FicWad

Chapter Eight: Wood Vs Fire, Oak Vs Raven

"See? Told you I felt something."

"Shut up Jinx."

The HAYP trio were among the villains walking toward the subway junction that formed the entrance to their lair. "Hey, Mod, you sure these traps of yours'll work?" Gizmo asked. He didn't like the Cockney, ostensibly because he was an obnoxious idiot, but also (although he'd never admit it) because of the jealous suspicion that Mod was smarter than he was.

"Wot? Uh, yeah, 'ey'll werk, werk roit good they will," Mod replied.

"Hello? Earth to Mod? SNAP OUT OF IT!" Jinx shouted, snapping her fingers.

"Ah, hush yew," Mod replied, but without much feeling, he felt so unsure. When the Puppet King sent him to wake up the other villains, Jinx had not reacted toward him in any way he would have expected of someone propositioning him just a few hours before.

He inwardly groaned. So 'at's 'ow th' Puppet King 'ad found out; 'ole thing was prolly nuffin' more'n an 'llusion, test'a 'is loyalty. No wonder the PK sent 'im out 'ere-prolly wanted t' punish 'im-

"Quiet! I hear someone coming!" Killer Moth said.

"Good," Overload replied, 'arms' crackling with electricity, "I was getting bored."

Trident, all of them, wished they shared Overload's confidence. After the debacle at the warehouse, there were but a few of them left, and there had not been enough time to clone more. Their only consolation was that as far as they knew, Raven was the only Titan left. On the other hand, she may have help that none of them knew about, and that wasn't consoling at all.

In his sanctum, the Puppet King prepared himself. As far as he was concerned, it was going to be a good night; either he won, and he killed whoever of his 'compatriots' who survived, or he won, and all his compatriots died. One way or another, he'd get Raven, and his Lord would get a sacrifice of wicked souls, further increasing his Lord's favor.

Ah yes, Raven. If only she knew what she was getting herself into.

Even now, as he stood in the middle of the septagram that formed the conduit between Earth and Hell, he felt liquid flame flow through his body. If he had nerves or blood vessels, he would have felt them course through them. As it were, he felt it as a rising heat in his wooden self. No matter what happened, Raven would find herself very hard-pressed to face him tonight.

Yes... yes, that's more like it, he thought to himself.

Come, Raven, come to me. I am ready for you.

(scene change)

Among the Titans, the villains' increasing agitation wasn't lost on them.

"What's happening?" Beast Boy asked no one in particular. "There a fire or something?"

"It seems they're expecting something...or maybe someone," Robin said.

"Someone? Like Raven? Oh, I knew she'd come to our rescue!" Starfire said, clasping her hands together.

"Er, guys?" Cyborg said. "Sorry to bring this up, but even if Rae gets past all those goons, how's she going to get us out?" he said, pointing to the bars of their cage, glowing with evil runes just hours earlier.

"Come on, Cy, that was probably some light show Tolstoy there put on just to scare us," Beast Boy said.

"Tolstoy?"

"Yeah, you know, that dude who wrote the Nutcracker thing? See, I do do culture."

"BB, that's Tchaikovsky." Cyborg said, eyebrow raised.

"Whatever, some Russian dude who sounds like a sneeze."

"And you wonder why Raven doesn't like you."

Beast Boy gave Cyborg a dirty look before continuing "Anyway, even if they're real really evil runes, Raven'll think of something, she always does. No offence Robin."

"None taken. Besides, Raven does not seem to be the kind of person to charge into battle." Robin then remembered how they got captured in the first place. "At least, not without backup," he corrected.

(scene change)

"Typical Centauri efficiency," Blackfire said, as she and Raven waited next to the section of wall they had targeted as a possible second entrance. With any luck, none of their enemies would know about Raven's ability to create short distance portals.

"They're risking their lives. They have a right to be careful," Raven replied.

"And what about your friends' lives? You want to risk them too?" Blackfire retorted.

"Losing control would be even less help to them," Raven said. In fact, she was as anxious, if not more for the Centauri distraction to begin.

No, no emotions. She could not let her emotions take control. She breathed heavily, and began the silent meditation process.

A few feet away, Blackfire stood and watched incredulously as Raven slipped into meditation. I mean, meditation? At a time like this? Blackfire shrugged, and began her own preparations. She allowed memories, memories that she had kept hidden for years to rise to the surface, letting the rage they brought fuel her own abilities.

/No, father/- Blackfire's voice echoed in her mind. Almost there, she thought.

It wasn't her fault!

Better, better.

Then she heard her father's voice-/Good. Take her away./

Blackfire's eyes burned.

Raven came out of her meditative state, disturbed by a sudden burst of hate. She looked up to see Blackfire staring at nothing in particular. But what was more disturbing was the fact that both her eyes and her hands were not just glowing with power, they were crackling with it. Small bolts of lavender lightning seemed to be arcing back and forth from her hands, across her arms, and to her eyes, and then back again.

"Blackfire?" Raven hesitantly asked. "Blackfire, is everything all right?"

"Yeah, why do you ask? Oh, this?" she asked, indicating the energy arcing around her. "Look, you prepare your way, and I'll prepare mine."

When Raven still did not look convinced, Blackfire sighed and continued, "Look, Raven, I need my emotions to do my job. Without them I'm powerless."

"And what if you get too powerful?"

"Raven, you can never be too powerful."

Raven was about to reply when the halls rang out with a Centauri battle cry. "Ah, there's the distraction. So, are you going to open the portal, or shall I?"

Having no illusions as to what Blackfire meant, Raven traced a circle in the wall behind her, creating a black hole to the other side of the wall.

"Spoilsport." Blackfire said before she stepped into the portal.

At another end of the tunnel, Mad Mod was being unpleasantly surprised. These three strange armored attackers were like nothing he had seen before, waltzing through his traps as if they weren't even there. Illusions that should have sent them halfway across the city in circles, optical flares that would have otherwise blinded them, all ineffective.

"Not so 'chipper' now, are we?" Gizmo said, gloating.

"Shut up, yeh, li'l blighter afore Oi-"

Mod's next words were droned out by Mammoth's scream as he charged the three strangers.

Or at least, as he attempted to charge them.

From what seemed to be a claw like attachment on the lead figure's golden armor a green tentacle shot out, grabbing Mammoth around the waist and throwing him to the ground.

"Looks like the Titans got some new friends with new tricks," Jinx said, firing at them.

"Like that'll save them," Gizmo agreed, launching his own laser barrage along with Overload's lightning.

Much to their chagrin, however, the strangers displayed a great deal more agility than they would have expected from their bulk, dodging their shots easily.

One of them, in red armor, seemed to want to charge toward their left, but found itself seized from behind by Killer Moth, while the other two found themselves confronted by Tridents.

"Hey Mod, you just going to stand there, or am I gonna have to beat you up?" Mammoth asked, getting up. But Mod was barely listening. What he was doing was looking at the combatants. Counting them.

"Oh, bugger," he said, suddenly, he ran back from where he had come. "Hey Mod, the hell you going!" Mammoth said.

"I'll get him," Jinx said, running after him.

"Jinx! JINX!" Gizmo shouted, before turning back to the battle in disgust. Unlike those two kludgeheads, he had a job to do.

(scene change)

"That was...strange," Blackfire said, emerging from the portal into another dark tunnel, with Raven following a moment later.

"It does get some getting used to," Raven confirmed.

"OK, now what?" Blackfire asked.

"You die, of course," the Puppet King replied from the other end of the tunnel, raising both his hands and firing.

Blackfire narrowly dodged one bolt, but Raven had chosen to erect a dark shield around her.

When the beam hit, for a split second Raven thought her shield could take it, when it suddenly failed, and she was hit in the chest with the full brunt of the blast.

"Raven? RAVEN!" Blackfire shouted.

"Forget her, Blackfire, you have bigger things to worry about," the Puppet King said. "You know, I never thought I'd see you fighting on their side."

"What can I say, we've only knew each other for a few minutes," Blackfire replied blithely.

"Yes, we have," the Puppet King said, suddenly firing off another volley at Blackfire.

Raven was suspended in a dark void.

All around her, peace.

She wished it could continue.

But she felt hands.

Pulling her back.

She didn't want to go.

"Remember Blackfire," a man's voice said.

Raven awoke with a start to find herself staring into the face of a handsome young man-Tameranian, judging from the facial features. She looked around, and while both her and the man were outlined and detailed clearly, the world around them seemed to be made out of smoke, moving in what appeared to be extremely slow-motion.

"You are in what some human psychics call 'Swedenborgian space', the realm between life and death. I doubt the Puppet King wanted this to happen-his orders were to bring you back alive," the man said.

Now that Raven was more awake, she could take in a few more details about the strange Tameranian, and what she saw surprised her. Apart from his clothing, which seemed to be nothing more than a masculine version Blackfire's armored purple coat, his features, especially his eyes and thin mouth, recalled Blackfire.

"Are..are you Blackfire's...?" Raven asked, too overwhelmed to finish the question.

He smiled. "No, I'm not her male 'friend', however you mean it, and she's, well, not exactly my mother, either."

"Not exactly?" Raven asked, puzzled. She made to ask another question, but the man stopped her.

"I know that you have a lot of questions, Raven, but you don't have the time," he said seriously, before adding with another smile, "I can assure you that all your questions will be answered. Now, Raven, you must save Blackfire's life as I will save yours."

As he started fading away, and the scene around her began to seep into reality, Raven had to know. "Wait- what orders? Save my life?Who are you?"

"Escand'r. My name is Escand'r." he said before-

-Raven woke up to see, behind her, a pitched battle between Blackfire and the Puppet King, whom she was behind.

She could worry about this Escand'r later. For now, Blackfire was in trouble.

The Puppet King was having a good night. While Blackfire had to aim before she let off any of her bolts, so as to avoid hitting Raven or bring down masonry on her, the Puppet King had no such reservations.

"If I knew you were this soft, Blackfire, I would have had you killed for being an insult to our profession!"

Blackfire was about to reply when she saw the Puppet King encased in a globe of darkness that was quickly thrown behind her.

"Blackfire, when I give the signal, shoot the ceiling above him." Raven said. Suddenly, the globe around the Puppet King disappeared, but before Raven could say anything else, Blackfire blasted the ceiling above him, burying a screaming Puppet King under a few tons of soil and masonry.

"That's what you wanted to do, right?" a panting Blackfire asked Raven, who nodded. "Good. Sorry about not waiting for your signal, but I was never any good at taking orders."

"That's obvious," Raven said. She looked behind her. "This way, they're this way," she said, pointing to a brightly lit corridor.

As the two of them sped off into the distance, pebbles on top of the rubble began to shift position...

(scene change)

"Bloody 'ell!" Mad Mod said when he saw the massive pile of concrete and dirt before him.

"My sentiments exactly, Mod," Jinx said, hovering in the air behind him. "It's not nice to run away from your friends, Mod.'

"Friends? Yeah roit, pull th' other 'un, 's got bells on," Mod said. "Wot yew an' y' 'friends' don' know's tha' Raven's makin 'er move roit now! Those buggers't th' fronts jess d'versions!"

"So what?" Jinx said quietly.

"Eh wot?"

"Look Mod, I know all about bad luck, and from what I've heard and seen, the Titans are all bad luck, at least for us."

"Look, I can't care less 'bout th' Puppet King, but the Titans-"

"Forget the Titans!" Jinx came down to face Mod. "Look, I'm sick and tired of having my butt kicked by those fashion rejects, and last I heard, England didn't have any kiddy superhero teams running around! Come on, Mod," she added, her voice softening, "you're not his bodyguard."

"Wot about yer 'friends'?" Mod asked.

Jinx snorted. "Number one, Gizmo's a self-centered little rat who once escaped and never did anything for his two 'friends', and Mammoth's an idiot, basically. Besides, you still haven't answered my proposition."

Mod looked behind him, at where the Puppet King was buried under a pile of rock. "No, Oi ain't," he said, breaking into a wicked smile. "Looks loik's back ter luvverly England, innit?"

As they ran off into another passage, Jinx asked him, "What made you leave anyway?"

"A combo 'tween th' damn French an' th' 2000 World Cup."

"Huh?'

"Nevyewmoind," Mad Mod said bitterly, " 'Twas jessa bloody embarassin' time t' bey'n Englishman."

(scene change)

"Raven!" Starfire squealed happily when she saw her friend enter. Then when she saw who else entered- "Sister!"

"Hello Starfire, it's so good to see you again."

"It is indeed nice to see you again, sister, but release Raven from your mind control at once!"

"Don't worry, Starfire, she's on our side," Raven said.

"AAH! Release Raven from your mind control at once!" Beast Boy said frantically.

"Still a comedian, I see," Blackfire laughed.

"I wasn't joking, Blackfire!"

"Hey, made me laugh."

"Quiet, you two," Raven commanded. "Don't worry, we'll get you out," she said to her friends, plainly emphasizing the 'we'.

"Yes we will," Blackfire said, aiming a starbolt at the bars.

Robin tried to stop her. "Wait-"

When the starbolt hit the bars, it was exactly as the Titans had expected- a bright flash, loud boom, and absolutely nothing done to the cage.

"Hmm, that was louder than I had expected." Blackfire said.

"I tried to warn you," Robin said reproachfully. "The bars have been strengthened magically."

"Or maybe it wasn't a strong enough bolt. Come on, let's try that again!" Blackfire said impishly, raising another glowing hand.

"No, Blackfire." Raven said.

"Aw, please?"

"No."

Blackfire crossed her arms in mock petulance. "You never let me have any fun."

"That can come later. For now, we have more serious problems."

"Yeah, like not being able to use magic to get us out," Beast Boy said.

Raven spun around. "What do you mean?"

"He's right Rae-according to the Puppet King, if you try to use magic on the bars, you'll die."

"And you believed him?" Blackfire said incredulously, an eyebrow raised.

"Look-whoa, Raven, what are you doing?"

Blackfire turned, and gasped in surprise when she saw Raven's eyes glowing.

"He's right, Blackfire," Raven said, "I see them." Her eyes returned to normal as she continued, "I'm not sure about whether it would kill me, but-"

"Oh, it will, my dear Raven, it will."

Raven and Blackfire spun around in shock to face the Puppet King. Even with his uniform in tatters, his crown gone and his wooden surface scratched and chipped the Puppet King still cut a menacing figure.

"Surprised, ladies?"

"Not really," Blackfire said, a moment before she blasted the Puppet King with violet fire.

Or at least, tried to.

"Come now, Blackfire," the Puppet King said in the blood red shell that suddenly encased his body, "death itself could not stop me, what more a few rocks and energy bolts! Now, if you'll excuse me-" he added before firing off another bolt of red lightning.

Blackfire tried to dodge it, it seemed slow enough, but what she did not count on was it changing direction to hit her, enveloping her in red energy and sending her crashing down onto the ground.

"Blackfire!" Raven and Starfire shouted in unison.

"Cold...so...cold..." Blackfire whispered as she lay shivering and pale on the concrete floor.

"Now it's your turn, Raven," the Puppet King said, "You know, I still remember how you and your friend killed me, and although I can't return the favour, that doesn't mean I can't have a little fun," he finished, raising a hand

"Raven..." Beast Boy warned.

"I know what I'm doing," she whispered back, her body tensed.

But instead of the red beam she had been expecting, what appeared to be a red clawed hand appeared in the air in front of the Puppet King.

The Puppet King was clearly enjoying this. "Come on, Raven, you didn't think I'd be that stupid, did you?"

Raven cursed under her breath as she dodged the talons swiping at her. She glided across the ground moving to avoid the Puppet King's strikes, trying to figure out a plan.

Robin surveyed the scene. He could not bear this-one of his friends was in trouble and he could not do anything about it. The fact that none of the other Titans in the cage could help either didn't make it better.

Evidently they were thinking the same thing too. "Hey Robin!" Beast Boy began, "We gotta do something, man! We can't leave Raven alone like that!"

"I know, I know, I'm trying to think of something!" Robin replied, when suddenly the thought hit him-what would Batman do?

He placed one hand on his head, trying to think. "What would Batman do? What would Batman do?" he said to himself.

"I dunno," Cyborg said, puzzled at Robin's abrupt change of subject. "He'd try to talk the badguys out of whatever they were doing?"

"That's it!" Robin said. "Hey, Raggedy Ann! How did it feel to be beaten by a bunch of kids?" he shouted to the Puppet King.

Realizing what Robin was trying to do, the other Titans joined in. "Yeah, I guess we really pulled his string that time, Robin!" Cyborg added. Beast Boy was content with a highly annoying chant along the lines of "neener-neener-neener!"

"You're still as...as...as stupid as you were before!" Starfire said. For some reason, this seemed to have the most effect on the Puppet King.

"Oh, you think so, do you?"

"Yes I do! You are horrible and nasty and evil and-"

"ENOUGH!" the Puppet King shouted. "I cannot kill Raven, but I wasn't told anything about you!"

"Ooh, you did it now, Star," Beast Boy said in a frightened voice.

His painted eyes burned with rage. "I was saving this until after you saw what I will do to Raven, but I for one never liked surprises," he said, before raising his other arm.

Inside the cage, the runes began to glow visibly as they did before, but with an intensity that immediately brought the Titans to their knees, as they felt themselves sickening by the minute.

"Robin...I don't feel...Robin..." Starfire said, feeling extremely sick in every cell in her body. Robin himself was too ill to reply. Beast Boy was already unconscious, and as the light of Cyborg's body faded, he knew that his life would soon follow.

Raven was still busy dodging the hand, but as the cage began to glow, she noticed that the hand seemed more erratic, more unfocused as the Puppet King concentrated more and more on tormenting her friends. If only she knew what to do. She had a plan, but she wasn't sure if it would work, and whether it did or didn't it would certainly kill her...

Then she saw the state of her friends, and decided. If this that was she would have to do for her family, then so be it.

She raised her hand, planning to negate the cage's magical powers with her own magical energies, when she saw the cage suddenly lifted into the air.

Blackfire! Raven thought, a rare feeling of hope entering her heart. But what was she trying to do?

It soon became evident what it was when Blackfire raised the cage above her head with surprising speed and strength to throw it at the Puppet King.

Suddenly the hand and cage's glow disappeared as the Puppet King reflexively erected a magical shield.


Too late, he saw what he was doing-or rather, what was going to happen.

As the cage made contact with his shield, the runes immediately discharged their energies into the hapless Puppet King, sending a massive wave of demonic energy into him.

There was a bright flash of red light, and the next thing Raven saw was the burning wreckage of the Puppet King's wooden body land at her feet.

The bars of the cage, now on its side, bent as Cyborg pushed them apart and fell down to the ground, tired. The other Titans were quick to follow.