware at all times that she had to protect the light through the night and the storm. A light infinitely smaller and more fragile than the power of darkness that was approaching ever closer, threatening to engulf everything in its path, including herself.

"Raven, Raven, please wake up," she could hear voices far away that were trying to bring her to reality.

Was she asleep? Was this an illusion? But she couldn't stay still now.

She felt all her blood concentrated on her lower limbs, like a mere flight reflex her legs reacted on their own and she began a race to escape the darkness.

“Don't let the light go out, don't let it go out," she prayed to herself. That light, for some strange reason, seemed to be the only thing that would keep her safe from it. If it died out, she knew she'd follow the same fate.

Even though she was escaping, she didn't seem to be advancing anywhere. And as she ran, she stumbled upon something and ended up on the ground huddled and frightened, embracing that faint little glow.

It is common for the first fear to be the fear of darkness. In fact, sooner or later children will accuse themselves of this fear: in the dark there may be the monster in the wardrobe, the man in the bag or the goblins under the bed, and so on. Ultimately, fear of darkness is often the prelude to an anthropomorphic interpretation that situates some monster that may eventually "devour" the child.

She was very afraid of that blackness. To be devoured by darkness, to be devoured by its most primary demonic essence. Although she always carried the demeanor of a dark girl, she couldn't bear to be alone in the dark. Raven was afraid of that, generating a feeling of embarrassment about the very possibility of losing control. To be afraid of the dark is, in essence, to be afraid of the unknown. Not being able to see what is outside gives us apprehension because our imagination creates the worst possible scenario. The outer darkness really evoked her own inner darkness. This is the most appropriate metaphor to explain her feared and therefore unresearched areas of her own psyche.

It was a very unfortunate coincidence, to be a spawn of darkness, always transporting itself in its shadows and now fearing it. Before, she tried very hard not to show fear toward the element she was born of. What kept her standing, kept her sanity intact, was the possibility of a new day, a new light. Now that her father was gone, even momentarily, light was always possible. There was no additional curse to drag her into the world of the abyss again. But now, in the darkness and cold, looking back, it was hard to remember the good. It was a dread she couldn't tolerate. Alone. All her life she'd felt alone. Now she was alone and something was stalking her, and no one was there to help her.

Darkness, solitude and silence. They're a real sinister triad. A breeding ground to drive anyone crazy.

She could feel a freezing cold on her back. She could feel the prominent presence of that. That thing ran into her there, behind her back. She felt a glacial exhalation in her neck and a rotten breath that made her want to vomit. The fingers of that thing slipped through the strands of her hair, stroking parsimony as if it had all the time in the world to torment her. Her whole body was frigid. Then a voice was heard, a grim and sinister voice that made her tremble from top to bottom.

“What you have concealed, you shall become,” sentence that.

And she couldn't scream, her throat was hardened, as if a handful of sand was obstructing her entire larynx. She couldn't defend herself, she didn't have her powers, she couldn't move, she was completely paralyzed.

“This is just a nightmare, I'll wake up soon... just a nightmare, you're not real," she remembered, to try to keep as much tranquillity as possible.

“What you have concealed, you shall become,” that repeated again, but this time the thick, baritone intonation was replaced by a childish, high-pitched nuance, the voice of a little girl, which in her opinion seemed more grim than the last. That's in addition to an evil laughter that seemed to mock her.

She barely managed to suppress a spasm when she noticed a large creature sliding across the floor, straight towards her. A huge snake appeared and climbed slowly up her lap; it continued to climb, the creature seemed endless, and was placed on her shoulders. The pupils of this snake resembled two vertical slits, staring, not blinking. Her loud whistle made her shudder more if possible. That thing was only meant to oppress or strangle. Or bite her to poison, as the snake had opened its jaws showing two pointed fangs.

“You are alone, no one will help you, you will be consumed by the darkness of your soul. That's your destiny," hissed the snake in her ear.

Alone.

She felt her tears running down her cheeks, but as she wiped them quickly with the back of her hand, she realized that it was not the saline liquid she expected to see, but that it was blood. She was shedding tears of blood.

Blood.

“Wake up... wake up, please," prayed Raven inwardly for the last time, being astonished when the little light shining in her hands now increased considerably in size and illuminated the whole place. The last thing she heard before she woke up was the horrifying screech of what was stalking her, as if the light was burning it and making it burn. In the time when she was blinded by the imposing flash, all darkness disappeared. And finally there was light.

Raven's eyes finally opened at once, realizing that she was still out in the open air, the moonlight still shining brightly at the top of the blue star-covered vault. She blinked quickly relieving herself that this was real and not the horrible nightmare of just now. She was so stunned when she woke up that she had not noticed ten pairs of eyes looking at her attentively..... Wait, ten pairs?... besides... Was that a big teddy bear over there? The most "logical" conclusion that came to her brain was that she came face to face with Melvin's "imaginary friend". "Well, I guess Bobby was real after all." Melvin, Timmy and Teether were right there looking at her in anguish but she also glimpsed unknown blue eyes that looked at her with concern.

Raven rose from the ground, grunting from the effort, shaking off the dust and remnants of leaves that had stuck to her clothes and hair. "Great," she thought to herself. She gave the blanket to Timmy who was on top of her and had fallen when she stood up. Her body was completely bruised and sore. She groaned holding her head to soothe the migraine she had. She rubbed her neck and grimaced at the touch. When she had time, she'd have to use her powers to heal herself safely.

“What the hell happened to me? Did a truck run over me?”

“Well, literally, a truck knocked you down," said the unknown red-haired man gracefully.

The young sorceress glanced around completely evaluating what was in her point of view and ignoring the boy's earlier comment. She noticed some marks of the battle on the floor, such as the residual traces of her magic and the wheels of the truck on the ground.  It was there now, almost completely destroyed, but there was no trace of Mallah.

“I suppose he just escaped," said Raven.

“Yes, our friend Tobby here gave him a good beating, I don't think he'll be back in a while," commented the new boy pointing to the strange and giant living bear-doll.

“It's not Tobby, it's Bobby Mr. Flash,” Melvin corrected.

“Yes, yes... it's the same thing, Tobby, Bobby, what difference does it make," he said, downplaying the error, fluttering the girl's hair, cluttering her blond pigtails a little and making her grumble in annoyance.

“Whoa. Bobby's real?" said Raven looking at the nominee.

“Told you so," Melvin replied with a smile.

“Thanks. Thanks to all of you.”

“Thank Bobby. He's the one who saved us.”

“Thanks, Bobby. Sorry I thought he was just your imaginary friend,” the empath apologized to Melvin and the giant bear. She had made the girl cry and feel bad by constantly pointing out that her friend didn't exist, but it was only because she had thought that Melvin had powers similar to her own and that she only used an imaginary scapegoat for fear of accepting that she possessed those abilities.

“Just because I imagined him doesn't mean he isn't real," replied the girl.

“Why couldn't I see Bobby before?”

“Bobby was afraid of you at first, so he was hiding. But now he thinks you're okay. Don't you, Bobby?” Melvin asked.

And something in Raven went down, was everyone afraid of her?

“Hey, let's see, I think I'm being left out. I helped too, did you forget?” a frustrated male voice snorted.

Raven finally fixed her eyes on the boy in front of her.

“You must be the support Robin sent," said Raven in her typical monochord tone.

The first thing she did was take the trouble to analyze the boy's aura. It was a bright scarlet colour, almost as if it were a burning fire... too luminous and resplendent in contrast to hers who had been born and lived all her life in gloom and shadow. He was tall, and he had reddish, disheveled hair. She noticed a slightly tanned skin and freckled cheeks. If his blue eyes seemed strangely appealing to her, his stupid smile was... almost intoxicating. He wore a full-body neoprene suit, yellow at the top and red at the bottom, with red gloves and yellow boots. The drawing of a red ray crossed his chest diagonally. His face was covered by an amber mask, which had a kind of antennae located in the area of his ears. She also couldn't help paying attention to the well-developed muscles that let his uniform fit show. He was pretty well constituted. Pretty good. He seemed to exude masculinity through all his pores and Raven, for some strange reason, had no power to stop scrutinizing him. What the hell was going through her head? Surely her lusty emotion was getting away with it inside her mind. She had seen other men before, including heroes and villains (well, Control Freak obviously didn't fit into her men's repertoire), she even lived with three teenage boys, and yet she had never felt anything like it before. Well, to be honest with herself, it happened only once when she first saw Aqualad. Raven blushed because the boy noticed her scrutiny. Now he was watching her with a stupid flirtatious expression.

Wally had a silly smile on his face. He had noticed how the pretty girl looked at him, so she should like what she was seeing, increasing his male ego a bit. He noticed the beautiful blush covering her delicate cheeks, making her look more radiant than she seemed. She looked really beautiful.

Raven almost fell to the ground again when the boy suddenly appeared in front of her. Had he teleported himself there?

“Mademoiselle!” The boy imitated a perfect French accent by gently taking her hand, and something in the contact made Raven blush again and her heartbeat accelerated. A throat-clear from the boy made her attention focus on him. “I introduce myself, I'm Wallace Rudolph West, better known by everyone as the great Kid Flash, although I suppose you probably already know me, I'm the fastest man alive, a pleasure to meet you.” With that said, Wally bowed down as he bringing the girl's pale hand to his lips and giving a short kiss. He looked up into her eyes and smiled against her hand.

He had never seen eyes like this, of a beautiful amethyst color, that showed great wisdom and intelligence, but also eyes that had seen war and suffering. She seemed to be some sort of enigma, a riddle that he would be happy to decipher.

“Although I'd rather have you call me Wally, honey," he winked with a radiant smile.

“Oh, disgusting!”

“Yuck!”

“Diugh!”

«Oh sure, the kids were still there! He had forgotten the three brats.»

Raven's right eyebrow began to tremble in discomfort, had he said “honey” to her? and mainly, but not least, was he flirting with her?

“I am Raven, a member of the Teen Titans," she replied his presentation, trying to control her troubled emotions... and hormones, putting her hand back in place. He had given her his real name, something rare today among the heroes who kept their identity secret and hid behind masks. To tell the truth, she didn't even know the real names of her teammates. Well, only that of Beast Boy and it wasn't precisely because he had mentioned it, but the Doom Patrol did. And this boy, who had just shown up, had trusted her and had said his name without any problem.

“Nice to meet you, Wally. Thanks to you, too, for saving me. I'm really indebted to you.”

Wally felt a pleasant tingling all over his body, he loved how his name sounded, almost divine, coming out of her lips, as if it was a beautiful melody.

“Oh! There's nothing to be thankful for... Mm, wait a minute, okay?” Wally said and then quickly vanished from the place.

Raven was surprised when the sprinter disappeared from her sight, to appear again in front of her in just a few seconds, with a beautiful blue flower protecting it against his chest to prevent it from breaking down after his accelerated trot. She was surprised that he now looked a little shy, with his cheeks in a scarlet tone that matched his suit and hair, as he scratched his neck with his free hand in a clear act of nervousness. Well, where did all that bravery just go?

Raven was not naive, she was an empath and that offered her abundant advantages when relating or being able to foresee the intentions of her enemies. Her vision of the world was very intuitive and she understood the emotions of others with ease. She was able to feel what others feel more vividly than ordinary people do. There were individuals who were very complicated to read and who seemed to have an unbreakable mental wall, she herself was one of those kind of people. Also among these were Robin and some villains like Slade. But on the other side there were others that were an open book for her, like Beast Boy, Starfire and the now known Wally West. And particularly the emotions of the latter were too strong and volatile, as if they floated freely by their being - quite the opposite to her - extremely obvious to perceive with her powers. She could tell that the boy was a little scared, but she was surprised that not from her, but that she refused his little gift.

Wally stretched out his hand nervously, fearing her rejection, giving her a beautiful blue rose that he had found in a meadow a little far from the place, which he had noticed as he ran to get to this place for his mission. It was simple but equally beautiful. In addition, a blue rose was not something that was found every day, it was quite unusual that pigmentation in this species. Blue roses are very difficult to obtain in their natural form, which makes them unique, special and, in a way, extraordinary.

“For you," Wally muttered as he offered the rose with clear nervousness, praying that she would accept it. But he was surprised when she received it in her hands, making their fingers touch against each other, producing in him a strange electric current all over his body.

“I... thank you? I guess I don't really know what to say, I've never had this kind of attention before," said Raven as she gently stroked the smooth cerulean petals of the rose. «At least a gift with real intentions and not to deceive me,» she said to herself, thinking again of that damned dragon. “It's pretty, I've never seen one of this color before.”

Kid Flash blew out the air he didn't know he'd been holding.

“I assumed blue was your favorite color, it suits you," he said as he scratched his hair in an act of nervousness.

He was surprised when she said she had never received a rose, had she never been given a gift before? He smiled internally. Maybe he could invite her for pizza or something like that someday when this was over or maybe...

“You're thinking a lot there Wally, all your musings make my head ache. Focus,” Raven reproached. She could feel the accumulation of emotions coming from the redhead bombarding all her empathic barriers. That's what she meant when she spoke of the sprinter's fluctuating emotions.

Wally looked at the sorceress, who stared at him as if she were digging deep into his soul. He dodged her gaze a little, he felt as if she was rummaging inside him.

“How is what...?”

“I'm empathic," she interrupted by tapping on her head, "I can... feel things that others can't.”

“Were you... were you reading my mind?” he asked really curious about the girl's abilities.

“It doesn't work strictly that way, I can read the mind if I want but this is different, think of it as if I were some kind of receiving antenna or emotional sponge, and currently my powers are not fully stabilized to deal with so many emotions together, especially yours, so order your thoughts there.”

Kid Flash then looked at her with a playful smile.

“And… why don't you read my mind and find out what I'm thinking right now, honey?” he smiled and approached her. Raven arched an eyebrow in response, not being frightened by his presence. Now they were face to face and the empath tried to maintain the composure. Raven was more than aware that he was slowly intruding into her personal space, but his presence was too overwhelming and she felt her old shields automatically increase.

“No, thank you, I don't think I'm really interested," she said as she turned around. She didn't want to know what kind of dirty thoughts went through his mind right now. He was a hormonal teenager after all. “And don't you dare call me honey again” she threatened to turn to see him with cold eyes.

Wally shuddered a little at the warning, but there was something funny about everything. She was a combative girl, he liked that.

“Sure, whatever you say baby, but I repeat, you can read my mind whenever you want. Actually, you can do whatever you want with me whenever you want, I suppose your powers and mine would give us several possibilities to have fun together, imagine the whole possible scenario with my super-speed” he insisted now with a seductive voice as he shook his eyebrows suggestively, causing a chill in his interlocutor.

Raven's cheeks became as close to two tomatoes as possible, taking in what Wally was brazenly insinuating. A colossal emotional maelstrom drove her powers out of control, blowing up the wreckage of the transport that Mallah had used a moment ago into a thousand pieces, leaving it in flames. She could hear the screams of fright and surprise from the kids. She also managed to feel in the back of her mind her characteristic emotion with purple cloak, the most passionate part of her personality, laughing mischievously at the clear invitation.

Wally was surprised at the explosion caused by a singular dark energy, evidently provoked by the girl in question. "Interesting." She was empathically and theoretically a sorceress or magician, something like Zatanna, he supposed. It's not like he had a lot of knowledge about magic and all that stuff to compare. With super-fast mental analysis, he hypothesized that her abilities were clearly manipulated by her psychic energy, and from what he observed with the explosion of the truck, he assumed that her powers were also manipulated by her emotional states.

“You're a swine, you know that?” Raven reproached by focusing and repressing all the affections she was feeling, before detonating anything else, or detonating him, although the latter sounded really tempting right now. She quickly found her center and calmed herself. The boy was more exasperating than Beast Boy and more intense than Starfire. Or the two of us combined if it was worse.

“I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you, seriously," he said, raising his hands in a position of surrender.

“Hey, we're still here, you know? Aren't you tired of flirting? We're sleepy!” Melvin complained.

“What? Excuse me? I'm not flirting with him!” the sorceress replied, looking at the girl with reproach.

“I think if you're doing it, you've been flirting with me since you woke up," said the sprinter playfully.

“We're sleepy! We're sleepy!” shouted the “angelic” kids with their unbearable screams.

Raven massaged her temples as she recited her mantra in silence. Several times. "Relax, don't kill anyone, don't kill anyone... at least not yet." Inhale and exhale. A sigh came from her lips. Then she held Teether and Timmy in her arms, who looked really tired, taking care not to damage the rose that Wally had given her.

“There's a cottage in the woods, we can rest there, are you coming?” questioned Raven looking at the sprinter. She didn't know if he wanted to stay or was about to leave, but she didn't want to be rude either.

“I'll stay with you!.... eh... I mean... with all of you," he quickly corrected, "and I think it could be useful to you against the Brotherhood of Evil. I guess sooner or later Robin would put me on this mission. Although I think you'll have to tell me more about who they are.”

Wally didn't really want to leave yet. Even though he liked to work alone, she would most likely need help if she were attacked again. He would not give the matter much thought, he was simpler, he would let himself be carried away by his instincts, and they told him to stay with the young woman.

“As you wish, I suppose your help will be well received. Follow me then, and I'll tell you everything when we get there," said Raven, returning to her monotonous tone, walking now to the little hut. “Come on Melvin, walk behind me and don't part.”

“Tell your friend Terry to move too,” said Wally looking at the little girl.

“His name is Bobby!”

Wally was behind Raven observing almost hypnotized, or idiotized, the swaying movements of her hips, as her cape fluttered to one side due to the wind blowing in the place, leaving her back and other parts uncovered. He was surprised when Raven slammed on the brakes, as if she had remembered something important. He hoped she hadn't noticed with her empathic powers that he had been looking at her butt the whole time.

“I had forgotten," she grunted in frustration.

“Is something wrong?”

“The only way to get to the place was by cable car, but it was destroyed in my fight against Mallah. Now the only way to get to the hut is if I take all of you myself.”

“Does it involve flying?” Wally asked really restless.

Raven turned and looked at him, surprised at his notorious nervousness.

“Are you afraid of flying?” she asked, arcing her eyebrow and with a little mockery in her voice.

"I... uh..." he gasped restlessly as he kicked a stone off the ground. "Only the feeling of nothing solid beneath my feet gives me a little insecurity. You know... I'd be helpless."

Well, she could understand that, it was reasonable considering the powers of Kid Flash. Just as she controlled her emotions and that fact gave her security, he had to have control by having his feet on the ground in order not to feel vulnerable. That's how his powers worked. It was quite logical for her if she looked at it that way.

“Teether also hates flying, he gets dizzy easily," remembered Melvin.

Oh yes, of course Raven remembered. His gagging and vomiting weren't easy to forget. She still had to wash her boot.

“Don't worry, we won't fly.”

“Can you... teleport us then?” the redhead asked in surprise.

“Yes, I suppose I have some energy for a little journey right now, it's not that far away anyway. Get close to me.”

Wally, Melvin and Bobby approached the empathic, as she closed her eyes, concentrated her energies and felt it run through her body. She hoped her powers wouldn't abandon her now. A large black disc appeared beneath their feet and the six disappeared into her black aura in the form of a bird, reappearing seconds later in front of the hut.

“It was a fast trip, I don't think I would have gotten there that fast. That was so...”

“Terrifying?” She finished her sentence with an acid voice.

“No way. That was extraordinary!” Wally clearly cheered with excitement.

Raven looked up and their eyes met, she astonished at his sincerity.

“I... some think my powers are creepy, even on my own team," Raven whispered, recalling the first time she had used her ability to transport her teammates to the ship that was trying to attack Earth to hijack Starfire, and Beast Boy emphasizing how frightening it was.

"Well, I think your powers are great, but I still don't understand how they work at all," Wally said, putting a hand on her shoulder as a sign of support, as he had felt the girl's emotional change.

“If you say so," she said simply, as she went in and took the kids to bed and away from his touch.

Kid Flash gave her a smile and followed her inside as he turned on the lights. He watched with some tenderness as she put the kids to bed and tuck them trying to make them feel comfortable. The image was in a sense... enigmatic for someone like her who seemed to be a little cold and distant.

“And where will Cody sleep? I think it's too big to go through the door," he asked when he saw the big bear on the porch of the hut.

“That his name is Bobby, vomit brain! And he'll sleep outside!” Melvin shouted.

“Wow, what a temper you have, little lady.”

“Shut up, all of you, now!” Raven commanded, causing everyone to remain silent and causing the lights of the place to flash. If the kids got rowdy again, her head would end up exploding. Or the hut would explode, the order of factors did not alter the product.

“But he began...” Melvin defended herself by crossing her arms in anger.

“Go to sleep... right now," the empathic hissed threateningly with a terrifying thread of voice with the intention that they would stop arguing and get ready to rest. The kids swallowed dry while forcibly closing their eyes and getting ready to sleep before making Raven more angry.

And it didn't take them long. A sigh of relief came from the sorceress' mouth when she heard them snore, they must have really been exhausted... or frightened by their threat.

The sprinter watched with great surprise as she put the blue rose in a glass of water. He thought she was going to throw it away or leave it behind. He was happy that she accepted his gift, meaning that it had been meaningful and she had liked it. He was watching her until a sharp jab in his hand and head reminded him that he was hurt.

“Shit, it really hurts," he grunted quietly so as not to wake the kids.

Raven turned to see Wally sitting on the couch massaging one of his hands as he mumbled curses, with a gesture of obvious pain in his face. She hadn't noticed that he had been wounded in the battle.

“Are you hurt?”

“Don't worry precious, nothing that a little ice and rest won't solve, besides I can recover in a short time,” he joked trying to hide his annoying pains.

«Men and their pride,» she thought.

“I can cure you, it's the least I can do to save my life, do you want me to do it?”

She was used to curing her teammates. She'd done it often. But Wally might be offended if she cured him without his permission.

“Sure, why not? So you have healing powers too?”

“There are many things people don't know about me," said the woman, her voice sounded as cool as ever.

“You've got some tricks up your sleeve, honey.”

Raven only rolled her eyes at his honeyed appellatives. Threatening him again would surely be of no use to him. It was noticeable that the boy was quite stubborn and that he was not afraid of her warnings; on the contrary, it seemed that he was having a certain amount of fun.  It really seemed like he was enjoying this, like a game.

“Where are you hurt?” she interrogated to begin the process.

“I think my right hand has a sprain. I also have a terrible headache, the fall was quite hard.”

“Well, let's start with your hand first. Take off your glove, healing is most effective through direct skin-to-skin contact with bare skin, with nothing in between.”

.

Oh.

.

.

Oh, no.

.

«Did that come out of her mouth? Did she really say that stupid comment?». The answer came only when she saw the stupid flirty smile slowly emerge on his face again. «Okay Raven, here we go...».

“Skin against skin, what a tempting and suggestive proposal at the same time, don't you need me to take something else off? I think I also have a slight discomfort in...”

“Shut up! Just let me heal you and explain about the Brotherhood of Evil, will you?" said Raven, losing her patience.

“All right, Rae. Mmm, Rae. I like that nickname, it's nice. Hey, I can call you that, can't I? I guess you wouldn't mind, I think it looks good on you. Or maybe you'd rather...”

“Do whatever you want," she muttered, "Just please keep your mouth shut for a minute and let me start the story. And just relax, okay?” she gave in with a sigh, it didn't matter anyway. She never thought she was alive to see anyone talk more than Starfire.

She took his wounded hand between hers with care, and instantly a delicate blue aura emerged from the place beginning the healing process. Wally was surprised when the acute pain gradually began to subside. It was something really amazing.

“It feels really good.”

“That's because I'm taking the pain away from you and making it mine," she replied slowly, and without emotion. She noticed how he looked at her analytically trying to look for obvious signs of suffering on her face, but he didn't see any. She knew he'd ask her, so before he opened his mouth, she tried to explain. “I'll feel it later when I'm done here, so I said you relax. And don't worry, my body only takes care of healing her wounds.”

“You don't have to do this if it makes you suffer.”

“I know, now stop talking. Okay. The Brotherhood of Evil are criminals of the worst kind and great enemies, bent on world domination,” she began her explanation.

He could feel a pleasant warmth that did not decipher whether it came from the magic of the girl or from contact. Her hands were soft as silk, and he felt very comfortable with her touch. He saw with a smile how her pale little hand seemed to fit perfectly next to his. He tried not to get too distracted and pay attention to what she was exposing.

“Its main members are General Immortus, the eternal soldier, knows the strategy of every battle in history because he has been in them all. Then there is Madame Rouge, false, cunning, twisted and sadistic in every sense of the word. She can change shape, she is elastic and first-rate, and in my opinion, the most dangerous of them.”

Raven tried to stay stoic and her voice didn't reveal her inner turmoil. His male hands were large and his fingers were warm and a bit calloused, and something in contact made Raven nervous and her heartbeat racing again. What was wrong with her? Did she have heart problems? No, she knew it was because the contact felt somehow intimate. Or at least she felt it, but she try to bury this thought in any corner of her mind. Once she finished, she directed her hands to the head of the sprinter, secretly enjoying the softness of his hair.

“Yeah, they do look dangerous, and the gorilla what attacked you before?" he asked, to disperse a little his anxiety for the proximity in which they were now. Now Raven's hands were on his temples, feeling the same sensation as before as she healed his hand. Her appealing aroma captured his sense of smell again as it had when he rescued her. Besides, she was close. Too close.

“He is Monsieur Mallah, the second in command and his strength is only matched by his intelligence. Mallah is trained in various intellectual areas such as electronics, physics and tactics. Their leader is The Brain, the intellect in person and the evil incarnate. With great skills and intelligence in science and strategy. He has now decided that we, the Titans, are a bigger problem and is trying to eliminate any potential threat with superpowers from the Earth. That's why Mallah came here, his goal was these three kids, and to finish with me, which he almost achieved if it wasn't for your intervention.”

The description of the Brotherhood ended at the same time as the healing process, but Raven's hands were still on the sprinter's head. Now their eyes were fixed on one another. There was a slight pink color to the boy's bronzed cheeks, and the empath finally realized how... attractive Kid Flash really was. Yes, at first glance he might seem annoying, frustrating, arrogant, perverted and a little rude, but that didn't mean he wasn't really appealing and charming, anyone would notice that. It seemed strange to her that she didn't really feel so uncomfortable having him around. She didn't like people getting too close to her or her personal space, or when anybody held her for a long time, including her friends. She was not adept at physical contact or closeness, she never was. An internal alarm was triggered when she saw that the boy's eyes were on her lips. Alert. She knew she had to stop this and get as far away from Wally as possible before things got out of control and allowed something she wasn't going to consent to in any way. It was one thing for her to like the boy visually, after all she was a woman who could look at a man, and another very different thing was to do something stupid that she surely regretted. She took her hands away from the sprinter's head, almost as if the contact burned, and dodged his gaze as she put on her hood to hide her face, and hide from the boy as much as she could. She needed to increase her defensive mechanisms. Her walls had cracked slightly in the presence of the sprinter and she needed to reinforce them. She wasn't supposed to let this happen. She could not lower her guard in front of him.

“I'll go to sleep now, I recommend you do the same," she muttered in a too cold tone as she began to move away.

“I guess I'll do that," the redhead whispered a little surprised and disconcerted by the apathy with which she behaved now. Why was she acting like this all of a sudden? Had she done something wrong?

She regained her composure and went to the other sofa in front.

"What's wrong with me?" Raven suddenly asked herself, because in the face of such daring on Wally's part, like his flirtations, she should have hated him or repudiated him. She reclined not very elegantly on the sofa and hugged a cushion that was there as she looked at the roof of the house. "What's wrong with me?" She questioned herself again, sighing without understanding the agitations that were seizing her. Never before had her emotions felt so turbulent. Did it have anything to do with the weakening of her powers a while ago? Had that caused her to lower her defenses? This wasn't normal, something didn't fit and she knew it. She needed to meditate and get in touch with herself. First thing in the morning, she'd take some time for that.

Her heart squeezed painfully as Malchior's memory resurfaced, and Raven tried to push it down, close it. Like she always did. Repressing was her best recourse. Without success, an image rose in her mind, his voice in her ear, that sense of security and understanding that came with just being around him. The ghost of his voice seemed to whisper to her. Raven closed her eyes tightly, trying to block out the painful memories.

I think the redheaded boy is wonderful and quite attractive, did you see his body? She froze. Her emotions rarely spoke in her head. They usually waited until she meditated to personalize herself. But there was lust in her ear, so clear and crisp.

He's an idiot, a presumptuous one! The anger screamed in retaliation. She could feel her struggling against her chains, wanting to kill anyone or everyone.

I think it's charming, quite funny and amusing, happiness seemed to hum while laughing.

What the hell was going on inside her head? All she could feel was the sudden cultivation of voices that seemed to tear the confines of her skull.

Wally also lay down, thinking of the recent situation. He knew what would have happened if the moment had lengthened a little longer, it could have ended up with a kiss, well at least on his part because most likely the girl would kill him for his boldness. He couldn't deny his physical attraction to the girl. She was beautiful, in an exotic way. Unusual but soft characteristics. And yet there was something else that captivated him, but what was it? Was it because of her personality that seemed so mysterious and stoic? It was strange, but he wanted to see what was beneath her hood, metaphorically speaking, and look for the person hidden behind that veil of darkness and shadows. Maybe he could ask her out on some kind of date? That sounded good. Supposedly she had said she owed with him. Would she kill him or something? Would she castrate him? He had realized that dealing with her was like walking on thin ice, but he would risk everything or nothing.

“Hey Rae, are you awake?” he asked quietly.

“Unfortunately yes, your piles of thoughts there prevent me from relaxing.”

Of course, he'd forgotten. She was empathic.

“Sorry, you see... I... wanted to know if you... another day... when....” He stuttered nervously, mostly because he didn't know how to tell her.

“Spit it out at once!” she said sternly, making him sigh before he spoke.

«How direct,» he thought gracefully.

“I saved your life, so you owe me a favor," he said simply as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

“Excuse me? A favor? But if I healed your wounds a moment ago," said Raven confused. She believed that with that the debt had been settled.

“Well yes, but... but that doesn't count," he replied,  contradicting her comment.

It took a few seconds before she released a snort of resignation.

“Well, let's see, what the great Kid Flash wants?” she asked with irony.

He quickly approached where she was lying, making her startled.

“A date!” he said simply.

“Da... Date?” Raven stuttered. No one's ever asked her for an date before. She was surprised, meanwhile one of the lamps in the cabin began to blink threatening to burn. The boy only nodded, smiling from ear to ear, ignoring the obvious leakage of her power.

Raven wondered if the boy was really absent-minded as Beast Boy or if the blow to the head, which he received when he saved her, had made him a bit of a fool. Didn't he really realize the gravity of the situation? She frowned at the absurd request as her sarcasm surfaced.

“Of course Wally, why not? There's nothing I want more right now than to go and have a delicious strawberry ice cream with you... meanwhile, the Brotherhood of Evil manages to make another quantum generator with the power to open a black hole, capable of deforming all space-time, condemning our whole existence to nothingness itself. It seems to me a majestic and intelligent idea on your part. And tell me, do you want to go now or do you think you can wait until tomorrow?”

Wally laughed out loud at her irony. He liked that sparkle in her eyes when she got angry, it made her look more tempting. And he loved the way she could defend herself in a war of words.

“I meant when this is all over, honey. You know, we kick evil ass, we win and then we have a simple date, what do you say? Moreover, if you promise to be adorable and submissive with me I'll buy you that strawberry ice cream you so much want as a gift,” he promised by winking at her and seeing how the sorceress frowned more if possible. He watched as she moved uncomfortably on the sofa and she glared at him.

“Don't say submissive again in allusion to my person, understood? And with regard to your proposal, I think I am... willing to reflect on it. Then I'll give you an answer, so don't insist anymore for now," she exhaled deeply and looked at him with firmness. “After all, if I reject your request now, you'll keep insisting until I accept. I've noticed that you seem to be quite persistent.”

“Yeah, well, that's me," he smiled and pointed his thumb at himself.

“But I want you to know that if I were to accept, at the first inappropriate or perverted behavior, I promise to create a portal to another dimension and leave you locked in there for the rest of your life, you hear me?”

“Can you do those things, too?”

She only nodded in response and lay back on the sofa. Wally finally turned off the lights in the hut and also returned to his couch, happy that she at least took the time to think if she wanted to go out with him. She didn't say no anyway. He really wanted to get to know something about her. He watched her with admiration when he saw how the healing aura now covered the young woman's figure as she levitated a few inches on the sofa, probably to heal her own wounds.

But there was still something troubling him, something that would probably not let him sleep peacefully and keep him awake all night.

“Hey Rae,” he muttered.

She gave a loud snort of anger.

“I'm trying to concentrate in case you haven't noticed, and now what the hell's wrong with you?”

“Don't you think Buddy's gonna be cold out there?” he asked barely audible.

“His name is BOBBY, you fucking brainless idiot!” Melvin shouted as she awoke from her clear state of sleep.

“Jesus, little lady.”

«Wow, that little girl did have an explosive temperament... and clearly a light sleep,» he thought.

Chapter Text

When the first rays of dawn reached Raven's eyes, she awoke from her deep sleep. She rubbed her eyes, and blinked a few times to adjust her view to the morning light. She yawned slightly, and turned her face to appreciate the man on the other sofa. He was lying partially on his back, eyes closed, mouth open, and face stained with dry slime. And also snoring loudly. She must have been really tired so she didn't wake up in the middle of the night with that unbearable sound. She also wondered how he could even sleep in that uncomfortable and crooked position in which he found himself.

She snuck up on Wally, seeing his face relaxed. He had invited her on a date, and she may not have shown it and accepted it yet, but in a way she was a little curious about what it would be like to have a date with someone. She had never been on a date before, and honestly, she never believed that anyone would ever ask her out. But should she agree to his proposal? Could she really trust him? She had to be cautious, especially after her last disappointment, otherwise she would stumble twice on the same stone. She could also be deceived by her own emotional whim. Her gaze then turned to the children who, for her luck and that of her psychic health, were also still asleep.

She decided that she would take a moment to meditate, after a long lapse of time since the last time she had done so she urgently needed to clear her mind. She needed to calm down the internal storm that was afflicting her. She had to be quick, because once everyone woke up, they would break again with all her tranquility and her inner world would be in turmoil again. Also, she had to clarify the content of those nightmares she had, something told her that they were not typical dreams, there was something else, something she had to reveal.

She tried to make as little noise as possible as she walked out of the cabin, seeing Bobby leaning against the wooden wall sleeping. The day was deeply sunny, there were no clouds and in the clear sky, the birds fluttered playfully, leaving pleasant sounds in their wake. It was a perfect day to rest and relax.

Well, it was time to start. She sat at the entrance of the cabin placing her body in a lotus position. She joined her index finger with her thumb in each hand, stretching the rest of her fingers forward. This position of hands, known by her as gyan mudra or mudra of knowledge, allowed her to develop calmness. One of the many techniques she learned at Azarath. On the emotional plane, it helped her in the flow of her energy so that it circulates in a balanced way; and on the spiritual plane, it helped her to enter into connection with the universe. In other words, a way to connect with universal wisdom.

Slowly she began to feel the torrent of energy within her and as her body began to levitate, her purple aura surrounded her in a subtle way.

“Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos,” she recited.

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She sensed her breath coming in and out of her nostrils and how her chest rose and fell rhythmically, as her abdomen moved in tune with her continuous inhalations and exhalations. Inhaling slowly through the nose, and releasing the air slowly. She focused on that feeling, visualizing the current of air coming out as she became more relaxed and self-conscious. She repeated it over and over again. Quietly. Coming into contact with her senses.

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Not only did she experience the relaxing disengagement of her body, but she also began to feel how she was getting rid of the mental worries that had put her under stress the whole day before. Relaxed body and concentrated mind. The thoughts were set aside and she felt in harmony with the sensations of the moment.

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Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos

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Her mantra always helped her during her meditation. It was mystical, creating sensations and images. It had a magical quality of enchantment. She always synchronized it somehow with her natural breath or heartbeat, plunging into the bewitching, enveloping flow of her sound. She always let her mantra carry her.

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Her concentration was on the mantra, its rhythm and its sound quality.

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Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos

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She could feel her mind returning to a more natural state of genuine and lasting peace and well-being. She felt the illusory afflictions of her mind lessened.

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Meditation led her to a state of clarity, of natural mental purity; to return her mind to its state of sobriety, free from suffering, with which her disturbing emotions vanished in the moment.

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Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos

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Her meditation followed its natural course but she was now bewildered. She tried to go a little deeper into the depths of her mind to get in touch with her emotions that had been drilling into her head yesterday, but she realized something was blocking her total access. What was going on?

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It was as if something was veiled inside her, something hidden. Unlike her magical mirror that served as a direct portal to her mind, meditation did not allow her full and tangible access, yet it seemed unheard of that something was pushing her out of her own mind.

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Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos

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She pushed. Just a little more...

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She tried to force but couldn't push any further. Something was preventing her from approaching but she could not see what it was, it was opaque, nebulous. She was face to face with that blackness, and something in her more archaic instincts told her to run from there.

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Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos

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That darkness... was equal to her nightmare. She headed for blackness against every sense.

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Darkness.

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She nevertheless took a step forward. She had to find out what it was about.

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Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos

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She stretched out her hand... just... just a little more.... just a little more and she could...

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“Do you always do that for so long?”

A familiar voice took her out of her almost trance state, making her scream a little for the sudden fright and fall to the ground in the process. She was too concentrated when he appeared. She opened her eyes, adapting to the sunlight after having them closed for so long. She could see Wally sitting next to her watching her. The speedster swallowed saliva when he saw her obvious anger.

He had been glancing for a moment as she simply floated there, her hair and cape gently fluttering backward as a rare purple light covered her. However, how could she just sit there for so long, saying the same three rare words over and over again?

“You interrupted my meditation. I hate to disturb my meditation," the empath grunted rather angrily. It had been hard enough for her to get so deep into her mind and she was one step away from discovering something that was there, of which she had no knowledge and he had taken her out of her state.

“Well, I did it considering you've been in the same position for four hours in a row. I thought it was convenient to do it, I even thought you'd fallen asleep sitting down or something like that," said Wally trying to justify himself, emphasizing the number of hours. It was four goddamn hours! Totally still!

He had woken up when he felt the door open and saw her sitting at the entrance to the cabin. He tried to leave her a little privacy for whatever she was doing, so he went to the sofa to try to sleep a little longer. When he came out of his reverie again, he noticed that that amount of time had passed, and he believed that she would be in something else but to his surprise she had not moved a shred of her place. Not even a little.

“I really needed it, you know, considering that yesterday wasn't a typical day of serenity, with you flirting with me every minute, caring for three complaining kids and a weird teddy bear from whom you still haven't learned its damn name and also fighting a member of a criminal organization with my powers to the limit of exhaustion,” Raven reproached by counting with her fingers the events named above while the boy was just staring at her. Did she have something on her face or what?

“How much longer do you intend to look at me?” she asked.

“What are you talking about?” he was surprised by her question.

“You stalked me while I was meditating, and I don't even know how long you've been watching.”

“I wasn't stalking you," Wally corrected, "I was just examining you with a little curiosity.”

“Your thoughts are giving me headaches, if you want to tell me something just say it once and for all.”

«Always straight to the point. Why was she always in that blanket of mutism? She, ironically, seemed to be as elusive as a shadow».

Like him, his mind was buzzing and working pretty fast, so Wally was able to conjecture some assumptions to that question. It was as if it was a barrier to not let anyone in. For the speedster, the look of pain on the face of the sorceress had not gone unnoticed when he gave her the rose the day before, a look she quickly concealed. She must have been good at hiding what she felt. He could sense that frustration and abandonment, and he understood that Raven needed to close herself off in such a way that she wouldn't be harmed again, just so she wouldn't have to emotionally approach anyone so she wouldn't feel vulnerable. She intrigued him in a way and had discovered it the day before. It was... strange to him.

Now that he thought about it with certainty, yesterday he could have overcome one of her many barriers. But today she seemed to have built three new walls for the crack that had formed in the first. He couldn't understand it. Raven seemed to fight herself, imprisoning herself in her own mind.

“Rae, I don't know who or what hurt you before, but I want you to know that I'm not like that, you can trust me. I'm not your enemy. I want to be your friend.”

There it was again, a gesture of pain that as quickly as it emerged, disappeared.

“What makes you think I was hurt by someone?” she questioned harshly.

“I don't have powers like yours, but I can see it in your eyes. The way you act every time I get close and you always seem to be on the defensive. You'll never learn to trust again unless you give someone a chance.”

Raven turned her gaze so that he would stop analyzing her. She hated that he spoke so freely of her. But she hated it because she knew he was right at a certain point. His petulant arrogant personality also gave him the audacity to act as if he had knowledge of everything under the sun. But it also made her wonder... Was she so easy to read? Or did he just seem to have that detective audacity that even Robin would envy?

Now she was the center of the person's attention in front of her, and he was looking for ruptures in her armor. But she wouldn't let him. Fortunately, she had excellent armor. Or so she thought. Although she doubted that he could read minds, her mental barrier rose anyway. Her face took on the usual appearance of indifference that she often wore as a mask.

“How perceptive you are, Wallace," she spat sourly. “You should quit your superhero job and work better as a detective, or maybe devote yourself full-time to psychology or psychiatry since you seem to have an innate talent for that. I heard that the Arkham Asylum pays well and that the Joker is a really fascinating patient if you are really interested.”

He only sighed with regret. Maybe it wasn't the time for that and he didn't want to press the latent wound either, so he tried to change the subject.

“Uh... Can you really spend so much time doing whatever it is you do without moving a hair? Don't you get cramps in your body or something?”

“It's part of the training I've received since I was a child. I can even meditate longer... as long as no one interrupts me," she said, stressing the word "no one" and giving him a poisonous look in the act.

“If you want to relax, I can invite you to a spa anytime, honey,” added the speedster, with clear intentions of breaking some of the tension that had formed in the atmosphere.

Raven only rolled her eyes. He had already started his flirting again.

“Of course, as if a relaxing day at a spa painting my nails, a beauty facial mask and cucumber slices over my eyes could help me stabilize my powers.”

“Well, I think I can understand you. I like to loosen up a little from time to time, but I can't sit still for long.”

“Can't you really stay still for long? I honestly hadn't noticed that little detail," Raven ironized with a boring look as she rested her hand on her chin.

“What I was referring to is that, like you, I also take some relaxation time when I can.”

Wait...

«Was he comparing her meditative work, which took her almost a lifetime of arduous training and sacrifice, with simple amateur relaxation? ».

“Meditation is more than just relaxation, Wally," she explained. “Meditation serves to clear the mind while remaining alert. It's a difficult process to achieve. One becomes more sensitive to one's own emotions and the details of the world around us. Meditation is a calm and alert state of mind; the body is relaxed but the mind is totally concentrated. Meditation is the search of the human being to find himself. In relaxation, on the other hand, the mind goes from one side to the other, between sleep, fantasy and thought. We can be half-awake and not know what we're thinking. It's a... nice state, yes, but out of control. And being out of control is not something I can afford, not when my powers are controlled by my emotions.”

“So I guess I've been doing it wrong all along," Wally sighed, looking at the clear sky as he felt the cool breeze. Then his hypothesis was true regarding the girl's powers, which were manipulated by her emotions.

“Well, I suppose you've wasted your time, but only if you look at it from my point of view. After all, meditation is not an urgent need for you.”

“Wasting time? Babe, when you're as fast as me, time is something you've got plenty of," he smugly commented to refute her comment.

“Of course, you see it that way, but I think differently," replied the young woman. “Society as I see it leads an uncertain and disoriented way of life. Many things are done at once and everyone thinks they are wasting their time when they do not act quickly. However, most people don't know what to do with the time they earn, except kill it. Most are unable to use their time to find themselves.”

Diving into our inner world is not easy and Raven knew it, it takes time and dedication, to come to contemplate our true self in its nakedness requires much courage, decision, meditation and reflection. And the problem is that most are never taught to be with themselves and are not prepared for what they can find. In Azarath, this form of life was most common, but on Earth these activities were far from popular. In the same way that we need to eat, to sleep, to move every day so as not to die, we need to dedicate a daily temporal space to reflection, to meditation, to the encounter with us so as not to lose ourselves, so that that inner compass which is the consciousness of ourselves and which wisely directs our life does not break down. She believed that without this own space, any attempt at personal development, progress and learning would be sterile.

“I'd never thought of it that way," said Wally, trying to absorb the information the girl gave him. She had a pretty interesting point of view.

A long silence settled between the two until Raven asked a question.

“Tell me Wally, are you incapable of finding yourself unless... you're running everywhere?”

He was astonished at her question. In a way he did not understand at all what she was referring to, but nevertheless something in that question disturbed him in the depths of his being. But what was she getting at? Raven's gaze was fixed on the horizon, but evidently lost in her thoughts in a clear state of introspection.

“What do you mean?” he asked when he didn't know how to answer her question, because he honestly didn't even understand what she was talking about.

“Nothing, just... forget it, don't listen to me. I-,” a strong sigh came from her lips. “I always try not to show my weaknesses to anyone, nor to lower my protections. I must never allow myself to have doubts, nor let my emotions get out of my control. If I were to lose control…

She stopped what she was about to say. She remembered, with a little shame and regret, the times when she lost control of her emotions and let her most primitive side unleash itself and afloat. When she almost killed Doctor Light or in her fight against Terra, where all her emotions erupted like a volcano. She didn't want Wally to know she was some kind of monster. He didn't initially think she was creepy, but she knew he wouldn't think the same way if he knew what she was capable of... or if he discovered her other extra pair of hidden red eyes.

“Meditation is a primary need in my life for as long as I can remember. I can't act normal. I'm half human, but at the same time I can't be human no matter how much I want to be, and I can't behave completely as such.”

She had spent so much time being a demon, fearing and learning to contain her darkness and control it, that she had never stopped to wonder about her other side. What would it feel like to be human? Yes, she was the daughter of a demon, of the most powerful, but she was also partly human. It's funny how everyone forgot that part of their inheritance. Sometimes it was extremely tempting to simply hope to be able to eliminate her demonic vestige and try to live without the influence of her father by torturing her, to have the opportunity to be... normal and happy. To be someone normal, and not simply identify as the "Gem of Scath" or the "Portal".

He was left with a questioning look on his face. «So what was she really? Was she an alien or something like that? ». It was something obvious that, because of her atypical physical traits, she wasn't completely human. That's what he realized. Well, it's not something that surprised him very much considering that in the Justice League, where his uncle Flash was affiliated, there were Superman and Martian Manhunter.

“Well, I see you quite human," he muttered, watching her from top to bottom, focusing a little more time on her breasts and then the curvature of her butt.

Instantly, Raven felt the redhead's eyes running through her body. She was sure she knew where he was looking, but she didn't want to think about it. This had become more embarrassing than she wanted to say. Besides, it wasn't really like she had anything worth looking at.

“Wally, I hope your eyes aren't really on what I believe," warned Raven, squinting and looking at him with reproach.

“Well, I can't keep up with this talk either. You know, I don't know anything about sorcery and all that stuff you do, but I guess you'd get along with Zatanna, do you know her? The magician of the League,” said the boy and saw how Raven froze then.

The sorceress' body became completely rigid at the mention of this woman, as her aura involuntarily escaped from her body.

Wally felt a chill as the hairs on her body stood up in a reflex action. He swallowed deeply, something inside him told him to run from there or move away. The shadows shook a little around him, as the light from the place and the sun seemed to be absorbed and the heat from the atmosphere and the temperature began to gradually decrease. He heard the sound of the breakage of several branches of the surrounding trees.

“Raven?”

“Don't mention that name in my presence again," she warned slowly with a tone of voice that only caused another shudder in the boy.

“Is something wrong...?”

“Nothing that concerns you," she cut, trying to quickly appease the little out-of-control she suffered. She recited her mantra internally feeling the agitated waters calm down. Thanks to her recent meditation, finding balance was not a difficult task for her at this time.

Wally felt the rarefied atmosphere, as well as the temperature, return to normal again. What the hell had that been? Was it another leak from her powers?

“Sorry for all this chatter of mine, I always get a little reflective after meditating," explained the girl, trying to change the subject, and that Wally not ask and try to delve into what had just happened. “I don't even know why I'm telling you this honestly, I don't usually open up to people easily.”

Wally, despite not being empathic like the girl, could feel that she was in a strange state of mind. Surely it was a matter that she carried with her past and affected her too much, so he tried to make her feel good with some silly comment that he knew would at least get her out of her ramblings. He didn't like to see her sad, and less than less angry, he wanted to make her smile.

“No problem, I've never had such a deep talk before and believe me your way of thinking is quite captivating. Your way of seeing the world is so... touching. You're really admirable but I also have great hidden abilities," he noticed now as Raven looked at him with apparent curiosity, waiting for him to tell her what he was hiding. “Did you know that I can eat more than 4,500 calories in a few minutes without gaining a gram?”

“What a sublime gift you have, Wally, you must surely be the envy of any haute couture supermodel.”

The speedster felt better when he could see in the girl, after she threw her sarcastic remark, a tiny grimace of rejoicing on her face.

“You have a beautiful smile.”

And he also liked to see her blushing at some of his comments as she was now.

“I...”

A growl from the speedster's stomach made him ashamed now. Just as she needed to meditate, he needed to eat something urgently.

“I think it's time for you to eat your 4,500 calories for breakfast," said the sorceress with a mocking smile, which was then changed to one of shame. If, as if that were not enough, Raven's empty stomach felt it was time to make his triumphal entry into the conversation with a loud noise, even louder than that emitted by the boy. All this provoking a loud laughter in the redhead.

“Okay, I see the feeling is mutual, babe, is there anything to eat here?” he said, pointing in the direction of the cabin.

“Canned foods only, and I don't think beans or peas are to your liking and meet your dietary needs.”

“You know, I can get some real food and bring it in. Besides those kids have to eat something, otherwise that crazy girl will get furious and kill us by sending that bear she has as a friend,” Wally looked at the sleeping bear against the wall of the cabin. “He gives me chills,” he shuddered embracing his body.

“You're right, I didn't give them a proper meal yesterday, and let's just say I haven't had a bite either.”

“Fine, but first there is an urgent and very serious matter to be resolved between us, something I must ask you," he now scored with real severity.

“And what is this urgent matter?” she interrogated him for his sudden seriousness.

«Would he ask her what had happened when he named Zatanna? Would he ask her what she really was? After all, she had told him that she was half human, so he could question her about her other half».

“Crepes or waffles?”

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Were you serious?

“What kind of urgent question is that? Or is that the deepest thing you could think of?”

“You just answer, little bird.”

“Waffles," she replied without hesitation. “And don't call me that," she demanded because of the ridiculous nickname he now gave her.

“Wow, you're my kind of woman” he chuckled.

She only frowned at his annotation.

“What stupidity, do you classify people and determine their compatibility by their taste for food?”

“Of course, it's quite obvious,” he respected it as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

“If you are really insightful, you have the mind of an erudite," said Raven as she rolled her eyes.

“You want something special, Rae?”

“Anything would be fine with me, but if it's not too much trouble and you could get me some herbal tea I'd be really grateful.”

“Herbal tea? Oh baby," Wally sighed as he shook his head in a clear gesture of regret, "I think we don't agree there, I prefer a good cup of coffee, it gives me more energy.”

“More energy than you seem to have accumulated? I don't want to imagine what would happen if you also added sugar to that cup, I'm really shaking with fear just with the idea... and don't call me baby.”

“Heat the water in the meantime," he said as he got up and stretched his muscles a little, noticing in passing how the girl gazed sidelong at all his movements. It's not the first time he noticed how she looked at him. He smiled inwardly.

“Do you see something you like?” he asked with a flirtatious smile and a funny voice.

“Only the landscape," said Raven as she forced her eyes out of the boy's body and fixed them on the panorama around them, "is the only thing attractive about this place.”

“You must have thought I was so hot I hypnotized you.”

“Oh, yes, sure. Tonight I will dream of you and your stunning beauty.”

“Leave the cabin door open, it'll be quicker that way,” he then leaned over and stood in a running position. “OK, it's time for me to get going, don't miss me, okay? I won't be long anyway, sweetheart, I promise," he winked and vanished.

Raven immediately felt the air being sucked around her and Wally suddenly disappearing into the depths of the forest. She rose, shaking any remaining dirt from her cloak with her hands and entered the hut leaving the door open as he indicated. She filled the teapot with fresh water and took it to one of the stove burners as she turned the stove on in the process.

She stared at the entrance and wondered with interest how long he would take. She concentrated on the surroundings to try to detect his aura so that she would know when he was approaching and almost fell to the ground when his presence struck her like lightning. He was already there. In the blink of an eye, Raven was sitting in one of the chairs. She blinked in confusion as a yellow and red silhouette moved at great speed, lifting some air and dust from the ground in the process, entering and exiting the door continuously.

By the noise provoked, the three children woke up and also approached the table sitting down and contemplating in wonder the agility of the speedster. Raven smiled too, he was wonderful in a way. In another blink, the table was covered by a white tablecloth. As Wally's figure moved at great speed, different types of food plates appeared, as if by simple magic. A large cup of black coffee first appeared in front of the empty chair that remained, then a tray full of eggs, sausages and bacon, a plate with a large amount of waffles with honey, a fruit basket, bowls with milk and cereal for the children, glasses with orange juice, rolls and biscuits. Meanwhile, the children clearly applauded, excited by the spectacle. When the whistle caused by the steam coming out of the boiling teapot was heard, without delay a cup full of water appeared in front of Raven's eyes, with an herbal tea bag inside and the sugar bowl next to it. Forks, knives and spoons instantly appeared. The delicious smell of food filled the whole cabin. Raven arched an eyebrow when candles in a candelabra and rose petals for decoration also appeared on the table. She blinked and then Wally was sitting next to her at the table with a napkin hanging from his neck to avoid getting dirty and cutlery in his hands. He saw the food with a strange gleam of happiness in his eyes.

“Yep! Real food!” Timmy got excited grabbing a bowl of cereal.

“Food! Food!” the smallest of the three babbled while he took some biscuits.

“So, I hope this is enough. Bon appétit, ma chérie," said Wally as he looked at her with a smile. Then he put a big bite of waffles in his mouth and sipped his coffee.

“I'd actually say it's quite a lot. But assuming the majority is for you it's not that I care much," Raven said while she drank her tea with satisfaction and poured herself a portion of waffles that was nearby. “So tell me, what are candles and flower petals for? Are you going to devour them too?” she asked scathingly as the boy put a large portion of eggs and bacon in his mouth, staining his entire face.

Wow, he really wasn't kidding when he said he could eat a lot. And he was doing it quickly, he had already begun to empty half the table by himself.

“To make this more intimate and romantic. Don't tell me you don't like these little details.”

“Intimate? When are we accompanied by three kids?” She reminded him by pointing to the children sitting in front of him. “I think we have a different notion of the word intimacy.”

“All right Rae, if what you crave so much is intimacy with me you'll have to accept that appointment I proposed earlier, rest assured we'll be there alone the two of us," said the speedster as he licked his lips and cast a sagacious glance at the sorceress, causing her to choke on the food. Wally had to pat her on the back to keep her from drowning.

“Stop those stupid jokes," said Raven annoyed after catching her breath, "if you don't want to end up inside a portal in another dimension and without any food.”

“You wouldn't really do that to me, would you, birdie?”

“Don't tempt your luck, Wallace. And stop calling me ridiculous nicknames, my name is Raven.”

“Just relax, princess.”

“I'm not a princess, and I have a name.”

“I know, but I like the others better. Although I also like Rae. Sounds nice.”

“Hey! Save those disgusting flirtations for later and let's keep eating!”

“I don't flirt with him!” the sorceress defended herself from the bold comment made by the blonde little girl. It was the second time she told her she was flirting with the redheaded boy.

“Oh, yeah, sure. And you," warned Melvin, staring at the speedster who was still eating now, "redhead idiot, don't eat everything. Leave something for Bobby.”

“Feed your Teddy Bear whatever you want, Melvin. And my name is W-a-l-l-y-,” he spelled slowly as if the girl was silly “-and not "redheaded idiot.”

“All right, Wally!” The little girl hissed, her eyes narrowed, seeing him ferociously, as she leaned over the table and pointed threateningly at him with... a banana, which, in order to prove its uselessness as a weapon of attack, slipped from its shell and ended up papped on the ground. “Then remember his name is Bobby! No Tobby, no Cody, no Terry or any of your ridiculous invented nicknames!”

“That's enough!” Raven shouted and Melvin looked up from Wally and the two became rigid. Raven had her eyes narrowed in a clear state of rage.

“But he started it!” Melvin defended herself as she now pointed at the redheaded boy with a sausage.

“I don't care! You two will learn to get along on this damn mission until it's over and you'll make it gentler for me! Did you hear me? That's an order!” Raven protested and frowned. They only nodded in affirmation.

Raven only sighed as she continued to have breakfast now with a portion of fruit, the truth was that the food was delicious. But her displeasure was not long in coming again with the sounds that the speedster made next to her while he choked on a large piece of waffle.

“Do you have to make so much noise to eat? Can't you eat in smaller portions?” Raven asked, losing patience. “And I see you have few manners," she rebuked, "eat slower Wally, this is not one of your runs, you look like an animal.”

“I'm really sorry. I'm just really hungry, I couldn't eat anything the day before,” he lamented lowering his gaze and putting on a guilty face.

His face, which now looked like that of a scolding puppy, lessened all of Raven's anger, and she felt something like guilt gnawing from within her. In fact he had not eaten anything because he had come to rescue her, saved her life, rescued the children and had stayed with her all the time in case she needed help. And she really valued his presence. He didn't have any obligation either and he brought them an exquisite breakfast anyway. And she just yelled at him and made him feel bad.

“Rae, are you okay?” Wally asked a little worried. The girl seemed to be engrossed in some depressing thought. She seemed to feel guilty for scolding him. He was about to tell her that it didn't matter and that everything was fine when she spoke.

"I...uh..." The empathic one only blinked quickly, she had not realized that her thoughts had lengthened so much and she had remained staring him in the face. She needed some quick justification and now. «Well, think smart».

“It's just that you...” Raven looked at Wally and saw his two cheeks stained with food leftovers. She did her best not to laugh when she saw his face full of breakfast leftovers, he looked like a child. “You've got food all over your face," she said quickly. «Yeah, that's smart».

“Even Teether, who's just a baby, didn't get so dirty," laughed the little blonde girl.

The redhead blinked and rubbed his face hard with his hand in an attempt to cleanse himself.

“Not there, lower down, near your chin," said Melvin laughing as the speedster wiped where she pointed.

“A little more to the right," Timmy pointed to him with a giggle.

“I see that on your forehead there is a piece of egg dirtying your mask, or is it waffle?” Melvin joked.

“I think he's got bacon coming out of his nose,” continued Timmy.

Wally snorted annoyed, his attempts to groom his face were failing.

“Just leave it to me," said Raven with a small smile, amused by the jokes of the little ones and the failed attempts of the speedster. She grabbed a napkin that was on the table. She brought the napkin close to Wally's face and gently rubbed his face to make it as hygienic as possible.

Wally looked at the sorceress with slight surprise at her close attitude now. To his relief, now her depressed countenance was replaced by a beautiful grin highlighting the beauty of her face.

“All clean," she muttered with a smile still on her face. Today her jaw was probably going to hurt, she had never smiled for so long. Two minutes was a long time. It was basically a record for her... or a miracle.

“Thanks, Rae," said Wally returning to his breakfast trying to eat and chew more slowly.

“I told you! You're flirting with him! Yuck, go somewhere private!”

“I'm gonna puke!”

“You two eat and keep your mouth shut!” Raven ordered now angry.

“And how are we supposed to eat if we have to keep our mouth shut?” asked Timmy a little confused.

“Only eat without uttering another word," answered the sorceress dryly.

Melvin continued eating and observed with a melancholic smile the interaction between everyone, it felt almost like being in a family, something that she and her siblings lacked since their parents were not in their lives. Raven stopped her teacup halfway as she perceived with her empathy the anguish coming from the little girl. She had a strange look on her face, as if she was thinking of something very difficult and sad for her.

“Melvin, is something wrong?” Raven asked.

“No, nothing, just... I'm going to bring Bobby a breakfast plate, he must have a lot of appetite," she replied with a false smile on her face. She got up with a tray of some food and came out.

“It's okay.”

Raven knew she was lying, but she didn't want to pressure her to talk about a topic that, from what she could feel, was clearly painful. After all, she only went on a mission to rescue these three children but had no idea about their life histories and the circumstances by which they ended up involved in this. They should be playing, having fun, studying at school, not running away from a criminal organization. All that remained for her to do was wait for Melvin to trust her, tell her story and see what she could do to help.

This only brought back memories of her harsh childhood, even though she really wasn't sure she had ever been through that stage in her life. She was never normal and never lived a typical life. Due to her condition, she had to mature very quickly. Childhood was an ostentation that could not be bestowed upon her. She never had any friends when she was a child, she was most of the time locked in the temple. From time to time she would observe the city, look and wonder what the life of an ordinary person was like. It was probably more interesting than hers which was full of hours and hours of training, meditation and study, as the fear of losing control was always so real. With only a small tantrum she had as a child, the building shuddered. The worst thing was that most people were terrified of her. Every time she walked the narrow streets of Azarath, she could hear them whisper some things like "devil's offspring" and "demon girl". Therefore, she spent almost all the free time she had without meditating, sinking in a book or with her mother. Every time she saw the other children, her heart hurt and she was filled with envy. She saw them laugh, jump, play. She wanted to be like them, too. In his case, almost anything other than meditating was restricted, anything that disturbed her emotions was really risky. Even more so in her state of helplessness, when she was not trained in the art of controlling her abilities, the leaking of her powers was risky because it could end up hurting someone.

Breakfast ended finally, leaving Wally leaning on the chair massaging his bloated belly and with an ecstatic face of absolute satisfaction. The children had gone outside to breathe some fresh air and to keep Melvin and Bobby company. Raven was about to get up from the chair to wash the dishes and clean the rest of the table, but in a fraction of a second she felt the air surrounding her, now sitting on the sofa. She saw the speedster's silhouette circling the table quickly, watching as the utensils disappeared one by one in the process and now piled neatly to one side of the sink. She still wasn't used to the boy's super speed. In a matter of seconds all the cutlery and utensils were clean and Wally suddenly appeared sitting next to her.

"All clean," he winked, in a clear reference to the phrase she had used when she scrubbed the food grime off his face.

Raven only moved a little uncomfortably in the seat, the boy was too close to her, with one arm resting on the back of the chair near her head. Raven folded her arms across her chest in a defensive gesture typical of her body language, and the morning sunlight coming through the window bathed her in a subtle golden halo. Wally's heart pulsed strongly in his chest and a slight heat was installed in his stomach. She looked almost ethereal and unreal. But he still wanted to ask her what had saddened her during the meal.

“Before, during breakfast, why were you sad?” Wally asked.

“I just... I didn't have to yell at you, you've been good to all of us and all I've done is show my bad temper all the time since you've been here. I'm sorry if I offended you, really," lamented Raven with a clear effort as if it were hard for her to say those words. She wasn't used to apologizing, she wasn't in her style.

“Don't worry, Rae. I was not angry with you and I do not intend you to change your temper to deal with me. To tell you the truth, I find your ironic comments very pleasant.  Otherwise it wouldn't be you, honey.”

“Geez, what philosophical thought. Did you get it out of a fortune cookie?” She said, rolling her eyes but with a tiny smile.

“See? I like it better this way,” he laughed at her comment.

They remained in a comfortable silence for a while until one of the communicators released its alarm. Raven probed hers instinctively but the sound didn't come from hers.

“It's mine," Wally said, taking his artifact and analyzing the information that came to him.

“What's it about?” She asked, trying to look at the boy's communicator.

“A looting in the main museum of Jump City," he told her as he squinted and read the information that came into his communicator. “Days ago came an exhibition of valuable Egyptian artifacts. I suppose that without all of you the city was left unprotected.”

“Who's the thief? Red X again?” She asked curiously.

“Nah, we're talking about H.I.V.E, the H.I.V.E. Five specifically from what I can read here.”

“Does Jinx and that loser team ever give up?” Raven sighed.

“Will you come with me and we'll kick some ass?” he asked enthusiastically about the idea of fighting next to her.

“I must stay," she replied roundly, looking at the boy as if he were mad, "I cannot leave the children alone with the threat of Mallah hovering.”

“Please," he begged, joining his hands in a pleading position, "plus the children have the rare bear that can protect them.”

“I can't, go on your own,” she said.

Wally looked down sadly, he just wanted to go on a mission with the beautiful sorceress. The grief leaked into Raven. She had no problem going with him but neither could she be reckless and leave the kids unprotected. She just sighed in frustration.

“Fine, listen, Wally," she said when she found a comfortable solution for the two of them. "If I see you're taking too long to get your ass down here, I promise I'll go check it out. Is that okay with you?”

“Take too long? I think it's gonna be really fast, babe," he replied with a smile, "but I will accept your proposal.”

Well, she wouldn't go with him, but at least she would make her appearance in case he needed her or took too long.

Chapter Text

A silhouette slipped through the shadows inside the city museum. It was already two in the morning. The only light that could be seen came from the crescent that was just above the skylight that flooded the vast room with its pale rays. There was no one on the site, most of the valuables were in place but it was obvious that an extensive battle had taken place here, on the floor there were footprints that surely belonged to Kid Flash after his multiple runs, but there was no trace of him or the villains of the Hive.

Where is Wally?

The Egyptian room was filled with everything from priceless relics to ancient trinkets and even the mummy of some pharaoh. Ancient art and artifacts always fascinated her. The room she was in at the time was the site of an exhibition of such objects, with glass cases filled with ancient scrolls, antique clothing, jewelry and quite valuable works. Red X could surely make a feast by stealing from this place. Some of these gadgets even gave off a slight magical buzz, so it was obvious that some of them contained some mystical energy inside.

If she had the time, she might have found this exhibition interesting to look at but, of course, she didn't. Finding Kid Flash was her priority now and she knew it wasn't going to be easy if he was moving with his super speed, but she would do her best. Raven sat in the center of the museum in the lotus position. What she was about to do was very risky. Using her astral projection alone left her in a state of vulnerability to a safe attack because she had to leave her body, but since she felt no threat around her, she would try.

Somewhere in the city he was; however, she was already quite familiar with his scarlet aura, which stood out with its glow from any other she had seen before, and she had had a good reading of his emotions, which would make the task much easier. Empathy was a good trick for this.

Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath as she calmed down and went into a kind of trance. She recited her mantra and felt her soul projecting out of her body and heading up to the top of Jump City, trying to track the boy down. She was focused on something specific as she worked. Extending her astral body, she flew around the whole city, her mind filtering through all auras that were in her way. It was really irritating for her as too many emotions were coming from the city into her head. Until she finally found him, and he was not alone. All around him was a familiar pink aura, that was Jinx. But there was also a dark aura that gave off only sadistic desires; that surely must have been Madame Rouge. Great, Wally had gotten into trouble. She could feel his exhaustion and pain, it seemed he had been beaten up pretty badly. Well, it was time to make her entrance as she promised.

Fast mission and his balls. Kid Flash was now hiding in a warehouse or storage room, really exhausted and without strength. He tried to calm his breathing and relax his body but he was really tired and his legs wouldn't move as fast as he wanted to at this point. He couldn't escape again so his only option for now was to try and stay hidden.

“Damn it,” he grunted in frustration as he stared at the warehouse entrance, waiting to be found.

Things weren't going as well as he had in mind. He was really in trouble. He was able to successfully prevent the theft of the museum, but the six villains had other plans in mind. They attempted another series of raids throughout the city, and he had to thwart their pathetic plans once again. Then the supposed team leader, Jinx, had the audacity to return to the museum to try to steal some kind of Egyptian amulet. He let his guard down a bit because she was alone but in the end it turned out to be a trap and he ended up knocked out. Well, his foolishness played against him.

Then he had then woken up in a cell with the six villains discussing what to do with him and none of them agreed. The worst thing was that they called themselves the Hive Five but there were six of them. "Pathetic," he thought. But what really made him tremble a little was when the pink haired leader contacted the Brotherhood of Evil, with what appeared to be Madame Rouge, who suggested that he be kept in a holding cell a little longer until she arrived, and that he be left without food! Now that was truly evil.

He remembered the information Raven gave him about the organization and knew he was in serious trouble if she cornered him. Her words came back to his mind: "Madame Rouge, false, cunning, twisted and sadistic in every sense of the word. She can change her shape, she is elastic and first-rate, and in my opinion, the most dangerous of them all". He knew from Raven that the Brotherhood was behind the Titans, and he had now entered their web. He was really cornered.

He had to vibrate his molecules to get through the cell and escape before that woman arrived, but not before taking a few minutes to get his smug attitude out and dismantle his entire building. And in the end the crazy elastic had to appear, leaving him seriously injured and worn out. Raven really didn't joke one bit when she said she was powerful... and sadistic. She seemed to feel some kind of twisted joy in hurting him and making him suffer, and he felt almost like a deer cornered by a lion. He tried to calm his nerves and try to regain even some energy but he knew it wouldn't take long to find him from his hiding place.

“What the hell is taking you so long, Raven?” the boy grumbled in frustration. He didn't even know how to use the stupid communicator to call her, he just knew how to answer the device. Damn Robin who didn't take the time to explain how to use it. His only hope at this point was that Raven would deign to appear as she had promised.

“Twenty meters to your left.” That's what Jinx heard from her HIVE communicator. Looking around, he saw the warehouse closed. With a smile, she began walking toward the site.

“Thanks, See-More. I knew I could count on you.” Eventually, it was all going to end, the problems this hero caused her would be worth it.

An explosion destroyed the entire gate of the warehouse where Kid Flash was hiding. Well, now he was in trouble. He expected to come face to face with Madame Rouge but she was only the pink haired girl from HIVE.

She had managed to catch Kid Flash at first, but he had escaped, and she had tried to locate him again. Madame Rouge, one of the leaders of the Brotherhood of Evil, had accused her of being weak, so she decided to make amends by catching the elusive hero. But from the way the boy looked dejected, seriously injured, she knew that Rouge had actually found him first and apparently gave him a great beating. Jinx knew that if she managed to catch Kid Flash and turn him in, the Brotherhood of Evil would be impressed, they would take her into their ranks and she would be able to give up the team attempt she had. Basically, play in the major leagues.

“Get away,” warned the redhead with a fierce look.

Jinx threw a curse on the floor, breaking a water pipe, wetting and pushing the sprinter.

“You made me look like a fool!” she said angrily, looking at the ginger who looked really tired. “What's the matter? Run out of gas?” Jinx scoffed.

“For now. I'll have my strength back in a minute,” he muttered trying to stand up on his own, resting his back on some boxes that were there. What he really needed was time, which was funny coming from him.

“I'm not going to give you a minute!” she said, taking out some sort of electronic device. She pointed it at the sprinter until he asked her a question.

“Why do you want to be like her?”

“I'm bad luck. Good was never an option for me. At least with the Brotherhood of Evil, I can be somebody. I'll get respect.”

Wally could hear the distress in her voice. She wasn't even sure what she was doing, she was clearly confused. Maybe he could take advantage of that?

“You don't need to hurt people to feel good about yourself.” His eyes suddenly opened when the question Raven asked him that morning came into his head like an epiphany. «Tell me, Wally, are you incapable of meeting yourself?».

He was taken out of his thinking when Jinx activated the device, and he felt an intense electric current running through his whole body.

“And that's only Level One," said Jinx turning the wheel of the device, causing more pain to Kid Flash's body.

«It really hurts,» he thought as he squirmed on the floor.

Jinx left the warehouse, leaving behind the boy being tortured by the continuous electric current. She was surprised to see that Madame Rouge was there waiting.

“Madame Rouge! I caught him!”. Hearing the redhead scream in pain, Jinx turned to look at him. With her attention on Kid Flash, Madame Rouge took advantage and hit Jinx by pushing her away.

“You did nothing. It was I who made him weak. And you call yourself a villain. Pathetic," mocked Madame Rouge of the girl with her typical French accent.

“I wanted someone to look up to. I thought you were cool," Jinx revealed, rising from the floor with difficulty.

Jinx looked hard at the villain in front of her, trying not to let her gaze frighten her.

“Life is full of disappointments," said the older woman, reaching out to strike another surefire blow and end this once and for all.

“And you are one of them," said a cold voice that had been absent until that moment. Then a set of large heavy boxes surrounded by black energy swept up against Madame Rouge, hitting her hard and sending her against one of the walls. Then a shadow emerged from the floor, giving way to Raven's bodily, hooded figure.

The empathic's eyes went directly to the tortured figure of Wally who was still surrounded by an electromagnetic field that was clearly causing him great pain. His suit was covered with burns, he was breathing laboriously and he was starting to cough for air. Raven struggled with her own emotions and could feel, through her empathic sensitivity, the unbearable pain he was in. That's when something broke inside her. She had to make an effort to suppress the rage that flowed through her body when she saw him in such a vulnerable and hurt state. The guilt also fell like icy water on her. She should have come to his aid earlier, she knew that something bad would have to happen to take so long but the children did not leave her much time. Raven saw the device Jinx was holding and used her powers to take it from her and break it, causing the energy around Wally to dissipate quickly. The empath used her powers to push the other witch away and keep her away from the site. Her target was now the woman of the Brotherhood and then, if she had time, she would take care of Jinx if she dared to interfere.

“Finally," Wally said when he felt the pain lessen a bit and was glad Raven finally showed up. But he was still totally weakened, and he knew he couldn't help Raven fight the crazy elastic woman.

Madame Rouge struggled to get up from the floor and ran the back of her hand over her chin, looking down to see the same bloodstain dripping from her mouth. How did the damned witch dare to attack her from behind?

“You will regret it!”. She made a move with her hand to hit Raven but she vanished into the shadows to appear again on the opposite side of the street.

Madame Rouge grunted in pure frustration and moved to intercept Raven again, but again dodged her blow. It was like trying to hit a shadow and the failed attempts only increased the villain's anger.

Raven opened the fingers of her hand as she whispered her mantra and searched for the largest object in the area. She found a dumpster full of garbage, which was barely within her reach, as she lifted it. The weight was surprising, but she didn't stop as she threw the object to where Rouge was, who easily avoided the dump.

Raven could feel all the anger emanating from the other woman's mind, making her stagger. An overwhelming thirst for blood, which she found suffocating, came over her, so powerful that it almost broke her shields. Her empathic sensitivity was absorbing that awesome amount of anger and was mimicking her own inner rage. Oh, nothing good was going to come of this. All the villain projected was a bloody desire to kill her and a rare bloodthirsty appetite. Well, she was not wrong when she mentioned that the Brotherhood's woman was deranged.

“Well, the little black bird wants to play, well let's play," mocked Madame Rouge with a sinister smile on her face, stretching her fingers that now looked like too sharp claws. She extended her arms to strike the sorceress with her hands but Raven jumped backwards dodging her blow as she threw another container directly at her. The villain used her reflexes and flexibility to spin out of the way of the object, letting it crash into the wall behind her. She made a sharp movement with her hand and finally struck the elusive sorceress.

“Someone has to teach you a lesson," Rouge insisted.

Raven turned just as Rouge was hitting her with a solid punch to the face, which brought her down. She hit the ground and rolled several times before stopping and standing up.

"Someone has to shut you up," Raven said as she opened her arms and prepared to attack. "Azarath, Metrion, Zin...". Raven's signature mantra was interrupted when Rouge's arms rose and grabbed the teenager, dragging her across the floor.

Rouge jumped close to Raven stretching his legs and began to attack with his arms at inhumane speeds. Raven was able to dodge only one arm, but she couldn't avoid the other. The sorceress crashed solidly into one of the concrete walls, and felt Rouge painfully strike her stomach with a fist, causing her to scream in pain.

“Raven!” shouted Wally really worried trying to make an effort to get up. «Shit, I can't move!».

Rouge approached Raven before she could recover, bludgeoning her with her arm and hitting the witch again, but this time, she was pleasantly rewarded with what sounded like a snap of a broken rib and a grunt of pain. Raven was refusing to scream loudly, and Rouge didn't like that, she wanted to hear her break into screams. She kicked her with her foot, pushing her back. The lament that followed satisfied her. Her sinister smile widened.

"So this is your song, little bird?" Madame Rouge laughed. "How nice to hear it but I want to hear more. Sing a little louder for me!"

She stretched out her right arm and grabbed Raven at the back of her head and hit her again against the ground.

“Raven! Move!” shouted the sprinter as he saw the villain attack the sorceress mercilessly without giving her a break.

“Shut up, you stupid brat! Wait your turn! After the witch, I have time and I'm in a good mood to attend to you and the other pathetic villain.”

Rouge stretched her fingers into daggers and impaled them directly on Raven, but only found collapsed boxes. Now the sorceress was running, trying to dodge another one from her elastic arm while holding tightly to her wounded side.

“Isn't it fun? Keep running, I want to see you run and I can't wait to hear you scream in pain!”

Rouge now stretched her arms out to grab the Titan, which she easily did.

“Scared, my dear? Now I'll show you what it's like to be scared”. With that, she wrapped her body in one movement. Her arms wrapped around Raven as if she were a strangling, constricting python.

“I see that I have captured you, little bird, I will now make you sing for the last time," laughed Madame Rouge as she savored her tongue and saw her prey completely vulnerable and at her mercy. There would be one less Titan, and one of the most powerful of her group, one more point in favor of the Brotherhood and one more step to take control of everything. She knew that this feat would be well rewarded by their leader. Although she was doubtful why the witch was not defending herself, she could not see her eyes, her face being completely covered by her hood.

“Raven, be careful!” shouted the sprinter a little nervously from the position on the ground. Why wasn't she defending herself? He couldn't move a bit to help her, his body was really weak and without energy. He wanted to protect her. And where the hell was the other girl from HIVE?

Madame Rouge was about to squeeze her arms to crush the girl's bones and break the rest of her ribs, but the sorceress only wrapped herself in a disembodied black energy and ended up going through the prison she had made with her arms. The energy flew directly to her, lashing out at her body. But before she fell to the ground she felt that she was being held by Raven's powers by keeping her in the air.

“Now I'm the one who's going to make you sing," said the empathic in a sinister voice, feeling adrenaline and rage pumping through her veins.

Raven instantly enveloped the villain with her dark powers and lifted her higher into the air. Rouge saw the Titan clench her fist tightly, feeling her body squeeze to its limits and causing her to grunt in pain.

With a simple wave of her hand, Raven shook her enemy from right to left between two brick walls, hitting her several times and then throwing her away through one of the local buildings. Then, she conjured up a set of debris that fell on top of her.

The sorceress moved as she levitated a few inches off the ground. Her eyes sparkled with a menacing white tone. When she caught sight of the villain, she attacked her again while her hand glowed black. Madame Rouge gasped as Raven's magic caught her by the ankle, pulling her out of the stone prison and crashing her hard into the ground, creating a crater. The air remained outside her, leaving her momentarily stunned as she breathed, desperate to escape.

“Merde!” grumbled Rouge.

The villain was shaken when the atmosphere suddenly changed completely. The air cooled dramatically around her almost freezing, the walls and floor began to frost and crack. The shadows began to move and shake all over the place as if they had a life of their own. Some things in the place even started to get covered with a black glow making them melt. The lights of the place began to flicker and the wind roared around them. And then, without warning, all the lamps in the place exploded, a series of street lights exploded noisily and broke into splinters on the ground, one after the other, leaving the whole block bathed in darkness. Rouge could not see anything and for the first time in a long time in her life she was afraid.

“Are you terrified of this darkness? Do you want me to show you what it feels like to be afraid of the real darkness?”

Raven summoned her soul-self and built a wall of darkness between the two. She forced the villain to retreat when the giant black crow looked over her and shrieked loudly enough to break all the windows of the surrounding buildings. The thousands of broken glasses now levitated through the air, with their sharp corners pointing directly at Rouge, and some rocks and debris were also floating threateningly.

“I'm much more than a pathetic person like you can handle, Rouge” grumbled Raven. Her anger and another unknown part of her mind were screaming and deepening her head as her eyes began to take on a reddish hue, her fangs were threatening to lengthen and some extensions of black energy were beginning to emerge from her cloak. “Who would have thought it? You are but a mere victim of that Brotherhood, I can see it, in your mind. Laura de Mille, originally a French theater actress, master of disguise, who after a car accident, suffered a brainwash and was turned into... this.”

“Get out of my head, damn it! Now!”

“I think you are not in a position to give me orders, I remember that in principle it was you who wanted to play.”

There was a hint of horror in Rouge when everything began to get darker if possible around her and she became breathless as she continued to retreat. Rouge was aware of the air she was holding in her chest. The cold penetrated beyond her skin, penetrated her chest, her heart, her soul... This damned witch was invading her mind using her powers of empathy to torture her with terror, creating in her path in her brain the most horrifying thoughts and images.

“Are you scared? You should be.”

Raven finally sent some of the glass and debris to Rouge, pushing her further back. Rage was pulsing through her and she could feel it quickly breaking her strings of control. She had to make a great effort to keep her mind clear and level. She tried to recite her mantra to achieve this. The morning meditation was helping her to stabilize very well, so far she had everything under control, but she had to stop this now.

“Get out. I'm giving you that chance.”

She should not let the villain go, but she knew that if this went on a little longer, she would lose every ounce of control and there would be nothing to stop her. Her emotions were getting out of hand. And she promised herself that she would not lose control of her emotions again, but she was controlling them quite well despite everything.

Rouge watched the sorceress with some alarm. Her bright, menacing white eyes were now throbbing with a reddish hue, she seemed to be growing in size, and some vestiges of tentacles of darkness that emerged from within her cloak began to approach her. It was as if something was about to awaken from deep within her being and she didn't want to be her punching bag. Her common sense told her to obey and run if she wanted to continue living.

“Hmm. We'll be in touch,” was the last thing Madame Rouge said before getting up with difficulty and quickly escaping the scene. Damned Mallah who did not fulfill his mission, the dark witch of the Titans was supposed to be his target and she sincerely did not expect her to suddenly appear there.

Raven ignored the escaping villain as her power slowly waned, and tried to suppress the rage that almost consumed her as the black tendrils of her magic disappeared and she removed the wall she had created. She took some time to calm her exalted emotions and then headed for Wally's badly wounded body. Thankfully, he had not been able to see the last part of the battle thanks to the wall of darkness. She was on the verge of losing control and showing her demonic side in front of him.

“We... won? Why did you let her go?”

“Yes, we won. And it was the best thing Wally, I'm really sorry but I couldn't take the fight any longer. Surely there will be another opportunity to catch her, of that there is no doubt.”

“Are you okay, Rae? Did she hurt you? That woman's got a serious screw loose, look at the way they left me, baby.”

“I have been better but I will recover, don't worry about me. Remember, my body heals itself... and don't call me baby," she reproached. “I have a name.”

She bent down next to the boy and tried to concentrate her energies to heal his body a bit to give him some energy momentarily, later she would heal him completely... if he kept his mouth shut.

Which, as always, evidently did not happen.

“I'm really happy to see you, you do fight quite hard. You really beat the crap out of that maniac. Too bad I couldn't make out the last part of the fight and missed it.”

“Yeah, it's a real shame you missed it," she said sarcastically as she healed the boy.

“Wait a minute Rae!” exclaimed Wally, recalling something truly important.

“What's going on?” she asked, surprised by his outburst.

“Didn't you tell me that it was better to heal without clothes? The truth is that I would like to feel your hands sliding all over my.…”

And he only screamed when she pinched the skin on his arm too hard. She just rolled her eyes. Even after a good punching session, he couldn't help throwing out some dirty jokes.

“Wally, just finish that sentence and I will deliver you to the Brotherhood of Evil, or I will repair that remote control and use it this time myself to torture you until you beg for mercy and compassion.”

He just laughed at her threats, he really appreciated her being there with him again. He was really comfortable with her presence.

“Wow, I didn't know you were a BDSM fan. Maybe if you want to dominate me, all you have to do is ask and I will gladly accept.”

She just sighed for his jokes and rested her palms gently on the boy's ribcage and closing her eyes, she began to sing a spell. Wally's body instantly relaxed in Raven's presence and hands over his body. He closed his eyes feeling that pleasant warmth all around him. She produced a kind of serenity in him, something he really liked.

“Today was the best day of my life, you know?” said the redhead with a half smile as he kept his eyes closed.

“The best day of your life?” Raven asked, frowning in confusion. “I don't want to imagine which is the worst if being a victim of torture seems like a splendid thing to remember.”

“It's not every day that I have three women fighting over me, this day is going to be unforgettable.”

Slowly, as Raven's spell progressed, the pain in the sprinter's body faded and he noticed that he regained some energy to finally get up. Raven stood up and watched as Wally disappeared from her sight to appear immediately with a bag of potato chips. She wasn't surprised that the first thing he did was look for some food.

“You are like a walking sanatorium. I think if everyone had your powers there would be no use for hospitals.”

“Better said, if everyone had my powers, we'd all be in big trouble,” she replied.

“Anyway, why did it take you so long to show up? You took too long and I was almost killed there,” he asked as he put some potatoes in his mouth.

“I was late because I was buying diapers,” she replied, as if it were the simplest thing in the world.

.

.

Wait.

Had he heard right?

.

.

Wally's hand was halfway down, the potatoes he was holding fell to the floor as he looked at Raven as if she had grown a second head or something.

“Well Wally, don't you think your attempt at a date is finally over? I mean, you saved my life and I just saved you, don't you think we're even now?” she asked. Not that she didn't really want to date the sprinter, but she really wanted to find out what "bright idea" might come out of that red head. She figured she could be a little more surprised by the things that could emerge from that majestic brain of his.

“There is no logic in that, Rae. That's not how things work. Listen well and pay attention, I will explain it to you,” he said as if he was about to give her the best and wisest lesson of her whole life. “You still owe me a date because I saved you, and now I owe you a date for saving me. Do you follow me or do I slow down?” he asked. The girl was only looking at him with her typical poker face, and having no answer he just continued with his brilliant reasoning. “Therefore, if with those two premises mentioned above we apply a syllogism by deduction, we have as a result two dates to plan, do you understand or shall I explain it again?”

She only blinked several times because of his very... peculiar reasoning.

“You're a genius. Where did you learn that insightful Aristotelian logic? In some educational animated program for children?”

“Hey, I'm still here in case you haven't noticed," Jinx announced, a little offended that her presence has been ignored all this time.She had stayed away when she felt the amount of power emanating from Raven's body, it was dangerous to stay around, so she tried to stay out of the fight and let the empath take care of Rouge. And she was also a little curious about the special treatment between the cold Titan and the hyperactive boy. She didn't even know Raven could have a boyfriend or anything, she seemed more the prudish type.

When he heard Jinx's voice, Wally let out a cry and hid behind Raven's cape. The empath only sighed at the boy's stupidity.

“That's the girl from HIVE who tortured me with that device!” shouted the sprinter, pointing at the young pink-haired girl.

“You probably deserved it," Raven joked.

“Hey! Whose side are you on?”

“Raven,” the pink-haired girl muttered, looking at the Titan. She had no intention of fighting them. She actually felt a little lost.

“Jinx,” Raven said in a monotone, looking at the other sorceress. She was surprised that Jinx had no intention of attacking them and that she hadn't run away either. She could sense her dejection and sadness. She was evidently totally disoriented.

Wally watched as Raven and the "villain" stared at each other. There was a lot of tension there. Yeah, he could feel it in the air. Would they fight with their strange spells and incantations? Would they draw hidden wands from their pockets and an epic magic battle occur that would be a scene worthy of Harry Potter? He could not allow that, of course not. Well, it was time to be a true gentleman and stop the confrontation that was sure to come.

“Calm down please, ladies,” he said with a conceited tone as he walked away from his refuge behind the sorceress and stood between the two of them as he raised his two arms in a clear gesture of interference.

Raven only raised an eyebrow in response. «What the hell was he doing now?». Surely the sprinter's tongue would run faster than his brain again and, as always, she was not wrong.

“As much as I would like to stay here and watch two pretty girls fight, you will know that I am a very busy man... although it might take me a while if it were a mud fight. That would be exciting to watch.”

«Mud wrestling? Really? It was lucky he hadn't seen her fight against Terra that time, which objectively was far from an exciting thing for any man to watch».

“What the hell is this kid talking about, Raven?”

“I have no idea," said the sorceress as she tapped her forehead with the palm of her hand. “Kid Flash, why don't you do me a favor and find a food joint that's open at this hour? I need to eat something after I'm done talking to Jinx, I haven't had any dinner yet.”

“At your command, Captain," said Wally as he quickly disappeared from the scene.

Perfect, with this she would have enough time to...

“I'm back," announced Wally as he appeared again with Raven. “There's one open near the gas station east of city. They sell hamburgers and pizzas and have good prices.”

Nothing, just forget it.

“So what are you going to do now, Jinx?” asked the empathic to know what she really wanted to do.

She felt Wally vanish again to appear now eating a chocolate bar as he returned to his position behind her.

“I don't know,” whispered Jinx in frustration.

“Why are you with these losers anyway? You're too pretty to be a criminal,” Wally gave her a flirty smile as he winked at her, causing Raven to frown and glare at him.

«Why did Kid Flash really have to be flirting? Right in front of her, no less! She really hated that word, she just hated it but she was... a little... just a little... just tiny... almost nothing... jealous. And she didn't know why, after all, she and he were nothing. But he had dared to ask her out on a date and had the audacity to flirt with another woman in front of her eyes».

.

.

.

«Stupid Wally.»

“Are you flirting with her too? Do you do it with everyone?”

“Of course not. You don't have to be jealous, it's just a masterful strategy to make her see reason. Don't you ever watch movies or crime series? This really works, believe me what kind of guy do you take me for?”

“You should stop watching so much TV, it's burning your brain. And you're certainly the typical guy who flirts with the first woman in front of him. Surely you get along great with Speedy, the two are such for which.”

“Did Roy dare to flirt with you? Well, I guess I'll have to have a private talk with him when I see him. Still, I'm a gallant man, it's in my nature.”

“Do you know anything? If a man's masculine character traits are weakened, he often tries to compensate for that by exclusively emphasizing his masculine role,” Raven explained. “The result is the Don Juan, who needs to demonstrate his masculine prowess, because he is unsure of his masculinity in a character sense.”

“Ouch, that was a low blow, Raven,” said Jinx, trying to stifle a laugh with her hand at that masterful comment.

“Rae, you have a bad opinion of me. I'm not a Don Juan, on the contrary, I consider myself a one-woman man... I like the color blue a lot, if you know what I mean.”

“I honestly don't want to know what you're referring to,” she muttered, trying not to let the boy's comment make her blush or make her nervous.

“But come on Rae, who wouldn't want this body?” he raised an eyebrow in defiance under his yellow mask.

“I can think of someone, I think it's in front of you,” Raven said expressionlessly, hoping he wouldn't notice her eyes roaming over his muscular body under the spandex suit.  She wouldn't have looked if it hadn't been for his words. The speedster noticed anyway, his wide grin gave him away.

“Oh, but that blush gives away something else. Should I be flattered?” he joked.

“You should learn better to keep your mouth shut before your ego suffocates you.”

“Could you leave the flirting for another time?” Jinx complained, she had been left out of the conversation again.

“I don't flirt with him!”

“And then what will you finally do, Pinky? I want to get it over with, I'm a little hungry and I'm really exhausted, I need to sleep. So why don't you talk? Did the cat eat your tongue?”

Jinx just gave the kid a pissed-off look. Pinky? What kind of ridiculous nickname was that?

“Oh, what a brilliant nickname,” she said sarcastically. “Let me guess, my hair and eyes are pink, so that's automatically my name to you, right?”

“Well, yes," he said simply as he shrugged his shoulders. “Is something wrong, Pinky? You look angry all of a sudden.”

“Don't call me Pinky, booger-brain,” she hissed.

“Good luck with that,” said Raven as she rolled her eyes, “he has serious problems with names. He has a strange fascination with changing them, it's a weird way he has of amusing himself.”

“Well, I think Pinky is a good nickname for her, don't you, little bird?”

“Don't call me a little bird, I'm not a pet. I have a name,” Raven replied.

“And don't you dare call me Pinky again.”

“Why not? Maybe... Jinxie?”

“Don't call me that, you red-headed idiot. How the hell do you put up with him, Raven? He' s really infuriating.”

“Breathing exercises, meditation, a lot of meditation and also self-control. Although believe me, sometimes he talks so much that he doesn't even let me think clearly.”

“Rae, let's not fool each other. You can't think clearly because all you have on your mind is my adorable, alluring and mesmerizing presence. After all, I'm irresistible, don't you think, Jinxie?”

“Stop calling me Jinxie, stupid. My name is Jinx.”

“What happens if I keep doing it? But, if you don't like that name, maybe I can think of others. Let me think, I'm pretty creative,” said the sprinter as he moved quickly around Jinx, making her upset by his speed, with one hand on her chin as he took notes and analyzed her appearance. “Hmm... I think you're too pink, too much. So, how about... Rose? Rosy? Rosalyn? Rosemary? Rosmerta? Rosabel? Rosanne? Which do you prefer?”

“Do you want your head torn off?” cried Jinx in real anger as she threw a curse on him that he quickly dodged and took refuge behind Raven again.

“Well, I give up. Then it will be only like Jinx... or Pinky, I like Pinky. Anyway, that team of yours is just holding you back and it's going to hurt you, you should make a change,” said Wally trying to talk some sense into her. He knew Raven could have the same intentions as him.

“I know! I always tell myself that,” she saddened. She knew the boy was right in a way. “Still, what do you know? You don't even know me.”

“I think you're too smart for this,” Wally replied.

“Jinx, listen, it's going to be okay. I'll help you if you let me.”

“How can you help me, Raven? I'm a criminal! Do you think Robin would allow it? Or the other Titans? I've caused a lot of trouble, all of you! No hero will help me!”

“You're not bad, Pinky, I just think you're a little confused.”

“Stop calling me Pinky, you idiot!”

“Is it so hard for you to change if you are not comfortable being a criminal? It's your life Jinx, you decide about it.”

“Oh, is this the part where you try and convert me? Make me see the error of my ways? You're wasting your time. It's too late for me, anyways,” she whispered ruefully.

Jinx felt tears welling up in her pink, feline eyes, and immediately wiped them away furiously. She knew her knees were also shaking a little. She was aware that Kid Flash and Raven were staring at her, so she made sure not to show too much weakness in front of them.

“It's never too late," added Raven, "especially when someone is interested in you. And I'm talking clearly about Cyborg, Jinx.”

Jinx remembered everything about it. Cyborg had built a pair of rings with hologram technology that granted him a sort of disguise: a super-powered young man named "Stone" who could turn his body into solid rock. The appearance of his former self before his cybernetic parts were installed. Cyborg managed to make his way into HIVE and soon caught the interest of not only the director, Brother Blood, but her interest as well. But in the end it turned out to be all a sham.

“Ston-I mean, Cyborg no longer interests me, it was all a hoax. In the end it was all an act of yours, nothing more than an act to infiltrate the Hive, or wasn't that what your mission was all about, Raven?”. She shook her head, she was lying to herself and she knew it, because she still cared about him. "You heard Madame Rouge, she herself said she would contact me. If I help the Brotherhood of Evil, I can finally be somebody.

«She is incapable of finding herself,» Raven thought pitifully.

“Tell me, will you be able to live knowing that the person you care about can be destroyed by the organization you plan to join?” Raven asked. “Besides... I think Cyborg still likes you.”

“Pinky has a boyfriend!” Wally chanted.

“Shut up Kid Flash!” ordered Raven. “Don't be childish!”

“How do you know?” asked Jinx hopefully, ignoring the boy's stupid comment and looking at Raven in surprise. Was it possible it was true or was she just playing a trick on her? Was she trying to turn her to the good side by using her crush on Cyborg to convince her?

“I'm empathic, do you understand? I can feel it sometimes in my head, it's too... irritating, believe me” she said. “And no, I'm not trying to use your infatuation to my benefit” she saw how the girl looked at her with astonishment for knowing what she was thinking. “Listen Jinx, there are days when Cyborg still pines for you. Not to mention that in his room I noticed he has a picture of you two together dancing at some kind of party. Why would he have a picture of you if he didn't care about you?”

“And why were you in Cyborg's room anyway?” Wally asked, squinting suspiciously.

“Can you stop interrupting me?”

Jinx blushed as she remembered the day of dancing at the academy. It was one of her best memories that she treasured in her heart.

“I... What do I do then?” she begged, looking into the other sorceress's eyes for help.

"Do the right thing. It's not too late for you to start doing the right thing. Here," said Raven offering her one of the transmitters Robin had given her with intentions of recruiting the Honorary Titans. "I'll trust you and give you one of our communicators. If you still want to continue with your thieving lifestyle just destroy it, but if you think you can do something different and change just wait for my instructions for when we attack the Brotherhood of Evil. Your help will be rewarded, I assure you."

“I think Rae is right, it will be better for you.”

“Remember that it is never too late to take a new direction and write a new Jinx story. It's never too late to start being happy. Take the time you need to think about it.”

With that said, Raven turned away. She knew she needed to give Jinx her space so she could ponder the situation without pressure.

Jinx saw Raven retreating, as her blue cape billowed in tune with the wind, now walking away along with the speedster happily following her as he now ate a sandwich and drank a soft drink. Was that boy eating all the time?

“Are they gone?” asked Seymour, his teammate, appearing using his floating eye. He looked around, fearing that they were still close, whether it was Madame Rouge or the two Titans.

“Yeah,” she said with a blank stare where the two Titans had just left, their words still in her mind. She smiled inwardly. She had already made up her mind and hoped she wasn't wrong.

“So, um...the research lab's having a special on computers. Steal one, get one free. You in?”

“Nah. You go ahead.”

“Right. See you.” The boy from the Hive began to walk away, a little bewildered by the attitude so far away from her.

“Goodbye,” she said in a sigh, looking at the communicator Raven gave her.

Goodbye.

Jinx knew what she was doing, but she could hardly believe it. A soft smile emerged on her face.  «It's never too late to start over». She walked away from the place and into the darkness of an alleyway, away from Seymour, away from the HIVE, away from everything she had ever known. She had just given up and betrayed HIVE. Maybe even give up evil. The criminal world no longer appealed to her, and the world of heroes would definitely doubt her, but she would do her best to be someone for them.

The last thought that crossed her mind, before she disappeared from the place, was of a robotic boy who had stolen her heart.

Chapter Text

When Raven asked Wally to find some local eatery for dinner, she honestly didn't expect... this. The neighborhood where the place was located was practically a "dump," a place where no one in their right mind would take a walk at night. All around were some dilapidated apartment complexes, small businesses, dark and dangerous alleys, walls with graffiti-filled murals. It was the most decadent, dark and sinful part of Jump City at its peak, the main nest of crime and drugs.

“Mr. Pig Burger: flavor on wheels,” Raven read, arching an eyebrow. There was an illuminated sign on top of the fast food joint. Its neon lights were constantly flickering, evidently due to an electrical malfunction that no one had yet taken the trouble to repair. A picture of a nasty-looking pig dressed as a cook eating a hamburger while driving a car stood out on the sign. “What an interesting place you found to eat, Wally, I'm really looking forward to going in there”. The sarcasm was clear.

“Hey, it's almost three in the morning, it was the only place I found open, besides I don't know the city very well, I'm not from here anyway. Can we still go in? I'm too hungry.”

“You ate all the way, are you really still hungry?” Raven inquired a little too curiously, as she had seen the boy stop at every snack and sandwich vending machine along the way.

“It's my metabolism,” he revealed, trying to get her to understand why he needed to constantly feed himself. “It works differently than other people's. Sometimes it's too fast, even for me. Eating in large quantities is really necessary, Rae. After all, my body needs too much caloric energy to keep my muscles active. The way my powers work comes down to energy transformation. Ingested food contains chemical potential energy, which then must be transformed into motion or kinetic energy, and that's because food molecules break down, and in that process generate that energy. It's... complicated, but that's basically the explanation. Also today I made my molecules vibrate several times to escape from the elastic bitch, my body needs it”.

“Good for the biology lesson, Wally. Although I don't quite understand how it works to make the molecules vibrate. Okay, let's just go in,” she finally resigned herself. “I hope at least this place complies with the bromatology regulations and has the papers and permits up to date. Although I honestly don't think so”.

“Come on, Rae, what could possibly go wrong eating here?”

“Apart from contracting brucellosis, trichinosis, salmonella or some other disease," she listed some of the diseases transmitted by food contaminated by lack of optimal hygienic conditions, “I don't think there is anything wrong”.

Raven had to admit that she was also a little hungry, probably not as hungry as the speedster in front of her. She hadn't had any dinner that night as the kids had kept her pretty busy changing diapers, and then she had to go rescue Kid Flash. She finally followed the red-haired boy and they entered what looked like the odd mix between a small food joint and a low-end cantina or tavern. An interesting...hybrid, to say the least. The establishment seemed to provide food and drink, more drink than food to be honest. Raven wrinkled her nose at the strong smell of tobacco, alcohol and fried food, which filled the whole atmosphere. The sound of rock music flooded the whole place. Her eyes shifted and she scanned everything around her.

A middle-aged man was sitting alone in one of the corners. A forgotten cup of black coffee was still in his hand. The telltale black bags under his eyes and the tired look on his face implied that he spent more time working than at home and probably hadn't had a night's sleep in a long time.

There was another man at another table, who was taking a quick swig from his glass full of alcohol. In front of him were many empty glasses and it was obvious that the guy was already in a clear state of drunkenness. Raven could sense in him strong feelings of guilt, loneliness and too much sadness. Most likely he had recently been fired from his job or his wife had left him.

Another guy, who looked to be in his forties, talking on his cell phone drinking a beer while unconsciously fiddling with his car keys, was sitting at one of the tables in the center, completely oblivious to the world around him. He was telling a friend about his one night stand with a certain Nicole, evidently his lover.

Raven noticed that there were only men in the tavern at this hour. She wouldn't be surprised if she found Johnny Rancid around, it seemed to be his kind of place where he would fit right in. She wanted to back up and turn around, because all the men turned and looked her up and down, not even trying to hide or disguise their stares. Raven didn't put her hood up because it would make her more easily recognized, but she tried to cover herself with her cloak as much as she could and by mere instinct, she approached Wally.

Wally noticed how Raven moved closer to him. The speedster surprisingly took her by the hand as he looked inside the place and looked for somewhere to sit. He was well aware of the lustful look many of the men had, but they would be stupid to try to do anything with him there, but the situation still disgusted him. Well, equally it wasn't as if Raven couldn't defend herself, but he still wanted to punch every person in the room and get those expressions off their faces.

“Stay close to me, okay?” he said, without breaking his stride.

“It's... okay,” Raven hesitated. That's why she stayed away from these kinds of places, especially when it was crowded. It was too overwhelming.

Raven quickly followed him and stayed close as she watched their intertwined hands curiously. His thumb began to gently caress her palm almost involuntarily as they walked and she felt a strange warmth slowly creeping up her arm, filling her chest, where her heart was beating with a faster and faster rhythm. It was a strange feeling, which she wasn't sure what it was about. She didn't understand these strange sensations that filled her in a matter of seconds. But whatever it was, she was completely clueless.

She heard some men let out low whistles as they passed by the tables, but just kept marching on trying to relax and not pay attention to the murmurs she heard. She would like to know if they would whistle again if she showed them her "nice" other side of her, the same one she showed Rouge a moment ago, but she didn't want to make a spectacle of herself in a public place, so she tried to remain as composed as possible within her means.

“What the fuck is this guy wearing?” one of the guys sneered as he looked Kid Flash up and down with disdain.

“I didn't know it was Halloween time! Nice costumes, suckers!”

“Wait, isn't she the weird girl from the Titans?” asked a third.

“You can arrest me any time you want to, honey!” exclaimed another as he let out a whistle.

“Too bad the horny alien girl didn't come too,” muttered another as he raised a glass to his mouth and took a long swig of his whiskey.

The sprinter found a place in one of the corners where there were slightly fewer people.

“Just ignore them, they're idiots. Come on, let's sit over there Rae”.

Raven let out a sigh of relief when she realized that the music wasn't as loud in this section. When they reached the table, Wally sat so that he had his back to the rest of the men. The empath sat on the opposite side and realized that once she was situated in her chair, she could no longer see any of the guys. Raven smiled internally and wondered if he would sit like that on purpose, because now the men couldn't see her either.

“Hey,” greeted a young man who must have been the waiter of the place. His hair was blond, a bit greasy and slicked back. He was dressed in what appeared to be the establishment's uniform. “What can I do for you both?” he said roughly as if he was tired of asking the same question over and over again throughout the day, handing each of them a menu.

His gaze lingered on Raven longer than usual, so she tried to block her body and face using the menu, but the man was tall enough that her attempts at blocking didn't matter much. She read the food list trying to abstract herself from the look he was giving her. It was fortunate that Beast Boy wasn't here, the only thing they served in this place to eat was meat, meat and.... more meat.

When the speedster finished reading the menu he looked up and noticed how the waiter was looking at Raven. And he didn't like the way he was watching her at all.

“Hey you, I've already picked what I want,” he said a bit irritated and trying to get his attention.

“Well, tell me,” answered the waiter with a hint of annoyance for the interruption while he took a small notebook and a pen.

“I will have two full double cheeseburgers, extra fries, a pizza and two large sodas,” Wally grunted and handed the menu back to the waiter, almost hitting him in the face with it.

“Well, noted,” snorted the young waiter as he wrote and began to walk away from the table.

“Wait!” Wally said. She hasn't asked for her order yet.

“You just ordered a menu for more than two people, is that all for you?”

“Is there a problem with that?” asked the sprinter, furrowing his brow in irritation.

“Not at all, kid,” added the waiter disdainfully, “more money for me anyway. And you, honey?”

“Just a hamburger and an iced tea,” said Raven as she finished checking the menu. She was surprised that this place served tea, especially iced tea.

“Iced tea? Does that exist?” the waiter asked, arching an eyebrow. “Wouldn't you rather have a cold beer or something?”

“I think I just placed my order,” Raven replied. “Do you have a little trouble hearing or something? Or don't you know the menu at the place where you work?”

“It's just that no one ever orders tea, let alone iced tea,” the waiter objected.

“Well, it looks like today is your lucky day. Go and get it ready,” the sorceress said simply.

“Anything else?” the boy asked with a fake smile.

“That's all, you may leave,” she finished curtly.

The moment Raven finished ordering and dispatching the waiter, he muttered something about being as quick as possible and disappeared into the kitchen of the place. Raven thought she also heard some kind of insult before he walked through the door.

“I'm sorry,” apologized the sprinter, his gaze lowered as he fiddled and folded a napkin that was on the table.

“What are you apologizing for?” Raven asked, a bit confused.

“I don't think this is the best place to take a girl to dinner, but if you accept that date I promise to invite you to a better place”.

“I hope so," she said simply as she averted her eyes from the boy who was now staring at her dumbfounded.

“Wait... Will you really accept?” he was pleasantly surprised with a smile. He thought she was just waiting for the right moment to reject his offer.

“Why not, I told you I'd think about it and I'm giving you my answer now, don't make me repeat it”.

“I thought you would only object. Wow, I wasn't wrong when I said you were full of surprises”.

“You'd be amazed at all the surprises I have to show you,” the sorceress added in passing, and when she realized what that comment really sounded like, she felt like biting her tongue.

Well, she had made another stupid remark. Her brain wasn't working right when it came to talking to Kid Flash. Or maybe her emotions were speaking for themselves and making her loosen her tongue more than usual.

“Surprises to show? How come I have to take that phrase with a double meaning?” Wally asked in a slightly flirtatious and amused tone, as he rested his hand on her cheek and gave her his best smile.

Raven cursed inwardly at how easily he had a way of getting on her nerves and making her stagger.

“Obviously think of it in the complete opposite way to what you have in mind right now,” Raven replied, trying to stay even-tempered and get her defenses back up.

Wally was about to make another comment but the waiter finally appeared with their dinner.

“Here is your dinner,” said the waiter, placing the plates in their respective places and then moving to another table.

“Okay, one of us has to have some manners,” said Wally as he looked at all the greasy food, rubbed his hands together and prepared to devour whatever was in front of him. “And it sure as hell isn't going to be me”. He then grabbed a steaming slice of pizza from his tray, folded it into a roll and stuffed the whole thing into his mouth.

“No,” Raven nodded curtly as she watched the boy struggle to chew the large portion he had just gobbled down. “Definitely not you”.

He smiled and Raven was sure he was acting rude just to make her laugh or lighten up. She could tell the boy was always trying to make her feel good.

“You sure have a way with words, you were pretty good there with Pinky,” said the redhead after swallowing, as he took a big bite of his hamburger. Actually he already knew firsthand the girl's linguistic ability, he could tell when they chatted after he interrupted her meditation thing.

“I could feel it, her regret and her desire to start over. If it hadn't been like that I wouldn't have given her the communicator, it would have been really reckless of me and Robin would surely kill me,” she added as she ate her hamburger slowly, with more manners than the boy who was now making noise while sipping his soda.

“And I would kill Robin for trying to kill you”.

“Wow, how romantic you are, it would be a scene worthy of a Shakespeare play,” the girl said sarcastically.

“I'm really curious about something. Did you make up all that stuff about your teammate and his interest in Pinky?” the red-haired man asked. He still didn't know if it had all been a tactic of hers or if it was real, after all he wasn't aware of what was going on inside that team of hers.

“Of course not,” she replied with a frown. “Cyborg has had some sort of infatuation with Jinx ever since she got out of that Hive infiltration mission. As much as she's been a villain, she wouldn't deserve to be tricked by me into getting her on our side. It would also have been unwise to do that because sooner or later she would find out about the lie”.

“You are smart. And also pretty good and kind”.

“To be or not to be, that is the question,” she said.

“Wow, you really are Shakespearean”.

Good, kind. No one had ever told her that she was someone good and kind, in fact, most people thought she was the opposite of that.

Devil's offspring ... Demon child ... You're creepy. Those mocking words, punishing her for something even she wasn't guilty of.

Over and over, their voices played in her head. She saw images crawling through her mind. On thousands of occasions she had been treated like this, and even worse.

Raven, at the age of fourteen, had fled Azarath. She had learned about the prophecy involving her father, how she was supposed to be the portal to his access to this world. Raven wanted none of it, never did. As time passed and her sixteenth birthday approached, Raven grew more and more desperate so she did the only thing she could think of.

She escaped.

Raven had abandoned everything. Her mother, her teachers, Azar, her lessons, everything completely. She already knew where she was going: a place called Earth. They didn't know her or the prophecy. She would start there. She would leave everything behind and hopefully... start a new life.

Raven, prior to the formation of the Teen Titans, initially approached the Justice League for help, but they turned her away on the advice of Zatanna, who sensed her kinship and tainted demonic essence. Not trusting her, they refused to help her, leaving her alone.

Alone.

She was all alone. Star City being guarded by Green Arrow. Metropolis, under Superman's watchful eye, was closed to her, as was Gotham City by Batman. Surely Green Lantern would ban her from Coast City, Flash would exclude her from Central City and Wonder Woman from Washington D.C. and so on. She was dangerous, they knew it. But Jump City, on the west coast of North America, had no resident heroes. And that's where she would try to start and it was in that place that she finally met her friends.

“I used my magic to check her out, and I discovered an incredible evil within her. She could be leading us into a trap,”  was the last thing she heard from the mouth of Zatanna, the Justice League mage. She really detested that woman. She just shook her head to drive away those bad thoughts that only succeeded in disturbing her mind.

“Are you all right? Is the food bad?” he asked, since the girl had stopped eating and was only looking at her plate.

“It's not that,” she denied tentatively. “I was just thinking about something”.

“On the brats? Do you think they'll be okay on their own?”

“They stayed asleep, I told Bobby to keep them safe and not to let them leave the cabin. If anything bad should happen, I taught Melvin to send an alarm to my communicator, also...”

“Rae”.

“Yes?”

“Sorry to interrupt, but I think I have a bit of an urgency,” said Wally as he shifted uncomfortably in his chair.

“Urgency? What urgency?”

“I need to go to the toilet”.

“And do you need my permission to go or do you expect to wet your pants?”

“Will you be all right if I leave you alone for a few minutes?” he questioned, seeing all those inept people around him.

“Yes, go do what you have to do. I can handle it”.

The speedster instantly got up from the chair and disappeared down one of the corridors leading to the restrooms. Raven picked up a spoon while adding some sugar to her tea until she felt the presence of someone approaching her.

“Hey,” greeted a young man, his voice much deeper than was natural. He was evidently trying to sound more mature. “One is a lonely number, don't you think?”

“Yes, and two's a crowd. What do you want?” she spoke without looking up from her cup as she swirled her spoon in the liquid.

“Just talking to a pretty girl, I don't think I've seen you here before. You don't often see women in this place”.

Raven refrained from rolling her eyes at his comment.

“I don't understand why a girl wouldn't go near this "beautiful" place, but that's their loss. Now leave me alone”.

“I thought I could be a gentleman and offer a lonely lady some lovely company, if you know what I mean, babe” commented the intruder as he moved a little closer to her, his eyes sparkling with mischief.

Her empathy meant she could practically sense the lust oozing out of the pores of the fool who didn't know who he was messing with.

“Look, if I were alone I'd rather have a conversation with the wall or this spoon than talk to you,” she snarled through clenched teeth, black energy crackling furiously inside her ready to attack the idiot in front of her.

“You know, I just love a challenge,” he urged.

She turned to glance at him, giving him her best icy stare in the process. He was dressed in a white t-shirt covered with a black leather jacket, jeans torn in places and heavy shoe boots.

“Take a macramé or crocheting class if you want a challenge,” the sorceress said stoically. “I hear it's quite demanding”.

“No thanks,” he winked. “You seem to me to be the best challenge right now in this place”.

“Don't you have anything better to do than be an idiot? Stay away from me, that's my last warning”.

“I think I must insist,” said the boy as he brazenly placed his hand on Raven's leg. She felt anger overwhelm her. The sugar bowl, an ashtray and the glasses on the table suddenly shattered, but before she could give him a well-deserved good slap, the speedster made his presence known.

“Leave her alone, asshole!” How dare he touch Raven like that and without her consent?

“Do you want to settle this outside?” the other one asked menacingly as he turned around to look at him, his stern eyes on the dweeb in the yellow and red suit.

“I don't think it's necessary, asshole, it's fine here”. Wally immediately gave him a good, quick punch that he didn't have time to dodge.

Ouch... Raven winced as, after the blow, she heard the sound of the idiot's septum bone breaking.

“Shit!” The boy had collapsed on the floor while covering his nose with his hands. Blood was seeping from the gaps between his fingers.

“So you can learn to be more respectful,” Wally advised him.

The sorceress watched as several men seated at nearby tables stood up and approached menacingly towards them while some pulled knives out of their pockets or took some knives from nearby tables.

«Great,» Raven thought as she stood up from her chair, her fist glowing black. And she who didn't want to make a spectacle of herself on the place.

.

.

.

5 minutes later

.

.

.

“You two freaks! Get out of my bar! And don't ever come back!” shouted the owner of the place really furious as he slammed the door of the now shattered tavern quite hard. The sign with the piggy now lay on the floor, while some smoke escaped through the broken window of the establishment. The place had been completely ruined.

The cold and darkness of the night was still latent. Tall towers stretched skyward, gleaming in the moonlight, while smaller buildings filled the openings between them. As they walked, vehicles passed by, illuminating the streets with their headlights as they ferried their occupants back and forth. The speedster and the sorceress were now walking along the sidewalk in the center of town.

“Why did you do that?” she asked softly, her eyes turned to Wally.

“Isn't it obvious? He touched you,” he replied with a hard look. The comment made her soften a little.

“You didn't need to hit him for me, I was left with the desire to give him a good punch myself,” she said with a small smile.

Wally let out a laugh.

“Well, you made up for it with the others, one even wet his pants when you levitated those knives to scare them,” he said, laughing, remembering the moment. “And do you think we'll get a charge or a fine or something? Robin will give us a reprimand if he finds out we destroyed a public place”.

“Only if the owner is a fool would he make a complaint about the altercation, everything on his premises seemed to scream illegality,” she reasoned.

“You're right. Come on Rae, let's go back to the cabin, I need to sleep”.

“Yes, the kids have been alone long enough”.

“We have to go over there so we don't worry. We don't know if Teddy will be able to contain those three little devils if they wake up”.

“Yeah, I guess we'd better hurry”" Raven remarked, wondering internally if the boy had a memory problem or something with the bear's name. Well, at least he was creative with nicknames.

“Forget who you're with, sweetie?” said Kid Flash in a smug tone while pointing his thumb at himself, an act that only caused Raven to roll her eyes. “Well, do you want a little ride?”

Raven smiled softly and nodded. Actually, since she had seen Wally's abilities, she was curious what it would feel like to transport at that speed. Besides he had already traveled using her method, so she could let the boy take over the ride now.

“Of course, why not?”

Kid Flash smiled back at her, surprised that she accepted his offer and lifted her into his arms. He could feel the warmth of Raven's body piercing through even his clothes and realized how much he loved having her close to him.

“Rae”.

“What?” asked the girl who was strangely comfortable in the speedster's arms.

She turned her face up and met his light blue eyes staring at her.

“I would recommend that you close your eyes, it's better that way,” said Wally, looking at the girl with a smile. When she listened to him and closed her eyes, he leaned a little and began to move his legs at an astonishing speed.

The next thing she felt was that she was being pressed very hard from all directions, as she felt the rapid change of sounds and smells, like an explosion of her senses.

Kid Flash was running with the beautiful sorceress in his arms, and he had a smile as big as the sun on his face. The city buildings and concrete quickly disappeared along with the stench of city smog and loud sounds. It was all replaced by the damp, fresh smell of wet earth, grass and the open field, along with the gentle night breeze brushing against his face. Before his vision appeared the trees and the typical flora of the place indicating that he was already close. When the forest covered everything around him, Wally had to watch his step. One false move and he would end up tripping or crashing into a tree, for which Raven would probably end up hurt and that was not something he was going to allow. When he finally caught sight of the hut, he slowed down and braked in front of it, then carefully lowered the girl, watching as she staggered and tried to keep her balance.

Raven gulped in a big gulp of cold night air and opened her eyes noting how her vision was double...or triple.

“Are you all right?” he asked with concern and helping Raven to stabilize herself so she wouldn't collapse on the floor.

“I think so,” she mumbled, trying to regain her balance by holding onto the boy and making an effort not to vomit the recently ingested hamburger on him, “I think I'm just a little dizzy, but it will pass”.

“Are you sure? It takes a while to adjust to the sensation. Most people throw up the first time”.

“I can't think why,” she said wryly, trying to contain the bile rising in her throat.

“I'm sorry, I should have slowed down,” he apologized, scratching his neck. If he hadn't run so fast she would be fine now.

“It's okay, it was a fun experience anyway,” she said with a small smile. To tell the truth, the trip was not unpleasant. She liked the feeling of the wind hitting her face, besides she was really surprised by the speed of arrival, the village was really far from the city. But evidently the speed produced a kind of postural vertigo which she attributed to the sudden movement of her head when the boy suddenly braked.

“Did you really like it?” Wally questioned, now a little happier that she felt comfortable traveling with him.

“Sure, I guess I can get used to it someday”.

They finally entered the cabin and heard the soft snoring of the kids who were luckily still asleep. Raven went straight to lie down on the couch to relieve her dizziness. Wally also lay down thinking about her last sentence... «I can get used to it someday». That was supposed to imply that she wanted to continue traveling with him, and that she felt comfortable near him. Plus she had finally accepted his date. He smiled. Truth be told, it felt good to run with the girl in his arms. He stood for a while thinking until the exhaustion of the day took its toll on him, there were too many things: the thefts at the museum, HIVE, Madame Rouge, the electric torture, the fight in the tavern. He felt his eyes grow heavy and begin to close.

“Night, Rae,” he murmured as he settled into the couch trying to find a comfortable position.

“Good night, Wally,” she said, closing her eyes and falling into a deep sleep.

.

.

.

Again, everything was in full, sepulchral silence, gloomy, uncomfortable and exasperating. Raven turned her head and saw that she was still in the cabin, lying on the couch, but there was no sign of anyone. She was all completely alone.

Alone.

She stood up, feeling her body strangely heavy. She looked towards the back of the cabin and saw a great darkness that didn't even let her see the wooden wall at the back. It looked more like the core of a terrifying cave that was responsible for hiding whatever it was inside its caverns. Some laughs came from there. From inside that blackness, the voice of the three kids and Wally could be heard, inviting and tempting her to succumb to that black mist.

“Come with us, Raven, we want you to tell us a story,” Melvin's voice called sweetly.

“Rae, come closer, I don't think my wound has healed completely, it hurts a lot,” said Wally's voice that seemed a little distressed.

“Raven, the monkey man is back, he is attacking us, come closer and help us please!” begged Timmy's voice as he began to cry and loud fighting blows and agonizing screams could be heard from inside that pit.

“I think Teether isn't breathing, Raven, come! Quickly!” Melvin's voice now demanded in terrified anguish.

“Come with us…”.

It was a trap, she knew. She had to get out of there. Now. She walked briskly to the door, stepped out and then closed it. The lush forest and open field she expected to see was not before her eyes, but was in her birth city, Azarath. But the city was completely in flames and in ruins. The houses were completely demolished and the sky was the color of blood.

Blood.

The red sky that signaled his father's arrival. It was as if someone had set fire to it or cut a deep wound that was causing it to bleed out.

Blood.

«It was too late for Azarath».

It was still her home.

But it was her fault that they were all dead, that genocide had happened on their home world.

Previously she hadn't noticed but realized that again she was holding and protecting with her hands a faint light that was about to be extinguished.

«Don't let it go out,» she thought.

A noise coming from some kind of children's musical box alerted her. She summoned all her remaining courage, took a breath and with apparent steadiness turned around. But the cabin was not there, but now stood in front of the house where she and her mother, Arella, lived when she was just a child. The door was open and she saw inside, in the middle of the room, a woman in a white robe sitting in a rocking chair, rocking with a baby crying loudly in her arms. She seemed to be her mother. She was singing lullabies to soothe the newborn. Again, the backdrop was a large black mass.

“Twinkle, twinkle, little star, How I wonder what you are. Up above the world so high, Like a gem in the sky,” sang the woman in an emotionless monotone.

Raven could not move, fear had her paralyzed. She could only watch the scene in front of her eyes.

“Go to sleep child... go to sleep now or the devil will come and take you away,” sang the woman as the crying of the little baby grew louder.

Raven took a step back and was alarmed when she noticed the familiar red runes and symbols glowing brightly on her body. Scath marks covered her skin as they did that day, on her birthday. The mark of her birth, the curse of fate she was born with.

Run.

“The gem was born of evil's fire. The gem shall be his portal. He comes to claim, he comes to sire, the end of all things mortal,” the woman now sang as she cried and rocked harder, almost wildly. The baby was now thundering making her eardrums ache. The sorceress covered her ears to block out the wrenching sound. After a moment, the woman suddenly slowed from her frantic rocking and finally lifted her face, staring at Raven. The woman was completely pale, almost skeletal and instead of eyes there were only dark, empty orifices. Raven trembled in fear as she watched this woman's mouth open immensely, in a way that was physically impossible, as a large black viper emerged from it, which began to snake and move in a waving motion, straight towards her.

Immediately, a large red hand came out of the shadows dragging the mother and baby into the infinite darkness. Four red eyes like burning fire opened in that density and an evil laugh was heard.

Run.

But she couldn't run, her legs were heavy, as if they were made of lead. She began to walk briskly, as fast as her legs would allow, through the narrow streets. She caught a glimpse of how some black crows with four eyes stood on the roofs of some of the houses as they watched her. She felt that this thing was following her, it was crawling straight towards her. Now she didn't have the courage to turn around.

«I'm part of you,» a voice seemed to whisper in the back of her mind. «Always. You can't get away».

She kept marching until at the end of the street she saw a figure standing there. She couldn't make out who it was, it just looked like a white blur.

“Who are you?” she wanted to ask, but the voice wouldn't come out of her mouth.

“Don't let it go out,” the voice of that unknown figure said.

Then the darkness surrounded her again.

Raven suddenly stood up while rubbing her head which was now throbbing. She immediately pushed aside her cloak and looked at her body in fear of seeing those symbols but to her luck nothing was there. What the hell was that anyway? She had never had such a sinister dream before. At first she didn't care about her first and second nightmare, but after her meditation and the discovery she made, and now this third dream, she knew it was more than just a fluke. Not to mention that she had almost lost control last night in her fight against the Brotherhood woman. She tried to control her breathing to calm herself.

Such was her bewilderment that she had not noticed the smell of food in the hut or the sounds of cutlery and voices. Before she realized it, someone lifted her from her place and moved her to a chair at a rapid speed. She was now sitting at the table in front of a cup of herbal tea and the hearty breakfast food, bringing a deja vu to her mind. The kids were there eating and Wally sitting next to her was looking at her with concern.

“Are you okay? You look... a little pale,” asked the sprinter as he brought his face close to hers and looked at her with apparent concern.

“Yes, just a bad dream,” Raven replied, trying to downplay the matter and not worry anyone. «Or a bad omen,» she thought. She knew that after this mission she would need to investigate these strange dreams further.

Wally just smiled in response and continued eating, but this time more sparingly than the first time. She drank the tea feeling her nerves calm down. But she wondered if it was really the hot drink or Wally's presence that actually relaxed her. She smiled internally.

“Don't forget to bring Annie some food, I left you some separated here on the plate, Melvin”.

“Annie isn't even a boy's name, you knucklehead!” shouted Melvin as she threw an apple at Wally's head knocking him to the floor.

Yes, now everything was back to normal. Raven just sighed when, once she finished eating, she again found herself sitting on the couch while Wally did all the dishes. Not that she minded, since the boy could do it in less time and most of the dirty dishes were his. She was about to retire to meditate for even just a few minutes until her communicator alarm went off. The image of stupid Robin appeared on the screen. Oh, that nickname wasn't going to wash off so quickly.

“Raven, how are you feeling? I was quite busy and I haven't had time to contact you before,” the leader said with concern, he hadn't had a chance to call her after she asked for help.

“I'm fine, I'm...”

“Hey Robin, how's it going buddy?” Wally interrupted as he put his arm around Raven's shoulders, appearing on the screen.

“Kid Flash? What are you doing there?” Boy Wonder blinked in confusion.

“Well... you sent me here, or did you forget?”

“Sure, I remember, but I thought you already...”

“Wally, let me answer!” exclaimed the sorceress trying to push aside the boy who had now taken her transmitter.

“Wally? Does she already know you...?”

“Ohhh, yes, Rae here already knows my name quite well. She never tires of using it,” he joked, making the girl blush.

“Rae?” Robin repeated in amazement.

“Wally, give me the communicator right now!” Raven ordered again, trying to reach it, but the boy was holding it above her and he was taller than she was.

“Do you see that I was right? She never tires of repeating it... Wally, Wally, Wally...,” he joked, imitating a high-pitched girl's voice.

“I don't even talk like that!” she exclaimed, jumping up to retrieve the transmitter.

Okay, this was kind of weird for him. Three things caught his attention: first, that Raven hadn't pulled Kid Flash away from her physical grip, he knew she wasn't a fan of the contact but she didn't seem too upset by it. Secondly, the nickname and that she didn't correct him. She hated being called that. The last time Beast Boy had nicknamed her Rae, the sorceress ended up throwing him out of one of the tower windows. And last and not least, was Raven... blushing? Robin pinched his arm, taking advantage of the distraction of the other two. Well, it wasn't a dream.

“Kid Flash, I thought your mission was over,” he added after coming out of his stupefaction.

“Does it bother you that I stay here?”

“Do what you want,” he said with a sigh. In reality his help was also needed after all. “Listen, Raven, I need you on another mission right now.  The Brotherhood of Evil will continue to attack young superheroes, some have yet to be warned. To protect them more efficiently, I have decided to establish a communication network by giving a Titans communicator to each of them”.

“I thought we had already given them to everyone we knew”.

“Not to everyone, your coordinates have already been sent”.

“Is it a good idea to separate?” she now questioned. It didn't really seem like a good plan.

“If we split up, it will be much easier. It is the best way. Once all the Titans and Honorary Titans are connected we will be ready to attack. That goes for you too Kid Flash, understood?”

“Yeah, yeah, I got it,” Wally replied.

“And just what am I supposed to do with the kids I'm also meant to protect?”

“The kids? What kids? Wait... don't tell me you're still with them? Raven, wasn't your mission to drop them off at that monastery?”

“I won't leave the children there Robin,” Raven said. She wouldn't leave them there even if it was a direct order from her leader. “They couldn't protect them the first time, they won't be able to protect them the second time if the Brotherhood goes after them again. They stay with me, end of story”.

“Hey Rae, I got a plan,” said the redhead when he found a solution to the problem. “I'll take care of them and Ricky while you do your mission, honey. I can also help you in case of emergency like you did last time, as long as I don't get stuck buying and changing diapers,” he said ironically while winking at her.

«Diapers? Honey? Constant flirtations between Wally and Raven? And who the hell was Ricky?» Robin blinked and pinched himself again. No, he was indeed not dreaming.

“What the heck is going on over there?” he asked now with real curiosity about what the two of them had been doing all this time.

“Robin, who is my target?” she asked, ignoring his previous question.

“Heraldo.”

“All right, I'll be right there. Let's get this over with. I want to go home,” she sighed in frustration as she read the location and turned off the communicator. He really missed his friends and sleeping in his bed. Without mentioning that she needed a shower badly. She must have been desperate because she even missed the stupid morning meat vs. tofu discussions, courtesy of Cyborg and Beast Boy. She also needed to know if Silkie, Starfire's pet worm, had dared to come near her bedroom. Nobody was to enter her room. She shivered with fear as she imagined the beautiful caterpillar devouring her books.

She pulled her hood up and raised one of her hands, creating a portal to the designated location. She turned and saw the four of them standing there and their concern for her reached deep inside her.

“Wally, you listen carefully, okay? Keep them safe while I get back and please don't do anything stupid,” she said, emphasizing the last point. She approached the portal but the redhead's words stopped her.

“Hey Rae, take it easy, you know. And ask me for help if you need it,” said Wally.

“I'll be fine, besides,” she said looking at him briefly with a small smile to calm his uneasiness, “we have two dates to plan.”

And with that said, she disappeared into the portal leaving Wally with a feeling of uncertainty in his chest.

Why did he feel that something bad was about to happen?

A bad omen.

Chapter Text

Meanwhile, at the secret headquarters of the Brotherhood of Evil, Monsieur Mallah and The Brain were discussing the progress of their strategy which, to their good fortune, all was going according to plan. The Brain had one of the transmitters stolen from the Titans hooked up to his system, surrounded by multiple cables connected to a computer. All with the intention of locating the heroes all over the terrestrial map.

“Our young Titans are spreading out far and wide, but that will not save them,” the robotic voice said, breaking the silence. The Titans had already made the first move. But he was always one step ahead.

“Soon, they will join our collection,” added Mallah as two cryogenized héroes came into view.

“Hot Spot, Wildebeest... one by one, your young friends will fall. Shall we play a game?” said Brain. A war on the board. The goal: to crush the opponent.

Monsieur Mallah rose from his seat and addressed the crowd of villains already assembled, ready to receive instructions.

“Listen, everybody!” commanded the gorilla, raising his voice to be heard. “Our leader will speak right now!”

“We have captured two of their pawns already”. The robotic voice echoed through the room. Now it's time to start taking out the rest of your pieces. “The Teen Titans have delivered communicators to all the heroes around the world. They have already finished their task, so we can start eliminating them. One by one.”

Expressions of enthusiasm were heard throughout the room.

“I expect you all to be ready to fight. Once you have lost all your pawns we can capture your king... and victory... will be ours. Evil will triumph.”

“Wow, this weird robot really is into metaphors with chess,” said Mammoth in a joking tone to Gizmo as the room continued in a burst of shouting, muttering and evil laughter.

“Shut up, barf-brain!” replied the little HIVE boy. "And where's Jinx? I don't see her anywhere.”

“I don't know, she just disappeared,” See-More said.

“Quiet!” shouted Mallah to get everyone's attention. “The orders are about to be given,” said the gorilla as he read from the computer the data at his disposal along with the locations of the Titans. Now, I will read your names one by one and I will give you the location along with your target, do you all understand? Pay attention because I will not repeat it twice.”

Without waiting for an answer, Mallah began to recite:

Johnny Rancid and Cinderblock, Sector 27: Más and Menos.

Plasmus and Trident, Sector 7: Aqualad.

Gizmo and Billy Numerous, Sector 13: Kole and Gnarrk.

Private HIVE and Fang, Sector 19: Jericho.

Warp and See-More, Limbo Sector: Herald.

Steamroller and I.N.S.T.I.G.A.T.O.R, Sector 22: Thunder.

Atlas and Adonis, Sector 9: Pantha.

Punk Rocket and Angel, Sector 3: Bumblebee.

Mammoth, Sector 13: Cyborg.

Killer Moth and Kitten, Sector 16: Starfire.

Kardiak, Sector 8: Beast Boy.

Psimon and Kyd Wykkyd, Sector 29: Raven.

“The rest of you will wait for orders to intercept the remaining ones!” Mallah concluded.

Each of the named villains left the scene to accomplish their task. They were all prepared for battle, eager to finally sink the Titans.

“For you, Madame Rouge,” whispered Brain's robotic voice, “I will leave Robin entirely at your disposal. I know you will be able to handle him... with finesse.”

“Delighted with that,” said the French woman with a sinister smile.

"Well, one more ally."

Raven's mission searching for Herald in some sort of strange dimension was relatively short but not without difficulties. She was attacked by squid-like entities. Heraldo saved her by using a kind of trumpet to open a portal that sucked the enemies and sent them to another dimension or location. Quite a useful power, to tell the truth. Raven handed him his communicator as planned and then left that disturbing place.

Now, she was levitating high in the sky, trying to communicate with Robin and deliver the message that she had successfully completed her work.

“Raven to Robin, mission accomplished, Herald has his communicator,” she finally reported.

However, something inside her told her that things were not really right, and she always listened to her intuitions.

“Your little reunion will have to wait. It is time we start taking out their pawns. It is too late for the Titans to save their friends,” said The Brain as the pieces continued to move around the board. His target, the king.

“It is all just as you planned.”

“All of our pieces are in place. It is time we finish what we started. With the Titans scattered across the globe, we will easily defeat them. We will defeat them on the land, we will defeat them in the sea, we will defeat them in the air. Our pawns have already begun to move.”

Raven answered the incoming call from her transmitter when it started beeping steadily. It was Robin, and he sounded really agitated.

“Raven! Go to Más and Menos in Sector Twenty-Seven” Robin's voice commanded.

“Right,” she replied, cutting the communication and heading towards the location where the hyperactive twins belonging to the Titans of the East were located.

Perfect, now two more kids to take care of and with added super speed, as if she didn't already have too much of both lately. Robin and his fascination with leaving her in charge of kids. Did she look like a nanny or what?

She stopped suddenly when, out of nowhere, a shadow emerged before her and a boy with red eyes emerged from it. It was Kyd Wykkyd, the weird, dark, bat-like boy, a member of HIVE. But... how did he know she was there?

And why not make the situation more interesting? Psimon manifested through a portal and was now behind her levitating and focusing to launch some of his psychic powers; the brain inside his crystalline helmet was glowing surely ready to attack. She was completely surrounded.

This was no mere chance meeting of fate, it was an ambush and the Titans had fallen into the Brotherhood's trap.

“Robin, I think they're expecting us,” she reported as she began to concentrate her energy in her free hand.

She knew she was at a complete disadvantage, not only numerically, but she was fighting in midair at quite a few feet in the air. She had no object in sight to use her telekinesis power and her specialty wasn't exactly aerial fights, plus a fall at those heights and she sure wouldn't live to tell the tale.

And as if life didn't hate her enough, her transmitter then suffered some sort of short circuit and ended up in pieces. Well, now she couldn't call for backup either.

“Great,” she said sarcastically as she tossed the broken transmitter into the void and prepared to strike, her eyes taking on a menacing white glow.

“Hi, little sorceress,” said the voice of the psychic.

“Do you think separating me from my teammates will help you?” Raven asked as she thought of a plan of action.

“The answer to that question is too obvious and self-evident to be worth answering. I conjecture that it is simply a rhetorical question on your part,” Psimon pointed out.

Raven was preparing to pounce on the villain, but she felt her mind suddenly attacked. She clutched her head as she felt Psimon's voice inside her head, "You have potential, but you are too inexperienced. Give up and accept defeat." Raven instantly raised all her mental walls to prevent him from delving into the depths of her psyche.

“Don't you dare enter my mind again, it's not a toy for someone like you,” warned Raven as she now sent a telepathic attack into Psimon's mind, staggering him.

“What a fascinating structure you have in that brain. It's the first time I've seen such a peculiar and interesting mind. But I see... a divided mind, did you fragment your emotions?” Psimon asked inquisitively. “Psychic surgery, I see. Ancient, dark magic. But there's something else, something hidden... inside you, pushing to get out. What's all that darkness waiting inside you?”

Raven was amazed at what the old man said. Not about fragmenting her emotions, for that was something she herself had done in a moment of desperation to make it easier to control them. What surprised her was the information about that darkness he parleyed about. Would it be the same thing she had visualized when she meditated that morning?

The darkness of her nightmares.

“Let me see what you're hiding,” Psimon commanded as he prepared to telepathically dive back into the mind of Trigon's daughter.

“Don't even think about getting into my head again”. Raven collected all the energy she could in her hands, creating a large black sphere and directed it towards Psimon, but he simply stopped the attack lazily with a force shield created with his power.

“So you just want to fight? Psimon says you have no escape, you are surrounded,” warned the villain as he placed his hands on his helmet, ready to lunge at her now.

“And who told you that I had any intention of running away?” Raven said as she pointed her darkly glowing hands at the villain while conjuring her mantra, “Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!”

The blast echoed through the air like a cannon shot. From Psimon's brain burst forth a flash of pink light at the precise moment when from Raven's hands came the projection of her dark energy, and both beams met in mid-air, fighting each other to maintain dominance. The black and pink lightning, of the hero and the villain, respectively clashing, but both were evenly matched in strength.

In the middle of the fight, a strange pain erupted in Raven's body. Her vision wavered from the stabbing pain inside her skull. But she realized that it wasn't her pain she was experiencing. No, this pain was from another source, someone else, someone close to her, someone with whom she possessed a shared mental bond. The bond she formed with Robin from that night when she entered his mind to help him fight his delusions brought on by Slade, after he inhaled the chemical reagent trap in the villain's mask.

“No,” Raven whispered fearfully, immediately reaching for the source of the pain, hoping her fears were not real. Now the mental connection between her and Robin was letting her know that he was in a terrible predicament. She tried to close the conduit before she lost her concentration completely.

“Why don't you give up? There is nothing left for you to do, any of you. An extraordinary piece of information has just come to my mind, that Robin was finally captured a few moments ago by Madame Rouge,” announced her enemy with an expression of victory on his unpleasant face.

Raven's eyes widened in astonishment. So her suspicions were true. That's why the transmitter was broken, surely Robin was cornered and decided to detonate all the devices to cut off communication and prevent the Brotherhood's access to the rest of the locations. The sorceress saw out of the corner of her eye that the strange HIVE boy had disappeared from the fight, but she could not be distracted at the moment.

“What a marvel, and not only Robin. Several others succumbed to our immense power. In the end the Titans turned out to be disappointing. And to think that so many of us villains were assembled in such an elaborate scheme to trap such small and insignificant minds as those of your friends,” Psimon continued his sneer, as he emitted what almost sounded like a laugh. “It would have been easier to use pieces of cheese tied to wire springs to capture such lowly rats.”

“You're too mouthy,” Raven muttered.

Suddenly Raven's hands, which were conjuring her magic, began to vibrate as if an electric shock was coursing through her. The same ones were now stiff and she began to feel the drain of her power, just as in her fight against Mallah that day. «Not now please,» she begged. She watched as Psimon's power was slowly going through her entire spell. She tried to focus and strengthen her power more, but something was blocking her again.

“What's the matter, little demon, are you running out of energy? I don't understand how the daughter of the great Trigon can turn out to be so weak, but no wonder considering the other half of your heritage,” Psimon pointed out with a clear mocking smile on his face.

“Shut up!” she commanded angrily. She could feel her hands burning, as if they were clutching a lump of live coal. She couldn't hold them open much longer, so her incantation would slow down.

And she knew what would happen.

She would fall, of that she was sure, and she had no idea how she would survive. But she wouldn't leave without finding out something first. Robin needed her now, he had gone to great lengths to save her once from hell and now it was her turn. She would risk everything for him. She owed him.  Besides she felt really guilty, he was captured by Madame Rouge and all because she had let the villain escape that one time. If only she hadn't let her run away... but she would try to make up for her mistake now. She closed her eyes and concentrated on the opponent in front of her. She would use every last bit of her energy to enter his mind and steal the information she needed most right now: the location of their base. If she was saved, that information would be of great value.

If she was saved.

«Ok, the die is cast.»

She whispered her mantra internally.

Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos

.

.

Her psionic ability went directly to Psimon's mind and taking advantage of the fact that he was distracted attacking, and with his mental barriers with his guard down, she traced inside him.

Images.

Memories.

Plans.

No. That was no good. She dismissed it all, she couldn't be distracted by such trifles.

«Just a little more, come on, invade a little more inside his mind, break down his barriers.»

She tried to concentrate a little harder, but Psimon's mind was not something to be taken lightly. It seemed like a closed enclosure, but she kept poking at it, breaking through any and all of its psychic barriers.

Knowledge.

Instructions.

Codes.

Secrets.

.

.

«Dive a little deeper inside, just a little deeper into his secrets.»

Until she finally found what she wanted.

"Gotcha!" she celebrated internally in triumph.

.

.

“Paris!” she said with a victorious smile on her face, finally opening her eyes.

The shock of energy came to a screeching halt.

“How dare a petty scum like you enter my mind? Attack her, you stupid boy! Now!” Psimon roared angrily. How could he not have noticed the intrusion earlier? She had taken advantage of his absent-mindedness as they fought to slip inside his psyche.

Kyd Wykkyd finally appeared on the scene. He sneaked in stealthily and appeared behind Raven with a simple swing of his cloak and, with a spinning kick, hit the sorceress' back hard causing her severe pain. Then Psimon gathered all his remaining energy and fired a second bolt of lightning much more powerful than the previous one, striking directly at Raven, who was knocked out of breath by the blow and her hands reached out to clutch at her aching chest where the bolt had injured her. The young woman's body now found itself falling at great speed from thousands of feet in the air. Psimon knew that the attack provided was suitable to assassinate any average human, but unfortunately for him, Raven was not an average person and he knew it. But, unluckily for her, the fall would be enough.

“Too bad that information is going to die with you, dirty half-breed,” said the villain with disgust and then disappeared from the place together with the strange boy towards the Brotherhood's base.

Raven was descending rapidly. She tried to focus all her strength to levitate, but nothing was working. She had used her last bit of energy to get something that was going to do her no good. Was this how she was going to die? Was this the end of her? She felt the heaviness in her eyes, her vision completely blurred now. But before she slipped into unconsciousness, she felt a hand clutch hers. «I'm saved». The last thing she caught a glimpse of was a familiar blonde hair.

“Wherever there are Titans... we will be there to stop them. Evil will prevail. My players will make sure the Titans never reach their destination. Robin's strategy has failed... and one by one, they will fall.”

“The young are no match for your intellect,” Mallah praised his leader.

“The end of a new generation of héroes”. The Brain could be heard speaking to the crowd below, who were celebrating their successful missions. “Soon there will be no one to stop us, with the younger heroes out of the way, all that will be left will be the Justice League,” he announced. One more piece on the board moved as Madame Rouge dragged a totally vulnerable and wounded Robin to the center of the base.

“Madame Rouge, I thought I asked for delicacy,” joked Brain with rapt attention at the deplorable state in which the leader of the Titans found himself.

“I guess I overdid it, but I guess it was the thrill of the moment,” she ridiculed as she kicked Robin hard in the back making him groan in pain and fall to the floor, now squatting down. “Kneel before your superiors, brat.”

“The Brotherhood of Evil will be defeated!” grunted Robin seeing some of his teammates frozen.

He gritted his teeth at a second blow from Rouge on his back that knocked him completely to the floor.

“Show respect, you insolent boy!” said the lithe villainess angrily as she pressed her heeled shoe into Robin's back making him let out a bellow of distress.

“Calm down, miss, we don't want him dead... at least not yet,” the robotic voice mentioned.

Robin asked himself how they had lost. Everything was finely calculated in his head so that it would go well and victory would be theirs. In his mind the triumph was assured. Perhaps his ego played against him believing they could go up against high ranking, world class villains, but that was why he had recruited enough people to fight them. He and his friends had saved the world before, even from Trigon the Terrible himself, but everything now seemed to be against him.

The cheers, insults and jeers that the villains hurled at him were not long in coming.

“In relation to what you said before, Robin, I regret to tell you that you are totally wrong, it is you who has been defeated. Besides, your pawns won't be able to save you,” said The Brain while Wonder Boy watched in dismay as the guards now brought Speedy, Aqualad, Argent and the kid Menos totally defeated. “We defeated you, and now you will join your friends in my trophy collection. I think Batman will be disappointed in his ward.”

He struggled as Immortus' soldiers lifted him off the ground and directed him toward a strange device. Robin's eyes darted all over the place as he was placed under the freezing machine. He had to get out of there, he had to escape and save the Titans. He tried to do the last thing in his power and tried to force the mental link he had with Raven to give her some sort of signal, but it seemed to be completely shut down, had she too been assaulted by the Brotherhood? His body trembled with fear at the thought, even Raven had been defeated. They had all trusted him and he had let them down and led each of them on a suicide mission. This was all his fault.

So, what happened next was....

Nothingness itself.

“The end of an era, we have almost completed our task,” added The Brain. “All we have to do is find the rest and eliminate them. Oh, and by the way... Checkmate.”

Finally the king on the chessboard had fallen. Robin lay frozen under the ice.

She felt the icy wind hitting her body making her shiver slightly. She opened her eyes slowly, blinking several times to stabilize her vision which was really blurry. The first thing she could contemplate was the clear starry sky. The last thing she remembered was her battle, stealing information into Psimon's mind and finding the location of the Brotherhood of Evil's secret base. Then two severe attacks and her falling. Now she was lying on the soft cool earth looking up at the firmament from where she was supposed to have been knocked down. Had she survived that fall? But how? Had her powers acted alone on their own? She tried to recall that last moment. No, she hadn't saved herself. Someone had helped her. A warm hand next to hers. The last glimpse of blonde hair came to her memory again. It was all too familiar. Raven made an effort to sit up, her back ached from the kick she had received from Kyd Wykkyd and she felt a really unpleasant tingling in her body, surely residue from Psimon's psychic attack.

Her hand touched the earth, it was damp as if a gentle drizzle or dew had fallen on it. Her gaze wandered around the place until it focused on someone she hadn't expected to see, not now.

Her first thought was that it couldn't be true.

In front of her eyes was a ghost from the past. Someone they had met, loved and lost. Someone who had a name. She was Terra, and she had done horrible things. She had given herself to Slade, a deeply twisted man, allowing him to brainwash her and turn her into a slave to do his bidding, hunting her and her friends down, one by one. Raven could remember how she had left the Titans bruised, hurt in more ways than she could put into words. Dark memories ran through her. The betrayal was deep, piercing each Titan like molten iron and leaving a painful sore. For in the end, the saddest thing about a betrayal is that it never comes from an enemy.

The same Terra that joined her team, the same Terra that betrayed them, the same Terra that nearly wiped out her and her friends, the same Terra that finally sacrificed herself to save them, the same Terra that she and her team had gone to great lengths to bring back to the world and free from the stone prison in which she had been sealed.

Terra. A Teen Titan. A true friend.

Those were the words that were engraved on a metal plaque, like an epitaph next to the stone figure.

It might have been impossible, but now she was there. In the flesh.

Terra was alive.

Raven tilted her head to try to get a better look at her, perhaps thinking that her mind was playing a bad joke on her.

“Terra?” Raven ask in a soft whisper, not believing her eyes.

The aforesaid shook as the sorceress spoke her name. Raven couldn't help but frown as, for a moment, her mind connected with hers and her powers of empathy helped her feel a pang of loneliness and sadness hidden deep within Terra's battered heart.

“Is it really you?”

Terra turned to Raven with a face so full of emotion, not even the sorceress could read it in its entirety. Terra's once shiny hair now hung faded and greasy. Her eyes were rimmed with dark circles and her body still covered in old bruises. She was using her blonde hair as a shield; the locks covered one of her pale blue eyes, which now seemed almost lifeless. Pain, regret, loneliness, despair, agony. It was a roller coaster of so many affects together that Raven had to block them out to prevent her empathic sensitivity from absorbing too much of them and leaving her truly debilitated.

“Hey,” the blonde whispered faintly, her voice almost hiding in the night breeze. Tears welled in her eyes; one seeped over her lower lip, down to her chin, falling directly onto the earth, drenched it with the residual remnants of her sadness.

“How did you get free? We... had tried everything,” said Raven. And it was true, she herself had read multiple magic books and tried multiple mystical spells to awaken her and reverse the effect. Cyborg and Robin had also tried the impossible by researching, both physically and chemically, and doing experimental tests. But nothing had had any effect... until now.

“I don't even have the right to look you in the eye and talk to you, not even to utter your name, not after what I did.”

Terra became mute, weakly turned and looked anywhere but at the Titan. Memories were haunting her. Her eyes searched for something, though she didn't know what. Comfort perhaps? Just something...

“Terra, just talk to me,” Raven said.

“I... I honestly don't know. My mind is still unable to comprehend what's going on, I thought I had just died, to sacrifice my pitiful and treacherous life to destroy Slade and end the suffering I caused you, as the last way to say I'm sorry. But... a while ago I just woke up in that cave, the memories came like a bomb to my head and I escaped. As I did all my life, I ran away and ran as far as I could.”

“We've missed you, all of us,” the sorceress confessed, opening up to the girl who was in need of support at the moment. Raven could feel that Terra was at this moment too fragile a crystal that could break at any moment.

“Why?” Her voice was colder than the night outside, colder than the voice she herself usually used, but she trembled with restrained emotion all the same.

“Because you were our friend once and we all longed to see you again.”

«But she betrayed us, deceived us, and almost killed us. That bitch deserves nothing but a painful death. Why don't you end her agony now? I know it will be fun to finish her off,» spoke inside Raven's head an unfamiliar, somber voice. She opened her eyes in surprise at the cruel thought. This wasn't Raven talking, it was something else, something recondite. But what was it?

“Once, you just said it,” Terra laughed sadly, “I'm not your friend anymore, I think I lost that right and I don't think anyone will be happy when they see me, I betrayed you, all of you.”

Raven noticed that a yellow aura covered the girl and her hair was rising as some stones began to float in the air and shatter in small explosions.

“And I trampled all over it! They gave me a home, love, their friendship, and I destroyed all that for pure ambition, I feel like nothing but trash! How could I let him manipulate me like that?” Terra cried, her eyes glowing a strong yellow color, hitting the ground hard with her fist, causing a small tremor. She remembered Beast Boy and how he made her laugh in her hard times. She remembered Starfire, and how innocent and naive she was when it came to Earth and its ways. She remembered the rapport she had with Raven, playing video games with Cyborg, helping Robin and the rest defeat crime. Until she herself became a criminal.

Raven knew that, if she continued like this, her geokinetic powers would explode and she was aware that the girl's abilities could be too destructive because she had no control over them. She would end up causing a big devastating earthquake if she didn't stop this, or she would set off a volcano like last time.

“Terra, you must control yourself,” demanded the empath, trying to make her see reason.

“I never had control, that's why I ended up like this. I'm pathetic,” she sobbed with a melancholy smile on her face.

“That's how we are alike, you know? Being out of control was always my concern, especially when my abilities are controlled by emotions. I made many sacrifices in my life to learn to master my powers, and yet there are days when my powers slip out of my grasp. The difference between you and me is that I spent my whole life training to do so. And you, in your desperation, sought the easy and obviously wrong path, but I am no one to judge you,” Raven explained.

“But you never committed such a dastardly and ruthless act as mine!” Terra shouted trying to refute what the sorceress said as the ground began to crack around her.

“You are wrong. You were sealed when it happened. I had a cruel destiny, a prophecy that announced that I would destroy everything. And it happened. My friends saved me and never looked at me with hatred despite everything I caused them, all the worries they had because of me. The world almost ended because of me. We all make mistakes. No one is free from sin, Terra. None of the Titans are exempt from regrets for their actions.”

A short silence ensued before Terra spoke again.

“Do you hate me, Raven?” the blonde finally said, pronouncing the Titan's name.

“I can't lie to you. At first I hated you, I did it because I saw in you a friend, I trusted you, I let you into my life and my home, you gave me acceptance. I hated you because I felt it was all a deception. But now... I can't hate you.”

Was it right to simply forgive her?

Raven was sure that, under different circumstances, she and Terra would have been good friends.

All the suffering, the anger, the mistrust, the loneliness and betrayal, it broke her heart. There was so much more to her, but her core was all pain, and Raven identified with that. She really identified with her.

“I humiliated you in the worst way, I insulted you and...”

“And then you sacrificed yourself to save us and the city, and in the process destroyed our greatest enemy. That's more than you could have done to receive redemption and atone for your guilt,” Raven tried to compensate. “And again, you just saved my life; if it wasn't for you I'd be slammed to the ground and dead now. I'm not going to lie to you and tell you that I'm ready to trust you completely, but you can do something right now. On my part I will give you a chance, the second chance I never gave you at the time. But please, I advise you not to waste it. I will not forgive you if you harm me or my friends again, if you ruin this chance, it will all be over.”

The ex-Titan seemed to be rethinking everything in her head, as if it were a puzzle.

“Terra, there is no one in this world who has never had doubts and who has never made mistakes. Doubt is inherent to people. We are all victims of our own confusions at some point in our lives. Being sad, suffering, struggling, feeling lost or helpless is a natural part of a human existence. You are not alone.”

“Slade...” she murmured in a silent question.

“Unfortunately, he's still alive,” Raven said, watching Terra's body tremble again. “He really died thanks to you, but the bastard found a way to come back, courtesy of my father.”

“He will come for me,” the girl predicted.

“You may be right. But he doesn't stand a chance if you stay with us and this time you trust that we can help you. Slade has a sadistic fascination with isolating his victim, he did it with Robin, he did it with you, and I know it firsthand,” Raven said, remembering how he had tormented her on her birthday, the day the prophecy was to be fulfilled.

Terra just nodded and Raven could tell her emotions were slowly beginning to stabilize. She needed help. Leaving her in that distressing banishment because she had made a mistake would be a vile and cruel act that she would not forgive herself. Besides, she had already made a habit of giving second chances during this mission. «A journey of second chances,» she thought graciously. She was offering it to Jinx, a villain who had caused them a lot of trouble in the past, she was offering it to Terra... and she was also giving another boy a chance to get too close to her after Malchior's betrayal.

“Really, Beast Boy will be happy to see you,” Raven added so as not to further deepen his recent thought.

“I don't know if I'll ever be able to look Beast Boy in the face again. He's the one I've hurt the most,” Terra said sadly. She remembered the green boy and all he did for her.

“Only time will tell.”

Terra just continued to sit on a rock, watching the starry sky.

“How did you get here anyway?” Raven questioned. She didn't distrust her, her aura didn't reveal any malice, but she wouldn't believe the story that their meeting was caused by a simple chance occurrence either.

“When I woke up, I saw that they had left my old communicator in the place as a souvenir and I took it before leaving,” Terra answered, showing her the device that was now broken. “Today I heard Robin's voice, that they needed help and you were the closest. But now it's broken. I guess I messed it up.”

“No, the communicator was disabled because Robin was captured by the Brotherhood of Evil, we are in trouble, all of us.”

“Robin captured? Brotherhood of Evil? I've never heard of them,” she said, curious and amazed to learn that Robin had been defeated, now finally looking her in the eye.

“I don't have much time to explain, we just have to go to their base and attack them. I must save Robin, I owe it to him. Will you help me?”

“I dunno,” she sighed as the last tears fell down her face making the earth wetter if possible, "but I think I can do that. Although... I'm a little embarrassed and afraid to see them all again," Terra confessed as she stirred a little uneasily in a clear sign of nervousness and anxiety.

“Terra, it will be all right, come with me,” said Raven, holding out a hand which, after a moment's hesitation, was finally received by Terra.

When their hands touched, thousands of memories came to Raven's mind like a screen shot. In addition to her many emotions... they were her memories. Tara Markov... Princess of Markovia... a brother... Brion Markov... also known as Geo-Force... experiments by sinister interests within the Royal Court, which gave both siblings superpowers with the ability to control and manipulate the earth... Terra escaping from her lack of control... not to hurt anyone... The same thing she did escaping from Azarath...

Raven withdrew her hand to prevent Terra's memories from continuing to come to her. She hadn't intended to intrude inside her head, but the simple contact had produced a sort of instant connection.

“Listen, take this... as a new beginning. Things change, Terra.”

Terra just agreed.

Raven just hoped she wasn't making a mistake.

Wally was really worried. He knew that Robin's plan had been a total failure. Communications had somehow been intercepted by the Brotherhood of Evil and now all the Titans were in trouble. And to make matters worse now his and the brats' communicator were totally broken and useless. But what really worried him was Raven, if it was taking so long it was because the Brotherhood should have located her, but he didn't know where she was and he was safely here not knowing what to do or how to help.

The kids were under the bed trembling with fear and in total silence. He had turned off all the lights and was peering out of the cabin window looking for any sign of trouble. If the others had been attacked, someone could come looking for them too. Their locations were no longer a secret to them anyway.

“Raven, hurry back,” he implored internally as he continued to scan the exterior for the slightest hint of movement.

At that precise moment a shout from the kids shook him, and he immediately got into an attack position. It was a portal, and Raven was falling out of it along with another woman.

“Raven! Rae!” shouted the kids and he respectively, as they approached the young sorceress.

Kid Flash ran to keep her from collapsing to the floor, kneeling beside her as he held her.

“What the hell happened to you, who did this to you?” Wally questioned, examining the girl's haggard appearance. Her tunic looked tattered and muddy. She looked as if she had been badly wounded in battle.

“Why? Are you plotting revenge or something?” the sorceress joked satirically to break a little with the boy's concern.

“I'm serious,” said Wally.

She sighed when her joke didn't get the expected result. The speedster was looking at her with real seriousness. The sorceress tried to develop the facts that had happened to answer his question.

“We fell into his trap, all of us. After I completed my task and delivered the communicator to Heraldo, Robin called me to help Más and Menos who were attacked by Johnny Rancid,” Raven explained. “But I was ambushed too, by Kyd Wykkyd and Psimon. The Brotherhood was aware of our every move.”

“Are you okay, are you hurt?” he questioned once again, moving quickly around the girl to see if there were any injuries that needed immediate attention.

“I was able to... read his mind at the end. It was difficult but it worked out in the end.”

“Huh?” Wally questioned in bewilderment at what she was saying.

“I know where they are... their base of operations... is in Paris,” Raven finally revealed, trying to get up from the ground and stabilize herself, being helped by the speedster.

“And who is the lady? Why did she come with you?” asked Melvin noticing the other woman.

“Yeah, I wonder the same, and who is she?” said Wally looking suspiciously at the blonde girl.

“My name is... Terra...” she stammered as she averted her face from the inquisitive gaze of the red-haired man and the three kids.

“She is a... former member of our team and I don't have time to explain anything about that. I'll take the kids, Bobby and her to the Brotherhood base. You are to find Jinx, we will all meet there. We will attack tonight,” Raven commanded. Wally just blinked in confusion at her order.

Former member? Terra? He remembered that name, but from where? Wasn't she... wasn't she the girl who had bonded with Slade's psycho? Robin had told him something about that.

“Sorry? And leave you on your own? I won't,” he shook his head. “Besides, I don't even know if I can trust her, and you're too weak.”

Terra found herself a bit taken aback by the closeness between Raven and the unknown red-haired boy. When she first met the sorceress, she had always seemed so distant and hermetic to anything that was human contact. She was distressed at his comment. Well, she would have to earn everyone's trust again if she wanted to be accepted.

“Kid Flash, just trust me, okay? This is not a game, Robin was captured and so were many of the Honorary Titans," Raven pointed out, causing uncertainty to run through Wally's body: had Robin fallen to the Brotherhood? “I have no knowledge of how many of us are left right now as there are no communicators or other means of contact, but the more help we have the better and Jinx is very strong. Her support will be needed. Can't you get off my back for a moment?” Raven interjected angrily at his refusal to follow her plan, looking him straight in the eye.

“No way,” he said simply.

“Wally,” Raven exhaled in a soft whisper watching the boy in surprise at his terse response. She swallowed deeply as a lump settled in her throat, he really cared about her and her safety. She could feel it in his aura. She closed her eyes to try to control herself and her emotions. This was something really new to her. New because it was different than anything she had ever felt before. The yellow-coated emotion, knowledge, spoke in her mindscape and she nodded metaphorically to what it was telling her. But it wasn't just the knowledge that was speaking, there was another emotion. This was different, in a way she couldn't articulate. Her friends cared about her too, but she didn't see Wally the way she saw her team. She knew it, but it was something she didn't want to name yet, she was afraid to. Putting it into words was dangerous, because in that way she gave it entity, made it real, something true and possible. This was difficult. Wally's warmth and his words held so much promise. She also cared about the speedster's well-being. She could understand his emotions, but there was also this thing about the Brotherhood of Evil to be ended once and for all.

“Just promise me you'll come meet me once you get there, that's all.” He gave up with a frustrated sigh trying to focus on the fight ahead. Raven was right, this was a serious matter.

“Alright, I give you my word," Raven finally said. Her face flushed completely when Wally, before disappearing from the hut with his superspeed to follow the task she gave him, planted a tender kiss on her cheek. Raven was stupefied at his sudden action, only remaining transfixed in the same spot, one hand gently probing the area where he had placed his lips, an area that seemed to be burning right now in a tingling she found too pleasurable.

“I had no idea you had a boyfriend, Raven, I'm glad for you” expressed Terra, who stood with her arms crossed, watching the scene with great curiosity. Well, after all she had been sealed in that cave for quite some time, she supposed that the life of the Titans had continued and the sorceress had not wasted her time.

“Boyfriend? Me?” Raven felt a rush of emotions at the thought, causing all the light bulbs and some of the glasses and plates in the cabin's kitchen to explode into thousands of pieces, startling Terra and the kids, all of this ignored by Raven herself who was completely engrossed in one thought... Boyfriend?

Chapter Text

"My Lord! The time is drawing near, one must be patient, it only remains for me to escape from here and my brilliant plan will at last be in the process of being carried out. The storm is coming. I know that my actions will please you, master," he reflected.

Inside his mind, in his imagination, he could already see four crimson-red eyes, suspended in the air, watching him from above while a deep laughter could be heard that shook the whole cavern. He could even hear a deep, deep baritone voice congratulating him on his actions.

“The gem was born of evil's fire. The gem shall be his portal. He comes to claim, he comes to sire, the end of all things mortal,” he now recited, recalling the old prophecy that heralded his coming.

“What's wrong with this man? What the fuck is he talking about? The gem? The end?” questioned one of the security agents to the other as they walked by and heard the man mutter the strange and sinister phrase. It wasn't the first time they had heard him recite that.

“No idea, he may have already lost his mind, he must be mad if you take into account his history,” said the other one while laughing at the craziness of the situation. “Don't you think it would have been a better decision to lock him up in Arkham?”

“It doesn't matter, he won't be able to get out of here anyway.”

«Sure they do, but they have no idea... they don't know what they're in for,» he mentally boasted as he listened to those guys muttering about his person.

He was in a cell, which was protected by a level four force field, he was too immobile, sitting with his hands firmly resting on his knees. He really looked like a human statue. He only moved from this position rarely, only when he was really hungry and the prison food was palatable to him. But most of the time he fasted, there were even days when he only drank small sips of water. Anyone who saw him at this time would simply conclude that he had resigned himself and was simply waiting patiently for his sentence to end, which was a futile wait, as the verdict was for much longer than the life expectancy of a natural human. Others believed that he simply did not feed in an attempt to starve himself to death and end his sentence by simply ending his life in a suicide by starvation.

«They know I can't even lift a finger. I don't even want them to know what I'm capable of. I'll just sit here. I won't make a single move. They will be suspicious of me. They'll be watching me all the time. I know they will. Let them keep an eye on me if they want to. Then they will realize what kind of person I am.»

If he remained seated without moving, they would not mistrust him.

If he remained seated without moving, they would know he was submissive and surrendered.

It was for the best. Let them think they had all the control.

Even if it really wasn't.

He remained at rest for a long time, while at that very moment a buzzing fly approached.

And it landed in his hand.

He could have crushed it... if he had wanted to.

.

.

.

But he did not crush it.

“I'm not going to kill you,” he whispered, looking at the insect standing on his hand. “Calm down.”

He didn't crush it, and he trusted that the cameras were watching him now, because that proved what kind of person he really was.

Someone incapable of killing even a single fly.

But everyone was wrong. He smiled. Although the man's body did not sway even a little, his mind was constantly active and in motion, going back and forth, flowing beyond the confines of his cell as he continually searched for the means to finally free himself. And he already knew how.

His mind was powerful. He was powerful.

The very idiots believed that he did not eat because he wanted only to die, but in reality fasting served him in his meditative trance. Thanks to fasting it is easy to access deeper states of meditation than usual. Concentration improved, creative thinking expanded, insomnia stops, anxiety fades, the mind becomes calmer. When physical toxins are removed from the brain cells, automatically the mental-brain function improved and his psychic abilities expanded remarkably. His perception increased, and his energetic and spiritual capacity increased.

Everything was coldly calculated.

After he was captured, he had been transferred here from Steel City, due to the fact that this prison had superior facilities for dealing with inmates possessing superhuman abilities. Indeed, the walls of this cell were reinforced so that even his abilities would not break it and the containment field attenuated his powers. But only a little, because they could never suppress his mind completely. The power of the mind was a notoriously difficult force to counter, especially one as strong and sublime as his.

The man had already waited many months, and he was not willing to wait any longer. Once he could be free, fate would return to its natural course and he would regain what was rightfully his. He had been mistakenly long obsessed with Cyborg and his seeming invulnerability to his psychic powers. He had turned away from the destiny of his ancestors in running the cult of Trigon, and devoted his time and resources to building and directing a network of super-powered and impressive followers. HIVE. This particular direction had been quite productive and beneficial until the introduction of Cyborg and his interference when he infiltrated his academy, the only person who had been able to stand up to his abilities. He had been humiliated and defeated by the Titan himself time and time again, and by the last fight at the top of the Tower of the Titans East, he ended up giving up completely. He was truly lost and spent his time in prison unable to see any light in his eyes.

But now his objective had completely changed.

The Gem of Scath.

He had never noticed her presence, as his focus was on the other half-cybernetic Titan and also because the girl seemed to always move in the shadows to hide, always in the rear. But during his stay in prison, he could feel the presence of the great Trigon and then he knew, she was the portal. She was his daughter. The daughter of that pathetic human woman, whose name he could remember: Angela Roth. An unbelieving, manipulative young woman. She had come to his church in desperation after running away from home, with a severe case of depression because of her relationship with her abusive father, seeking containment. And unbeknownst to her, she had been given in a satanic ceremony so that she could carry the seed of Trigon within her and thus create the access conduit, the entrance through which he would enter this world to extinguish the sun and all light forever and ever. The way by which he could enter this world and sow its destruction, purging and atoning all the impure. But unfortunately that inept woman escaped and then he never again had any knowledge of her and the child she begot. It was as if she had absolutely disappeared from the face of the earth. Until now, because her offspring was here.

There was no longer any room for doubt.

Did no one look at the world around them?

It was hell, filled with subjects filled with an appetite for hatred and decadence. But nothing compared to the eternal fire that awaited them in the depths of the underworld.

«Forgive them,» he might say, «for they know not what they do.» But there comes a time in history when barbarism is no longer an excusable grievance...there comes a time when only purging has the power of absolution.

This earth had already survived too many things: the First and Second World Wars, famines, atomic bombings, natural disasters, the Black Death and other epidemics. Earthquakes, eruptions, floods, fires, storms, tsunamis, plagues, famines, wars, accidents. Mankind has suffered it all.

«But not all of it,» he thought, «not so far.»

We are facing an upside-down world that rewards its ruiners instead of punishing them.

Homo homini lupus: man is a wolf for man. The "savage wolf", hidden in the inner self, is ready to commit atrocities. The natural state of the human being is the continuous struggle against its fellow man. The metaphor of the wild animal that humans carry within themselves, capable of great brutalities and barbarities against elements of their own species. Man is a predator of man himself.

But the world would change forever. And his master, in all his excellence, would be responsible for achieving this, for such a noble and remarkable feat.

He looked into a future where civilians would turn to stone, red skies and burning air. Of lava flowing where water should be, and desolation everywhere, the outdoors teeming with carrion birds that wished to consummate a butchery. The skies will open and the fields will be scorched by the heat. The sun will turn to darkness, and the moon to blood. The stars of the heavens and their stars shall no more give their light; and the sun shall be darkened at its rising, and the moon shall not give its radiance. Absolute twilight... the darkest night that mankind has ever lived.

The darkest night.

The lustful bodies writhing under the storm and submerged in a great incessant whirlwind that will overwhelm them in absolute solitude where a very strong wind will not let them rest for a single moment. The gluttonous souls, the proud and the envious floating in excrement and mud under a continuous rain of hail and snow. The avaricious dragging objects of great value and enormous weight, in tune with the amount of earthly goods they accumulated or spent in their past, devoting themselves entirely to this in life, bumping into each other. The heretics, immersed in sepulchers of fire. The wrathful ones immersed in the mire of their own rage, and where they beat and reviled each other eternally, while the lazy ones, who spent their lives in immobility of spirit, would now be sunk, deprived of air and word, just as in life they were deprived of works. The charlatans and falsehoods, covered with leprosy and the treacherous villains frozen in the icy claw of Satan.

Oppression.

Indignity.

Depravity.

Pain.

Corruption.

All hidden behind these false masks of harmony, empty faces and smiles of dishonor.

Just as plastic flowers do not turn the desert into a garden, these empty individuals could not fulfill any function.

«They don't understand what's going to happen...nor what I will have done for them! Ungrateful land!».

But the day he would come and rise up, he would tear the flesh off this filthy world and show the true faces of everyone, who was who in reality. And he would put everyone in their place.

The final hour.

Trigon's blood also ran through her veins. Raven, he still remembered her name. He licked his lips at the thought.

Who knew that the young dark witch of the Titans was actually the beautiful fruit of that pact that happened years ago? She was an heirloom, a diamond in the rough, a gem.

Such reflections are what gave him the strength to resist his imprisonment, which at times became unbearable. However, the imprisoned time had also given him time to plan his every move.

The first thing was to resume his role as pontiff and paladin of Trigon the Terrible, Lord Infernal, interdimensional demon of the plane of the Eighth Circle of Hell. So the start would be to travel to Zandia. Then he would need to kidnap the witch of the Titans, although kidnapping was not the right word to be more accurate, because eventually she would come to him alone. And for that he would first need the book that he very well knew she kept jealously in her room. And he had that knowledge because, when his useless HIVE students infiltrated the Tower in their first encounter with the Titans and were defeated by them, he had infiltrated the minds of his students to know what those brats were hiding and to be aware of some data like the security system they used. But then he saw it. Jinx had entered Trigon's daughter's room and had flipped through her many books without paying much attention to their contents. But it was there, Volpert's Grimoire.

«Nothing should be left to chance.»

His mind was agitated as one of the guards again passed in front of the door. The man knew that sooner or later some of these stupid, insignificant individuals would let their guard down.

Then he would be free, and the whole world would tremble at his name. Although they considered him a villain, he rather believed he was a savior, a chosen one. They would praise him and kneel before his magnificence when he had the Gem under his power. A new era for those who believed in Trigon, their God.

«O obstinate ignoramuses! I hope you understand the splendor of my creation and its necessity.»

And today was the right day to make his first advance. He had heard it from one of the many conversations of the guards who sometimes strolled through the narrow corridors of the place, he knew that the Titans were not near here, they were quite far away and entertained in Paris playing with the Brotherhood of Evil, so they could not respond to any distress call. They were distracted on another target. It was simply all perfect, as if the invisible threads of fate had aligned in his favor.

«I've been in that miserable cell for too long,» he rectified, «but they should have known they couldn't contain my sublime presence forever!"» His powers were at their peak. It was time. He knew what his next move was. His cybernetic implants may have been removed, but his latent psychic abilities needed no computer program to perform basic hypnotic suggestions. He knew what was going to happen now in the prison: the changing of the guards. The timing.

“The gem was born of evil's fire. The gem shall be his portal. He comes to claim, he comes to sire, the end of all things mortal,” he uttered once more.

Andrew Davis, a young guard, sat patiently before a long row of video monitors, leaning back in his chair as he propped his feet up on a small bench. It was his sixth month on the job as a guard and, all in all, he was very proud to have joined the ranks of a select few who worked tirelessly to keep the streets clean and safe from the scum of the earth.

His eyes wandered between a photo showing a happy family of four smiling on a beach, and also between the images flashing before him, live shots from hundreds of wireless video cameras that surrounded the complex and showed the inside of cells where thousands of criminals and villains withered away. The images kept scrolling.

He took a long sip of his black coffee.

He was nearing the end of his shift and was looking forward to finishing soon, his wife and two children were waiting for him to celebrate the youngest one's birthday. Most of the guards had retired to make way for the second round that was about to arrive. That's why he had to be more attentive now, since the prison was unprotected for a short period of time. Obviously the criminals were not aware of this top secret information, but he was still vigilant, as this small blind spot could be exploited by anyone. Besides, in this last time, they had to be more cautious than usual, as the Titans were not present as they were usually used to, a call away as usual to help them, they were engaged in another mission of great importance, or something like that was what he could hear. By the latter named, the work had also been more strenuous than usual.

As the video frames flashed by, the guard refrained from fantasizing. But one image captured his full attention, it came from cell number 33. He knew what that camera contained. A man they caught some time ago. He heard that he brainwashed a group of the Titans East into thinking they were his students, and then went a little crazy that he even went so far as to replace parts of his body with mechanical implants, and tried to do the same to the youngsters. But the Titans got him in the end as usual, and now he was in perpetual confinement.

With a reflexive movement that managed to startle even him, since it had not been his will to perform that action, he reached out and pressed a button on the control panel. The image froze him. In front of the screen two red eyes stared at him. He could almost hear a voice in the back of his head. A voice calling out to him.

«Another poor soul, don't be afraid, you are doing your job, whether you know it or not. Come. Now.»

He had no willpower to disobey. He got up from his seat and went to the sector where the maximum security cells were located.

Come.

The voice in his head was louder now, and insisted on calling out to him. To tempt him.

Come.

He went downstairs.

Come.

Barely aware of what he was doing, the guard staggered down the hallway, in the direction from which those words seemed to be coming. He had no way of knowing, but the further he went, his eyes began to light up with a strange reddish glow. He stopped. Someone was standing in his way of that alluring and mesmerizing signal.

Kill.

“Andy? What the fuck are you supposed to be doing here? This isn't your job... Do you want to get fired? Go back where you came from! Right now!”

Kill.

“You should be checking the cameras, especially at this time when it's time for replacement!”

Kill.

“Get back to your post this instant before the supervisor finds out that you came down here at this inopportune moment!”

Kill.

He again had no strength to refuse his request. He raised his gun without hesitation and fired into the other man's head leaving a hole in the middle of his forehead. There was not a shred of remorse or guilt in his being.

Blood.

He took the security card from the corpse and brought it close to the infrared reader getting the sliding door to open. He entered the hallway and then saw at the back of the hallway a high-tech armored door with an electromagnetic glass shield that seemed to emit a constant buzzing sound.

Come, come closer.

And he just obeyed.

BEEP... BEEP... BEEP... BEEP... BEEP...

The loud sound of the alarm, along with the red alert light, was heard all over the place alerting everyone.

Smoke poured from behind the outer wall of the shattered prison. If these clues were not enough to indicate that something very bad was happening, the loud police horns and sirens indicated it quite well. Inside, several guards ran through the building.

“Code Red! Cell 33 open! Move in and intercept the target!” shouted one of the policemen giving the orders to his colleagues.

They ran a short distance and then slowed down, weapons at the ready.

“Main gate secured!” said one of the guards.

But a bright, reddish bolt of lightning shot toward them, shattering the main prison door.

“There he is! Take aim!” commanded another while his hand trembled a little with nervousness.

They advanced and leveled their weapons while locking their sights on the target. After the dust cleared, a figure emerged from the ruined gate. He was a tall, elderly man, but with a haughty and dignified bearing. Andrew stood before him trembling.

“Hands up! Now!”

“Just shoot, that man is really a threat!” shouted Andy. This was all his fault. “He's a high-risk prisoner! Don't let him escape!”

“You heard! Fire!”

Andrew dropped to the ground and covered his head with his hands as the shots rang out. But none of them reached them, the projectile blasts had no perceptible effect. The old man had created a kind of barrier that repelled each and every pellet. He seemed really bored with the whole situation. He did not seem to be making any effort nor did he seem to feel threatened by the multiple weapons that had him in their sights.

“Are you finished?” the man interjected in an arrogant gesture. “My turn.”

The guards fired their weapons again, but the man answered the attack with blinding speed. Before the policemen could react and fire again, the man raised his hands and sent fiery discharges of crimson lightning towards them, exploding the whole place they were standing on. The men collapsed and rolled over, as crimson liquid poured from their bodies. Some alive, some dead and dying. Blood, how he loved that substance, it had been quite some time since he had received a bath in that beautiful concoction.

“Dying lambs, at least your precious blood will never lose its power and value.”

Then the old man turned to Andrew.

“Good boy, you've been a great help,” he said as he took the guard's gun in his hands and brought it close to his head while stroking the young man's temple with the gun.

“Please don't...” begged Andy as he cried.

“Andrew,” he said as he read the badge attached to his shirt, which was stained with blood from the murder he had committed thanks to the hypnotic suggestion, “thank you for rescuing me from that vile cell, I am truly grateful, but unfortunately your services are no longer required by me.”

“Please, I beg you,” he pleaded again as tears streamed down his face, “I have a family. I have...”

“I'm sorry, my son. I sincerely did not want to have to do this. Sadly you will not be able to witness many things, our lord Trigon tearing the truth in all unbelievers. But at least I will take the time to pray to Scath for your soul.” The old man did not even give him time to defend himself and suddenly fired. Andrew Davis fell dead to the ground.

Blood.

More soldiers approached, this was the second attack squad and they seemed to be much more prepared and trained than the first. Surely it was the Paramilitary Tactical Division. But he didn't want to waste any more time, he had a lot of work to do. With a simple wave of his hand, he was surrounded by a fiery red light. When the blinding lightfaded, he had already disappeared from the scene.

The final hour.

This was just the prelude to the storm that was coming.

Chapter Text

Wally was running at full speed, he had reached Jump City in a matter of seconds and had run through all the streets twice, but there was no trace of Jinx anywhere and he had no way of tracking her. He had to hurry to get to the now not-so-secret base of the Brotherhood. A sigh of relief left his mouth when he finally spotted the girl's pink hair coming out of one of the stores in the center of the city.

“Hey, Pinky!” said the redhead suddenly approaching the girl and scaring her, making her throw a curse at him with her powers. It was fortunate that he was agile with his movements because he managed to dodge the curse that Jinx sent him by a little.

“What the hell!” exclaimed the girl, fixing her eyes on him. “Wow, if you're the exasperating and hyperactive boy from last time, don't show up like that again! And I told you not to call me Pinky, you asshole!” Jinx shouted trying to control the agitation she felt, she was almost scared to death.

“We need you, we found out where the base of the Brotherhood of Evil is located.”

“I'm really glad you found out, but at no time did I tell you I was going to help,” she said simply as she turned and prepared to walk on.

“Don't make this any harder, okay? Look, I'm really in a hurry,” explained the red-haired man, losing his patience a little.

“What's the matter, are you worried about Raven?” she asked, arching an eyebrow curiously.

“Yeah,” he answered as if it were the simplest thing in the world.

“Chill kid, she knows how to take care of herself, she's strong... although I remember kicking her magical ass once,” Jinx mocked remembering the first day she met the other sorceress and it didn't take her long to defeat her. Though then she had retaliated for that, quite a few times in a row.

“You know, telling me that you hurt her isn't really my cup of tea,” said the boy with a frown.

“Sorry, it was just a joke, what I'm getting at is that you should trust her abilities more. She is really strong, she is not a novice, she is one of the best sorceresses I know and in my humble opinion the strongest of her team. Besides you saw her fight against Madame Rouge, and taking into account that she was holding back.”

“I have ample confidence in her abilities and I know she is strong, but she was injured and exhausted. I need to get there quickly and make sure she is safe.”

“Boy, you're really in love. You're already lost.”

“In love? Me?”

True, he had grown quite fond of Raven in a very short time. And it was true, she was his first sort of… attraction? infatuation? was that the right word? And it all rather frightened him, as they were all atypical and new sensations for him. And he couldn't understand it.

Why did he feel so attracted to her presence alone, as if it were a magnet or some kind of spell? Drawn like a moth to a flame. Likewise, he was already too far gone to stop what he was feeling, and he really didn't want to.

Yep, in addition to his passion for abundant food, he had always liked to flirt with any attractive girl within a radius of him. It was like a distinctive trait of his, his gallant and carefree attitude. He had flirted with many women, rescued by him in his heroic routine, but they were just passing remarks that made the girls sigh.

However, the situation was different now.

For a strange reason that didn't fit into any computation in his head, he was captivated by Raven's presence as he couldn't remember ever being fascinated by any other woman before. She was like no other in every sense of the word. He couldn't find any logical explanation for it, he just knew he was captivated by her. She was beautiful, mysterious and unique. He wanted her, but he wasn't sure why. He didn't know her well enough yet, but he knew he could trust her completely. A sane part of his brain told him that it made no common sense whatsoever what he was feeling, that he should be cautious and wary of her; but another part of him, perhaps his heart, wanted to know everything about Raven, everything he discerned that she hid behind those walls.

Although it seemed a cliché, people always said that the eyes were the mirror of the soul, and he could see in hers a great wisdom, caution and sapience. She was probably the smartest and wisest of her team, even more so than Robin himself, and that was saying a lot. But he also saw sorrow, torment and betrayal. The eyes of someone who had already seen too much hostility in her life. He knew that the girl surely had a tendency toward hermeticism, silence and impermeability. And one obvious thing was that she seemed to emanate darkness from her every pore and yet it seemed that light burned with an almost desperate fervor in her soul in an attempt to emerge. Therefore, he supposed that the best thing for her was a cheerful boy, someone who could show her the good and fun side of life, not the bad, the one she surely already knew like the back of her hand. «Someone like me,» he thought internally blushing at the thought.

Yin and yang, how appropriate to illustrate. The duality of everything in existence.

Even he couldn't decipher the emotional turmoil he was having just now, but he was willing to meet her and see where it could all lead. The girl's voice finally interrupted his thoughts.

“Ok, I'll give you a hand, but we have to move fast.”

“Well, that's something I can easily do, Pinky.”

With a gust of wind, Jinx was already in the red-head's arms and being carried at an unknown and extremely fast speed. She did not know how many minutes or seconds had passed and they had already slowed down. The base then was in Paris, the Eiffel Tower could be seen in the distance between the buildings.

Paris was a magnificent capital. Wally had no difficulty finding his way around the city, as he had been here many times before.

“I feel like I'm going to throw up,” Jinx muttered, holding herself against the wall of one of the buildings and clutching her stomach a little.

“Ok, don't worry about it, it will pass soon. Now we have to move, there is not much time.”

“Fine. Let's get this over with,” said Jinx, following the red-haired man who was walking cautiously towards a suspicious building.

They stopped next to a wooden gate that had flags on its side that clearly referred to the Brotherhood of Evil. The gate was broken down and the guards were slumped on the floor. Well, it was evident that the party had already begun.

“I guess we're finally there.”

“I don't know if I can...,” Jinx started to get really nervous. "Once I do this, my old team will see me as a traitor. What if the Titans don't accept me? I'll never be accepted as a villain... or even a hero. I'm risking everything with this.”

“Don't worry about that now. If you prove in there that you're worth your salt as an ally, rest assured you'll earn a place in Robin's heart,” the speedster joked.

Shouts and explosions were heard, and the two looked at each other knowing what it meant, it was time to go inside. The two entered the building running down one of the corridors, following the sound of the noises, but stopped when the scene in front of their eyes didn't seem to be too promising in their favor.

“Wait... look,” Kid Flash muttered, stopping the girl from entering. Things didn't look good in there. It was a crowd of villains and only a few Titans that could be counted on one hand.

Where was Raven? She said she was on her way to the site. And the rest of the group? The only one of the Titans present was Beast Boy and things didn't seem to be going well for them and the few Honoraries that were there were now captured by the Brotherhood of Evil.

“This is not looking good,” Jinx fretted, looking at the panorama in front of her eyes.

“What should we do? We two alone won't be able to fight them all,” the sprinter hesitated a little when The Brain's robotic voice was heard throughout the place.

“Did you think your pathetic resistance could actually stop what I have created? Once again, Beast Boy, you've failed. Madame Rouge, add them to the collection," The Brain directed as the lithe woman stretched out her arms and dragged the changeling all over the floor and directed him in front of her face.

“Any final words?” said Madame Rouge, already savoring the early victory.

“Yeah. I wouldn't stand there if I were you,” Beast Boy remarked with a smile on his face before turning into a fly and flying away from the woman. He could smell his friends approaching the base and they weren't coming alone. And if he was right, Cyborg was below him at this very moment. But there was another scent in the air, one that he hadn't smelled in a long time and that belonged to only one person... the smell of damp earth.

A tremor shook the place at the same time that a sonic beam opened a hole in the ground.

Once the smoke cleared, the figures came into view, sending a shiver down the spine of every villain in the place. Things had taken an unexpected turn.

“Lesson number one: never throw me down a hole unless you make sure I stay there!" said Cyborg, who appeared alongside Kole and Gnarrk.

Then an explosion on the roof of the place gave way to three more people.

“The lesson two: we never give up!" Starfire sputtered, her eyes and hands glowing a menacing shade of green. Next to her were Bumblebee and Red Star.

“Lesson three: your secret lair isn't very secret!" said a deep female voice and then Raven appeared from a black portal in the floor, along with the three kids, Bobby and Terra.

“Titans! Together!” Beast Boy finally led, giving way to battle.

Kid Flash sighed with relief when he saw everyone enter, well now this was going to get entertaining. He ran alongside Jinx to enter the place and the two were greeted by five familiar faces standing at the entrance. The five boys from the HIVE.

“Now's the time when you're probably thinking, "I shouldn't have hooked up with these Brotherhood guys." Hate to say it, but "Told you!" joked the speedster with a smug smile on his face. “Sorry I'm late. I had to pick up a friend.”

“You're with him?!? Traitor!” Gizmo shrieked at her as the other four boys looked on in shock and betrayal.

“You probably have some catching up to do. I'll go see what I can find out there, see you later,” Kid Flash saluted and ran off to help the rest of the Titans in the fight.

“Nothing personal,” Jinx joked as, with a simple snap of her fingers, a pink shockwave knocked out her former team.

“Now that was unexpectedsaid,” Cyborg as he punched Control Freak and turned to look at Jinx who was beating up the villains. “So,” he asked a bit puzzled, “you're no longer part of the HIVE?”

“No,” she replied with a smile a little nervous to have him around again, “I was wondering if you needed some help over there,” she muttered looking down, shuffling her boots on the ground in an anxious gesture. Jinx looked up to see Cyborg's hand extended towards her. She smiled as she clasped his metallic hand.

“No!" shouted Control Freak, startling the pair. “Turn to the dark side of the force, little Padawan! I am… your… father!” said the villain awakening from his knockout, as he struck a dramatic pose clutching his heart... until he was hit by Jinx's spell... and knocked out again.

“Okay, now, that was... weird,” said Jinx, looking at the scene in astonishment. That guy was really strange. She didn't even know how he could fall into the category of villain.

“Your help will be welcome,” Cyborg smiled. He was glad she was coming to his side, to the good side. “You could say you're a pretty hero now,” he commented, causing a blush on the girl's cheeks.

“Still one battle to go,” the pink-haired girl remarked as she pointed to the war unleashed in front of her eyes.

“Booyah! Let's go before they leave us with nothing, they're taking the best bosses. I don't even know where to start,” he said as they headed for the center of the battle.

Throughout all this, Más succeeded in catching up with his brother Menos after breaking free from Chang's goons, finally managing to thaw him from the ice.

“Necesito chocolate caliente," ["I need hot chocolate."], joked Menos.

They dodged a beam sent towards them and then looked at each other with a mischievous grin. Well, it was time to play. Menos laughed, extending his hand to Más. Más joined his palm with Menos's feeling the clash of energies.

“¡Más y Menos! ¡Sí podemos!” ["Más and Menos! Yes we can!"], they shouted in unison as they headed for the control center of Professor Chang's freezing machine, pushing some of the scientists in their path.

“¿Cómo funciona?” ["How does it work?"], asked Más, looking at the number of buttons and levers on the device.

“¡No tengo idea! ¡Es más complicado que el Space Shuttle!” ["I have no idea! It's more complicated than the Space Shuttle!"]

The twins began to touch all the buttons and play with the controls of the cryo machine, finally managing to free the Titans who had been captured earlier: Hot Spot, Wildebeest, Aqualad, Tramm, Bushido, Argent, Killowat, the brothers Lightning and Thunder, Speedy and finally Robin. They broke free and quickly joined the fight.

“Starfire! I could use a hand,” exclaimed Robin's voice toward the alien girl. With a smile, Starfire flew straight towards Robin to help him down and they headed straight towards the mass of villains. Starfire began firing her energy projectiles at all the enemies below her flight.

“I'm gonna crush you with my bare hands, Bat Boy!” shouted Atlas, the robotic enemy, as he pounced on Robin.

Robin smiled confidently and jumped at the last second on top of Atlas' head, then dove to the ground right behind the other villains as he threw flash bombs at them, which exploded and blinded his opponents. He then pulled out his bo staff as he continued to pummel anyone who got in his way.

“Is this part of the plan, leader?” questioned Madame Rouge to The Brain, as she freed herself from Pantha's grip. Things seemed to be reversed now, they were no longer at an advantage.

“A minor annoyance,” said the metallic voice, downplaying the matter as if it were a game.

“Your annoyance is no longer minor. I do things my way now," the woman complained, looking at the freed Titans.

Madame Rouge threw herself into the fray, stopping in front of the green boy who was evidently moving directly toward their leader with intentions of attacking.

“I should have killed you long ago,” said the villainess, looking at Beast Boy as if he were nothing more than an insect that deserved to be trampled. She was about to attack until a large flying rock hit her hard.

«Ouch, that must have hurt, even for the elastic psycho,» thought Beast Boy with a wince on his face.

“Terra,” muttered the changeling, now finding face to face with the girl who had been occupying his head lately.

“Beast Boy, I....,” her speech was stopped because she felt two arms wrap around her in a warm embrace.

“Don't say anything, just come with me, like in the old days,” said Beast Boy, ending his embrace and looking into her eyes with a big smile. He arranged her blonde hair leaving her two eyes uncovered, as he liked it. The green young man's hand was outstretched, waiting for her to take it, and without any hesitation, she did so. “Let's get this over with, let's go home.”

House.

She hadn't heard that term for a while. She closed her eyes, letting Beast Boy guide her into the duel that was occurring, and remembered her various treks before she met the Titans. Her search for a home, a place to belong, where people loved her and wanted her near; but she was always cast aside whenever she lost control of her power and caused devastation.

House.

She was finally going home. She finally let out a tear of happiness and a real smile appeared on her face for the first time after a long time.

“I'm... going home,” she said, preparing a rock to knock down Cinderblock.

Plasmus appeared launching a sticky attack straight towards Beast Boy, imprisoning him with his arms of residual and radioactive materials. Raven flew in that direction as she settled into a lotus position in the air and her eyes began to glow white. Alright, it was time to finish off the boogeyman. She used her powers to project her own spirit-self from her body into an astral form, using it to calm and put the human inside Plasmus to sleep. The villain let out a bellow as his amorphous toxic body melted, turning into nothing more than puddles of bubbling sludge, leaving the individual lying on the ground finally defenseless. When she was sure that she would cause no more trouble, she looked at the kids and Bobby standing behind her waiting for some sort of permission to fight back. She just sighed.

“Okay, fine. Just stay away from anyone older than you,” she commanded as she headed for the next villain, but froze when she heard the kids scream.

“Look, a dragon! A dragon! A dragon!” applauded Timmy excitedly.

“A dragon?... Malchior! Stay away from him, kids!”

The dragon took off its long tail and sent a direct hit towards the children, only to be met with a black bubble that surrounded them and stopped its attack.

“Never hurt them!” Raven threatened, glaring fiercely at her adversary and stepping in front of the kids. “Okay, you three hide in that corner and don't move. Bobby will keep you safe, okay, I'll take care of him,” Raven commanded as she watched the boys head to the location she designated for them.

However, Malchior took advantage of the distraction and spat a flare of fire that almost hit the target, avoided by a quick black shield which did not prevent the sorceress from rolling on the ground from the blow. He quickly sent a second attack, but a yellow blur passed by and she disappeared from his sight, slowing down a few feet away. Now the sorceress found herself in the arms of a red-haired boy.

“Did he hurt you?” Wally got his answer when he saw a large bruise on Raven's head, which was now leaking a trickle of blood, evidently the result of her crashing to the ground a moment ago. Instantly angry, Wally stroked the bruise carefully. Holding her chin tenderly, Wally looked at her guiltily. “I'm so sorry,” he whispered.

“It is not your fault, I got distracted,” Raven said as she looked at the dragon. Wally noticed the look on her face. And now indeed Raven, at this very moment, despite her mute and unperturbed expression she always wore, looked like she would finally give in and break down. Her eyes and cheeks were shining from the tears shed and her body was trembling widely. Evidently, that enemy caused her severe pain in the past. He didn't know the story, but you didn't have to be very smart to realize the great emotional wound that thing had caused her. The lacerations to her soul must have been as deep as the tears soaking her pale skin at this moment.

“I have no idea what that damn lizard did to you in the past, but I'll make him pay,” he said, pointing at the dragon, closing his eyes as he hugged her. Usually, this intimate contact would cause her to lose control or pull away instantly as a reflex action. But right now, in this unfamiliar and threatening place, she felt protected and, for once, welcome. She could feel his chest rising and falling. “I won't ever let him hurt you again, okay?” Wally opened his eyes to stare at Raven. The sorceress's eyes softened slightly, nodding.

“It's okay,” she whispered, a single more tear slipping down her cheek. Brushing the tear away with his thumb, Wally stood up and stepped forward, hiding Raven behind him.

“You replaced me that fast? Oh, don't be like that, dear. Not the welcome I expected from you,” the dragon mocked.

“You don't call her that!” Wally reproached, feeling his body tremble with pent-up anger.

“Oh, dear, you're not going to start crying again, are you?” Malchior mockingly interjected, ignoring the other boy, watching as the sorceress lay dejected on the floor. “I know it hurts, but you must realize that no one in this world can truly love you. You are so naive.”

“Stop jumping to conclusions about her life, you lizard! You don't know anything about her!” Wally spat out the words feeling the anger rising.

“And you do?” asked the dragon. “Anyway, who would be interested in a creepy being like her? In a creep? Tell me Raven, were you really so desperate at that moment that you believed all those beautiful words I told you? That even your empathic powers didn't reveal the truth to you? Or was your loneliness, your melancholy and longing to be accepted by someone so great that you refused to accept the sad reality? You are truly pathetic, but you have to accept the truth. You will be consumed in the solitude of your own soul for eternity. It's all over for you.”

Alone.

“It's not over. Not yet,” she finally whispered.

“Don't expect to be able to beat me,” the dragon said as he enjoyed the girl's emotional suffering.

“Don't think I don't remember the curse to send you to lethargy,” she finally looked up. A look full of rancor. Malchior was surprised how around Raven her power was unleashing like static and watched as black tendrils began to emerge and break the tiled floor. Raven realized that her emotions were escaping her grasp. She just took a deep breath trying to calm herself.

«Focus, find your center, it's not time to lose control.»

“Without the spell book, sweet Raven?” he questioned, undaunted by the girl's gaze.

“And who told you I needed the book?” said the sorceress as she pulled out a small red fragment belonging to some strange stone.

“A piece of rock? Are you planning to seal me there? You live on illusions, dear,” Malchior stuttered now. Something inside him told him equally that he was in trouble. He knew that the strength of the sorceress was not something to be taken lightly either.

“Shut up, I told you not to call her...!” the speedster snarled again, but Raven's voice snapped him out of his tirade.

“Wally,” she murmured quietly so that only the boy in front of her could hear her, "do you think you can... distract him for a few seconds? I need time to concentrate, also to perform and recite the spell.”

“Rae…,” he said, looking at her.

“I can seal it,” she murmured again as she showed him a piece of reddish glass in the palm of her hand, “it's a stone of Azarath, it contains enough magical power to lock it up.”

“All you need is time? That's good,” he said resolutely, “I think I can handle that.”

“I know you can,” she encouraged him with a half-smile.

Wally smiled and moved into a running position.

He sped towards the dragon running nimbly around it doing his best to get its attention. Hitting it wouldn't do him any good, that thing looked tough enough to collapse with a couple of punches.

“Hold still insect, let it crush you!” roared the dragon hitting the fast boy with its tail, but he dodged it as if it were a game.

“You stupid lizard, can't you reach me? You're too mouthy! What's that saying? ... Barking dog never bites?” joked the speedster as he calmly leaned on one of the dragon's legs.

“Shut up you insignificant scum!” Malchior now raged, spitting out a great flare, but again he again avoided the blow.

“Oi I'm over here, you failed again!” said Wally now behind him, causing the dragon to turn around and turn his back to Raven.

«Okay, Raven, it's time. Focus,» she thought. She stood up as her eyes went white. She soared through the air as her cloak fluttered around her and the shard levitated in front of her eyes. She focused all her energy on it as she began to recite the incantation.

“Grant me the strength of mighty Azarath... to contain the demon Malchior within this sacred shard, now and forever.”

Malchior immediately turned around when he felt the great flow of magical energy coming from behind him. Damn demon witch. He charged a large fireball and charged straight towards Raven.

“Aldruon Enlenthranel Vosolen Lirus-Nor!” she finally conjured and a black beam shot out of her hands, being powered by the small crystal, extinguishing the fire of Malchior's attack without any difficulty and striking directly on her enemy, who was now being enveloped in a thick dark energy that dragged him directly into the crystal, being sealed inside it. When it fell to the ground, Wally immediately took it in his hand and carried it to the cryogenics machine that Más and Menos were manipulating to freeze the fallen villains and add it to the collection.

“Ooooh! Es rápido!” ["He's fast!"], the twins marveled at the boy's speed.

Wally waved to the two little ones and now ran to the girl who had fallen back to the ground, her hands resting on the floor and her gaze lowered. In the short time he had known her he had never seen her so downcast. She always seemed so unwavering. He approached her placing a hand on her shoulder in a sign of support.

“How are you feeling?”

“I hate myself for being so weak at the most crucial times,” Raven sighed heavily as she rested her hand on her head and healed the wound.

Wally looked at her carefully for a few seconds before speaking.

“You are not weak,” he corrected her, making her turn her eyes to him. “On contrary, you are one of the most persevering people I have ever met. What makes you think that being strong is being invincible? It's logical that you can't keep up your strong-girl appearance forever. At times you have to give up that facade to recover a little and give yourself a break, right?” he said with a small smile.

“Don't try to give me life lessons, I doubt that you have even lived an experience and an existence like mine. Wounds don't disappear by magic, there are so many things that not even time can heal. It's not as easy as it looks, I wish it were,” she replied bitterly as she looked down again.

The speedster took the liberty of removing the hood that hid the girl's face, leaving her now grief-filled face completely uncovered. Dried tears covered her cheeks.

Wally felt his heart shrink in uncertainty as he had no idea what to do to take away the deep distress that had Raven afflicted. He wanted to do something to stop her from feeling this way, he wanted to give her his full support, to show her how much he cared about her. To let her know that the words that damn lizard said were nothing but a lie. That he was indeed interested in her, that he didn't see her as a freak and that she wouldn't be alone because he would stay by her side as long as she allowed him to. A fleeting thought flashed through his mind, and he let himself be carried away by what he was feeling at that moment, so he took her face in his hands and gently drew it to his.

“Wally... what do you think you're...”

He could not resist it any longer. Slowly and delicately he brought his face closer to hers, the space decreased and he could feel how they breathed the same air. She did not pull back, she found no opportunity to do so, because he had already delicately placed his lips on hers.

Raven never finished her sentence because Kid Flash had already pressed his lips gently to hers. The sorceress' eyes widened with surprise at that soft and sublime contact. It had all happened so fast, she didn't even notice the moment when Wally possessively grabbed her waist, pulling her to him so that their bodies could feel each other's warmth. Even though they were in the midst of the glare of battle locked in mortal combat, time seemed to stand still. The sounds of gunshots, screams and flying objects completely disappeared from their minds. Raven didn't know what to do, so she let herself be carried away by what she felt and finally closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around Wally's neck as she pulled him closer to her, responding with the same longing as the boy. In the midst of the war that was going on around her, as well as the emotional battle within her, for the first time in her life she felt free, blissful... enlightened in the darkness that was tormenting her. His bright aura seemed to illuminate her own and any gloom, as if a candle was lit in the middle of a dark room.

«Don't let it go out.»

The speedster opened one of his eyes as a piece of debris flew near his head. He noticed that some of the villains who were knocked out on the ground were about to get up again, so he had to take a minute to get them to the machine before they recovered and attacked again. The speedster leaned back, a half-tender, half-triumphant expression in his eyes at the sight of the beautiful sorceress's red face. He gave her his trademark half-smile before stepping back, preparing to make his move. His eyes sparkled merrily.

“Give me a moment, will you?” said Wally as he disappeared and led another pile of villains to the freezing machine.

“A.… moment?” Raven asked confused and still with her heart hammering hard in her ribs from the recent kiss. «My... first kiss,» she thought as she caressed her lips that were still tingling from the contact. She was startled when the boy suddenly reappeared in front of her.

“So, where were we?”

He narrowed his eyes, bringing his face close to hers, as if drawn by a strange force, until he felt her warmth. Their lips first brushed in a shy caress, an electric current running through them both from the pit of their stomachs to the tips of their hair. Wally guided one of his hands to the nape of Raven's neck and the other placed it on her waist, pulling her close against him again and kissing her again. He felt happy that she had reciprocated at first and now again. Their lips remained locked together for a few more seconds until their lungs screamed for oxygen. Slowly they pulled apart, eyes closed and breaths panting, as they tried to calm the rapid beating of their hearts.

“Ooh, what a glorious romantic moment between our friend Raven and...” exclaimed Starfire excitedly at first and then blinked in confusion at the boy unknown to her. She had never seen him before, but if her friend didn't push him away she guessed it was okay “...the boy in yellow clothes resembling a mustard pot! This deserves the Tamarean celebration of union, the Bolghurtz!” she finally said, clapping her hands happily.

Wally and Raven broke apart and looked up to see the other four Titans standing next to them, some with knowing smiles on their faces and others surprised. The two stood back up, a little uncomfortable at the interruption.

“Dude, what's going on here?” asked Beast Boy as he rubbed his eyes to see if what he had seen wasn't a hallucination or something. Raven kissing someone?

“I guessed something had happened between the two of you, your attitude during the call the other day was suspicious,” said Robin with an indecipherable expression. Raven's cheeks flushed and Kid Flash scratched the back of his head and smiled sheepishly.

“I... uh,” the speedster stammered until the green-eyed girl's shrill voice rang out again and suddenly appeared in front of his eyes speaking rapidly, even faster than he seemed to be moving.

“It's nice to meet you, yellow-clad boy! So tell me, what's your name? Favorite color? What skills do you have? Since when do you hang out with my friend Raven? You won't hurt her, will you? You like mustard? Will you be my new friend? Why don't you answer all my questions? I'm Starfire!!!”

The girl spoke too excitedly, giving him a tight hug, so tight that he had the sudden feeling that he was suffocating, that his blood supply was being cut off... and that the odd rib was broken in the process.

“I... I... can't... breathe,” he choked.

“She tends to have that funny habit when she meets new friends,” explained Cyborg who was still surprised by the interaction between the boy and Raven.

Wally took a deep breath as she finally released him from her grip. Once he caught his breath he answered her questions.

“Nice to meet you too... although I guess my ribs don't think so,” he saw Raven trying to hide a chuckle at the comment, and smiled for getting her to change her sad countenance. “My name is Kid Flash, my favorite color is red, my power is super speed, that's my business, I won't do any kind of harm to Raven, I like mustard and I guess we can be friends.”

They immediately went on guard again as some villains and Immortus' soldiers opened fire directly at them.

“So, does anyone actually have a plan?” Raven asked, creating a shield to stop some of the shots that were aimed at her and her friends.

“Yes! We kick the butt!,” Starfire said simply, firing starbolts from her hands at her attackers.

“Just like old times!” Cyborg joked, looking at his friends.

“Except better!” said Beast Boy as his eyes shifted to a particular blonde who was struggling a little farther away.

“Let's finish this,” Robin said as they headed toward the last enemies standing and took them down.

Their target was the same: the leader of the Brotherhood. The six of them split up to finish off the villains still standing. Raven targeted one in particular.

“Remember me? I still haven't formally thanked you for the gift, Psimon,” Raven murmured with a smile, her raven-soul self reigning behind her, appearing in front of the psychic who was preparing to create some sort of portal. The villain was about to attack the sorceress, but was finally brought down by her powers.

Raven watched as Wally quickly picked up the villain and carried him toward the machine.

“Is it just me, or is this getting easier?” said the empath to her four teammates. Well, now there was only Madame Rouge's madwoman left, then Mallah and finally The Brain.

“Children… when will you learn?” Madame Rouge remonstrated but was interrupted by a combined attack between Hot Spot and Wildebeest.

“Like I said,” Raven repeated as they watched the elastic woman fall in front of Jinx who, with a snap of her fingers, buried the villain's legs in the ground. A second attack sent the woman flying straight into the freezing apparatus.

“Oops. Did I do that?” said Jinx with derision.

“Master, it is time we left,” said Mallah, seeing that there was nothing more to do. All the pathetic pawns had been defeated so all that was left was to escape from the place.

“Agreed,” said the robotic voice.

Raven was about to advance with all the Titans to prevent The Brain's escape, but a strong dizziness stopped her.

«I' m part of you, always. You can't get away,» a voice murmured again from the back of her mind.

A throbbing headache forced her to close her eyes and the darkness engulfed her again.

Darkness surrounded her.

The black swirled and swirled in front of her eyes, it was all extremely confusing. The sorceress felt dazed. Intense pain shot through her body from the tips of her toes towards her head.

«Everything you have hidden, you will become.»

She felt everything spinning around and stumbled due to her shaky legs. She could feel someone holding her and talking to her, but she couldn't hear anything, her ears buzzing in a constant ringing; it was incredibly hard to bear.

«Release me, you filthy witch. You can't keep me locked up forever.»

Raven raised her hands to her head and held them steady, hoping the voices and dizziness would stop, but it did not. It just got worse. The pain in her head became almost wrenching, she wanted to scream, it hurt so bad, but nothing came out of her throat. She cowered as she felt the walls of her psyche crumble, something was pulsing, something was pushing hard to get out. Those walls were cracking.

Then, suddenly, as if by a miracle, the pain just vanished.

Raven gasped and opened her eyes, but her vision was torn between the battle taking place at the Brotherhood base and the city of Azarath. It was as if she was rapidly switching between two television programs but between the two they were blurring together.

The city looked just like her last nightmare.

She didn't know that it was part of the vision and part of reality, which was clearly fissured. It was all split. There was fire. A lot of fire that he didn't know if it was coming from the hallucination or if the place was really on fire. The flames were crawling all over the ground, the walls and the floor, leaving a trail of black ash in their wake. The heat was extremely unbearable.

“Hey Raven, what's going on? Are you there? Can you hear me?” a distant voice called out, although she couldn't quite make out whose voice it was. It sounded so far away, it sounded like it was meters and meters away, even though it was the person who was holding her.

She could make out, in the background of the place, the same white outline of her previous dream. She could not distinguish who it was, it was blurred so it only looked like a simple stain. It was obvious that it was a person, but who was it?

Who are you? she wanted to ask the person in her vision, but her voice did not come out again. That unknown figure addressed Raven in a pleading tone of voice.

Seek, the figure whispered. And ye shall find. Meditate on the symbols I give you. Don't let it go out, again echoed the voice of that unknown person who was then engulfed by the flames, disappearing from her field of vision.

Raven felt firm hands moving her... waking her from her delirium.

“Raven, are you all okay?” He was a little worried. He watched as everyone moved to stop Brain, but Raven had collapsed to the ground with a clear wince on her face. He arrived just in time to stop her from hitting her head on the ground and pulled her away from the fight. She seemed to be in pain and didn't really know what to do.

“Wally, I.…,” she finally sighed as the mirage disappeared from her sight.

“Wally? Ah, well, we both have the same hair color, but I think I'm more handsome, although you can judge that for yourself,” he joked.

Raven only made a puzzled gesture when she realized that it was not the speedster who was holding her.

“Speedy? Is that you?” she asked a little confused.

“Himself in person, although if you prefer real names instead of pseudonyms you can simply call me Roy.”

“Roy,” she repeated his name. She felt a gust of wind as Kid Flash appeared in front of her.

“Rae! What happened?”

“She just fainted... or something like that,” answered the archer to the speeder's question.

“Easy, it's okay, it's over. I think you need to get some rest,” Kid Flash murmured as he stroked the sorceress' hair in a comforting gesture, surprising Speedy a bit by the act. Since when was Wally so close to the sorceress? Rather... Since when did they know each other? Or even better... Since when did Raven, the Titan who seemed as cold as an ice floe, let herself be petted and comforted without refusing such action? What's more, she even seemed comfortable with Kid Flash's attention. Most likely, he was missing some chapter of the story.

“It looks like our work here is done anyway,” said Roy, seeing how the battle was over.

“What do you mean?” Raven questioned and watched as the speedster pointed to all the villains who were frozen, including Mallah and The Brain, while some of the heroes laughed with the others and celebrated the victory.

Noise.

A lot of noise.

In the same way she watched as Robin's figure approached them at a run.

“Dudes, check it out! Brain freeze!” It was Beast Boy's voice telling a bad joke, like the ones he was used to telling. A chorus of loud protests was heard after the unfunny joke.

Excessive noise. It was too much for her.

I'm coming for you, my precious gem.

And that voice? It was different from the previous one.

“Wally, I need to get out of here urgently, please take me to the tower,” she begged as she closed her eyes tightly and felt all those emotions in the atmosphere whipping her empathic sensitivity.

“Rae, what's wrong now?” asked Kid Flash worried.

“So much... emotions... in the room,” she stammered, hoping the boy would understand what she meant.

“Emotions in the room? Well, I don't see or feel anything,” said Speedy puzzled by the comment as he glanced around hoping to see or feel something.

“I get it, just come with me,” said Wally as he stood up and snatched her out of Roy's arms and held her in his. He remembered what she had explained to him the day they met, evidently she was not stabilized to be able to handle such agitation.

“Raven, are you all right?” the Boy Wonder questioned as he finally approached the sorceress who looked really fatigued. It was rare that he knew what Raven was feeling through their bond. Normally she would close the doors, making sure the bond was a one-way tunnel and prevent him from gaining access. However, Robin sensed it. Raven's suffering. It was... unbearable.

“She is exhausted and I think her empathic barriers are weakened. I will take her to the tower, she needs to rest,” explained Wally as he vouched for her and prepared to leave the building.

“I know what she's feeling because of our bond,” said the Boy Wonder, underlining the latter. "And if she's not feeling well I honestly don't think your method of travel will improve the situation,” he objected as he looked at Wally.

«Our bond? What bond?», the speedster wondered internally. Was he competing with him? Well, Robin had a point in his favor, but he wouldn't let it go past him.

“What, do you think your ship or your motorcycle is faster and safer for her than riding with me?”

“My motorcycle is faster than the birdbrain's, I can take it, of course if Raven wants me to, what do you think about that, Rae?” said Speedy.

Was his bike faster? Well, point to Roy.

“This is Paris,” Wally remarked. “In case you don't know basic geography, Roy, I think you're forgetting one small but important detail: the ocean that separates us from the U.S., my boy. Or can your motorcycle travel on water?”

“Well, no...”

Great, point cancelled.

“But, on the other hand, I can run faster than the response time of water molecules, as long as I move at speeds greater than 200 km per hour, which is obviously a piece of cake for me,” Wally finished with an arrogant gesture on his face. Point for him. “So if you'll excuse me...”

“Our ship, the T-Ship, would also arrive in a short time and without jeopardizing its safety, after all, you can fall off or something,” said Robin now interrupting him.

Good, another point for Robin. But he had kissed her, so he had yet another point in his favor.

“What is this? Some kind of phallocentric competition between men to see which one of you has the biggest one?” Raven asked, a little tired of the argument between the three of them.

“Phallocentric competition? Wait... Is she talking about the size of our virile members? I didn't know that side of you, Raven. You had it well guarded, although you can find that out for yourself anytime,” commented Speedy as a mischievous grin appeared on his face.

Now it was Kid Flash who was intimidating him with his eyes. And boy was he giving him a pretty nasty look.

“Shut up, you idiot” the sorceress muttered. “Listen Robin, Wally and me already did it and nothing happened... I didn't suffer more than a simple dizziness.”

“As you heard Robin, she and I already did it,” the speedster emphasized the last sentence, with a mischievous smile on his face, seeing how Robin's mask contracted more if possible because of what he was implying with his words. “And, besides, I think she prefers me to take her. Another point for me, so I think I win.”

“Could you leave your testosterone war for another time?” asked Raven once again, she wanted to leave the place as soon as possible.

“Right,” surrendered the Boy Wonder.

Wally turned to leave the place, but the empath's voice made him stop.

“Robin,” she called.

“Yes?”

“The kids. Take them to the tower with you, all three of them,” Raven ordered.

“And don't forget the giant bear too,” Wally remembered, “what was his name again? Dobby?”

“It's Bobby,” sighed the sorceress.

“Bobby, right. I always forget.”

“I'll take care of everything,” Robin said, “trust me, you just relax and rest, okay?”

“Listen to me... You better not forget about them and make sure they arrive safe and sound because, otherwise, I will make every single torture method I fantasized for you during this mission come true, and believe me they are quite painful,” said Raven finally with a really frightening look making her leader tremble with fear.

After a small fraction of time had passed, the sorceress and the speedster finally disappeared from the building while the other two boys stood watching the door through which the two of them exited.

“Know what? I'm quite fond of feisty women and boy, she's really got character, doesn't she, I'm really attracted to her, aren't you, Dick?” joked Speedy as he nudged Robin on his arm. “I guess Wally fell under her charms too, but who wouldn't?”

“Roy, just shut up,” said Robin a little irritated as he turned around, headed towards his team and was about to leave the place. He needed to rest to finally resume his daily routine again and forget about all this kind of nonsense.

At least everything about the Brotherhood of Evil was over.

Next chapter: The masks that hide us

Chapter Text

- Part two -

THE RISE OF THE CHURCH OF BLOOD

The night breeze ruffled her purple cloak and she felt the cool wind blowing against her face. Raven was on the verge of consciousness, but finally being outdoors she felt her mind calmer and clearer now. The only residue of the recent episode was a migraine. What had just happened? Had she had some sort of dream even while awake? Was it a delusion? Was she going crazy? No, it was much more than that. Insanity and schizophrenia were not concepts and canons that could be lightly applied to her mind and its structure, which was not like that of an ordinary human being. For someone like her, all those voices and nightmares did not indicate good omens. It was not a good sign. It was all too cryptic, too strange. There was something that was slipping through her fingers and she didn't know what it was, but she was willing to find out.

“Cheer up Rae, you'll be home in no time and then you can sleep all you want,” announced Wally's voice trying to give her some encouragement.

“Great, I can hardly contain my happiness. If I were standing upright and energetic right now, I would be jumping for joy.”

“You haven't been sleeping well, have you?” he asked, ignoring her sarcastic comment.

“Not these days...”

“Are you cold?” Wally asked, noticing a slight tremor in the sorceress' body.

“No,” she lied evenly. Actually, the cold air was hitting her skin, seeming to ignore the fabric of her leotard and cape.

He realized his deception and pulled her a little closer against his chest so that she could rest more comfortably and he could provide her with some of his body heat.

“Wally...” Raven's hands tugged at his suit, her fingers weakened, and he looked down at her. She looked so small in his arms, so vulnerable. “I'm fine, I just... I need a quiet place. The tower, please.”

“Okay, let's go.”

The speedster held her with surprising strength as he began to run with his amazing speed. Raven could feel, apart from the sensation of being shaken in all directions, the water splashing all over her body. He must have been moving over the ocean at this moment. It took him only a few minutes to reach the city. She got the feeling that he was holding back his speed for her, the muscles in his legs surely wanting to go faster.

Wally sped up a little more when he finally found himself in front of an island in Jump City Bay, with a "T" shaped building rising majestically. He approached the structure, standing in front of its door.

“How do I get in? I have no access to the entry system.”

The answer came alone as a black energy covered them both and they teleported only through the entrance door.

“That's as far as I can go with my powers, you'll have to take me to my bedroom.”

“Okay, which way? Just guide me.”

“Stairs,” she said.

Wally began to carefully walk up the steps, one after the other. When they finally reached the landing they encountered a metal elevator door. Wally pressed one of the buttons on a keypad, the sliding door opened and led Raven into the elevator.

“Top floor,” said the sorceress.

Wally pressed a button and above their heads there was the metallic sound of a series of gears starting up. Upward. As it ascended, the compartment began to sway and vibrate.

“Are you in pain?”

“The head,” Raven replied. The bright light from the elevator only made the throbbing pain in her skull worse.

“You will be fine,” Wally assured her, but his voice trembled slightly. “Most likely the stress of this whole mission has caused a temporary shock or some sort of collapse, you need to lie down.”

“And meditate,” she added.

She had to meditate, there was no doubt about that.

Seek and ye shall find.

“I know, but with that headache I don't think you can concentrate much.”

Meditate on the symbols I give you.

The elevator stopped and Wally opened the sliding door. They started up again and traveled down a narrow, dark corridor. As they passed one of the many windows, Raven noticed the artificial lights illuminating the silhouette of Jump City's buildings.

“What is the time?” she asked.

“Nearly midnight.”

Wally searched each of the doors with his eyes until he found one with the name of the sorceress engraved on it. Next to it was a numeric keypad, most likely to place a password that would allow access to it.

“Rae...”

“279535.”

Wally punched in the digits and opened the door. He released her from his grip and helped her steady herself.

“Floor 5, there is the medical bay.”

“What do you need?”

“I never take medication, but I need a mild sedative to calm me down,” she explained, “and also to alleviate the pain.”

“Okay, I'll be right back.”

She walked painfully, almost like a zombie, to her dressing table to get some clothes. She urgently needed to change her clothes, which were already filthy and tattered, and take a well-deserved bath to remove the sweat and dirt stuck to her skin. She felt sticky, exhausted and very dirty. She didn't even bother to check if anything fit, all she knew was that she grabbed a simple cotton t-shirt and a comfortable pair of shorts.

She sighed heavily as she removed her dark blue cloak she was still wearing and dropped it into a basket as she headed for the bathroom. She needed that shower, and she wasted no time in getting the hot water ready. She stripped off the rest of her clothes just before entering and let the warmth of the precious liquid fill her like an avalanche that soothed her aching body. Finally, the lather of soap washed the dirt from her body and the familiar scent of her lotions and gels filled the room.

Raven let out an almost inaudible moan through her half-opened lips, her eyes closed and her head slightly bowed as the scalding water lashed her icy skin. Her hands were pressed against the cold tile of the shower wall; her torso leaned forward to allow the stinging spray to drench her. Her whole body ached from the strain and the scorching water offered a soothing palliative of sorts.

Wally entered the room again. He heard the sound of running water so he assumed Raven was taking a bath. He walked over to the small table next to her bed and set the pill down next to a glass of water.

The speedster now scanned the room carefully taking note of the place.

The bedroom was spacious, and its interior smelled of a mixture of scented candles scented with vanilla, lavender, incense and the subtle fragrance that always emanated from books. Wally stood for a moment with his eyes closed and took a deep breath, the whole room smelled like her. He liked her scent very much.

The one wide window was covered with a thick purple cloth that blocked all outside light and air. He went over and pushed aside the curtain and opened the window to allow the fresh ocean air from outside to permeate the interior. The cool, pure night current would help her. Now he surveyed the particular décor. The walls were a pale gray, with a large round bed against one wall. A five-sided single mirror hung over a small dresser. The ornaments and sculptures around the room reflected a clear taste for artistic expressionism. He then noticed the familiar symbol adorning one of the many statues. It was the same Greek pictogram that decorated most theatrical programs around the world.

Le maschere.

The iconic faces of Comedy and Tragedy.

The two masks, happy and sad, reflect that a person can wear either of the two masks, smiling or excited, or depressed and discouraged, depending on the character being played. Also in real life it can symbolize how to face life, with joy or anguish. One can wear a mask to disguise, to hide many emotions, especially with the sad and depressive ones, which are obviously more difficult to express.

«What an appropriate adornment for someone like her,» he thought wryly.

Each mask has different nuances, but beyond the nuances, we build each mask so that others see what we want, or fail to see what we do not like about ourselves.

The mask.

It has the task of defending the individual as a protective shield in social life. But the origin of the masks lies in the fear of being discovered and revealing the true intentions of our heart. Behind every mask we find a common denominator: fear.

To hide is one of man's first reactions to the faults committed and whose origin lies in the fear of being discovered who we really are and what are the true intentions of our heart.

We wear masks for fear of expressing ourselves, fear of being judged, fear of not getting the approval of others, fear of being known. Many people wear a mask of coldness and indifference, for fear of appearing vulnerable in front of others. Others take refuge in a hostile attitude as a way to feel safe.

Protected by them, we can live in a permanent emotional solitude; full of secrets, of fear of being discovered, of being rejected, judged, condemned or of making a fool of ourselves.

Fear of showing our vulnerable side, the dark side.

One of the most complicated tasks we human beings have is to get to know ourselves. The fear is that, if we take off the mask, it will make us fragile and vulnerable, but in reality it is just the opposite. The mask increases our suffering, because we cannot show our authentic self. Wearing the mask does not make us stronger, it weakens us. It dwarfs us. Nothing can avoid pain in life, life has pain, but it also has joys and satisfactions.

Similarly, in the world in which he moved, the superhero's mask is the visible symbol of what he pretends to hide.

Looking to his right he could see a bookcase built into the wall filled with multiple books. She really loved reading, she had almost a library right there. He approached and glanced at the spines of the multiple titles. There were authors he recognized such as Shakespeare, Kafka, Charles Dickens, Alexandre Dumas, James Joyce, Oscar Wilde, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Edgar Allan Poe, Jane Austen.

Other authors he did not recognize at all and other tomes that seemed to be in a language indecipherable to him, they looked like strange symbols or hieroglyphics that surely, apart from Raven, only Doctor Fate could read, perhaps the Zatara as well.

One of the books captured his attention immediately because it was separate from the rest of the books. It had a rather worn black leather cover, it looked very ancient. But what caught his attention the most was that it had a chain with a padlock to prevent it from being opened and evidently so that no one could read its contents. It was strange, but it seemed that the book was seducing him to open it. He took it in his hands while reading the title.

“The Great Mashuanvi Grimoire, by Argus Basarab Volpert.”

When she finished showering and dressing, Raven emerged from the bathroom to find Wally leafing through her books, but the one he was holding was a rather delicate and dangerous one, especially if it fell into the wrong hands. Alchemy, horrific spells and advanced rituals, black magic in its entirety.  But in the safety of the Tower, in her hands, she believed it was more than safe. Besides, according to her, no one was aware of its existence. The book was theoretically lost to anyone who knew of it.

“I would recommend you not to touch that particular book, it would be quite reckless of you,” she said as she toweled the remaining moisture out of her hair.

The speedster didn't even seem to be listening to her.

“Magic always leaves traces. Sometimes very evident. I read that book, only in part, but I know its contents,” the sorceress spoke again, but he seemed to be in some kind of trance. “Are you listening?! I told you to drop that!” she demanded now, at the same time that she approached the boy. “That object is full of spells, the darkest, the most powerful ones. It's very dangerous! Magic, especially dark magic...!”

Ignoring Raven's advice, Wally rested his palm on the cover of the book, a cover that bore a strange symbol, and as soon as he made contact, thousands of images came to his mind. An intense chill ran through his body. Images of the scariest and most unpleasant. A dark abyss saturated with unrest, conflict, mourning, violence, blood. Rites. Experiments. Darkness. Shadows. Chaos. Destruction. The End. At the same moment a strong gale whipped through the room, while a shriek of agony seemed to emerge from the tome.

“…leaves traces of it,” she muttered.

Raven shivered, and she didn't know if her shivering was due to the coolness of the air blowing through the open window and the fact that she was just out of the shower, or the fact that she was also sensing the dark spells in the book. She stared at the speedster, who was still wide-eyed and wild-eyed, self-absorbed, focused on things she couldn't see. Immediately, he threw the book to the floor as he felt his hand catch fire.

“Damn! What the hell was that? They were like...”

“They were evocations,” Raven explained, knowing what he was referring to, “mnemic traces, so to speak, of particularly unpleasant magical actions. That's why I warned you not to touch it. Are you feeling all right?”

“My hand... is... burned,” he muttered as he looked at his hand that was burning, red and scorched. Even his glove had been melted.

“It is a protection I conjured up. It is a simple but unbreakable incantation. I crafted it so that evidently no one would open it. Come, let me heal you... for the third time.”

Kid Flash approached her and the sorceress joined her hands with his injured one as she instantly healed the pain and swelling.

“Maybe you should buy a sexy nurse's outfit for the next time you heal me. What do you say to that idea?” joked the sprinter.

“Dream on,” said Raven as she inspected her job well done.

“Well, hope is the last thing you lose. But the offer still stands, if you're ashamed I can buy it…”

“No, thanks,” she interrupted as she levitated the book with her powers and placed it back on the shelf.

“Okay, but... why do you have such a dangerous object in your bedroom?”

She looked at her room, at her world. At every possession of importance she owned.

The "gloomy" or "gothic" decorations were not really to her liking, even at many times she had certain desires to redecorate her bedroom with another style. In truth she was not that dark, but most of the magical relics she possessed were of this quality, and very powerful.

After Cyborg and Beast Boy were sucked through her magic mirror directly into her mind she was forced to tighten the security in her room and place some protective runes and incantations on the objects she believed were most likely to create problems... and not leave her Nevermore, the portal directly into her psyche, back in view of anyone who might take it.

Raven rarely practiced dark magic, but being half demon, she had a natural affinity for such arts. She infrequently had mishaps in what she practiced, but it was something she would try not to use, not after her last accident with a spell that had gotten out of her control. The same spell Malchior had taught her. However, like all magic, dark magic was temperamental and expressive, almost explosive, it was a force of its own and not very pleasant with others invading or touching it and she knew that it even sometimes reacted to simple touch. Her mirror was a prime example of that.

“Black magic is not my particular cup of tea, and I have it here because it is safer in this place than in a museum or in a collector's gallery,” Raven explained so that he would understand her point. “That's why I don't allow anyone to enter my room, many of the objects here contain energy inside. Energies not to be trifled with.”

“But you let me in.”

“Good... yes... but...," she stammered because at a certain point it was true, and she hadn't kicked him out yet, and she didn't want him to leave yet, she felt there were some things to talk about and make things clear after what happened during the fight with the Brotherhood of Evil. “Just don't touch anything else, okay?”

“Right, I promise not to touch anything,” said the red-haired man as a shrewd smile appeared on his face, “let them be objects.”

The sorceress just rolled her eyes at his comment, walked over to the window and her gaze drifted outside. The moon was shining through the large window overlooking the city. She felt the boy approach beside her as he too watched the night sky.

The speedster took one look at the girl and saw the bruise that still remained on her head, which had not been fully healed. Her powers must have waned greatly when she collapsed for the wound to still be visible.

The empath looked at him from the corner of her eye. His body language and aura gave away how tense Wally was. She could feel with her empathy the projection of his guilt and she didn't want him to feel that way.

“About before, in the battle with Malc... with the dragon,” Raven corrected, she didn't even want to say his name anymore, “I got hurt but it wasn't your fault. Stop thinking it is once and for all.”

“Sure it was,” he said firmly, “I care about you and I should have protected you.”

Well, that didn't make it any better. That made everything much more complicated and difficult.

“Why?”

“Because as much as I've tried to ignore it, I have a thing for you, Raven. I really wanna get to know you...”. He paused, then took a shaky breath.

She had stood rigid, listening to him silently.

“Kindly say something.” His voice sounded unusually pleading. “Shouldn't we talk? About...”

“Wally,” she sighed and shook her head. “That's simply not going to happen, sorry.”

He answered seriously. “You can't run forever Raven, you can't live escaping.”

“You just don't understand.”

“So why don't you enlighten me?”

“I can't do this, so it's not going to happen, end of story,” she said firmly, her voice cold to the point of ice and her eyes dark and unreadable.

“Why?”

“I can't risk bringing these emotions that you insist on bringing to the surface. Besides, I have no experience in this, Wally.” She squirmed uncomfortably on the spot, “I can't do this,” her voice trembled as she whispered, she hated that sign of weakness.

“Yes, you can.” He insisted.

“I... I don't know what to say.” And at a certain point she felt disoriented.

She did not know if all this was good or not. The truth was that, try as she might, it wasn't as unpleasant as she would have liked to claim. Raven was letting her emotional guard down big time in front of him, with all the risks that entailed, and she was practically melting in front of Wally and his words. But was it really bad to show that she cared about him too? Raven had sacrificed so much of her time; a childhood, emotions, her whole life, but that was how she had been taught and made clear.

Emotions can lead people to act in strange and unusual ways. Love can make you do crazy things. Sadness can throw you into the deep end. Anger can drive you to violence. But for her, any extreme emotion can be far worse and dangerous: it can unleash her demonic side and make her destroy the world. A lifetime of repression. It was usual for her to forget herself and her own needs for the sake of everything around her.

She grew up having to learn to control her emotions in order to suppress her demonic powers. However, despite her vast abilities, what Raven wanted most was something she could never have: to be normal. She knew she was forever cursed to not really be herself because of the constant threat of destruction that her heritage carried.

She had only been created for destructive purposes.

All her life she lived protecting herself from the cruel world, hiding behind her slow-growing wall. The barrier she has been building since birth. She was told that she was not allowed to feel in her entire life, so she began to isolate herself from others. Every bad experience, every betrayal and every person who ever hurt her also contributed to it. Brick by brick, Raven did it herself.

Nevertheless, Wally West somehow got to her. Through her walls and her defenses, through multiple endless mazes, through stone guards, through barbed-wire fences and iron-reinforced gates. He sped through it all, like a lightning bolt, and reached the hermetically sealed chest that was her heart. The barricade she constantly maintained began to lower. Fast, something worthy of someone with superspeed like him, he made his way to her. And she felt like she was letting him in, and she wasn't regretting it.

“Look, I'm sure you don't want to do it, but don't you want to talk about it?” asked the speedster noticing how she had become speechless. “Maybe a kind of catharsis will help you to unburden your emotions, clear your mind. You know... like a chimney cleaning.”

Kátharsis, she knew the term quite well, alluded to "purification" or "purging." She had read a lot of Greek tragedies in her spare time. It was a reading she enjoyed very much.

Release of negative emotions, purgation of conflicts.

“I'm terrible at talking about my emotions, I'd rather... bottle them up. You've noticed what happens when they boil over. I'm not prone to sharing my secrets with people.”

And how could she do that? How to undo years and years of having to block her feelings, exclude others, and avoid intimacy?

“You should try it sometime. You keep everything locked up inside that heart of yours that one day is going to burst and you won't know what to do.”

“A broken heart can be healed, I've tried,” she reminded him with a fake smile.

“I don't mean that, it's different, you know...that your heart is going to burst from what you won't allow yourself to express,” he said.

“Wally...” whispered Raven. She didn't know what to say. He was right, he always seemed to have the right terms at the right time.

“We kissed, did you feel anything at that moment?” He asked, getting only inches away from her face, feeling how their breaths mingled.

“Yes, but...,” she answered.

“And nothing exploded, Raven,” he replied, smiling. “We're still here. The world didn't end, nothing happened.”

An unnatural silence fell between them, until Raven let out a small smile. “That's right. I did. Nothing exploded.”

Raven looked into his eyes. He was staring at her. She was charmed by the warmth that seemed to brush the edges of his eyes. Something burned inside her chest, a burning but pleasant sensation that went down into her stomach and back up again. She just let the words escape her mouth.

“I always felt different from the rest, I lived my whole life in ostracism. It's something I've been carrying since I was a child, although I could never afford to live a common childhood, I had no friends and no one to accompany me but my mother and my mentors. Even before I joined the Titans nowhere did I feel welcome. Because I was not like them. Even together with my team, I sometimes felt utterly alone, I felt like I didn't really fit in. Do you realize how horrible it feels to be surrounded by people, but feel lonely all the same? But once someone made me believe that I wasn't weird. That I wouldn't be lonely anymore. But it all turned out to be a hoax. A vile and dirty deception. He lied to me and manipulated me to his convenience. I freed him from a spell that kept him sealed, I was stupid. I don't want to be hurt like that again, it felt really bad and I was a long time down because of it.Wally felt anger fill him from the inside. She didn't deserve that.”

Raven's words choked in her throat feeling her eyes water. She didn't want to cry again.

“I cannot reverse what he did to you,” he said softly. He took one of her hands and pressed it against his heart. Raven could feel the accelerated tempo beating through his veins. “But let me help you forget,” he murmured, “let me show you what happiness feels like. Don't be afraid to feel again just because some unhappy cretins hurt you, no one deserves even your suffering. You are more than that.”

“I never want to get hurt again, it's too costly a risk,” the sorceress revealed as she pulled her hand away. “I'm an empath, that also means I feel twice as much as the rest. I absorb too much pain.”

“You won't get hurt, at least from me I can assure you. I promise you, I'm not just talking. But if you never try, you'll never know. Look, nobody said it was easy. Sometimes it's all bullshit and you should know that more than anyone. But that's the good thing about bad experiences: they make us stronger. We deal with them, we learn from them, and we move on. Hiding behind a wall may seem easy and the quickest solution, but in the end it only hurts you, it oppresses you Raven. It will end up killing you if you keep at it. I would never hurt you, I promise,” the last part came out as a whisper and he put his hand on her shoulder. “I promise.”

“Sometimes I think it's better to be alone, no one hurts you.”

“You may think you're alone Rae, but you're not. Besides, do you really like loneliness, or are you afraid of being abandoned?”

«I am not alone.»

A shield, a barrier... There was always something that seemed to separate her from the rest. There was always something there to keep people out. She might have had something to hide or something to share, but she just didn't know how to say it. She was very reclusive and sheltered and some might think it was because she liked it that way...that she wanted to be alone. But the answer to that question was really simple for her. She was definitely afraid of abandonment, getting her hopes up and taking the hard work of opening herself emotionally, only to be discarded as if it were something disposable. Loneliness was just a defense mechanism, a really useful device to keep her fear from coming true. If she stayed away, then no one could hurt her. It was pretty basic. And the fact is that when she felt abandoned, her most atrocious fear would make its presence felt deep down inside her: her fear of the dark. Absolute darkness.

“Once you realize how much peace there is in loneliness, you don't want to deal with people. I let my defenses down once and look how it ended. I always thought I had to be strong to avoid being assaulted. After living my whole life that way I ended up all alone, it was the only way I knew how to live.”

“Loneliness doesn't come from not having people around you Raven, but from not being able to express the things that seem important to you.”

“Wally, what is it about me that attracts you so much?” Raven finally asked the question that had been on her mind ever since he showed interest in her.

Raven didn't understand what it was about her that fascinated him so much, but she could feel it every time she talked to him.

“Rae, you're different.” He ran a frustrated hand through his hair.

“I have always been different.” She replied, wondering where he would go with this line of thinking.

“No, I just mean... I mean, damn it, ¡Rae!" he put his hands on her shoulders. “You're different from me, different from anyone else. And I don't mean your powers, I mean you. Everyone else is so easy to understand, but you're so enigmatic. You make a whole guessing game out of yourself. You surprise me all the time. You're like a puzzling enigma that I want to figure out.”

“So what do you want to know?”

“OK, let's see, favorite book?”

“Surely that's like asking you for a favorite food, I'm sure you'd find it impossible to pick just one,” Raven smiled. “I don't really have one, every book I read becomes my favorite while it's in my hands.”

“See! That seems unusual for someone like you. I figured you'd give me a list of all those books you've got there,” Wally laughed. “Okay, let's see... First kiss? How was that?”

Raven felt the color rise to her cheeks and she pulled away from him slightly.

“What do you think?” she asked, turning around to avoid him seeing her flushed face.

“For sure it was with a beau, a gentleman, someone splendid, attractive, funny and cool, super-powerful too, that is to say?”

“Yeah, Wally, stop bragging before your ego takes over the whole room, it was with you.”

Raven felt a smile sprout on her lips. His personality was at some point refreshing to her.

“When I first met you, you never seemed like the kind of guy who wanted to have anything to do with a social outcast like me. Why me? I'm nothing special.” Raven continued without even blinking. “I'm... a freak, a lot of people have pointed that out to me already.” She looked at him long and hard, hoping he would eventually give in, realize he was wrong, and let her be in her stoic, routine way.

“You're not a freak, not to me. You're beautiful, strong, funny when you want to be and smart, and I think you're really amazing. I like a girl who can teach me new things. You know, like quoting Shakespeare, meditating or playing chess and stuff.”

She blushed and shrugged her shoulders. “But there are prettier fish in the sea.”

“Not in my eyes. You are the only fish in my ocean, honey.”

“Where did you get that phrase? Did Aqualad teach it to you? Or did you get it from a movie? Um, well, um... Finding Nemo?”

“Wow, I didn't know you also liked cartoons and Disney movies.”

“Do I really look like I like cartoons? I don't like them, Starfire loves them. Did you know she made me watch The Little Mermaid six times? Besides her weird shows, like documentaries on foot fungus.”

“Foot fungus programs? Now that's weird... and gross.”

“You think that's weird? And I don't?”

“I think yours is nothing more than a mask.”

“A mask?” she questioned as she arched an eyebrow, “I don't wear a mask.”

“You don't wear physical masks like us, yours is more metaphorical. I think you hide your true identity, but not your personality.”

What was her true identity hiding? Well, it was a no-brainer. Did he want her to show him her true self? Surely he would run away while wetting his pants.

“You're ever so eloquent,” she said, “but what about yours?”

Raven slid her hand up to his face, just below the amber mask, genuinely curious as to what he would look like without it, immediately slowing her inspection and pulling her hand away as she sensed it wasn't right what she was doing.

It was his identity and she was no one to demand that the boy reveal his face to her, not when she was still hiding too much from him.

Wally noticed the curiosity filling the eyes of the sorceress. For him there was nothing wrong with showing her his face, it's not like it covered much anyway, so in one swift movement he removed the cloth covering his features. She had opened up a bit, she had taken off her own "mask" in front of him, and he wanted to show that he trusted her too. He wasn't used to being without it, however, he fixed his eyes on Raven's and watched as she looked at him.

“So, what do you think? Am I still as sexy?”

“You're... visually pleasing.”

“I'll take that as a yes.”

Raven watched him and felt as if she was discovering the boy for the second time, it was strange to see him without the cloth covering his face. She placed her hand on his cheek and with her fingertips she parsimoniously traced his uncovered face, tracing a path, as if she was memorizing every feature.

Wally smiled at Raven's delicate touch.

He leaned in and pressed his lips tenderly against hers again. When she finished, he decided to step forward. Maybe this could work.

“So will you give me a chance?! Give us a chance! I feel like you're the right girl for me, and I want to be the right guy for you. It sounds like those ugly movies you probably hate, I know, but I've never felt this way about anyone before.” Hopefully he hoped he wasn't saturating all her empathic circuits with his rambunctious emotions.

“Look, sometimes I think you're a hopeless idiot.”

“Okay, I wasn't particularly looking forward to that answer.”

“You have a highly petulant personality. You are conceited, arrogant, a bit rude in your comments and you talk too much, more than necessary I think and you don't know what personal space means. You can't sit still for long, you snore a lot when you sleep, you eat in large quantities and have no manners at all when you do,” she listed each of his faults.

“Um... ok?”

“You have a strange taste in giving silly nicknames and you seem to have a slight memory problem in learning Melvin's stupid bear name, although deep down I just think you want to irritate her because you've probably noticed like me that she seems sometimes engrossed in painful thoughts and you just want to make her feel good by snapping her out of it... in your own strange way, of course.”

“Anything else you would like to tell me?”

“And yet, in the short time I have shared with you, I have realized that you are someone very smart and nice, you make me feel good too, and your pure and kind soul makes me believe that there are worthwhile things in this world. Things worth fighting for. You are someone too good Wally,” the sorceress finished.

«Too good for someone as bad and dark as me,» she thought to herself.

“Great, finally something good in my favor!”

“Okay, I guess I can... give it a try. Don't you think it's too fast, though?”

“Do you remember what you said to me that day, after I interrupted your meditation?”

“That I liked wafles.”

“Nah, you told me not to kill time and that's just what I'm doing. I was never a fan of slow, part of being a sprinter, babe. It's included in the package.”

Raven didn't lower her eyes when Wally looked at her. One eyebrow rose at her, silently wondering what she was thinking. Deciding she didn't want to beat around the bush, Raven spoke up and asked, "So.... what are we?”

Comprehension shone in the speedster's eyes. He lifted his arrogant smile as he leaned back against the wall with his arms crossed. “Isn't it obvious? You're my girl now. Don't think I'm going to let some other guy steal you away from me. Especially that goofy Roy, who's probably already got his hawk eyes on you…. or Robin.”

“Roy has his eye on me? Wait, you named Robin? The same Robin I know? What are you talking about?”

“Don't you remember? After the battle he brought up his special relationship with you, something like a shared bond.”

“It is nothing more than a mental bond. When I use my powers, a small part of my soul attaches itself to the object and becomes an extension of it. That also happens when I project my soul into someone's mind. The bond was nothing more than an accident after saving him from Slade, not something I sincerely wished to happen.”

“Souls linked together? That sounds too poetic and romantic, should I feel jealous?”

“I have no romantic interest in Robin, Wally. He's someone important and special, someone who has saved me, understood me and understood me more than anyone else, but I don't see it that way if it makes you feel more at ease.”

“OK, but I can't say the same for him. I don't think he sees you with the eyes of... friends.”

“Robin is into Starfire, I've noticed that and many times he's shown it, he doesn't seem to have some sort of romantic interest in me.”

“You may be right, but you're a bit naive and I've known him a lot longer than you have. Even if he doesn't look like it, Robin is nothing but a playboy.”

“I never thought of him that way, but I guess it must be common to all superheroes. I suspect the muscles, tight suits and their social positions make them think they are some sort of playboy and that all the girls are going to fall at their feet.”

“Don't forget that besides playboy, some of them are also genious, billionaires and philanthropists. Oh, and you also fell for me, so you just confirmed your own presumption.”

“Technically, you fell for me too, so you have nothing to brag about.”

“I plead guilty to that.”

Her powers of empathy allowed her to feel Wally's joy and excitement swirling within his vivid, flaming scarlet aura. She smiled, for feeling able to make him feel happy.

“So, what will happen to you? Will you stay?”

“Course, Robin has offered me a position before on this team, I guess he won't have a problem with me taking it now. Well, but if he refuses, maybe we can form our own team of two, what name would we give ourselves?”

“Oh, please don't start.”

“How about Speedster and Birdgirl? Or maybe Supreme Flash and Black Canary? No, that last one is already in use, too damn bad. Lemme see...,” he put his hand to his chin as he thought of some cool aliases. “Ooh wait! I've got a better one! The Grand Scarlet Racer and The Avenger Birdie.”

“Still prefer to stay a Teen Titan if you don't mind... and don't call me a birdie.”

“Do you know something?” said the speedster, looking all around him, “I think this room is missing something.”

“I won't put a TV in here if you're suggesting that.”

“It's not that, wait a second!" commented the speedster as he ran away from the place through her window. It didn't take him long to return, leaving the beautiful blue flower he had given her the first day they met on the small table next to her bed.

“The blue rose you gave me. I had forgotten it in the cabin,” Raven mentioned with a smile as she brushed the soft leaves of the flower.

“Blue is a cool color, I think, but it is also the color of the sky, and it evokes a sense of peace and tranquility. Come to think of it, I think this rose would identify you more than any other flower in the world.”

“That's a nice touch, thanks,” she told him as she approached her bed.

Raven sat on the edge of the mattress taking the pill with a long sip of water. In the darkness of her room, she felt the sedative medicine spread through her body almost instantly.

“Good, I guess this will be my last quiet moment. Tomorrow morning the tower is sure to be crowded, and I wouldn't be surprised if Cyborg and Beast Boy are already planning some sort of celebration party or something.”

“Party? That sounds cool! At parties there is a lot of food!”

“Yeah, food. That must be nice for you. I think we should both get some rest.”

He started to walk away, but she surprisingly grabbed his hand.

“But I don't want you to leave, you can lie down with me,” the sorceress indicated, perhaps with his calming presence the dark nightmares would not torment her at night.

Wally looked at her stunned by her request and almost confused as to what to do. Had he heard correctly? Was he supposed to accept her offer or was it a trick? Was she testing him or something? He swallowed hard when he saw her shorts and t-shirt that left a bit of her belly exposed. Was she tempting him or something?

“Hold on, Rae,” said the red-haired man, raising his hands in a defensive gesture. “Listen, I told you I didn't want to kill time and I don't like the slowness, but this is going too fast even for me, I don't think it's appropriate to do…”

“What kind of things are you fantasizing about, you pervert?” Raven asked with a frown. “I'm just inviting you to sleep. To spend the night. To make it clearer for you, just to rest, eyes closed, in an unconscious state in which there is a suspension of sensory functions and voluntary movements. Is that better defined or shall I draw you a diagram?”

“Ooh sure, I was just kidding. It's okay, I can stay here if you want,” he said quietly. He took off his boots and his remaining healthy glove, and slid onto the bed. It was large, but they each kept close to each other. “I like this,” he said simply, and slipped his arm around the sorceress' waist, and leaned back against the pillows, pulling her against him. She snuggled into his chest, relaxing to the steady beating of the speedster's heart. She listened to the sound against her ear.

Like a metronome, it was soothing.

“I think this will help me rest better,” said Raven.

“So how exactly does putting your head on my chest and draping an arm over me help you sleep?”

Raven just dug her head into his chest harder and smiled.

“Your heartbeat slows down, your mind clears and your body feels more comfortable when we are close to each other. I can feel your thoughts become clearer and when I put my head on your chest your breathing slows down. For an empath like me, this is like a balm... too soothing.”

“I find it very relaxing to be like this, too.”

“Are you going to be here when I wake up?” she asked in a low voice. Due to the tone in which she spoke it was obvious that she was about to fall asleep, she could feel how little by little the tiredness and the sedative were taking over her, her tense shoulders were beginning to relax as well as her breathing which was calmer.

“I'll be here, Rae, just sleep.”

With his free hand, he gently played with the ends of her damp hair as they both began to drift off to sleep. The sorceress had never thought in all her life that human contact with another was such a pleasurable thing. So comfortingly warm. Raven took a whiff of the speedster's scent that she had found quite alluring and enticing since the day she had met him. He had a rather fresh, masculine, youthful scent, something musky with a hint of cinnamon, it was almost inebriating to her fine senses, but now he smelled.... Wait a minute... She sniffed again and Raven ultimately had to wrinkle her nose.

“Wally?”

“Yeah?”

“Look, no offense, but I think that first thing in the morning...,” the sorceress hesitated, should she tell him?

“What is wrong?”

“...you should take an urgent shower.”

He frowned in confusion, raised his free arm, sniffed and....

Oh, damn.

“Yep, I think you're right,” he laughed nervously and with a bit of embarrassment.

“Will you stay?” she asked incredulously again.

“Always,” he affirmed.

Next chapter: The shadow

Chapter Text

On this rock I will build my Church.

The religious and biblical phrase arose in his mind like a light as he walked along the path that would lead to enlightenment to him and his faithful, and to the deepest darkness to all those who did not kneel before their lord.

In a narrow, moonlit spot, a man came into view. The old man gazed at the jagged mountain peak. In the distance, he could already see it. On a small hill, among thick trees and bushes, barely visible were the tips of what appeared to be a huge building.

The Church of Blood.

No sound could be heard except the rustling of the dark waters, and the only sign of life other than that of man, were those of a few owls and other nocturnal birds that were stealthily standing in the slender branches of the leafy trees of the place as they swarmed about.

He marched on down the winding path that ran along the edge of a cliff, and refocused his thoughts on the encounter that awaited him.

He quickened his pace when he was only a few meters away from the majestic construction. He continued walking until he finally arrived at the gate.

Silence surrounded him. The iron gate that barred his way seemed as old as the cathedral itself, rusted but still sturdy. He rang the bell and waited in the thick darkness, confident. The time had almost come.

He smiled when he could finally hear footsteps approaching. When the door opened, the man saw the solitary figure waiting for him, who was carrying a torch in her hand to light the way. A woman, of a slender figure and with a complexion so pale that her face seemed to glow in the darkness; of a build attired in a traditional multi-layered religious garment that reached to the floor, and which evidently belonged to the order: a habit and veil that rippled in black and reddish tones like blood itself, adorned with some jewels and threads of gold. In front of him was his consort and what he considered to be his right hand. She was someone of cool cunning and is the only person besides him who was aware of the plans and schemes of the Church of Blood. She was his faithful lamb, willing to do anything to fulfill all the plans he proposed and not questioning any of his orders. He observed in the woman the expression of rejoicing to see him again after so long.

“Mother Mayhem,” he greeted cordially, “it's been a long time since we last met.”

She knelt in front of him in a gesture of reverence.

“Welcome, Mr. Sebastian, back to your church. Hail Brother Blood!" extolled the woman who seemed almost ecstatic at his presence alone.

The woman rose after her veneration and began to walk down the linear passage, being followed by Brother Blood. Her torch was still burning as they advanced, and the smoke mingled with the musty smell and stale air of the place. Footsteps sounded like echoes throughout the muted atmosphere.

Usually, the light in the chapel was sublime, long beams of filtered sunlight cutting through the darkness like heavenly exhalations passing through the wide, colorful stained glass windows... but not today. As the main headquarters had been dormant for a long time due to his self-absorption in HIVE, black velvet curtains hung from all the chapel windows. The result was a deep darkness, palliated only by a few candles, managing to recreate a tremulous glow that seemed to purify everyone it touched, giving them a ghostly appearance.

“Titans defeated and ended the Brotherhood of Evil,” the woman reported in a serene tone, “the report of their victory spread like a plague.”

“I knew that, but honestly, we have to be grateful to them, don't you think?” he asked, knowing the advantage he had gained thanks to that event. “They served me indirectly and let my escape from prison be served on a platter. They were the perfect distraction.”

“But the news that you are free again will not take long to reach them,” said the woman now with a little uneasiness in her voice.

“No matter. I'm safe for now if they don't know where I am.”

“My lord,” she said cautiously because she didn't want to burden him with too much information, but she thought it was imperative that he knew, “but you must also be aware that Zatanna Zatara, as well as her cousin Zachary will also be aware of everything. Also, there is a rumor going around that John Constantine is roaming Europe again and we already know of his detective daring when it comes to matters related to the occult. They have been following the cult's movements for some time now. We have to move with caution, they may prove to be a threat to our integrity.”

“Two circus magicians who neither with cheap tricks nor speaking backwards will stand a chance, next to a cynical, alcoholic, nicotine-addicted con man, I am totally shaken,” he said sarcastically, keeping his calm demeanor as he marched on, only one step behind her, with his two hands behind his back. “We'll see if they'll stand a chance against us.”

“However, we are well protected since we managed to convince the media that our intentions are to run a legitimate and harmless religion, and that those who attack us are only for bigoted purposes,” she said, to give some good news, if nothing else. “I am sure that nothing and no one will be able to defeat your magnificence and I believe that your parishioners will be dazzled by your return.”

“I know it.”

As they advanced, the dense aroma of incense could be perceived. The man and woman then entered a winding maze of dimly lit corridors, and Brother Blood's eyes took a moment to get used to the lack of light. The wide foyer was sumptuously decorated and a splendid carpet covered most of the stone floor. The gaze of the many portrait figures hanging on the walls followed the two, who were striding along. Finally, they stopped before a massive wooden door. The woman opened it, bowed her head in a gesture of subordination and, after allowing her superior to cross it, he indicated to his faithful assistant to follow him.

The office was elegant, adorned with beautiful carob and cherry tree furniture, together with large windows covered with beautiful silk curtains embroidered in red and gold.

Brother Blood took a seat at his desk as he turned on a screen and typed something into his computer. Seconds later the image of a person came into view.

“Watch closely, Mother Mayhem.”

The woman quickly inspected what he was showing her.

“Looks familiar,” she mentioned as she looked at the portrait of a young woman with purple hair and eyes, pale skin and a strange reddish stone on her forehead. “What do you need her for? Some girl for a sacrifice?”

“Who said anything about a sacrifice? That's not the right word, far from it. Even as a half-blood, she has so much hidden power within her. She has potential that even she doesn't know herself.”

“Half-blood? What are you talking about?”

“Well, where do we begin? Remember that woman who came seventeen years ago to our Gotham-based secondary church? The one who was given body and soul to Trigon in a satanic ceremonial rite?”

“Angela Roth. I remember her as if it were yesterday, but the slippery one disappeared like a rat without a trace,” she said almost with disgust. “She probably died or committed suicide, after all, she was a long-suffering woman, although her body was never found and she was never registered as missing. But what does the girl in her picture have to do with this Roth?”

“That cunning woman did not commit suicide, the damned woman fled and if she left no trace it was because she probably escaped to another dimension. Do you know where?”

“I do not have that knowledge, sir, you are the all-knowing one.”

“Azarath. That was her solution, her salvation, a pacifist dimension full of prosperity and peace under the protective wing of Azar,” announced Brother Blood. “But they saved neither her nor themselves from the creature she eventually conceiving. She is the gem that was born from the fire of evil. This one on the screen is, Mayhem, nothing more nor less than the creation that woman gave birth to.”

“It cannot be..., it cannot be true,” she was surprised as she put a hand to her mouth to cover her astonishment, “she is... she is…”

“Yes, the Gem of Scath,” he finished her sentence. “She is not a pawn, she is the daughter of our god Trigon. The blood of his blood. Her name is Raven, a current and active member of the Teen Titans.”

“I felt her image was familiar, but I can't believe it. This is all perfect. How do we get her?!” she questioned desperately, now looking so dazzled that her eyes looked crazy while a smile was planted on her mouth. She seemed almost excited by the turn everything was taking.

“Let's not rush, one step at a time,” the man restrained the woman's enthusiasm. “I don't want to leave loose ends, I have already made many mistakes in the past. I have been careless, and that is why luck and chance have frustrated my excellent plans and everything is due more to my failures than to their successes. But now I know what to do; now I understand things I didn't understand before. To start with, I need the girl vulnerable and at my complete mercy, but for that I need Volpert's Grimoire to perform the ritual. If I remember correctly, I think I sent you a letter a few days ago with clear instructions to follow. Did you obtain what I asked for?”

“Yes sir, you asked me to find someone who is able to get into their tower. I got some recommendations and you don't know what I found. I got something that will be to your total liking, it is a pleasant coincidence of fate to have obtained this information. Someone who has already infiltrated and even stolen inside the place. I'm sure he knows their system better than anyone else and how to break into it.”

“And who are we talking about? I hope it's none of my stupid, useless ex-students.”

“Not even close, sir,” Mayhem revealed as he asked for permission with a gesture of respect and approached the computer while typing something into it. The image of the young woman disappeared to give way to that of a man in a black and gray suit. As he looked at the picture she read the information she had gathered. “I'm not aware of his name, but in the underworld of social scum he is known as Red X. A competent martial artist and excellent acrobat. Good reflexes, agility, endurance and physical strength. I have his number for when you need his services.”

“Red X? Interesting, very interesting. So he will be an important participant in this. I need him to steal some items for the ritual, but first and foremost will be the book.” Brother Blood stood for what seemed like a minute watching what the monitor was showing him. There was something he considered odd about this guy. “Why do I feel that he hides much more than his identity behind that silly mask? Is it my sixth sense that tells me more about him?”

“Sir?” she asked a little confused by the concentration he seemed to show for the picture of the thief.

“Never mind, just ignore me,” he said as he stepped out of his train of thought and waved his hand in an act of downplaying the matter, “when the time comes, a lot of things will become clear. We also need someone who can... send the message.”

“I have it too, and I know you will be pleased with what I got here,” added the woman with glee as she began to type again and the picture changed again. The screen now showed a bald guy, wearing a rather unhinged expression on his face, covered with cuts all over his body. “Victor Zsasz. A serial killer. His personality is that of a sociopath with an insubstantial life. He believes he has the gift of liberating people from the frivolity and inner emptiness in which they all live. Extreme cruelty, unpredictability and cunning. Highly trained strength and agility. Dedicated to "liberating" others from their meaningless existence, often referring to his victims as "zombies". Usually hunts young women, but has no remorse for his victims. He has a particular modus operandi: he slits the throats of his prey and leaves them in realistic poses, adding a mark on his body each time he kills someone.”

“Liberating people from frivolity and inner emptiness? Sublime! It is magnificent and just what I need!” expressed Brother Blood almost applauding the acquisition.  “Good, I love his style, he's the perfect subject for the errand. Let the Gem and her friends know of the fate that awaits them. Mother Mayhem?”

“Yes, sir?”

“You have done a great job, not only now but also in my absence.”

The woman bowed to Brother Blood, for words were not enough to express her desire to thank him.

“Nothing could please me more than to be at your service.”

“Nothing could please me more than to be at your service,” the man repeated, cocking his head slightly to one side as he looked at her. “That means a great deal, Mayhem, from you. I have great confidence in you, not for nothing are you the first to be aware of my whole plan.”

The woman blushed and her eyes welled up with tears of gratitude and recognition.

“My Lord knows I speak nothing but the truth.”

“I know, I have a good knowledge of your loyalty and your eagerness to work for the cause, you are my right-hand man for a reason.”

“Do you require anything else, Brother Blood?”

“Yes, one last request. I also need you to get an appointment with Dr. Jonathan Crane. I hear he is a very busy man with his "chores" and so I need you to try to contact him as soon as possible for a private meeting.”

“Jonathan Crane, the famous psychiatrist based in Gotham, a specialist in fear psychology and biochemistry?” she inquired as she jotted down her leader's request in a notebook. “I apologize for my audacity, but... what are his services needed for?”

“Isn't it obvious? I require his famous drug, the fear toxin. He takes a savage pleasure in literally terrifying people to death and his traditional instruments do wonders in accomplishing that. Isn't it curious? Nothing sounds better than The Scarecrow to torment a broken little bird.”

“And what will you get out of it? If I may be so bold as to ask.”

A sinister smile was reflected on Brother Blood's calculating face.

“Simple: to push Raven to her limits through fear, to weaken her to the point of collapse and destroy her psyche completely, that's what I want. To detonate her entirely, to plunge her into the deepest gloom. In the end, that girl is nothing more than a time bomb about to explode. That way and without the power of her mind, she will have no way to refuse or resist any of my suggestions. I will have her under my total power like a puppet under my strings, I will be able to do with her as I wish. I will give you another example to make you understand, do you know anything about Greek mythology? I know you are someone who is too cultured.”

“I don't want to brag, but I have some knowledge.”

“Pandora's Box,” he said, “do you know what happens in the legend when it is opened?”

She thought about it for a few seconds before answering, the response was not very complicated. That legend was quite well known to everyone.

“All the evils of the world escaped from within, attracting catastrophic consequences and causing their fatal contents to spread throughout our planet. Old age, sickness, fatigue, madness, vice, passion, plague, sadness, poverty, crime; all the evils of the world had spread over the earth and only hope remained hidden at the bottom of the ark.”

“I hope that makes it clearer what I am explaining to you.”

“Absolutely. And at the end of it all... when you get what you want and accomplish your goal and then HE rises again, will the Earth be destroyed?” asked the woman now as her voice wavered with trepidation at the thought.

“Our world will not be destroyed, don't worry about that. He is a conqueror of worlds, but the Earth as we know it was made for mankind to live forever on it. Therefore, it cannot be a total destruction. In reality, his coming will make it possible for "a great multitude" of Trigon's loyal minions to survive. Do not worry that as long as you and our devotees remain loyal to his cause you will not be affected.”

“I will always be devoted to His cause, of that be in no doubt. Then HE will finally come.”

“Oh yes,” Brother Blood affirmed as he rose from his seat and looked out the window, “he will come and punish them severely and impose on them the condemnation that the hypocrites receive, they will eat their flesh among themselves and burn to death in the fire. When all light of hope loses intensity, all sinners will grovel, there will be lamentation and despair. Heaven and earth will tremble. The sun will be darkened and the moon will no longer shine; the stars will fall from the sky and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.”

“Agony, ecstasy and peace for the few. That sounds like an eternal decline for most, my lord.”

“Yes, exactly,” Brother Blood said as he turned to look at his face. “Nothing more or less than the darkest night humanity has ever suffered.”

Grimacing, Raven shifted from her spot on the bed. She scrunched up her face. Since when did her pillow move and make weird noises? There was also a hand on the small of her back that was too big to be hers. Her hand groped whatever was there and what it touched was definitely not hers. What was there with her?

«This is not mine,» she warned as she touched a soft strand of hair. Her hand continued down a little further ... down a little further until she touched.... Oh... that was definitely not hers. She just internally prayed to all the gods in existence that she hadn't grabbed anything... compromising. Sleepily she turned her head and looked at the red-haired man lying next to her and her gaze became confused, until memories of last night came flooding into her head. Sure, she had invited him to sleep over with her and, to be honest, it had been the best sleep she'd had in a long time, but now he was almost smothering her with his tight grip.

“Wallace, move, you're choking me and I'm not your damn teddy bear,” complained Raven, trying to get out of the uncomfortable position she was in.

“Just five more minutes, Aunt Iris, and I promise to get up.”

Apart from snoring loudly he also talked in his sleep? Great.

Was it okay if she just kicked him away? No, that wouldn't be polite at all, if he was there it was because she had asked him to. Raven shook herself until she was out of the prison the boy had made of her arms and legs. Muttering, she shifted and pushed back the blankets as she sat on the edge of the mattress. Now Wally had grabbed the pillow as he wrapped it in a tight hug.

“You're so soft, Raven,” the sleepy boy murmured as he rubbed his cheek on the pillow and a tender grimace adorned his soft expressions.

Soft? What a stupid thing to say. It's not like she was made of cotton.

Now that she remembered it all, yesterday she had been too emotional, sensitive and vulnerable. She was rarely emotionally weak but surely timidity, her gray-coated emotion, she decided it was time to make an appearance and bring out all her uncertainties managing to fluctuate her mood to an almost desolate melancholy. But in spite of everything, the nightmares had not tormented her and it was quite a restful night's sleep after a long time without being able to rest in good conditions.

«Damn divided emotions.»

The events of last night had turned out to be too cheesy and cloying for her personal taste, although she didn't regret anything that had happened yesterday. All that talk with Kid Flash and opening up emotionally with him had been distinctly enjoyable and liberating. It was very interesting to have a conversation with the speedster, yesterday she felt that some of her stagnant and repressed emotional wounds had finally been released.

Remembering is the best way to forget. The adverse ironies of life.

Raven crawled out of bed and went to her closet to pull out a new leotard and cape. Rubbing her eyes, she staggered to the bathroom and looked in the mirror. She patted her head and to her luck the remnant of the blow she got in battle was finally gone. She quickly undressed and changed clothes and headed for the door to leave. Her eyes stopped on Kid Flash as she ran her gaze over him, he looked... very cute as he rested, his drool covered face looked too adorable right now, should she just let him sleep or would she have to wake him up?

“Raven is very soft and sweet as a cupcake.”

And did he also compare her to a sugary dessert?

She blushed as she remembered what he had told her yesterday, that he wanted to be with her...that he wanted to make her happy. Now that she thought about it they still had those two dates in debt after they had saved each other's lives during the mission. At this moment she remembered, the Book Fair that came every year to Jump City at this time was coming up. It was one of her favorite times of the year because she could acquire so much reading material in one place, even books that were no longer available. She smiled, maybe she could invite him, she had always attended alone, but now maybe she could have some nice company at last, someone to share with.

She looked at him one more time. She didn't like the idea of leaving him alone in her room, but he most likely wouldn't wake up for quite a while. She glanced at the clock and noticed that it was barely 6:12 a.m. It was too early and the sun was just emerging, besides she considered that he wasn't going to move from there for a good while because he seemed to be in a deep sleep. Regardless of the fact that yesterday she had made it quite clear to him not to touch anything in her room, the sorceress hoped that he had learned his lesson after grabbing the book and what happened next.

“Aunt Iris, I wanna have your chocolate chip cookies, just one more plate and I promise not to bother you ever again, promise.”

Yeah, most likely he wasn't going to move, especially if he was dreaming about food.

She pulled back the dark curtain to keep the sun's rays from entering before long, as dawn was approaching, and thus allow him to rest as well. She walked out through the hallway as she went down the stairs and into the main room where the kitchen was also located.

However, something made her stop suddenly.

She blinked.

Once, twice, three times.

She rubbed her eyes again, perhaps her vision was playing tricks on her for just waking up.

What the hell was all this? Most of the Titans and Honorary Titans were there, if not all of them, some were on the couch and some were on the floor lying down and sleeping. There were boxes of food everywhere and empty soda cans strewn about. Even the walls were stained.

Raven saw again...

Was Beast Boy sleeping with a slice of pizza over his eyes?

The place was all a pigsty that she wasn't going to participate in cleaning up at all. Let them fend for themselves. Now that she thought about it, the sedative she had taken yesterday had had quite an effect because there seemed to have been a long party here and she hadn't even felt a single sound.

Raven hesitantly moved her eyes around the area as if scanning for something in particular, until she found what she was looking for. A smile appeared on her face when she saw Melvin, Timmy and Teether sleeping on the couch, cuddled and covered by a blanket. The sorceress crept up to them as she bent down and stroked their heads in a clear gesture of affection. They seemed fine and well and a sigh of relief burst from her lips. At least Robin had kept his promise and brought them back safe and sound as she had demanded he do.

Then she walked to the kitchen, dodging every body in her way until she approached the cupboard and grabbed a tea bag. Today she felt like some green tea instead of her typical herbal drink. She filled the kettle with water while she waited for it to boil to the right temperature as she liked it.

Speedy woke up after feeling a noise in the kitchen. He had fallen asleep on the floor and his body felt stiff and sore. All the Titans had been up late into the night celebrating their victory against the Brotherhood, or rather almost all of them. Yawning, he rolled over to see the girl with short purple hair heating water for breakfast. He stood up as he stretched his muscles a bit, while with a smile he approached and greeted the sorceress.

“Gosh, I didn't expect to see you up so early. Mornin', Rae-Rae.”

“What do you want Speedy?” she asked without looking up from the kettle, she didn't even seem surprised by his presence, as if she already knew he was approaching. The archer cringed at the sound of her low, even voice, “I thought you were just sleeping on the floor like an animal, and don't call me Rae-Rae, it sounds awful.”

“Well, I'm an early bird and I'm on the floor because I wasn't as lucky as Wally I guess... and you can call me Roy, I told you we're among friends.”

“So, what are you implying... Roy?” she said, as she dropped a tea bag into a fine china cup and filled it with steaming water.

“Aw Rae, I think you're too smart to...”

“Is that an opinion or are you just trying to dodge the question?” she looked over her shoulder at him. “Spill it.”

“Well well, let's see and review the facts,” he said crossing his arms and looking at the roof with an amused gesture, his expression denoting that he was putting together some scene in his head. “First you disappear with the roadrunner boy after a passionate pitched battle in the middle of the night. Later we all get here and neither of you are all over the tower to join the dinner... all over the tower except for your room, which curiously enough cannot be access because it has more security systems than the financial district of Wall Street.”

“You're letting your imagination run away with that brain too much, although what I do is something I don't think is any of your business.”

“Yeah, I know, I guess I'm just a little envious of Wally, you sure had a... nice, fun evening, didn't you?”

“Listen, if what you're implying is what I believe, I'll tell you that he only slept in my room. Sleeping, as you did, but more comfortable, on a mattress, with pillows and a set of blankets.”

“Yep, he's a perfect gentleman. Maybe someday you can invite me and we can have our own private sleepover between the two of us, how about that? I can bring the... movies.”

Raven narrowed her eyes suspiciously. She didn't like the sound of the word movies coming out of Roy's mouth at all, she didn't want to imagine what kind of movies he was referring to.

“No thanks,” said the sorceress as she removed the bag, threw it into a trash can and grabbed the cup in her hands, ready to leave the place, “Anything else you want to add?”

“Oh yes, you are truly radiant today,” he praised with kindness and in a truly sincere gesture. He noticed that the sorceress's expression brightened for a second, almost with surprise, before returning to her typical poker face that usually adorned her delicate features.

“Thanks for the compliment, now go back to sleep,” she commented as she turned her back on him and walked away from the place leaving him alone. “Oh, and when everyone wakes up, let them know that I want the whole place clean and tidy before noon,” she ordered.

“Always so nice,” Roy muttered under his breath with a sigh, although he found her deadpan humor quite charming, "Is she upset about something? And besides, what does Wally have that I don't?” he wondered as he looked at what he considered his perfect face in a mirror. “We both have the same color hair.”

Raven was making her way to the roof as she walked with what Roy considered almost the elegance of an aristocrat, even as she avoided everyone lying on the floor. Speedy winced. Well, she almost dodged everyone, because she ended up stepping on one of Beast Boy's arms, which woke up with a shriek of pain. The archer even got the idea that she might have done that on purpose, he well knew that the girl could levitate and such things.

“What the hell, dude...?!” shouted the green boy as he sat down on his spot on the floor and the slice of pizza that was anchored in his eyes fell into his lap.

“Sorry,” apologized Raven, “I didn't see you.”

“Yeah, sure,” he said sarcastically as he grabbed his sore arm, “I'm sorrier.”

The sorceress climbed the stairs until she reached the roof and opened the door, finding none other than her leader there.

“Robin.”

When he finally turned to acknowledge the girl's presence, he gestured with his head in a form of greeting.

He didn't say anything else back, his gaze went back to the horizon again, he seemed to be... thinking about something and whatever it was, Raven knew it surely had something to do with her. The empath knew that she was the one person with whom he had to stop and think about the words he would use to address her person.

She knew that, with Robin's detective nature, he would wait for the right moment to throw something and catch her off guard. But he might have his training in interrogation, but she also had her practice in keeping her expression unperturbed.

The sorceress finally came to his side and closed her eyes as the wind roared around her. The day looked like it was going to be quite cool.

“What are you doing up so early?” asked Robin, staring straight ahead.

She rolled her eyes. Great, now he was activated in his inquirer mode.

“I could ask you the same thing,” she replied simply.

“I love sunrise. The promise of a new day, anything's posible, remember?” expressed the Boy Wonder. What he had just said she had heard from him before.

“You mentioned the same thing to me when...” Raven didn't finish the sentence, she remembered that day quite well. Those were dark times for her. The days when the prophecy and her father's presence haunted her.

“I know, that's why I'm mentioning it,” replied the Boy Wonder simply.

Well, where was he going with this? She already had an idea.

Raven brought the cup to her mouth, blew gently to cool the hot liquid a bit and then took a soft sip feeling her stomach warm up on the spot and a sense of satisfaction fill her body. Once she finished savoring the taste of her tea, she tried to get him to get to the heart of the matter.

“Yes, the sunrise is a lovely thing to watch, but did you need to talk to me about something? You know very well that I come every morning to the roof to meditate and I don't think you are here just to watch the sun rise.”

“Is something wrong?” Robin's question made her turn to look at him. “You looked unwell yesterday, during the battle.”

He didn't seem demanding, just a non-threatening question, so she decided to prod to see how he would react. Maybe even deflect the course of this "talk". Raven knew that, when she had collapsed in the battle against the Brotherhood of Evil, the mental link had been open for a split second and surely he had seen or felt the same as she had. But she didn't want to talk about it now, not when even she herself couldn't decipher what it was all about. What she wanted most at this moment was to be able to end this talk and to be able to retreat to meditate.

“Any reason why you are interrogating me?”

Robin just shrugged and kept his temper.

“I just want to know why yesterday...”. He paused to bow his head and narrowed his eyes contemplatively, again searching for the right words to use.

She just frowned.

“Hurry up and get to the point, I don't have all day.”

“Why did you faint during the battle? Raven, I could feel it, apart from your pain, it was... something too, dark? I don't even know if that's the right word. And before our link was closed, I saw it, four red eyes that don't bring back very good memories. I need to know, rather, I demand to know, if what happened yesterday has any relation with.... Trigon.”

“I told you I don't like anyone poking around inside my head, I said it to you that time, remember? You should know there are places in my mind where you can't go, where no one should ever go.”

Finally, he looked her up and down. He watched her, even through his mask that covered his eyes, with a penetrating gaze that would make any other villain tremble at the weight he placed on it. But Raven did not flinch at him, her body language did not indicate that she was intimidated by the weight of his eyes.

Now even his tone of voice changed, it was even a bit more insistent, you could almost say belligerent.

“Raven, whatever happens, I hope you know you can talk to me about it, because I can understand you. But I feel like... you're not fully trusting me. Maybe it's just me, I don't know?”

“I know I can talk about it, but...”

“You're making excuses, Raven. And you're trying to deflect the issue, and not knowing why I care. This isn't about the team now, it's about you. I know something is wrong, but you're the one who doesn't trust me enough to talk about it. I don't want to pressure you to tell me what's going on with you, but if it has anything to do with Trigon I think it would be necessary for you to tell me. I don't want it to happen again... what happened last time.”

Raven had no desire to hide anything and knew it wasn't worth hiding either, but she also didn't want to worry her friends with something that even she didn't have full knowledge of.

“I really don't know what's going on, Robin,” the sorceress explained after a frustrated sigh, trying to make him understand, “to be honest with you, I don't even fully understand it myself. It all started with some simple nightmares at first, but it has been getting worse over time. Everything seems to correlate with my father, but one thing is curious.”

“What's so curious?” he questioned.

“I just don't feel his presence. Even though it seems to be all related to him and the prophecy, I can't perceive his direct influence, it's as if the threat... were something else, something different and coming from another source.  I don't know if you understand and I don't expect you to, but that's all I can tell you for now.”

“I honestly thought Trigon was dead, after you defeated him that day.”

“Dead?” a bitter laugh escaped from her mouth. “Robin, I wish it were so, but he is a highly powerful and invulnerable interdimensional being, for now he can only be banished and that's what I did.”

Once again, Robin did not respond immediately, he began to stare again at the panorama of the city, he began to think.

“Sounds not good at all. In your nightmares, what do you see? If you want to tell me.”

“Something stalking me, although I don't quite know what it is... but I can also see a light, something that protects me from... that thing.”

“Anything else you want to tell me?”

“Nothing more for now, that's all,” she said. “Once I can shed more light on the matter, you'll be the first to know.”

“I'm glad to hear it,” Robin didn't seem convinced, the last time Raven had been troubled by the bad dreams, after all, it had been a sign of the apocalypse, but he knew better than to press the issue. The Boy Wonder turned to the horizon.

“I not only like to watch the sunrise. I think it's good to look around here at this time of day,” he said. “To see the city in the sunlight. It reminds us what we are fighting for and what our goal is. All these people have a right to live their lives in peace, and sometimes we are the only ones who can make sure they can do that. It's our job to make that happen, to keep the balance.”

“I know,” Raven said quietly, looking at her half-empty teacup.

“I've heard someone close to me say that the line between hero and villain is thin and easy to cross, and I myself discovered that more than once”. Raven knew Robin was referring to the time when he had teamed up with Slade to uncover part of his plans, a moment that even nearly cost them their lives. But she knew more than anyone that the dark side was often tempting.

On several occasions she had asked herself this question: When does someone who operates under his own rules begin to corrupt himself without knowing it? Is the distance between one and the other so great? How far can the hero go in order not to cross that line that divides "good" from "evil"? There was even the possibility that such a dividing line does not even exist.

Raven didn't say a word as she finished drinking her now half-cold tea. Robin's words echoed in her head and did almost nothing to reassure her. She knew better than anyone how thin the line between good and evil could be, and for her it was thinner than most. Her nature was defined by the tension between her innate darkness and her training in Azarath that kept her in control; her greatest fear was that someday her arduous training would no longer be enough to control her inner demon.

«I'm part of you, always,» she remembered the words. «You can't get away.»

“Also, I wanted to talk about something else.”

“Of what?”

“It's about Terra and Jinx. It was quite a surprise to find them on our side and to see Terra again. I already talked to both of them after arriving at the tower, after interrogating them and having them tell me their stories, in the end I set some conditions. To be frank, I can't fully trust them from one day to the next, but you believed in both of them from what they told me, so I'll give it a try.”

“As you said, the line between hero and villain is thin and easy to cross,” she said with a half-smile. “Well, what are those conditions?”

“Jinx will be transferred with the Titans East, she will go through a probationary period, they will be in charge of her training and keeping an eye on her for now. I also asked for a weekly report on her progress.”

“That sounds good to me,” said Raven with a shrug, “and in relation to Terra?”

“She'll stay here,” Robin said. “With Slade on the loose in who knows where, having her away from us could prove to be a threat. And one more thing, I know it won't be to your liking, but you'll have to help her in her training. She has no control over her powers and you're the only one who can do it. By the way, I want you to keep her... under surveillance.”

“I've thought about that before, don't worry, I'll take care of helping her. I know some techniques that might be useful to her.”

“Wow, I didn't know you were going to take it so well and lightly.”

“I just hope you have rooms available because we will go from five people to ten in total.”

“Ten?” he asked a little confused as his math did not seem to be the same as hers. Robin thought it would be six with Terra's reinstatement.

“Well, eleven in fact if I take Bobby into consideration. Kiddos stay with me Robin, and Wally too.”

“Are you aware of the responsibility it is to take care of three kids, Raven?” Robin questioned her to talk some sense to her. Having children in the tower with the risks involved in their daily duties didn't seem to go hand in hand. “Besides, I thought you didn't like the idea of the mission at first and the job of taking care of them.”

“Well, I changed my mind. I got a little... affection for them and they're staying for now, end of story. I can care for them and I won't be asking you to help me change diapers if that's what you're so worried about.  I will not leave them stranded in that monastery.”

“Okay, I just hope it's not a bad decision on your part. Regarding the other thing, Kid Flash already showed his approval with that? If I remember correctly, he was reluctant to join in the past when I asked him to.”

“Yes, he said so and he is quite excited with the idea of staying here.”

“Sure,” said Robin only, “I'm sure he's very excited.”

She just narrowed her eyes, sure she suspected the same thing Speedy did. But she was a grown woman and not accountable to anyone with what she did with her life, especially with her non-existent romantic life.

Robin just stood there silent and stiff-bodied.

“C' mon... let's go inside, it's cold and I don't want you to catch a cold,” said the Boy Wonder as he made a gesture to move away from the place hoping she would follow him.

“Go by yourself, I need to meditate.”

He strode away with long strides and the sorceress sighed internally as she heard the steel door slam shut with some force. What's with him? He always seemed so unpredictable.

But she had come all this way with a purpose and now was the perfect moment. She hoped no one would interrupt her.

Closing her eyes and getting into position, she took a deep breath as she calmed herself and whispered her mantra. She started with the process and felt herself begin to levitate.

«Find your center. Focus your energies.»

“Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos,” she murmured, and felt her mind calm from agitated thoughts. Concentrating on herself and her breathing, she focused on something in particular almost like a compass: her visions. That was her target.

Meditate on the symbols I give you.

And that's what she was going to do, meditate.

.

.

But she was not prepared for what happened next.

.

.

Immediately and without time to react, she was surrounded by walls and columns of fire. Raven opened her eyes the instant she felt the burning flames embrace her. She was no longer on the roof of the tower. She had hoped to finally locate herself in the confines of her mind, but that was not the case.

Raven stood in the heart of the fire and darkness, looking down on a city that was destroyed.

She perceived how the little light that was always present in her nightmares was glowing in her hands. But now it was weaker than before, it was about to be extinguished.

The buildings had been destroyed by the flames, the people turned into stone statues trapped forever in eternal torment. The earth looked dry, barren and lifeless, and the sky was so obstructed by ash and smoke that the sun could not be seen, giving the illusion that it no longer existed. The only light came from a river, where what was once water was now molten lava.

She approached.

No, this was not lava.

It was a river whose turbulent waters were tinged with blood.

Blood.

She focused her vision. On the opposite bank, the white figure she always saw in her nightmares was now clearly and corporeally visible. It was what appeared to be a woman standing motionless, solemn and with her face hidden by a white robe and veil that covered her entirely. She seemed almost pure and ethereal in contrast to all the carnage that could be seen around her.

Dead bodies were scattered all over the place. The smell of death was spread everywhere. There was nothing more dreadful than that nauseating stench. Her stomach began to churn, and everything began to spin. A bitter taste invaded her mouth, and she was about to throw up under some spasms that she tried to repress by thinking of something else. It was impossible to do so. That stench would not allow it. Breathing through the mouth didn't seem to help either, that stench went even further. It entered even through the pores.

All of this was martyring her and seemed to want to melt her into despair.

Raven took a step towards the river, but noticed that, in addition to being stained with blood, its waters were too deep. But not only that, thousands of bodies were also writhing and drowning in the crimson liquid, their hands clawing at the surface in an attempt to get afloat.

When she looked up again, the bodies on the site seemed to have doubled in number. There were now hundreds, thousands perhaps. Some were still alive and writhing in agony as they suffered terrible, unthinkable deaths.... Consumed by fire, covered with leprosy, buried in feces, devouring each other. From the other side of the river, Raven could hear their anguished howls of agony and wailing pleas as others begged for forgiveness while beseeching the divinities to stop this ordeal once and for all.

It was complete hell.

“Seek and ye shall find," whispered the woman from the other side. “Meditate on the symbols I give you. Don't let it go out.”

The sorceress heard the words as if they had been spoken inside her head.

She gave the other woman a challenging look. She was sick of all this and wanted answers, and she wanted them right now.

“Who are you?!” she exclaimed, and for the first time in her nightmares and delusions, the voice finally came out of her throat.

“Seek and ye shall find,” she repeated. Her serene voice cut through the putrid air and was heard quite clearly even above the sounds of the desolate, dying bodies stretching as far as the eye could see.

Raven saw the half-buried bodies and bodies of stone again. She shivered, some of the bodies there were those of her friends. They were suffering lethal agony.

“Seek and ye shall find,” said the woman to Raven again. "The storm is coming, the time is ending.”

Raven stepped forward defiantly.

“I'll ask you one last time! I want answers! Who the hell are you?! Stop playing games! I won't let your presence torment me! I'm not afraid of you!” she shouted from across the blood-tinged river.

But the other woman spoke only solemnly.

“It is not me you should be afraid of, I am here to help you. I am the light,” said the unknown woman without losing her composure.

«But who are you?» Raven wanted to ask once more, but something alerted her. A reflex to flee settled in her as a cold calador drilled from her rear.

Without further warning, Raven turned her head when she heard a noise and hissing coming from behind her. The black background covered everything and from within it a colossal black snake with four red eyes emerged from it, moving across the ground, snaking over the bodies. When it was close, the reptile began to rise and take human form and the empath was stunned. In front of her eyes was a version of herself, only it appeared to be a dark black mass with two pairs of scarlet lucers for eyes, but she couldn't even make out its face.

A shiver ran through the sorceress's body when it spoke to her.

“And… I am the shadow,” said that thing resonantly and in an eerie voice. “The light is only an illusion, and when it fades, darkness will flood every trace of your being.”

Next chapter: Between dog and wolf

Chapter Text

London, England

Outside a small venue that functioned as a bar and included a small stage, located in Soho which was known as the cultural and nightlife centre, there was a long line of people, all with their tickets in hand, waiting to see the show that was about to happen. Everyone outside was anxious to get in and enjoy a great time.

A poster was displayed outside, with a picture of a beautiful black-haired woman with an engraved title: “Come and meet the Mistress of Magic! Would you believe that a person could be able to levitate? Discover it for yourself! Only for today starting at 6:00 p.m.!”

Inside the bar, most of the audience was seated. Nothing but chatter among the individuals inside could be heard. Everyone fell silent as the lights dimmed, signalling the audience to be quiet. Spotlights began to circle around a red curtain.

“Attention, ladies and gentlemen!” announced the presenter, in an animated and rather energetic voice. “We are very proud to present to you the best magic act of the night! Hope you all leave with a wonderful view of what magic really is! Cause she is the Mistress of Magic! With you, none other than the great... Zatanna Zatara!”

A cloud of pink smoke materialised out of nowhere, giving way to the svelte figure of the woman. The crowd exclaimed her name with great joy, even though the show had not yet begun. Zatanna bowed to her audience and was greeted with loud applause. The magician walked gracefully across the stage in sync with the music. Under the spotlight, her fishnet stockings with black high-heeled boots fully emphasised her long legs, while her tight white shirt top and black jacket left no doubt to her spectacular figure. Long, straight black hair cascaded around her slender shoulders. Her black top hat was tilted forward, which hid her eyes and drew the audience's attention to her charming smile.

“Thanks, thanks everyone for coming tonight! Hope you're all having a great night,” said the woman cheerfully. “I'm glad you're all here. The plan is to surprise you this special day with a great show, okay? Now, for the first trick, I need a member of the audience who wants to participate. Let's see... any volunteers?”

“Here!” shouted a man as he raised his hand in the air.

“Perfect, and what's your name, sir?” asked the magician.

“Doug.”

“And, Doug, do you believe in magic?”

“I mean… I don't not believe in magic,” he explained as he approached the scenario.

“Do we think Doug should believe, ladies and gentlemen?!”

“Waste of money!” a man shouted. He was sitting in the back drinking a glass of liquor and was in a clearly drunken state.

Zatanna ignored the comment and helped the male volunteer lie down on a stretcher while the magician's assistants covered him with a purple blanket.

“Say it with me, now…” Zatanna indicated, making a waving motion with her hand which was holding a wand. “...Abra--“

“--cadabra!” ended the audience with a loud exclamation. They were quite entertained.

Doug, after that word and out of nowhere, began to levitate above the stretcher on which he was lying. Loud applause from the public rang out again throughout the place.

“Fake!” the man again shouted as he got up from his seat and made his way to the scenario in a rather upset state.

“There's always one, folks," the mage chided in disgust. “And what's your name, sir?”

“I am a sayer of truths!”

“I'll bet you are.”

“Don't be fooled!” he shouted as he turned to the entire audience in an attempt to unmask the farce before his eyes. “It's a lie, magic isn't real! She isn't real! It's a rig. I saw it on the Internet! Filmaments that the light doesn't catch. Just optical illusions!”

Zatanna closed her eyes and squeezed the bridge of her nose tightly, trying to instil a little patience in herself as a sigh escaped her lips. Well, he ruined her trick.

“And yes, there are “filaments”. Sorry, Doug," apologised the mage as she pulled a knife from her pocket and cut the threads that held the man in the air.

“Whoa!” Doug shouted as he fell heavily to the wooden floor of the stage.

“So give us our money back, then!” shouted some of the people inside the bar who were now angry about the whole fake show.

“Phony!” shouted the drunken man with a smug smile for having unveiled the woman's trick.

“Etativel,” Zatanna whispered softly, almost inaudibly, with a smirk on her face.

“Charlatan!” he continued to reproach the woman, oblivious to what was happening to him now.

“Um… darling?” said the drunken man's wife as she grabbed him by the sleeve of his shirt and pulled him down.

“What?” asked the man who continued his attack on the falsehood of the trick... until he noticed how he was levitating in the air with nothing to hold him up. “Oh.”

“Now, who wants to see me pull a rabbit out of my hat?” asked Zatanna, satisfied.

A thunderous applause erupted from the rest of the audience and people began to rise to their feet as the cheering grew louder. A mysterious man covered in a black cloak slowly stood up and left the place unnoticed by the magician.

[...]

For the next hour and twenty minutes, the rest of the audience was completely captivated by her performance and she managed to hold the public's attention.

After a few more minutes of show time, the performance was finally over. After every show, Zatanna loved to meet with the audience and a few fans and sign some autographs and receive compliments of all kinds. This became a well-known habit after show after show. One older couple approached the magician with beautiful red roses.

“It was a splendid show, dear,” said the older woman, handing her the bouquet.

“Aw, thank you,” replied Zatanna as she received the gift and made a gesture of gratitude.

“We brought you some fresh flowers,” said the man, “I remember when I was just a child I attended a show of your father's. We have seen you many times and you always seem to outdo yourself with each new show.”

“Oh, thank you so much. I really appreciate it.”

“Keep it up. You certainly deserve it. Now, we won't hold you any longer, have a good night.”

“Good night to you too.”

Once there was nothing more to do in the place, the magician left through the back of the building. She had work to do and continuing to sign autographs would only slow her down more than usual so a shortcut wouldn't hurt.

She closed the door as she walked down a damp, dark alley, until a deep voice made her stop.

“We know why you're in London, Zatanna Zatara.”

“To thrill and amaze?” she asked as she felt for the wand inside her pocket and slowly pulled it out.

“I'll just have to wipe you off the map,” threatened the mysterious man as he approached the woman.

“Etanimulli!” the magician cast a spell as she pointed at him with her wand.

A blazing beam of white light had shot out from the end of Zatanna's wand, aiming to illuminate the dark passage and her opponent. The stranger had a curious "S" shaped mark painted in red on his face, a mark she knew quite well. The man looked haggard and withered, though he was enlivened by an exceptionally fanatical and feverish countenance.

“Sniahc!”

Metallic magical chains that resembled thick snakes leapt through the air and coiled tightly around the sinister man's torso. He let out a cry of rage and reared up, managing to free himself, as he charged at Zatanna, knocking her to the ground while forcefully covering her mouth with one of his hands.

“Word magic? You're cute. Although let me tell you, you are more beautiful with your mouth covered. Now, where was I?” asked the stranger while the mage made a physical effort to free herself from the enormous strength of the man who was now pulling out a silver knife hidden inside his tunic. “Imagine how Brother Blood will reward me when I kill you. I will be honored beyond all other devoted. I will be his dearest, his closest supporter... closer than a son...”

Zatanna knew she would never be able to save herself if she could not free the hand covering her mouth.

“The Church of Blood has risen again!” he exclaimed, who at that moment seemed completely mad, his eyes wild with sick emotion, giving her a malevolent smile. “HAIL, BROTHER BLOOD!”

The man raised the knife and aimed it straight at the woman, but the weapon broke in half when, instead of meeting the mage's flesh, it found itself against a golden-colored magic circle of protection.

“What?! How?!” How had she stopped the attack if her mouth was covered and she had not uttered a word? He knew that Zatanna's magic only worked when she uttered the spell verbally and if she did it backwards. That was her main weakness, her powers easily prevented if she was impeded from speaking and making use of her voice. The man fell fainting to the ground when he was hit quite powerfully with what appeared to be an iron pipe.

“Ingenuity, mate,” remarked the raspy voice of the intruder. “No sport in wailin' on a lady, anyways.”

Zatanna got up from the floor as she shook the dirt off her clothes, taking notice of the man who helped her. Short blond hair, with a face adorned with a few days old beard and shrewd light blue eyes that looked at her intently. He was dressed in his typical disheveled light brown trench coat, a wrinkled white shirt combined with a red tie. A cigarette that was never missing on him held between his lips.

John Constantine.

He was what anyone would call an anti-hero.

Exorcist, demonologist and master of the dark arts. A detective of the occult and con man. A compulsive smoker, notorious for his boundless cynicism, characterized by his deadpan sarcasm, as well as his capacity for ruthless manipulation. Always following a life of sorcery and danger with a clear addiction to adrenaline (apart from his clear addiction to nicotine as well as alcohol) that only the uncanny and mysterious seemed to satiate. He too was something of a "magnet for the occult". However, in Zatanna's opinion, he was also a passionate humanist, driven by an intense desire to do good? when he wanted to and occasionally incurred in heroism.

“Long time no see, Z,” the man greeted politely.

“Thanks, John. Always in the right place at the right time,” said the mage as she crossed her arms. “And you were watching the whole time or did you just show up by chance?”

“I was snooping and hoping you'd ask for help, but you're always so proud.”

“I'm a member of the Justice League, in case you weren't aware,” she defended herself against his questioning. Was he doubting her abilities? “I could have defeated him on my own. Besides, how could I have asked for help? In case you didn't see, I had my mouth covered.”

“Aha sure, word magic… Bit limiting, isn't it? Especially if those pretty, tender lips are covered,” said Constantine with a gallant expression.

“Allegedly, it's all that got passed down from my father to me. Everyone has weaknesses.”

“Happens when Homo-Magi crossbreed with Muggles,” he joked about Zatanna's mixed heritage.

“Ratcen ot sehsa,” pronounced the magician without being able to contain herself, managing to turn the cigar into a sweet caramel lollipop.

“Unusual, as far as I can tell,” he ironised, taking the lollipop out of his mouth and tossing it around. “Cute trick, love. Cigarette?” he asked as he pulled out a pack of his favourite brand, Silk Cut.

They were both startled, more so her than him, when the body of the fallen man was incinerated out of nowhere and completely carbonised.

“Jesus, what did you do, John?!” Zatanna asked angrily, eyeing the man warily.

“I didn't do shit this time, I promise, it wasn't my fault,” Constantine defended himself, raising his hands in a gesture of innocence.

John watched as the mage approached the corpse that was still on fire and clasped her hands as far as the heat would allow her to get close as she uttered a sequence of backwards words. She analyzed for a moment and Zatanna quickly backed away as she held her head in apparent discomfort as she staggered in place.

“Z? You okay?”

“I'm fine,” she sighed as she took a deep breath to calm herself. “I've never liked this sort of magic. I can feel darkness seeping inside me. How you stand it is beyond me.”

“It's all about control. If you ever need a refresher...”

“We've had this conversation,” Zatanna declined his offer. “I haven't changed my mind. You belong there, don't you, John? This is your world, not mine.”

“Sure, sit out the war between good and evil. After all, you've got a good thing going being applauded by mindless twits,” he replied bitterly.

“The magic I perform brings people happiness,” she defended herself.

“You sure it's not the two drink minimum, love?”

“You're such a pessimist.”

“So. Magic,” he replied. “What's it all about, then? I wonder what you were after when you got into the game. It's usually something. Something specific that you think is worth taking risks for. Money. Sex. Revenge. Power. Enlightenment. Thinner thighs in thirty days. But I'll tell you something for free, love. At rock bottom, it's always about the same thing. It's always about entropy. The Universe is winding down. Things fall apart. The moving finger writes, and what it writes is 'Tough shit'.”

“Oh, please don't start with your fucking nihilistic mood,” said Zatanna as she rolled her eyes.

“No magic is needed to tell the story of most people's fate, Z. Ya know, they grow old, get married, have kiddies, live shitty existences and toil two thirds of their fucking lives slaving away at jobs they hate to buy crap they don't need and then die having accomplished almost nothing. Classic. When things fall apart, they don't put themselves back together again.”

“Always so pessimistic and cynical? You may act tough, but I know deep down you're different. I see something else in you. I know you would make sacrifices for the people you care about and you wouldn't hesitate to do so.”

“Wrong. I expect the worst, so I prepare for the worst, and when the worst happens, I'm ready. But my outlook doesn't alter the reality of the world. Oscar Wilde. He once defined a cynic as a man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing. Call me a cynic then. I know I'm not the sweetest guy you've ever met, but I do my duty. Well, I don't fancy going on with this talk any longer so tell me, what did you find on this rotting corpse? Sure, apart from his guts.”

“My guess is that they put a spell on him in case he failed his mission, so that no one could recognise him or interrogate him. They don't seem to want to leave anything to chance. What do you think? Now Brother Blood is back, what do you think his intentions are?”

“They are accustomed to operating in the shadows. Besides, expanding his domain and gaining followers is only one of the things he is interested in. Apart from that he surely has other plans, plans that he can implement very discreetly, and at the moment he is concentrating on them. Z, the Church of Blood would not raise its head unless something big was on the rise.”

“What are he looking for, apart from minions?” Zatanna asked quickly. “That acolyte seemed strong enough, what does he need besides crazy fanatics?”

“Things he can only get by sneaky. I'm sure it's a thing he didn't have before, neither he nor his ancestors,” John explained as he leaned over the corpse of the dead man.

“Whoa, are you lighting your stupid cigarette with the corpse?!” she questioned with revulsion as she watched him put his cigarette butt into the remaining fire and light the end of it.

“Hm, none better than the pleasant taste of death to ease the day's nerves,” he said simply as he put the cigarette in his mouth, puffed around it and then inhaled, the tip glowing bright orange.

He tilted his head back and let out a long stream of smoke as a sigh of pleasure escaped his lips.

“That's so gross and disgusting. And how do you know he still hasn't gotten what he's looking for?”

“Cos if that were so, love, we'd all be in the pit of hell involved in suffering... more than usual, of course.”

“That acolyte had a mark painted on his forehead, I would recognize it for miles,” Zatanna communicated what she had seen when she illuminated his face. “The mark of Scath, the demon Trigon, I suspect that is his end game.”

The two watched as the burned corpse turned to ashes that were now scattered by the wind. Now there was no trace of the acolyte's existence.

“Ruler of the eighth circle of hell. It is rumored that the seven deadly sins are his sons,” he said as he watched the ashes scatter in the air.

“Yeah, and one of those sins roams the Earth freely as if it were nothing while playing at being a superhero.”

“You hate her, don't you?” asked Constantine, now with his eyes fixed on her.

Zatanna's gaze turned cold, achieving the illusion that her light blue eyes looked almost like icebergs.

“Hate is not the right word, I just don't consent to a demon like her, offspring of the worst of them all, being left unsupervised. Anyone related to Trigon the Terrible is a threat to the integrity of the world.”

“Not all demons are evil,” he said as he took another puff on his cigarette. “I know some, and I'm even what you might call a friend of one. Demons are just... dangerous and unpredictable. Like a wild animal, at times you cannot distinguish between a dog and wolf.”

“Stop with the metaphors. Whatever the Church of Blood is up to, rest assured that, being Trigon's daughter, it will involve the girl.”

“Yes,” Constantine affirmed because his speculations were the same, “I think the balance between earth and hell has reached a crossroads, even with the risk that comes with that, like breaking down the walls between the planes, and I suspect it's all about Raven. Like Rome, I think all roads lead to her. Not sure how and that's what I'm trying to puzzle out.”

“Okay, the balance has to be protected or the whole of the underworld will enter the Earth. I accompany you. Whether you want to or not.”

“I'm anti-social, prefer to work by myself, but I can't decline the help of a lovely assistant,” John agreed with a charming expression, making the magician just roll her eyes at his attempt to seduce her.

“OK, let's go,” she said as she started walking.

“You know this won't be easy, right? Innocent people die when we fuck up. And we fuck up all the time.”

He smiled when she gave him a hard look.

“Oh, don't get me wrong,” said Constantine quickly. “Dying ain't so rotten. Eden's a nice place. I was there a few months back. Left a piece of myself buried in the ground there, for reasons I won't go into.”

“So, we'll have to take that risk then, won't we? Easy, no. But possible. Because this is my territory,” Zatanna mentioned seriously now. “Spells, Hocus Pocus, demons. It's meat and drink to me.”

“So, time to do what I do best: find something nasty and piss it about a bit, get my fingers burnt, and burn the other bastard's arm in return.” He took the last drag on his cigarette, flicked away the remaining butt and followed the mage.

Raven had always loved the rain. The smell of the damp earth, the gentle, steady rhythm of the water droplets against the glass of her bedroom window where she could hear a whole orchestra of sounds that the downpour created.

She observed the colors of the sky.

Entre le chien et le loup.

Or in other words, "between dog and wolf", a poetic and romantic way of referring to the kind of light that the sky gives us shortly after sunset.  It is a very special shade. A blue that doesn't want to be blue. A black that does not want to darken. That undecided light of the sunset that occurs when the sun has already set but the night has not yet taken over the Earth. It is the moment when man cannot distinguish a dog from a wolf. A situation that obviously no one would like to find himself in. The dog symbolizes the day and can guide us. The wolf symbolizes the night and represents a nightmare and a threat to man. The shadows that are produced at those hours are the ones that do not allow us to differentiate between the two animals.

And… I am the shadow. The light is only an illusion, and when it fades, darkness will flood every trace of your being.

It is the moment when, by an effect of light, the differences are blurred, the blue of the sky approaches the darkness, and the sun's rays are so oblique that they project elongated shadows, deformed like the game of mirrors at the fair. That light that erases the limits of the forms, invites to the creation of an imaginary universe in which to give life to the amorphous of the shadows, as an attempt to give an answer to the enigma that causes us that beginning of darkness.

This environmental spectrum was just now being enhanced by the storm outside.

The storm is coming…

Clearly, the storm to which the woman of her delusions referred was of a nature quite different from any meteorological phenomenon.

Three days.

Three days since the Titans had reorganized and returned to their daily routine.

Three days since everyone had received the bad news that Brother Blood had escaped from prison and his whereabouts were currently unknown to all. Just like his plans a mystery. This had put Robin and the East Titans especially on alert, especially Cyborg, Bee and Jinx, all three with a particular history with the former headmaster of the HIVE academy.

Three days had passed since the last terrifying vision she had and it was already there as an indelible mark inside her mind.

Three days since she began to feel a strange stinging burning in the red Chakra on her forehead that disappeared after a while.

With this weather, it was one of those days when she could be curling up on the couch, a cup of tea or if she felt like a hot chocolate next to a good book; as the gentle rhythm of the rain led her to a sense of calm and security. Raven walked over and leaned her forehead against the hard armored glass. She wanted to be there, feeling the refreshing touch of each raindrop on her body. She just wanted to escape the prison that kept her separated from everything around her. Raven wanted to be free, or feel free for once in her life, even if it was only an illusion because deep down she knew she could never have that kind of luxury.

She was nothing more than a bird locked in a cage, always would be.

…the time is ending.

“Hmm, maybe a cup of herbal tea will ease my troubled mind. I just need to get out of my room, secluding myself here won't help me at all.”

Quickly, Raven left her bedroom and headed for the operations center.

When she entered, she saw Beast Boy, Terra and Cyborg playing video games on the couch next to the kids and Bobby. They were too deeply involved in the game to even notice her presence. Starfire and Robin were nowhere in sight. The Boy Wonder was surely obfuscated in his investigation of Brother Blood.

The sorceress only sighed when she heard all the noise in the place.

“Hey, you're cheating!” Cyborg reproached.

“Oh no, I’m not! If I beat you last time, I'll beat you this time too!” Beast Boy defended himself.

“Told you that game didn't count! I was just showing Timmy how to use the controller!” Cyborg shouted.

“Hey, that's not true!” contradicted the red-haired kid as he grimaced angrily. “I never asked for your help, I already know how to use that!” he exclaimed.

Raven just prayed that Timmy didn't start screaming louder because he would end up tearing the whole room apart, those lungs were to be feared.

“You said something?” said Beast Boy smugly because Timmy had defended him.

“Mr. Beast Boy,” Melvin called with a giggle as she touched the green boy's arm, “I think you just lost. Mr. Cyborg just kicked your ass, so now it's my turn.”

“Booyah!” Cyborg burst with joy as he rose from the couch in triumph. “I won you, little green bean! I won! Oh, yeah! Who's the best? I'm the best!”

“Whoa! That's not fair!” the changeling pouted.

“Those dumb games you''re playing are a waste of time,” Raven's monotone voice startled them.

“Raven, we had no idea you were here!” said Beast Boy looking at her.

“Okay, now you know,” she said as she approached the kitchen.

“Oi, Raven!” Cyborg smiled. “Wanna play?”

“No, thanks. I've got better things to do than sit around and play meaningless games,” she pointed out, picking up the kettle as she poured the hot liquid into her cup.

“We just taught Melvin and she's already an expert, she even beat Terra,” said the metallic man with a laugh.

“H-Hey, I was just... giving her an advantage! Yeah, that!” Terra stammered.

“Advantage? But I beat you by more than 150 points! And I also beat you in the second and third rounds!” Melvin shrieked in irritation.

“C' mon Rae, only one game and we won't bother you again,” said the green boy as he offered her the joystick from the sofa.

“No,” she refused again.

“Okay, but I will let you know that this is a challenging game that develops reflexes and hand-eye coordination.”

“Oh, right,” she spat sarcastically. “Hitting that joystick to control a virtual character, a real brain developer. Anyone know where is Kid...?”

She had been standing there looking all around for his presence when at that moment the cup was removed from her grasp. A nervous twitch arose in her right eyebrow as the hot liquid splashed a little on her hands. The only evidence of the thief was a trail of yellow and red left by the movement. She immediately knew who it had been and crossed her arms over her chest. Wally was standing there in an instant after descending the stairs to the main room. Raven turned around, hunching her shoulders a little angrily and looked up at the speedster from where she was rooted.

“…Flash,” she finished.

“You missed me, honey?” he teased as he winked one of his eyes and gave her one of his best smiles

“Wallace, gimme back my cup. Now,” she demanded as she tapped her foot lightly on the floor impatiently.

“What's in this?” asked the sprinter as he sniffed the dark liquid and wrinkled his nose at the strong odor given off by the vapors.

“It's my herbal tea, my own blend. Some common, some rarer, but they relax me.”

“Relaxing, huh? Lemme try some.”

“Let me warn you, it's too bitter.”

He made sure she saw him before tilting his head back and taking a long drink of her tea.

Kid Flash's eyes widened and he quickly spit the liquid into the sink while immediately pouring himself a glass of water to wash the pungent taste out of his mouth.

“Eww, this tastes like shit. How do you drink this all the time?” he asked as he handed the cup back to the sorceress.

“Nobody sent you to try it in the first place.”

“Well, I guess I'd better stick to coffee. I'll go make myself a cup.”

Raven approached one of the wide panes of glass that were in the room as she again saw the weather outside that seemed to match her own turbulent interior. The wind roared as the sky wept. Just as her soul might be at this moment. Her eyes remained fixed outside as she listened to the drops outside the window. There were a few cars driving by, the lights of them slowing every so often and restarting, their headlights appearing and disappearing between buildings and turns. She even saw what looked like a man with a newspaper over his head, running for cover under the awning of a nearby coffee shop. She saw cars traveling aimlessly, and people running for cover and others hiding under colorful umbrellas, also some children splashing in some puddles.

It looked like the deluge was not going to stop for a while.

The storm is coming…

“Rae?”

The speedster's voice was cautious. Unlike the cheerful, enthusiastic tone he was used to. Raven took her time to turn her vision to look at him.

“Wally,” she whispered only.

Raven was surprised at how brittle and strange her voice sounded. While she cleared her throat, Kid Flash turned his eyes outward as she had been doing just now.

“I've been calling you. Feel okay?”

Wally's voice was still calm and unwavering, but it denoted unease.

She didn't answer anything, but nevertheless Kid Flash kept looking through the glass at the rain falling outside. He averted his face a little and observed her melancholy gaze and decided to make the best of the situation.

Raven watched him curiously as he gently grabbed her hand. He was looking at her with a strangely thoughtful expression on his face however she saw the mischievous twinkle in his eyes. She frowned in confusion, but Wally simply smiled and as he led her through the room door and they set the empty cups on the table.

“Where are we going?” asked the sorceress, watching the back of his reddish head as he led her silently out of the room. Before she even realized it, Raven found herself standing with the speedster at the main exit door of the tower.

“Not planning to go out there, are you?” Raven asked incredulously. “It's raining.”

The only response that came from him was a sly wink before opening the big door. Without even bothering to grab a jacket or umbrella, Kid Flash stepped outside.

“Come with me,” he said simply.

“You're out of your mind,” she said from her dry spot just behind the open door. He looked at her and smiled. For some reason, his smile made Raven's heart race a little.

Raven was unsure of the strange emotion that was spreading through her at that moment.

Maybe was her frustration at the monotony of the day, maybe was all the stress of everything she was experiencing, or maybe was just the calm and loving expression Wally wore.

Whatever the reason, Raven found herself hesitant to walk out the door, but unable to resist for the tempting offer.

Slowly, she walked and stepped gingerly on the green grass on which the speedster was standing.

“Come on up,” said Wally as he bent down for the girl to climb on his back.

Raven, a little confused, only did as he asked as she hugged the speedster's neck and he ran to get away from the tower. She closed her eyes in fascination as they pulled away, the feeling of traveling with him was of that freedom she often longed for. The downpour cascaded downward, creating small but sweet sensations all over Raven's skin. The wind blew swiftly, tugging at her delicate violet hair. The faint sound of thunder echoed in her ears. When Kid Flash stopped she opened her eyes and took note that they were in Jump City's central park which was evidently deserted.

“Hope you don't mind that we went out in this weather.”

Raven shrugged.

“Not really. Doesn't matter, anyway. Already we're drenched, and the rain feels... nice. I like this weather,” she said.

Kid Flash was enjoying the rain, and threw his head back to get his face drenched. He just knew that in a couple of minutes his whole suit would be soaked, but he couldn't care less. He ran his hands through his wet hair. It was a wonderful feeling; it felt wonderful. Wally also felt a ridiculous need inside him growing, overpowering his common sense, or what was left of it. Feeling absolutely stupid, he blurted it out, feeling his lips form the words of their own volition.

“So, ever danced in the rain? You know, like the song says. Ever tried it? Dance with me,” he asked, lowering one of his arms and holding out the other to her.

“What,” asked Raven as she blinked suspiciously. “No way I'm doing that, it sounds stupid. Stop wasting time.”

He shook his head. Kid Flash let out a chuckle and repeated his earlier request.

“Dance with me. I know you wanted to go outside. I feel you, sometimes it must be suffocating to be in that tower all day.”

Large, heavy drops of water trickled down her body, sliding down her skin with soothing fluidity as her leotard became soaked. Stepping closer to the redhead, Raven accepted his hand.

Smiling, Wally pulled her to him. They were close enough that they could both hold hands and slowly began to turn. Closing her eyes, Raven listened to the pattering of the rain, the whistling of the wind and the low rumble of thunder. Soon, a rainy symphony had gathered around her, and she found herself dancing more freely with a slight smile on her face.

“Start to sing "Singin' in the Rain" and I'll really hurt you, Wallace, ya know that?”

Wally didn't care about her threat and began reciting the song as he moved. His voice sounded horrible and out of tune, but he sang anyway.

Raven was dancing, something she had never done in her entire life. She wasn't sure what she was doing, she just knew she didn't care in the least. Her strange, but fluid movements, stumbles and imperfect jumps were perfectly fine under the deluge. Away from the pressures of her life, away from the responsibilities, all that mattered was the wonderful feeling of the rain.

A big smile formed on her face, but Raven didn't care.

And so she continued to dance with a grimace of joy on her face, the speedster dancing along with her with the same calm feelings.

Raven surprisingly hugged the boy. She could feel his chest rising and falling through his uniform.

“Love the rain, feels like life, ya know? And you, why do you like this weather?” he wanted to know, as he hid his face in her neck. Wally breathed in her scent, soft like the rain, warm.

Strange new emotions were rising in her, that warm excitement she had never felt before, agitation and joy brought on by his laughter, the rain and the feel of Wally leaning against her, chuckling. His hot breath on her neck, his hands clasped tightly as he held her close.

Raven was aware of everything, every sound, every sensation. Her senses had sharpened, filling her with vitality.

Why she liked the rain? She believed it was similar to a cleansing of the soul, when one is dirty with pain the rain cleanses everything in its path, leaving the best of each one. All her burdens, all facets of her life, her own conscience, escaped with every drop.

It was refreshing.

“Feels... like freedom. It's a rare feeling, but it's nice.”

“Days like this I also like very much,” said Wally as he continued to hold her, “I think the rain is funny. Because of it we can play splashing in the puddles, get completely soaked, dance in it, sing in it.”

“So... cheesy” said Raven satirically.

“Also reminds me of how I got my powers.”

“And how did that happen?” asked the sorceress curiously.

“Long story. When I was a kid, I always daydreamed about everything about being Flash. I idolized him. I was even the president of the fan club. Can you imagine how excited I was when I found out he was my Aunt Iris' boyfriend?”

“I can imagine that must have been a great joy for you,” she said, feeling Wally's excitement swirl vividly inside him as he spoke of Flash.

“The superhero that I admired so much was now part of my family. I told him I wanted to be a speedster too, and Barry did his best to replicate the accident that gave him the powers. Basically a lightning bolt hit a shelf of chemicals that fell on me and granted me the gift of superspeed and he accepted me as his ward. Fascinating huh?”

“Well, I wasn't wrong when I said you are out of your mind.”

“More than mad, I would say I am a genious.”

“A lightning bolt, eh? That explains a lot about the emblem on your suit,” commented Raven as she stroked the red lightning bolt on the boy's yellow clothing.

“It seems to me that's just your clever excuse to touch my chest, just like when you cure me,” winked the speedster seductively. “And tell me, are you feeling better now? You've been looking a little sad for a few days now.”

“Yes, I feel fine now, thanks for this, Wally.”

Another flash of lightning, and in the silence that preceded the thunder, their eyes met. Raven raised her head, looked at him with misty eyes, and he kissed her tenderly. She reached up and stroked his cheek with her fingers. Wally leaned in slowly and kissed her again, ever so softly and sweetly. She returned the kiss, feeling him stroking her arms up and down, slowly, gently. He kissed her neck, her cheek, her eyelids, and she felt the wetness and warmth of his mouth everywhere his lips touched. She pulled away from him with the feeling of dreaming and her face alight from the heat of the fire.

Lazily, she looked up at the speedster, who was still smiling. He just stood there with a ridiculously large grin spreading across his face. His body seemed to radiate a bonfire-like strength.

“Um... I think... we should... go back,” she stammered, “it's getting too... cool.”

“Yep, it's getting too cold,” he agreed.

«Or too hot,» Wally thought to himself.

He surprised her again by giving her an affectionate kiss on the cheek as he grabbed her hand and they walked slowly towards the tower.

Why she liked the rain? Raven internally wondered that again. What she also liked about walking in the rain was that no one saw her cry, her tears were mistaken for drops of water falling from the sky.

…the time is ending.

Why was she crying? Because she remembered at that moment that perhaps her momentary happiness would have an expiration date if what was prophesied by her visions and nightmares came true.

Meanwhile, many kilometers away, the same fresh rain was falling on a dirty river that flowed between sandbanks full of scrub, dirt and scattered garbage. A huge smokestack, belonging to an abandoned factory, towered overhead, making its presence felt. A scrawny dog was sniffing around the area hoping to find, in some of the garbage bags lying in the overgrown undergrowth, some leftover food.

Abruptly, along with a faint sound, a figure covered in a black and ash gray suit with his face covered by a skull mask appeared on the spot teleporting to the spot. The dog stood motionless and silent, its tail tucked between its paws, ears back and body crouched in a clear body language of wariness as its vision was fixed on the strange subject.

The figure looked carefully around the perimeter for a moment, as if trying to study every fraction of the area. Then he started walking with quick, sure steps as his cloak rustled the tall grass as it brushed against it.

In an agile maneuver worthy of an acrobat, he jumped over the dividing wall surrounding the abandoned building. His footsteps echoed as he walked past the factory windows, the panes of which were broken and covered with boards; at last he reached the door at the back, where a faint light shone through the light of a ground-floor room. He then knocked three times on the door while waiting to be received, which did not take long. A strange woman opened the entrance as she allowed him access to the place.

“Come in, Mr. Sebastian will receive you in a moment,” said the woman, stepping aside to allow him to pass.

Red X calculatedly scanned the room, keeping a mental note of all possible exits and windows. The dim illumination from the overhead light illuminated the one desk and two chairs in the storeroom. He snorted under his mask, this place was a pigsty. He sat down, hand under his chin, waiting for his prospective client to join him, who appeared after a short while. The other man sat in the chair behind the desk and gave the thief a sharp look as if analyzing every trace of him. His eyes scanned the skull mask. The woman moved forward and stood to the side. Red X didn't like the way she was watching him at all, it was as if she was discovering every secret of his mind.

“Nice spot to meet, but I think a bar would have been a better idea. Why don't you ask your maid to bring us some drinks?”

“I think it was pretty clear that it would be a neutral meeting place for the two of us, suggested by yourself sir.... X.”

“Okay, to the point dude, I'm a pretty busy man so make this quick,” demanded Red X so that he would start talking at once and stop scrutinizing him in a calculating manner.

Brother Blood only smiled at his boastful attitude.

“Well, someone is being impatient today.”

“To the point,” Red X demanded again.

Blood frowned at his impudence and irreverence. How dare he? Didn't this bandit know who he was?

“Naturally, a robber always goes straight for the money,” spat Brother Blood in disgust.

Red X almost felt rejected by his words. He was no mere thief, he was THE THIEF. The best of them all, the number one.

“Now, you may wonder why I have called you, and let me tell you that I have chosen you for a particular mission, a very important one.”

“OK, what's it all about?”

“I need you to steal a book,” explained Brother Blood.

Red X just blinked in confusion. What would steal what?

“You want me to steal a book, a fucking book?” he asked once more to see if he had misheard.

“That's exactly what I said,” the old man replied indifferently.

“That's your important mission?” he laughed cheekily. “That doesn't even look like a challenge to me, why don't you just buy it in a bookstore? Even though this place looks like a shitty place full of crap, your outfit doesn't look like a hobo's at all, and neither does that constipated-looking woman's. Looks like religious attire,” he mentioned while looking at the two with a sign of dislike, “typical of you, you fill your mouths talking about poverty and misery while you hide in your temples full of gold and riches of all kinds when others are dying of hunger. Such hypocrisy.”

“Guess as long as a payment is involved you have nothing to question, especially when we are talking about quite a bit of money. I didn't call you for a morality debate and I think you're the least qualified to talk about that particular issue. Regarding the mission, I still haven't finished telling you the totality of it.”

“So? Speak now.”

“The book is located inside the Teen Titans tower and I know from a reliable source that you have already stolen inside the place once.”

He was a contractor, always "procuring" the goods for which he was hired, and as he sat there with his current client, he blinked dumbly behind his mask as he assessed the man sitting across from him.

“You wanna what?” he repeated, just wanting to make sure he had heard correctly the "where" of what he was stealing. It wasn't that this was an extremely difficult job, but it wasn't going to be the easiest either and he wanted to be sure before he did it.

“I want you to steal this book from one of their members, Raven,” Brother Blood informed him as he passed him the picture of the book. A worn black leather tome with a strange symbol drawn on its cover. Behind his mask, Red X was smiling a little at the challenge of it all. “It' s in her room, I'm one hundred percent sure of that. You''ll have to fulfill your task when you receive my call, so for now stay away from the map.”

“Just that, or is there more?” Red X questioned suspiciously.

“Yes, once the book is in my hands, I will need you to obtain some more items for me,” explained Brother Blood. “After that, the mission will be concluded and you can go back to your nest to play with your toy guns.”

“Sounds cool,” expressed X as he stretched out in the chair and propped his feet up on the desk getting a disapproving look from the man and the woman who seemed to want to kill him with her eyes for his audacity.

“However, there is something else you should know,” Brother Blood continued to explain after a few moments. “It's not just infiltrating the tower. It is, as I mentioned to you, infiltrating Raven's room and it is obvious that she must have placed magical protections on both the place and the object. Now it's not just a matter of getting around the security obstacles of the place itself, but getting through the ones set up by the witch.”

“And how am I supposed to get around those obstacles? When it comes to technological security systems I'm the best, but with magic it's a different story.”

“I am an intelligent and prepared man, X, so I already thought of that,” said the old man as he took something out of his desk drawer. It looked like some kind of necklace with a strange gem on it. “This is a talisman with enough power to enter and take the object without being detected by the spells planted by the girl. One more thing, I recommend that you do not take the book in your hands, just keep it in a bag. It contains dark magic and gadgets that will make you wish you hadn't put your fingers on it.”

“Okay, okay, half the payment now, and the other half upon completion and it will all be over. Just set me a trap or something like that and I'll show you what I'm capable of,” he informed menacingly as he smiled behind the skull mask.

“Mayhem,” said Brother Blood as he waved his hand at the woman.

She took a tablet and moved her fingers across the device. Once the payment was made, she showed the thief the screen verifying that the delivery of half the money had been successfully made. Once he collated the numbers, Red X smiled.

“Nice doing business with you, we'll keep in touch, dude,” he nodded and then pressed a button on his utility belt that made him teleport out of the place. He landed far away, next to his motorcycle, and straddled it. Revving the engine, he cruised through the city as he lost himself in the darkness of the night.

“Such a disgusting boy,” rant Brother Blood as his eyes remained fixed on where the thief had been sitting a few moments ago before disappearing, “I wasn't a bit wrong when I mentioned that my sixth sense told me a lot about this boy you got, Mother Mayhem, but now with a simple reading of his aura I can see him in part.”

“Sir, what's so special about this guy? The only thing I could notice is an irreverent brat, especially in your noble presence.”

“He that has eyes to see and ears to hear may convince himself that no mortal can keep a secret. If his lips are silent, he chatters with his fingertips; betrayal oozes out of him at every pore. He is full of anger, fury, uncontrollable red nature. Something... wild and unstable.”

“Wild, like an animal, but what are we talking about, a dog or a wolf?” questioned the woman.

“A good question, what are we talking about then: the beast that has lost the fierceness of its wild nature, the lap dog, the despicable servile puppy? Or are we talking about the wolf underneath its doggy fidelity and thirsting for blood, no matter whether it is fresh or coagulated? But between dog and wolf there is also a situation: that of the one halfway between domestication and freedom. A life spent wandering between light and darkness, between freedom and the need for love, between loneliness and the search for success, between heaven and hell. He is someone extremely valuable, and he is so because everyone who has come in contact with that object is so. I could perceive, for a fraction of seconds, his filthy soul replete with various scars not to mention that his mental stamp is so disgustingly potent. A soul tainted, broken, damned, cursed, bound. A tormented mind because even a miracle has a terrible but fair price, everything has a price and that the cost he had to pay.”

“Do you mean...?”

“Yes,” he interrupted the woman's question.

“At least once it's all over he'll stay out of our way.”

“Who said anything about letting him go?” A sinister smile appeared on the man's face. “Once he finishes stealing what I need, his blood will be quite useful, and as for his rotting soul, I will take care of sending it back to hell, where it should never have come from in the first place.”

Next chapter: The mark