"Raven... Where's Raven?" Beastboy whispered.
"Your creepy friend vwill be joining you soon." The words haunted Beastboy like an evil spirit. The more he thought about it, the more it burned into him eating him away like virus.
"Where is she? Where is Raven?" he repeat himself.
The medical room was quiet. After Rouge had escaped and the situation calmed down, Beastboy lost it. The only thing that could be heard was his voice repeating itself over and over like he was trying to force the answer out of thin air.
Robin and Cyborg had helped him back on the bed to make sure he was ok. But Beastboy didn't seem to acknowledge them or their help. He had gone completely internal. His mind was completely shrouded by an overwhelming mixture of horrifying thoughts and powerful emotions.
After a very long and stressful moment of silence aside from Beastboy's pleas for Raven's where abouts, Starfire couldn't contain herself anymore
"I wish to know what happened now, please..." She asked sharply
Robin turned from Beastboy as Cyborg continued to run a few tests. His eyes held a disturbing sense of anger and fear. He knew that where ever Raven was... She was not safe. She was not ok. The one person who knows her every weakness, her every flaw, and her entire past now had his hands on her.
"We will get her back," Robin said with a slightly clenched jaw. He then walked past Starfire without looking at her and marched straight to Terra, "where was the last place you saw Raven?" His voice was intimidating. He sounded like he wasn't going to let anyone get away with this even if it meant going against everything he stood for.
"I..." Terra felt uneasy. The emotion coming off Robin was truly terrifying. You didn't need to be an empath like Raven to feel it, "I don't know," Terra replied honestly.
Robin squint his eyes at her like he knew she had to know something, "that's not good enough," he shot back, "I know you're going through a lot... but you were the last person to see her. Think hard. Where did she take you? What did it look like?" He wasn't raising his voice but he got the message across that he was beyond serious.
Terra's heart began racing. It really was a life or death moment. She looked down and began searching her mind for anything. Anything that she could tell them that might be useful.
"It was dark... there was nothing in sight. Like a desert. We were far from anything just in case..." Terra closed her eyes and started to think about every little detail. Memories of her past flood her mind. All her travels from town to town. All her mistakes. Everything was flashing through her mind so quickly she began to break a sweat just thinking about it.
Then she thought about when she laid down in the dirt. Looking up at Raven just before she drifted to sleep. The stars above her were clear as day. It seemed familiar like she had laid down in the dirt and stared up at those same stars before.
Another memory came to her and eyes shot open, "I-I think I might have an idea of where she took me."
"Take me there," the void of silence in the room was suddenly filled with a very determined tone coming from Beastboy.
Terra looked over Robin's shoulder at him and felt a twinge of pain in her heart. The passion he once showed for her was now being shown for someone else. For some reason... it hurt.
"I... don't know exactly where... but I think I get get us close," Terra said unsure of this idea.
"That's good enough for me," Beastboy said with force. He started to get out of the bed and Cyborg started to get worried.
"Hold up man!" He urged, "we don't know if you're 100% yet. Let me check to see if you can even-"
"I don't care!" Beastboy interrupted spinning around to face his friend, "Raven is missing and I'm not gonna sit here helpless anymore!"
Robin turned from Terra to Beastboy, "I don't think that's a good idea," he said softly. Beastboy was about to raise his voice in protest but before he could Robin continued, "but I have to agree." The room went silent once more as all eyes stared at Robin, "no one will rest until we have her back home." he sounded different... Almost desperate. Like getting Raven back was of the upmost importance.
"Yeah but-" Cyborg said before getting interrupted again.
"We're going to need all the help we can get. That means we're all going to help. We're all going to save her!" Robin said sharply putting his foot down.
The Titans looked around at each other. They were getting pumped up. It was now or never. All or nothing.
Cyborg sighed and decided to ignore the logic of making sure everyone was fit enough to go after her and looked at Terra, "I just have one question... Where are we headed?"
Terra looked around the room to find all eyes were now on her. She felt an intense amount of pressure but her new found connection to Raven gave her strength and she clenched her fists to calm her nerves.
"You remember where you guys first met me?" She said boldly.
The Titans all started heading for the living area. They were about to make their way to the T-Ship when an alarm started blaring through the Tower.
"What now?!" Cyborg said showing his frustration.
The massive screen from the living room lit up and started to display a terrifying scene. The city has under siege from an army of omnidroids they had faced earlier at the abandoned factory. Citizens were shown fleeing for their lives as they avoided a mass of creatures marching through the streets destroying everything in their path.
Fires blazed on every other building as they rampaged. The attack clearly started only a few mintues ago but the damage was so extensive it seemed to be a well thought out, well timed and well coordinared attack of terrorism. Almost too perfect...
All the Titans looked on in shock. How did this happen? Why? What should they do? These questions ran through their minds like wild fire. Only one of them knew what he had to do.
"We can't go after Raven while the entire city is being destroyed!" Cyborg shouted. As much as he hated to admit it... He knew that Raven would want them to save the city over her.
"This isn't some coincidence of bad timing," Robin said with angst. He knew exactly what was happening, "Slade doesn't want us coming for Raven at all."
"Robin," a sinister voice said as the screen changed to an image of Slade standing with his hands folded behind his back in a dark secluded room, "just as intuitive as ever I see." Slade said mockingly.
Starfire gasped as she saw his face for the first time since their battle with Trigon, "why do you do this?!" She exclaimed in anger.
"I'm proving a point," Slade respond instantly, "you're not the heroes you claim to be. Even with the city being destroyed you haven't gone anywhere or done anything to try to help. Why? Because you are more concerned with a single little girl than you are with lives of everyone else." Slade pulled a hand from behind his back and flipped a coin off his finger where it hovered for a moment before landing back in his hand.
Beastboy knew instantly what coin that was. He had given it to Raven on the worst day of her life to try to cheer her up. Such a small act that had turned into an immensely important moment.
"Where are you keeping her?!" Beastboy screamed at the screen.
"Rest assured, she is unharmed," Slade said tilting his head down slightly, "even I wouldn't try to harm the daughter of an interdimensional demon. However, you could say she isn't... feeling like herself."
"Tell me where you're keeping her!" Beastboy demanded.
"Where's the fun in that?" Slade spat back "I told you... I'm simply trying to prove a point."
"Which is?" Robin said through his teeth.
"You don't care about that pathetic city. If you did you would have never even allowed Raven to become a Titan. Instead, you doomed the entire planet by taking her in. So I will show the world that you would rather save a half demon girl, capable of eviscerating the entire world, over the innocent lives of the people you claim to protect." Slade made it sound like he already knew how the outcome of this was going be, "so you have to choose. Your evil friend... or the innocent city." Slade leaned forward towards the screen to let his final words to them settle in, "tick-tick Titans. The longer you take to make a decision the more people get hurt."
The screen cut out and when back to the scene of the city being destroyed. The Titans found themselves in a yet another bind. If they went to protect the city... there's no guarantee they could even win. These creatures are nearly impossible to destroy. Beastboy took one down and it nearly killed him in the process. They needed a plan and quick.
"Titans listen up," Robin said eagerly, "we can't let Slade take this city down without a fight-"
"You guys do what you want! I'm going after Raven!" Beastboy shout interrupting him.
"Beastboy listen!" Robin urged but he was met with resistance as Beastboy argued.
"No you listen!" He yelled, "Raven's in trouble and I don't care if the whole city burns down! I won't let Slade do this again!"
The room went silent as the tension grew. But instead of getting worse, the mood seemed to lighten as Robin continued to stare back at his teammate.
"I know you won't," Robin replied softly as if understanding his emotions. He then walked over to Beastboy and put a hand on his shoulder, "you and Terra need to go find Raven. The rest of us will buy you as much time as we can. But once you find her you need to get out and come find us. We can't win this fight without you." His gaze tightened on Beastboy's eyes as he empahsized what he meant, "Without both of you." Robins face was stuck with grief... he knew something that the others didn't. Like this would be the Titans last battle together.
Terra noticed this and it filled her heart with a heavy sadness. She looked at Beastboy who had calmed down and studied his reaction. She could see the fire in him burning with desire and determination was no longer out of control. It looked like he had harnessed it in that moment. Like he had a power within him waiting to be unleashed. It lifted her heart that maybe this wasn't a bad thing. Maybe this meant it could lead to bigger and better things for them.
Beastboy's expression relaxed as he soaked up all of Robins faith and trust in the team. He grew more and more determined. His heart started pounding as the thought of Raven's capture was dominating his thoughts. He knew without a doubt... this was going to be the hardest fight they ever had.
With a nod, Beastboy turned to Terra. Their eyes locked on one another. As they studied each other it became clear to both of them. They had a common goal. This is a fight they will not lose. They would find her and bring her back. Without any words spoken they both ran off towards the exit.
Cyborg and Starfire watch them leave confused as to why Robin would allow this. He's never done something like this before. The team has split up before but not like this. There was always a deeper plan behind it... but this time they were running in blind.
Robin watched them leave with a heavy heart. He could only hope he didn't just send two of his closest friends to their doom... but he couldn't sit idly by while his city burned.
"Do you really think they can handle it?" Cyborg asked with a great amount of concern.
Robin turned to him and gave a look of pride, "I know they can do it." He lowered his head knowing just how risky this decision was but he looked back up at the others and tried to explain, "something tells me... That Beastboy won't fail. Not this time."
Cyborg and Starfire looked at Robin with a sense of serenity. Robin had put his complete faith in their little green changeling. They knew Robin always believed in them but this was an entirely new level of trust they've never seen from him. It lifted their spirits to the point they too believed Beastboy could do it. He could win. He could save her.
Starfire's eyes began glowing green and she slowly float off the ground as her adrenaline started rushing through her.
"Come!" She shouted aggressively, "We must not fail our friends!"
"Couldn't have said it any better myself," Cyborg said strongly lifting a fist in front of himself.
Robin cracked a smile. His faith in his teammates boosted their confidence ten-fold.
"We've got a city to save." He smirked.