Fan Fiction ❯ Hell Hath No Fury ❯ Gone ( Chapter 3 )

Chapter 3: Gone.

 

The Reaper slowly backed away from the anger infused Raven, who seemed to have grown to twice her normal size in mere seconds. Yet, the Reaper's eyes showed no signs of fear at all. Instead, he just smirked at the sight of an enraged Raven. “That's it, love. Let it all out. Let it consume you.”

 

Raven now towered above the Reaper, and no matter what, she was intent on making the Reaper pay, even if it meant completely loosing herself. “I will give you one last chance before I completely erase you from existence. Bring Beast Boy back NOW!!!”

 

The Reaper smirked at Raven's desperation, and knew instantly that Trigon was right about Beast Boy. He did not see Raven looming above him anymore. All that he saw was the daughter of Trigon, the very person that he sent him to unleash. However, his task was not complete yet. Raven needed one last push.

 

“I can't do that, love,” the Reaper laughed evilly. “I do not have enough power to rip him from your father's realm. I can only send things to it. You see, it's a one way trip, love. Lover boy isn't coming back. Now, how does that make you feel?”

 

Even through her corrupted thoughts, what was left of Raven could tell what the Reaper was trying to do. He had succeeded in taking the one that mattered the most from her, and that hurt. Her anger was at a height that she had never experienced before. However, what was left of her knew that if she lost herself, Beast Boy would be forever lost. As long as she had breath in her lungs, Beast Bo still had a chance.

 

With every ounce of willpower still coursing through her veins, Raven struggled to gain control over her emotions. Slowly, she began to shrink down back to her normal height and size, and the four red eyes still glaring at the Reaper reduced two only two normal ones.

 

The Reaper's eyes widened in shock as Raven completely returned to normal. “No! No! No! No! No! What are you doing? Where's the anger. I just sent your boyfriend to a place of no return, love. You will never see him again. I know that that makes you angry. Stop fighting it!”

 

Raven glared at the reaper from beneath her hood. “My father should know more than anyone that my will shall not be broken, no matter what he does. Yes, I feel the anger swelling within me, but I can control my emotions. Now, I will ask you again, now that it is fully me asking. Bring Beast Boy back.”

 

The Reaper laughed. “Weren't you listening at all, love? I wasn't lying when I said that I can't bring him back. Nothing you do can make me, because I just don't have the power. Lover boy is gone. Deal with it.”

 

Leaving Cyborg on the ground, Robin and Starfire walked over to the reaper, surrounding him.

 

“If you can't get him back,” Robin said coldly, “then you'd better pray that you can find a way.”

 

“Beast Boy was our friend,” Starfire began in an angry tone that was unheard of by the other Titans. “You will bring him back.”

 

“Do I have to repeat myself every time one of you joins the conversation?” The Reaper turned to Starfire. “Your friend is gone.” He turned to Raven. “He isn't coming back.” The Reaper started to turn to Robin. “So, just deal with-“ The last thing he saw was Robin's bo staff aimed directly at his face. And then, there was only darkness.

 

“That ought to shut him up for a while,” Robin spat bitterly. “He deserves so much worse for what he's done, but we can't do anything, not without crossing the line.”

 

Raven stared at the unconscious Reaper, completely ignoring everything around her.

 

“But Robin,” Starfire began confused, “what about friend Beast Boy. If what this Reaper says is true, then nothing we do can bring him back.” Starfire's eyes began to fill with tears.

 

“Calm down, Star,” Robin said reassuringly putting his arms around the young alien girl. “If there is a way in, there has to be a way out. There always is. We'll get Beast Boy back. We just need to figure out what we're going to do with the Reaper first.”

 

Raven turned away from the Reaper and faced Beast Boy, or what was left of Beast Boy. Everything that Raven secretly liked about Beast Boy was gone. The very thing that made him the man she loved was gone, possibly gone forever. Yet, she knew that she would never accept it. She would not rest until he was back… back with her.

 

“Yo!” Cyborg shouted several feet behind the group. “If someone would kindly help me gather myself, I could probably fix up something to neutralize his powers, but I'd have to do it quick. The Reaper isn't going to stay knocked out for long.”

 

Robin's expression brightened. “Starfire, get Cyborg back to the tower and help fic him as best you can. I'll take the Reaper back with me on the R-Cycle.”

 

Starfire glanced at Raven worried. “Robin,” she whispered, “what of Raven?”

 

Robin looked at Raven, and then at the lifeless body of Beast Boy. “Leave her be, Starfire. Just leave her be.” With that, the three Titans headed back to the tower, leaving Raven alone with the remnants of Beast Boy.

 

`This is all my fault.' She thought, berating herself. `I'm so sorry Beast Boy. I've caused all of this. I never meant to hurt you. My love cursed you to this fate. I can't change that, but I promise that I will not rest until I get you back. Nothing is impossible. I refuse to believe it. I won't give up. There has to be a way.'

 

Raven knelt down beside the limp remains of Beast Boy. The longer that she mourned for something that was not completely gone, the longer that Beast Boy's soul was surely being made to suffer by her Father's hands. The empath tightly wrapped her arms around Beast Boy, and began to levitate both of them off of the ground. It would not take long for Raven to carry him back to the tower, but the longer she held Beast Boy's limp body, the more hiss loss weighed upon her heart.

 

llllllllllllllllllll

 

“Ooo,” Starfire squealed in awe. “What does this marvelous contraption do?”

 

“No, Star!” Cyborg pleaded desperately. “Don't touch that! It's my -”

 

Starfire carelessly pushed the button on the small hand held device held within her hands. Instantly, a hole in the ceiling opened up, and a disco ball was lowered from its hidden alcove. Hundreds of different multicolored lights appeared from the walls, illuminating everything around them.

 

“- hidden party mode activation switch,” Cyborg reluctantly finished.

 

Starfire's eyes widened at the multitude of streaming lights. “Wondrous! I have never seen such a magnificent sight. Why do you keep suck beauties locked away in your room? Why do you not share the joy brought by these to everyone?”

 

“Because Robin still won't let me install a disco ball in the common room or a party mode for that matter,” Cyborg scoffed. “Oh he'd be singing a different tune if he saw the awesome parties we could throw, but no. He doesn't see the-“ Cyborg stopped when he saw that Starfire was staring directly at the disco ball, completely mesmerized by it. “Starfire? Starfire! YO, STARFIRE!!!”

 

Fortunately, Cyborg's yelling was able to snap Starfire out of her trance. She reluctantly turned her gaze from the disco ball to the dismembered Cyborg. “What a… fascinating device this `ball of disco' is. I apologize, friend Cyborg. What is it that you require?”

 

Cyborg's human eye twitched in anger. “I require your assistance in PUTTING ME BACK TOGETHER!!”

 

“Oh,” Starfire looked at her feet embarrassed. “It must have mind my slipped.”

 

Cyborg gave Starfire a blank stare. “Whatever, I just need you to help me fix one of my arms. I can take it from there. What you're going to do is grab onto my right arm accentuator and disconnect it from my main router cup link.” Starfire's smile slowly faded, and Cyborg sighed. “Just grab hold of the part of my left arm that isn't sliced open, and pull it out at the shoulder.

 

Starfire's smile returned, and she gladly did as she was instructed until Cyborg's left arm was completely detached from his body. Slowly and very carefully, Cyborg began to instruct Starfire on how exactly she was to replace his arm. The young alien gathered all of the spare parts that Cyborg would need to fully complete his repairs, as well as the replacement arm that she would merge with Cyborg's body. After about five minutes explaining to Starfire that she was trying to put his arm in upside down, Cyborg successfully coached Starfire through the procedure and regain the use of his left arm.

 

As fate would have it, Robin stepped through the doorway to Cyborg's room carrying an unconscious Reaper just as Starfire had finished reattaching Cyborg's left arm. “Okay,” the boy wonder began as he forcefully dropped the Reaper onto the floor. “I stopped by the lab and injected the Reaper with enough tranquilizers to keep him out for a few hours. That should be enough time for you to…” Robin's voice trailed off when he noticed the dancing lights around the entire room. “Cyborg, what's with all the lights?”

 

“Oh, are they not glorious, Robin,” Starfire twirled around excitedly, soaking up all of the colors spinning around the room. “Why will you not let Cyborg place these majestic contraptions in our room of common? That would be most wondrous.”

 

Robin sighed. He could never say no to Starfire, and he was glad that she was not one for manipulation of others. If she was and she found out about his weakness, he would completely be at her mercy. “I-I guess that it would be okay if Cyborg installed one or two lights in the common room. After all, it would not hurt anything, would it?”

 

“Booya!” Cyborg yelled as he ripped off the remains of his right arm out of its socket. “You can rest assured, Robin, that I am so going to hold you to that. I can see it now. A disco ball, no… two disco balls, and hundreds of... Wait!” Cyborg glanced at the unconscious Reaper on his floor. “Why did you bring him in here? Shouldn't you put him in a holding cell or something?”

 

“We don't have any holding cells. We usually just take the villains we defeat to jail, not invite them over for tea.”

 

“I do not understand,”” Starfire spoke up confused. “Why would we give brown, transparent liquid to our enemy?”

 

“It's an expression, Star,” Cyborg explained before turning to Robin. “So, you just think you can turn my room into the detention wing of the tower.”

 

“That was the idea,” Robin stated. “You know what to do to neutralize his powers. You're going to be doing all the work. It just makes sense to have it in your room. Besides, it'll only be temporary. We'll only need to keep him around until we get what we need from him. Then, it's straight to a very high security prison for him, and we'll be that much closer to getting Beast Boy back to normal.”

 

Cyborg eyed the Reaper evilly. “He'd better have some useful information that he wasn't telling us, or there won't be anything left of him to take to prison. If Beast Boy really can't be rescued, then-“

 

“He will be, though,” Robin interrupted. “Don't even entertain the thought otherwise. We will find a way to bring him back from wherever the Reaper sent him, and we will put his soul back into his body. There is a way. There always is. We just have to find it.”

 

“This Reaper seemed to know Raven as well as Beast Boy,” Starfire stated when inspiration suddenly struck. Perhaps she would be able to tell us why the Reaper chose friend Beast Boy as his target. Is it not true that he had an opportunity to kill each of us using his teleporting abilities? Why would he only target Beast Boy?”

 

Robin gazed at Starfire in awe. She may seem naive at times, but deep down she possessed a wisdom that he could never comprehend. “That's a good idea, Star. Why don't you go talk to Raven and see what you can find out. She was with Beast Boy in the common room when I brought the Reaper in. I guess she beat me here. You go. I'll stay here and help Cyborg with whatever he is planning.”

 

Starfire nodded and exited the room.

 

llllllllllllllllllll

 

In the common room of Titan's Tower, the physical half of Beast Boy had been laid across the couch in the middle of the room. The young shape shifter's eyes were opened, but there was no action or any sign f life from within them. He had not even blinked since his soul was forcefully removed by the Reaper's sickle. He was just a shell. He was just a fragment of what once was.

 

As soon as she had arrived at the tower, Raven had laid Beast Boy's body on the couch, and had knelt beside him watching over his lifeless body intently. Not once had she moved from her position next to the one that she secretly loved. Not once had the though entered her mind. She was too afraid to even think of moving. She feared that if she let Beast Boy out of her sight, something would happen that would completely strip him from her forever. She had already lost half of Beast Boy, and she was not about to loose the other before she had a chance to fix what the Reaper had done.

 

The doors to the common room suddenly slid open revealing the young Tameranean princess who had a joyous smile across her face. As soon as she saw Raven and the soulless Beast Boy, however, her smile faded into a grim look. With sunken shoulders, Starfire floated over to where Raven had knelt beside Beast Boy's body and softly landed next to her.

 

Raven had seen Starfire enter the common room out of the corner of her eye, but she did not acknowledge her presence. She was lost in her own thoughts as she watched over Beast Boy's body. She had to find out how to get Beast Boy's soul back for the hell that her father was confined to. Yet, no matter how hard she thought, she could see no clear way to retrieve it. Even with her dark powers, she could not successfully open up a portal to her father's realm, let alone open a portal back to hers from within that dimension. Yet, the Reaper was able to send Beast Boy's soul there. How was that possible?

 

“Raven,” Starfire said softly, trying to get the Azarathien's attention. However, Raven did not reply. “Raven,” Starfire said louder, but with the same result. Starfire grinned innocently as inspiration struck. The Tameranean princess inhaled deeply and yelled out her dark friend's name with so much force that Raven actually fell to her side.

 

Pushing herself off of the ground, Raven looked at Starfire coldly. “What do you want?” She asked in a tone that would have made a normal person's blood freeze. Yet, Starfire was far from normal by Earth' standards. Starfire just smiled politely at her best friend.

 

“I would like to ask you some questions regarding this Reaper individual and his intent on attacking friend Beast Boy,” Starfire asked completely oblivious to the fact that Raven was giving her a look that screamed `just shut up now and walk away.' “This Reaper seemed to know much of you, Raven, much more than any of us seem to will ever know. Why is that, friend Raven? Have you met this Reaper somewhere before?”

 

Raven sighed realizing that her glares had no apparent affect on her ever joyous friend, and she knew that she would not leave unless she said something. And since the first thing that came to her mind would probably hurt the young princess's feelings, she opted to tell her as little of the truth as she could to get her to leave.

 

“No, Starfire,” Raven reluctantly answered. “I've never seen the Reaper before. If I had, I would have known of his powers, and the outcome of the battle might have been different.” Raven hoped that Starfire had no more questions for her. She really wanted to get out of this conversation without revealing her lineage. It was bad enough that Cyborg and Beast Boy already knew from their trip through her mind, but she did not even want them to know. Raven was not about to willingly pour out her past on anyone.

 

“The Reaper spoke of your father sending him, did he not?” Starfire stated confused. “Why would your father wish harm to befall his daughter?”

 

“Because my father is evil, Starfire. And he doesn't like the fact that I am not.” Raven glanced at Starfire. “Now, please just leave me alone. This hasn't exactly been a very good day as you can clearly see.”

 

“I apologize, friend Raven, but there is one last question. If your father is angry at you, then why did he send his servant after Beast Boy and not you?”

 

Raven did not like this question. Up until now, she had been completely truthful without revealing too much. Yet, this question had no such comforts in its answers. The simplest answer she could think of still revealed far too much. “He did it to punish me.”

 

Starfire stood there confused for a moment, and then her eyes widened as a possibility entered her mind. However, that very thought was absurd even to her happy mind, so she shook it off before turning to exit the room.

 

“Starfire, wait,” Raven called out desperately.

 

`Yes, friend Raven.”

 

“Let me know when the Reaper wakes up. I have some questions for him, and for his sake, I hope that he has the right answers.”