Categories > Cartoons > Teen Titans > Die To Save You
“You mean he escaped!?” Robin tried to restrain himself, but did little to hide his anger at the Prison Warden.
“Well, not quite sir…you see, we don’t have any records of him entering the prison.” He said, backing away from the teenager.
Robin rushed out of the room and called Cyborg to tell him.
“Yo Robin. We have a bit of a situation here.”
“Have one here too. The Professor never went to the prison, I’m about to go to the asylum and check if they mixed it up.”
“No need, just come to the Tower.”
“Cyborg, our first priority is the Professor, let the police handle anything else.”
“Dude, I know. We, uhh, found him.”
“Great! Where is he?”
“In our tower – locked us out too, man, he’s starin’ at me from the roof. Holding up a sign too, I can’t read it from here though.”
Robin sighed. It was a few days away from a full week since Raven was taken. So far the only thing they could do was try to reconstruct the machine. The state’s senator had blocked him from interrogating the Professor so far. Today he came without intentions of getting permission. Today he needed answers.
Breaking possibly every traffic law the city had, he sped through downtown on his motorcycle towards the tower, with nothing but anger and determination consuming him. Exiting the tunnel that led to the tower’s garage, he found Cyborg waiting for him. Robin noticed the doors, which were covered in metal plating, and realized Cyborg was right.
They were locked out.
Robin briskly walked to the door. Tapping against the wall he found hollow spot behind the wall and took off the panel, revealing a fingerprint scanner.
“Dude, why did I not know about that?”
“Had it installed when you were on a mission for a couple days; figured we might need an override someday.”
Taking off his glove and pressing two of his fingers against it, the machine glowed yellow for a second and flashed red.
“What?” Robin said to himself. He pressed his fingers to it again. Then his other hand, but to no avail. Beast Boy walked in from where he was standing with Starfire outside.
“Hey Robin,” Beast Boy said “The guy just dropped these off the roof.” His hand extended with a bundle of black and white striped wires in it.
Robin snatched up the wires and let loose a scream of anger, kicking the wall in the process. “Those connected the security systems to their backups.” Cyborg explained to the rest of them.
“Oh yea,” Beast Boy continued, “he also wanted to talk to you, he’s still on the roof.”
Robin rushed out of the garage to where Starfire was, with Beast Boy and Cyborg following just behind.
“Where are you!?” he yelled, looking up at the roof and squinting his eyes because of the sun. A small head poked over the side of the building.
“I heard you rebuilt the machine.” The Professor yelled back.
Of course we haven’t, not completely at least –not even mostly. After all, the machine began smoking just after Raven disappeared; and everything inside of it was melted together into chucks of rubber, melted metal, and cheap burnt circuits. Robin thought, but of course he wouldn’t say that. Best to play along.
“What of it?”
“I need it.”
“Why would you think-” Robin was cut off.
“Hey, I need it just as much as you. Leave your weapons here and go to the main door.” He yelled, his voice getting scratchy and dry. “If you don’t, you’ll never be able to get to the world where she was sent.”
“What makes you so sure?”
“It took me years to create it, do you think a teenager would just be able to get it working on the first try? That is, after all, the only chance you get.”
Deep inside Robin knew he was right. All the Titans could do, thanks to that cursed senator, was rebuild the machine. They didn’t know how it worked or how to control it. Quite frankly, it was suicide to try it without the Professor, despite the Titan’s hatred of him. Robin unlatched his utility belt and let his bo staff slide to the ground along with his other weapons.
“Alright, now come to the door.” He said as Robin walked slowly to the large double door. Being twice as tall as Cyborg, they were now very imposing to him as he had no control over the tower. The two ton door swung open easily on well balanced and greased hinges. With light feet he walked into the main hall and turned to the elevator, pressed the roof symbol, and waited as it accelerated up skywards.
“Look, I know you don’t trust me, you have every right, but we both need that machine right now.” The Professor said quickly as he saw the elevator doors slowly open.
He was different, Robin noted. Not the borderline insane man they had seen only days ago; but now more subdued. Like a man who had lost his purpose but still held a glimmer of hope for the future. It was then that Robin realized he wasn’t a threat. In fact, he had not tried to directly kill any of them during their battle, unlike the other villains of Jump City. That was something that had been bothering Robin for the past few nights. But what on earth could make the hysterical man they had seen only days before turn into this one?
“You’re going to have to give us a good explanation. You’re asking us to help build the machine that you used against us.” Robin said, his body, a weapon in itself, tensed and ready for anything.
“Because we have both lost somebody, and we both need it to get them back.” The professor said over the wind, quickly but desperate.
Robin was shaken by that response from him. He was ready for almost anything. He had never considered that the machine was built as a tool, as a way to help. No, instead he had seen it as a weapon, something that would be used to move armies onto unsuspecting lands.
“Why should we trust you?”
“Her name was Renee Hanley. She was my wife, please, give me a chance; I can explain this, all of it.” He was practically begging at this point. Even Robin, who had been trained to ignore this, felt pity for the man before him. If he had lost somebody close, and was using the Machine to get them back, then he must know the pain the team had gone through during the past week. In fact, he must’ve known that pain for much longer. A machine like that takes years of dedication to build; furthermore, the entire thing appeared to be built by hand when Robin and Cyborg examined what was left of the wreckage. He, no doubt, also designed it. Thorough research by Cyborg had shown that nothing of this type has been built before. The only thing that he could find was “theories” about how it might work, but no designs that the Professor could have used. This man must’ve been a genius when he was in his prime.
“Then you had better start explaining, every last detail.” Robin said as he flipped open his communicator and called the rest of the team into the tower.
*
It was no more than an hour away from noon when Raven spotted an island on the horizon. She set the disc down on a secluded beach, where small pebbles replaced sand and half a dozen boulders littered the beach and the shallow water. She set Holly, who still was awake, against a boulder close to the water.
“I’m going to look for help. Will you be fine here for now?”
Holly just nodded. It was the first time either of them had spoken in over an hour and a half, instead preferring to enjoy the silence. At least that’s what Raven did, and it was considerably easier because emotions coming from the other girl were few and very faint. Curious how that is.
Raven started down a well-worn trail leading in into the woods, figuring that there must be a village at the other end. And with a village there was people, which hopefully meant a place for them to stay; a real shelter. Not a tattered tarp hung between trees or an alleyway in between long closed buildings.
*
She had only been walking for a few minutes, she could see smoke rising above the tree tops that were covered in a light frost. She hadn’t noticed it before, but they had traveled far enough south that it was close to winter here, no more than two weeks away. She felt a cold chill on her neck. Not the kind that a stiff breeze brings, but that of cold metal against warm flesh.
“Your kind isn’t welcome here.” Said the voice behind her. A voice of a teenager, but it held confidence and bitterness; the voice of a teenager who had been forced to grow up much too fast.
“Mind telling me what my ‘kind’ is?” Raven chose her words carefully. If this was Kyoshi Island, she had been told they didn’t take kindly to outsiders.
“Walk forward, and don’t look back.” The other woman said, not answering the question. The two walked like that for a short time, the warrior’s fan pressed against the back of an intruder’s neck, with its sharpened edge lying flat against her skin. The warrior matched Raven’s gait as they walked toward the pillar of smoke rising from the treetops.
The building they arrived to wasn’t large at all, not much larger than the common room of the Tower. It was a simple design with three walls surrounding an open platform with a wooden floor. Behind the platform was an interior wall, creating a large room in between the platform and the far wall. The smoke that she had followed was coming from a fire on the far side of the building. The girl led her onto to the platform and called out a name that Raven didn’t catch. Another girl exited the back room dressed in a green robe with armor over the chest. The katana at her side and her painted face did nothing to calm Raven.
“Who’s this?” The girl who just existed the building asked. She had short auburn hair and wore a larger, triangular headdress opposed to the simpler one that the other wore.
“Don’t know. She was on the northwest trail from the beach.”
“Secure her in the dojo. I’ll call back the others.” The one who appeared to be the leader turned back and went to the fire. She picked up a blanket that was soaking in a small bucket of water and, spreading it out, held it over the fire stopping the smoke and then pulled it back releasing a puff of smoke. After doing this four more times she went back into the building. Meanwhile, the other girl gathered a length of rope from the building with Raven
No, I can’t be taken. Holly’s still hurt, if she isn’t healed soon I won’t be able to stop infections. She’s as good as dead if that happens, it’s not like this place has modern medicine to help...
*
In the main village two of the Kyoshi Warriors looked up at the smoke plume. Masa and Ko were on duty in the village that afternoon, wandering throughout the town and helping with the unloading of the merchant ships that came to the island before winter set in. Aside with breaking up the occasional bar fight, it was an easy and enjoyable shift for them. Ko looked lazily to the sky, she and Suki had been covering Holly’s shift for the past fortnight that she had been gone; because of this, neither of them had been able to get for that a few hours’ sleep at a time. Not that it mattered, Ko figured, it’s something any warrior would do for each other. Ko and Masa looked to the bay once more scanning for ships, and started walking the short distance back to the dojo.
On the eastern side of the small island, Akiko looked disappointedly at the plume of smoke rising in sections. She was the youngest of the Warriors, but only by a few weeks. Only on her day off she thought would this happen. Such terrible luck she had, last time she had off, nine days ago, she had to help break up a fight between some Water Tribe merchants and Earth Kingdom soldiers. Why the soldiers were even on the island she never found out; but it didn’t concern her much as they never did come back. She kicked the leather ball back to the group of younger kids she was playing with and started jogging toward the smoke.
On the rocky beach Holly looked up at the smoke cursing under her breath. She didn’t think they would call the others back when she came, they haven’t before at least; which probably meant they took Raven as a threat, and she could do nothing to get there in time.
*
Back at the dojo Raven allowed the girl to tie her hands behind her and her feet together.
“Are you the Kyoshi Warriors?” Raven asked, still unsure if she landed on the right island.
“What of it?” She responded, pulling the knot tight behind her.
I’ll take that as a yes. “I have a friend that’s injured, she said she’s one of you. That’s why I’m here.”
“So your friend can tell a lie.”
A lie? That can’t be, could it? Impossible, the stories, the descriptions she had were so detailed, so real…
“What makes you so sure?” Raven asked her, “Why do you think she was lying?”
“Because the only one of us that isn’t here doesn’t make friends very easily.”
If only I could get them to see Holly, then they would recognize her and help us. If she really isn’t one of them, I can hold them off for a while. Besides, if they have never seen my powers before, there’s a good chance they’ll just flee.
Raven smirked as the girl turned and walked over to the wall to lean against. The ropes binding her were silently encased in black and shredded to pieces. Capturing a sheathed sword hanging from the wall with her energy, Raven launched it at the girl’s back and, catching her off balance, sent her falling into the weak wall of the dojo. Raven ran out of the building and headed down the path that she was led there by. The other girl, who Raven would later come to know as Suki, exited the dojo and started after her, maintaining a distance but going slower than what Raven thought she could.
It’s as if she letting me keep going…
Raven could hear the waves against the shore, her heartbeat pounding in her ears Azar, I should get into better shape just then another person, dressed similarly to the others, stepped in front of her and, using her own momentum to push her against a tree, held her there until the leader and the one she pushed into the wall appeared moments later.
“Mind telling us who you are?” the leader demanded as she approached.
“I told you, I’m a friend of – ”
“That’s not an answer.”
“Then what else do you want me to say?”
“The truth.”
Stubborn little…
“My name’s Raven, I came from a place called Jump City in the United States…” She said, repeating the words that Holly had believed when they first met.
“Raven? Odd name.” said the girl who had her pinned to the tree.
“Yea Aki, it is.” The girl Raven had pushed said.
“…I’m with a group called the Teen Titans, we protect our city…”
The leader gave a throaty laugh. “Look, I don’t know who you are or where you’re from; but talking crazy won’t help you right now.”
“It isn’t all that crazy, you know.” A weak voice said. The four girls swung their heads in shock to see Holly gripping a tree and practically doubled over in pain.
“You mean it’s true?” the girl Raven had pushed said to herself.
“Damn straight.” Raven mumbled as she pushed Akiko away from her and ran over to Holly.
The warriors, whose ranks now had grown to five, didn’t quite know what to make of the situation until they saw Holly leaning for support on the strange newcomer. It was then they figured that if she trusted this girl, it was good enough for them too.
*
“So you found her on the side of a road?” Suki asked. The Warriors and Raven were sitting around a fire as the sun settled below the horizon. Raven and Holly had just finished reciting the past few days’ events. Raven, who had now been introduced to all of the warriors, looked at the faces lighted by the fire. They seemed much less intimidating without the face paint on, except two of the nine women sitting around her. They had slept through their arrival and woke up within the past hour. They, Suki had explained, were covering the night shift as they rotated every week.
“Yea, carried her to the closest shelter.” Holly responded as she sipped from a small cup. Raven had just finished a healing session before they sat around the fire. She had been able to lessen much of the pain, and started healing the flesh around the main burn. One more session, Raven thought, and then there isn’t much more I can do; although it should be mostly done by then.
“And you told her that same story about Earth and a different dimension?” Ko asked Raven, nodding in her direction.
“Yes, I guess I was lucky in coming here, many places wouldn’t think twice about leaving me back on that road.”
Yumiko, one of the warriors on the night shift, stood up after finishing her bowl of vegetables and walked over to the stream to rinse it out.
“Ko,” she said, “you got my night shift tomorrow, remember?”
“Hey! But that’s my day off!”
“Can’t go back on a bet, you know that.” Yumiko said before she started walking into the town carrying a lantern.
“What’d you bet on this time Ko?” Holly asked her.
“Oh, whether or not you’d hurt yourself before you got back.” Holly just looked at her unbelieving, while the other girls giggled a bit, except for Raven, who wasn’t sure how to react.
*
An hour later, Raven helped put out the fire with Suki as the others retired for the night, with Holly leaning against the dojo waiting for them to finish.
“Raven,” Suki said, the word still sounding foreign to her, “You can use Yumiko’s hammock for now. We’ll string up the spare one in the morning.”
Raven nodded as Suki walked into the dojo.
“Hey Rave,” Holly said quietly as Raven went to enter the building. Raven turned to see her looking down, as if not sure what to say. She made another sound that sounded like half of a word, but quickly cut it off. “Never mind, sorry, see you in the morning.” She said all too fast, and ducked inside the building in front of her.
“Well, not quite sir…you see, we don’t have any records of him entering the prison.” He said, backing away from the teenager.
Robin rushed out of the room and called Cyborg to tell him.
“Yo Robin. We have a bit of a situation here.”
“Have one here too. The Professor never went to the prison, I’m about to go to the asylum and check if they mixed it up.”
“No need, just come to the Tower.”
“Cyborg, our first priority is the Professor, let the police handle anything else.”
“Dude, I know. We, uhh, found him.”
“Great! Where is he?”
“In our tower – locked us out too, man, he’s starin’ at me from the roof. Holding up a sign too, I can’t read it from here though.”
Robin sighed. It was a few days away from a full week since Raven was taken. So far the only thing they could do was try to reconstruct the machine. The state’s senator had blocked him from interrogating the Professor so far. Today he came without intentions of getting permission. Today he needed answers.
Breaking possibly every traffic law the city had, he sped through downtown on his motorcycle towards the tower, with nothing but anger and determination consuming him. Exiting the tunnel that led to the tower’s garage, he found Cyborg waiting for him. Robin noticed the doors, which were covered in metal plating, and realized Cyborg was right.
They were locked out.
Robin briskly walked to the door. Tapping against the wall he found hollow spot behind the wall and took off the panel, revealing a fingerprint scanner.
“Dude, why did I not know about that?”
“Had it installed when you were on a mission for a couple days; figured we might need an override someday.”
Taking off his glove and pressing two of his fingers against it, the machine glowed yellow for a second and flashed red.
“What?” Robin said to himself. He pressed his fingers to it again. Then his other hand, but to no avail. Beast Boy walked in from where he was standing with Starfire outside.
“Hey Robin,” Beast Boy said “The guy just dropped these off the roof.” His hand extended with a bundle of black and white striped wires in it.
Robin snatched up the wires and let loose a scream of anger, kicking the wall in the process. “Those connected the security systems to their backups.” Cyborg explained to the rest of them.
“Oh yea,” Beast Boy continued, “he also wanted to talk to you, he’s still on the roof.”
Robin rushed out of the garage to where Starfire was, with Beast Boy and Cyborg following just behind.
“Where are you!?” he yelled, looking up at the roof and squinting his eyes because of the sun. A small head poked over the side of the building.
“I heard you rebuilt the machine.” The Professor yelled back.
Of course we haven’t, not completely at least –not even mostly. After all, the machine began smoking just after Raven disappeared; and everything inside of it was melted together into chucks of rubber, melted metal, and cheap burnt circuits. Robin thought, but of course he wouldn’t say that. Best to play along.
“What of it?”
“I need it.”
“Why would you think-” Robin was cut off.
“Hey, I need it just as much as you. Leave your weapons here and go to the main door.” He yelled, his voice getting scratchy and dry. “If you don’t, you’ll never be able to get to the world where she was sent.”
“What makes you so sure?”
“It took me years to create it, do you think a teenager would just be able to get it working on the first try? That is, after all, the only chance you get.”
Deep inside Robin knew he was right. All the Titans could do, thanks to that cursed senator, was rebuild the machine. They didn’t know how it worked or how to control it. Quite frankly, it was suicide to try it without the Professor, despite the Titan’s hatred of him. Robin unlatched his utility belt and let his bo staff slide to the ground along with his other weapons.
“Alright, now come to the door.” He said as Robin walked slowly to the large double door. Being twice as tall as Cyborg, they were now very imposing to him as he had no control over the tower. The two ton door swung open easily on well balanced and greased hinges. With light feet he walked into the main hall and turned to the elevator, pressed the roof symbol, and waited as it accelerated up skywards.
“Look, I know you don’t trust me, you have every right, but we both need that machine right now.” The Professor said quickly as he saw the elevator doors slowly open.
He was different, Robin noted. Not the borderline insane man they had seen only days ago; but now more subdued. Like a man who had lost his purpose but still held a glimmer of hope for the future. It was then that Robin realized he wasn’t a threat. In fact, he had not tried to directly kill any of them during their battle, unlike the other villains of Jump City. That was something that had been bothering Robin for the past few nights. But what on earth could make the hysterical man they had seen only days before turn into this one?
“You’re going to have to give us a good explanation. You’re asking us to help build the machine that you used against us.” Robin said, his body, a weapon in itself, tensed and ready for anything.
“Because we have both lost somebody, and we both need it to get them back.” The professor said over the wind, quickly but desperate.
Robin was shaken by that response from him. He was ready for almost anything. He had never considered that the machine was built as a tool, as a way to help. No, instead he had seen it as a weapon, something that would be used to move armies onto unsuspecting lands.
“Why should we trust you?”
“Her name was Renee Hanley. She was my wife, please, give me a chance; I can explain this, all of it.” He was practically begging at this point. Even Robin, who had been trained to ignore this, felt pity for the man before him. If he had lost somebody close, and was using the Machine to get them back, then he must know the pain the team had gone through during the past week. In fact, he must’ve known that pain for much longer. A machine like that takes years of dedication to build; furthermore, the entire thing appeared to be built by hand when Robin and Cyborg examined what was left of the wreckage. He, no doubt, also designed it. Thorough research by Cyborg had shown that nothing of this type has been built before. The only thing that he could find was “theories” about how it might work, but no designs that the Professor could have used. This man must’ve been a genius when he was in his prime.
“Then you had better start explaining, every last detail.” Robin said as he flipped open his communicator and called the rest of the team into the tower.
*
It was no more than an hour away from noon when Raven spotted an island on the horizon. She set the disc down on a secluded beach, where small pebbles replaced sand and half a dozen boulders littered the beach and the shallow water. She set Holly, who still was awake, against a boulder close to the water.
“I’m going to look for help. Will you be fine here for now?”
Holly just nodded. It was the first time either of them had spoken in over an hour and a half, instead preferring to enjoy the silence. At least that’s what Raven did, and it was considerably easier because emotions coming from the other girl were few and very faint. Curious how that is.
Raven started down a well-worn trail leading in into the woods, figuring that there must be a village at the other end. And with a village there was people, which hopefully meant a place for them to stay; a real shelter. Not a tattered tarp hung between trees or an alleyway in between long closed buildings.
*
She had only been walking for a few minutes, she could see smoke rising above the tree tops that were covered in a light frost. She hadn’t noticed it before, but they had traveled far enough south that it was close to winter here, no more than two weeks away. She felt a cold chill on her neck. Not the kind that a stiff breeze brings, but that of cold metal against warm flesh.
“Your kind isn’t welcome here.” Said the voice behind her. A voice of a teenager, but it held confidence and bitterness; the voice of a teenager who had been forced to grow up much too fast.
“Mind telling me what my ‘kind’ is?” Raven chose her words carefully. If this was Kyoshi Island, she had been told they didn’t take kindly to outsiders.
“Walk forward, and don’t look back.” The other woman said, not answering the question. The two walked like that for a short time, the warrior’s fan pressed against the back of an intruder’s neck, with its sharpened edge lying flat against her skin. The warrior matched Raven’s gait as they walked toward the pillar of smoke rising from the treetops.
The building they arrived to wasn’t large at all, not much larger than the common room of the Tower. It was a simple design with three walls surrounding an open platform with a wooden floor. Behind the platform was an interior wall, creating a large room in between the platform and the far wall. The smoke that she had followed was coming from a fire on the far side of the building. The girl led her onto to the platform and called out a name that Raven didn’t catch. Another girl exited the back room dressed in a green robe with armor over the chest. The katana at her side and her painted face did nothing to calm Raven.
“Who’s this?” The girl who just existed the building asked. She had short auburn hair and wore a larger, triangular headdress opposed to the simpler one that the other wore.
“Don’t know. She was on the northwest trail from the beach.”
“Secure her in the dojo. I’ll call back the others.” The one who appeared to be the leader turned back and went to the fire. She picked up a blanket that was soaking in a small bucket of water and, spreading it out, held it over the fire stopping the smoke and then pulled it back releasing a puff of smoke. After doing this four more times she went back into the building. Meanwhile, the other girl gathered a length of rope from the building with Raven
No, I can’t be taken. Holly’s still hurt, if she isn’t healed soon I won’t be able to stop infections. She’s as good as dead if that happens, it’s not like this place has modern medicine to help...
*
In the main village two of the Kyoshi Warriors looked up at the smoke plume. Masa and Ko were on duty in the village that afternoon, wandering throughout the town and helping with the unloading of the merchant ships that came to the island before winter set in. Aside with breaking up the occasional bar fight, it was an easy and enjoyable shift for them. Ko looked lazily to the sky, she and Suki had been covering Holly’s shift for the past fortnight that she had been gone; because of this, neither of them had been able to get for that a few hours’ sleep at a time. Not that it mattered, Ko figured, it’s something any warrior would do for each other. Ko and Masa looked to the bay once more scanning for ships, and started walking the short distance back to the dojo.
On the eastern side of the small island, Akiko looked disappointedly at the plume of smoke rising in sections. She was the youngest of the Warriors, but only by a few weeks. Only on her day off she thought would this happen. Such terrible luck she had, last time she had off, nine days ago, she had to help break up a fight between some Water Tribe merchants and Earth Kingdom soldiers. Why the soldiers were even on the island she never found out; but it didn’t concern her much as they never did come back. She kicked the leather ball back to the group of younger kids she was playing with and started jogging toward the smoke.
On the rocky beach Holly looked up at the smoke cursing under her breath. She didn’t think they would call the others back when she came, they haven’t before at least; which probably meant they took Raven as a threat, and she could do nothing to get there in time.
*
Back at the dojo Raven allowed the girl to tie her hands behind her and her feet together.
“Are you the Kyoshi Warriors?” Raven asked, still unsure if she landed on the right island.
“What of it?” She responded, pulling the knot tight behind her.
I’ll take that as a yes. “I have a friend that’s injured, she said she’s one of you. That’s why I’m here.”
“So your friend can tell a lie.”
A lie? That can’t be, could it? Impossible, the stories, the descriptions she had were so detailed, so real…
“What makes you so sure?” Raven asked her, “Why do you think she was lying?”
“Because the only one of us that isn’t here doesn’t make friends very easily.”
If only I could get them to see Holly, then they would recognize her and help us. If she really isn’t one of them, I can hold them off for a while. Besides, if they have never seen my powers before, there’s a good chance they’ll just flee.
Raven smirked as the girl turned and walked over to the wall to lean against. The ropes binding her were silently encased in black and shredded to pieces. Capturing a sheathed sword hanging from the wall with her energy, Raven launched it at the girl’s back and, catching her off balance, sent her falling into the weak wall of the dojo. Raven ran out of the building and headed down the path that she was led there by. The other girl, who Raven would later come to know as Suki, exited the dojo and started after her, maintaining a distance but going slower than what Raven thought she could.
It’s as if she letting me keep going…
Raven could hear the waves against the shore, her heartbeat pounding in her ears Azar, I should get into better shape just then another person, dressed similarly to the others, stepped in front of her and, using her own momentum to push her against a tree, held her there until the leader and the one she pushed into the wall appeared moments later.
“Mind telling us who you are?” the leader demanded as she approached.
“I told you, I’m a friend of – ”
“That’s not an answer.”
“Then what else do you want me to say?”
“The truth.”
Stubborn little…
“My name’s Raven, I came from a place called Jump City in the United States…” She said, repeating the words that Holly had believed when they first met.
“Raven? Odd name.” said the girl who had her pinned to the tree.
“Yea Aki, it is.” The girl Raven had pushed said.
“…I’m with a group called the Teen Titans, we protect our city…”
The leader gave a throaty laugh. “Look, I don’t know who you are or where you’re from; but talking crazy won’t help you right now.”
“It isn’t all that crazy, you know.” A weak voice said. The four girls swung their heads in shock to see Holly gripping a tree and practically doubled over in pain.
“You mean it’s true?” the girl Raven had pushed said to herself.
“Damn straight.” Raven mumbled as she pushed Akiko away from her and ran over to Holly.
The warriors, whose ranks now had grown to five, didn’t quite know what to make of the situation until they saw Holly leaning for support on the strange newcomer. It was then they figured that if she trusted this girl, it was good enough for them too.
*
“So you found her on the side of a road?” Suki asked. The Warriors and Raven were sitting around a fire as the sun settled below the horizon. Raven and Holly had just finished reciting the past few days’ events. Raven, who had now been introduced to all of the warriors, looked at the faces lighted by the fire. They seemed much less intimidating without the face paint on, except two of the nine women sitting around her. They had slept through their arrival and woke up within the past hour. They, Suki had explained, were covering the night shift as they rotated every week.
“Yea, carried her to the closest shelter.” Holly responded as she sipped from a small cup. Raven had just finished a healing session before they sat around the fire. She had been able to lessen much of the pain, and started healing the flesh around the main burn. One more session, Raven thought, and then there isn’t much more I can do; although it should be mostly done by then.
“And you told her that same story about Earth and a different dimension?” Ko asked Raven, nodding in her direction.
“Yes, I guess I was lucky in coming here, many places wouldn’t think twice about leaving me back on that road.”
Yumiko, one of the warriors on the night shift, stood up after finishing her bowl of vegetables and walked over to the stream to rinse it out.
“Ko,” she said, “you got my night shift tomorrow, remember?”
“Hey! But that’s my day off!”
“Can’t go back on a bet, you know that.” Yumiko said before she started walking into the town carrying a lantern.
“What’d you bet on this time Ko?” Holly asked her.
“Oh, whether or not you’d hurt yourself before you got back.” Holly just looked at her unbelieving, while the other girls giggled a bit, except for Raven, who wasn’t sure how to react.
*
An hour later, Raven helped put out the fire with Suki as the others retired for the night, with Holly leaning against the dojo waiting for them to finish.
“Raven,” Suki said, the word still sounding foreign to her, “You can use Yumiko’s hammock for now. We’ll string up the spare one in the morning.”
Raven nodded as Suki walked into the dojo.
“Hey Rave,” Holly said quietly as Raven went to enter the building. Raven turned to see her looking down, as if not sure what to say. She made another sound that sounded like half of a word, but quickly cut it off. “Never mind, sorry, see you in the morning.” She said all too fast, and ducked inside the building in front of her.
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