The hallway door slid shut behind Raven Beastboy and Cyborg. On the other side they heard Terra yelling as she ran to her adopted parents. She had been through a lot and the three Titans didn't blame her for having this reaction. Especially after overhearing the heartbreaking story her parents had shared with them.
Beastboy was held up by Cyborg and Raven and they were practically carrying him back to the medical room. His feet would move as if they were walking but he could barely put any weight on them without being in visible pain.
When they finally arrived back at the medical room Cyborg propped him up on the bed. Beastboy let out a small groan but then relaxed having no strain on his body while he sat.
"Come on man," Cyborg said disappointed, "you know better than to go walking around in your current condition." Cyborg looked back at the machines looking at the last reading they took before Beastboy got up and began running another scan on his Beastboy's body to see if he had any delayed side effects or damages.
"I know," Beastboy said as Cyborg reconnected the monitors to his bare skin, "honestly, I was more worried about you guys." He looked over to Raven who stood in front of him.
She looked concerned but happy. Happy that he was walking around but concerned by how hard it was for him.
He smiled at her as if thanking Raven for her concern. Raven saw this and she grew angry. Almost furious. She raised her voice and started yelling at him.
"You idiot! What were you thinking?!" she leaned over him as if scolding a child, "first you run away, twice. Then you run off into the dark when you knew it was a trap! Then you almost die! And now you're trying to walk around when you have haven't recovered?!" Dark flames started to form around her. She was not happy with how he has been acting. He was being extremely selfish in her eyes, "you don't think we're all hurting right now?! You don't think this hasn't been hard on anyone else?! If you were really worried about us then you wouldn't be so careless with your life! Do you have any idea what you've put me through?!"
Beastboy's small smile disappeared and he sunk his head into his shoulders like a turtle retreating into its shell. He was looking up at Raven with puppy eyes as she lashed out at him. He had no idea why she was acting like this and it terrified him.
"She's right, B," Cyborg agreed as he continued his scan, "it's not just her either. This entire thing has been a nightmare for all of us."
Raven calmed herself as she realized what she just said, "t-that's what I meant," she immediately add on to the end of Cyborg's comment, "what you put all of us though." She tried to correct herself. The dark flames dissipated and she backed off the shapeshifter.
"You're in really bad shape, man," Cyborg said trying to get them to refocus. The computer screen he was looking at showed a picture of Beastboy's body both front and back. Red dots were blinking in every major muscle group of his body. His arms, his legs, his chest and back. They were littered with red dots indicating where damages were, "you have torn muscles everywhere. It looks like they were flexing way past their capacity all at once. You won't be able to move for a while. If you do, its only gonna get worse." He stopped at looked down at him, "it's a miracle you're even alive. That kind of damage could only be caused by a really powerful electrical current."
Beastboy lowered his head and thought about it, "that makes sense," Beastboy replied, "it felt like I was trying to catch my breath the entire time they were..." He trailed off as the memories came back to him.
Raven studied him closely. She hadn't heard the full story yet. She wanted to know what happened. She wanted to know why this happened.
"What happened?" She asked. Her voice held a calm and caring tone. Much different than the one she had just moments ago.
Beastboy remained silent. He couldn't believe he failed. Again. He was going to save Terra. He promised himself. But yet again Slade had beaten him.
Cyborg noticed how hard it was for Beastboy to explain what happened and decided to fill Raven in with the story Terra had given them.
"It's Salde," Cyborg spoke, "he's back."
Raven's eyes widened and her blood began to boil. She thought back to when Slade was working for her father. When he was terrorizing her friend's just to get to her. She felt like she should have destroyed him when she had the chance.
"He's not alone though," Cyborg continued, "he has a friend."
"Madam Rouge." Beastboy whispered under his breath. He was angry too. Just when he thought he was done with the Brotherhood of Evil for good. Here they were. In his home town causing mayhem.
"From what Terra told us they put some kind of collar on you," Cyborg continued, "looks like that collar acted like an electric chair. If you had tried to change or move it would have been useless. Not to mention..." He stopped short thinking it might not be a good idea to tell them.
"What is it?" Raven asked. She was almost afraid to ask but she had to know.
Cyborg looked at her with a serious look. He had the look of complete fear in his eyes like they were way beyond lucky.
Raven's eyes grew intense as she waited for Cyborg to speak. She glared at him as if telling him to answer her.
Cyborg sighed as he lowered his head and finally let it out, "if he had been in that thing any longer..." He looked back up at Raven to emphasize how serious he was, "I'm talkin just a minute longer, maybe even seconds... There's no way he would have survived. With his muscle tissue starting to tear apart, the blood flow to his heart would have been cut off."
Raven's heart shattered. She could barely breathe. The whole point since this entire thing began was to destroy Beastboy. They first attacked his emotions. Then when he was vulnerable they made their move to annihilate him, and for a moment... They succeeded.
"Yeah," Beastboy said softly. He didn't sound the least bit surprised, "they wanted me gone... For good."
The room went silent for a long and gloomy moment until a ring from the doorbell could be heard from the hall. The three of them looked at the door wondering who could possibly be at the Tower now.
"We're getting pretty popular aren't we?" Beastboy laughed trying to lighten the mood.
"You stay here and rest. I'll go see who it is." Raven said strictly. She still had some anger behind her voice. She made it sound like Beastboy didn't have an option.
The door slid open and shut quickly behind her as she b-lined to the living area. Cyborg watched her leave in a hurry and was wondering what was going through her head.
"So... uh... Why is she acting so weird?" Beastboy asked Cyborg hoping to get a little insight from his best friend.
Cyborg shook his head with a small smile as he started to prepare a syringe with a medicine of his own creation.
"Dude you might be able to turn into any animal... but you are just as dumb as them too," Cyborg said with a laugh.
"Oh come Cy!" Beastboy exclaimed, "one second she hates me, the next she cares about me, then the next she hates me again! -OW " Beastboy winced in pain as he blurt out the words, "what is her deal?!"
"You're lucky the rest of us aren't as mad as she is," Cyborg said expressing his frustration as well. It was clear that Cyborg was also angry at Beastboy's actions as well, "lay down." He instructed as he pat the bed in its up right position.
Beastboy thought about what Cyborg said as he laid back on the bed toughing out the pain. He had been so focused on Terra and his own personal battles that he completely disregard the feelings of his bestfriends and what they might be going through. It made him feel awful.
Cyborg held the syringe to Beastboy's arm, "I'm giving you an injection of my own design," Cyborg began to explain getting them off the subject, "this will act as a catalyst for your white blood cells which should increase their mitosis rate."
"Ok?" Beastboy said confused, "you know science wasn't my best subject," he sounded like Cyborg had said a bunch of gibberish to him.
"This will help you heal faster," Cyborg spoke slow as he pushed the syringe's plunger down. He was exaggerating his words trying to mock Beastboy's lack of education.
"Oh..." Beastboy said sharply with a high pitch voice feeling embarrassed.
Raven was heading down the hallway with her head down. Her mind was filled with voices that wouldn't stop.
How could he do this to us? Why is she still so important to him? I though he was getting past this. I thought he... I thought WE... had a moment where...
Her mind flashed back to the carnival where she found him in the house of mirrors. Images of his face drawing closer and closer to hers flood her vision. Up until the moment their lips almost touched before Starfire had interrupted them.
What was I thinking? How could he ever want someone like me? Someone as creepy as me?
Her thoughts were halted as she noticed Robin approaching from the opposite direction. She stopped in the hallway wondering where he was going.
"Robin? Where are you-" Raven didn't even finish.
Robin had his head down buried in thought. He was so focused on whatever was in his mind that he didn't even notice Raven standing in the hallway.
I guess I'm not the only one with a lot on their mind. Raven thought to herself.
When she finally got to the living area the first thing she noticed was the massive tv displaying news coverage on the mixed feelings about the Titans. It wasn't great news but it was better than before. It brought a spark of hope to her. Maybe all of this wasn't for nothing afterall.
"Raven!" Starfire shouted with excitement, "I am so thankful you have arrived!" She sounded a little panicked but seeing Raven brought her some relief, "I have been tasked with the mission of giving our friends, the company. Might you wish to assist me?"
Raven's expression instantly went to "are you kidding me?" She wasn't social or knew how to entertain guests. Starfire's guess was as good as hers. Maybe even better. But she felt sorry that Starfire was left alone to deal with Terra and her family. She let out a huge sigh with a slightly annoyed groan and levitated over the couch to sit next to Starfire as they all watched the news.
As Raven crossed the room she noticed no one else was in the Tower. She knew she didn't imagine the doorbell. Someone else was here earlier. They seemed to be gone now though. She couldn't seem to get an idea of who it could've been.
"Was anyone else here earlier?" Raven asked to Starfire as the sound of the tv blocked the awkward silence.
"Yes. The man from last night that had taken us prisoner before Terra's abduction," Starfire said happy that someone was willing to make conversation.
"The detective that let us go?" Raven said trying to clarify.
"Indeed. I believe his name was Smith." Starfire respond.
"What did he want?" Raven continued to ask.
"Merely to inform us of what is on the news." Starfire said lazily pointing to the screen.
Raven looked back up at the screen. Tensions in the city were much better towards them. However there's still a taste of distrust for the Titans. Things were still bad but at least it was a start.
"Perhaps now things may go back to normal?" Starfire asked looking to Raven hoping to get some positive reinforcement.
Raven looked back at her. She could see how badly Starfire wanted things to go back to the way they were. Raven couldn't help but give her what she wanted.
"Maybe Star," she spoke as friendly as she could, "this is definitely a step in the right direction."
Starfire's eyeyes lit up with hope. She was overjoyed to hear that from Raven.
"So that's all he wanted?" Raven asked again, "he wasn't here for anything else?"
"If you're asking if he was really here to arrest anyone, then no," Terra's voice broke the air before Statfire got a chance to speak. She was gentle and only wanting to engage in the conversation from the other side of Starfire on the couch, "though... he might have told me I should... sorta... kinda... try... to get out of the city while I can." Terra finished quickly trying to make it seem like it was no big deal.
"Why?" Raven asked. She was genuinely curious. After getting kidnapped right in front of the police you'd think the poor girl had suffered enough.
"He said a confession like mine wouldn't get swept under the rug so easily," Terra looked Raven in the eyes showing a very serious face, "he said it wouldn't be long before they put a warrant out for my arrest."
Raven felt a shiver climb her spine. If they were willing to arrest her for nearly destroying the city... What would the city do to Raven if they found out she ended the world as we know it?
"They can't," Raven said as if applying it to herself, "you're just an innocent kid who was corrupted by an evil man."
"That might be true," Terra said as she lowered her head, "but once they find out my powers are back..."
Her parents instantly locked on Terra's face searching for answers. Her face held no sign of doubt anywhere. After gauging their daughters reactions for a long moment they knew for a fact that Terra was absolutely sure that her powers had returned. This worried Carver and Lindsey immensely. What if she decided to get back into the hero business? Would they ever see her again?
Raven was taken by surprise. She had completely forgot about Terra's powers. If they had returned and she couldn't remember anything from her past... could she control them? Or was she just as dangerous as her past self, if not more dangerous? If this got out to the public there would be panic throughout the entire city.
"Can you activate them?" Raven asked looking for answers. She wanted to know if this could be helped or if it was just as hopeless as shooting in the dark.
Terra shook her head. She truly didn't know how they worked or what triggered them. She only knew that she completely destroyed the factory last night. Then the dream she had right after. She knew something similar had happened in her past.
Raven could see the struggle on Terra's face. The level of emotion Terra was emitting was almost suffocating. Raven couldn't help but feel sorry for her even more. Something else was going on with her. Something serious. Something... Raven could relate to.
"Terra," Raven said sternly, "what are you not telling us?"