Fan Fiction ❯ Will D. Beest ❯ The Doctor is Out ( Chapter 3 )

Note: I have confirmation from Animation Insider's Titans webpage that the Wildebeest in the upcoming second season will be a teenager. That works out great for me, since I didn't want him to be the same as the one here.

Warning: There is death, but all the Titans come out of it intact.

Chapter 3: The Doctor is Out

Raven winced as she carefully turned the pages of one of her ancient spellbooks. She had little doubt that the spells would be effective against Sylvan, as many of them had been used on her when she was very young and unable to control her father's influence. It was one of the many useful items that Azar had passed on to her, both knowing that she would one day leave Azarath for good.

The problem, however, was that none of the wounds that Sylvan had given her seemed to be healing quickly. He had only struck joints that would ache when she moved: her neck, wrists, elbows, and the backs of her knees. Daily tasks such as brushing her teeth would've become impossible, if not for her telekinesis. Despite that, Raven knew that he had been holding back. She was more afraid of what he hadn't used on her…and the "other form" that he'd promised to use the next time they met.

Beast Boy had asked more than once why she didn't use her "instant healing trick" on herself. Raven had been too annoyed (the wounds were keeping her in a bad mood) to explain that she healed by absorbing another person's pain into her own body. Naturally, she couldn't use it on herself. But the more she thought about it, the more it made perfect sense that Sylvan was probably the only one who could heal her. He had inflicted the wounds, after all, and shared her other powers. It was very likely that he could also heal her, at least, if not anyone else. Of course, she had no way of avoiding another fight if she did seek him out, so that wasn't really an option.

Starfire had been nice enough to offer some Tamaranean healing techniques, though they did little or no good. Many merely took Raven's mind off the pain for a while, but never actually did anything to lessen it. She was quickly beginning to understand why Starfire was always so cheerful: her people apparently tended to downplay anything they considered bad and focus on the good things in life.

Perhaps the only good thing that came from her being wounded was that no one asked her to look after the baby. She actually could use the excuse that she might've dropped him, as her arms seemed to hurt the worst. Thankfully, the baby never wanted to go to her again, and Raven decided that he'd only wanted her before to make sure she was okay. She was still unsure how he'd known she was in danger, but eventually chalked it up to enhanced pack logic. He would've done the same for any other Titan…at least, that's what she assumed.

* * * * *

"C'mon, Wildy!" Beast Boy coaxed from the other end of the couch. "You can do it!"

Teetering unsteadily, the baby slowly made his way to his 'mother,' hanging onto the couch for support. He needn't have bothered, as Starfire's hands were right behind him every step of the way.

Beast Boy grinned as the baby finally stumbled into his arms. "Good boy, Wildy! Once you learn how to run, we won't even need Cy's harness anymore!"

"I thought we agreed he wouldn't accompany us until he got bigger?" Starfire asked with concern.

"Well…he IS bigger. He's learning to walk!"

"Do not attempt to lie to me, Beast Boy," she said sternly. "You know very well that Robin has been measuring him every day. Fuzzy has not grown at all."

"But…maybe if he got out of the Tower once in a while, he WOULD get bigger. I bet he just needs things that can only be found out there: fresh air, sunshine, a criminal butt to kick…"

"He is too young," Starfire insisted. "What if he got hurt?"

"Aw, he's tough!" Beast Boy protested. "He never cries when he falls, like those wimpy babies!"

"Babies cry to communicate. Fuzzy does the same…just not as often."

"Cuz he's a macho man-imal! Ain't that right, champ?"

Wildy gurgled happily and nibbled on Beast Boy's finger.

Just then, Robin burst into the room, followed by Cyborg. "Move, guys! Dr. Light's loose!"

Beast Boy blinked in surprise. "I thought Raven put his lights out? Permanently?"

"Obviously, he got better! C'mon!"

"But…what about Fuzzy?" Starfire asked, cuddling the baby. "It will be very dangerous for him…"

"Maybe we could leave him home with Ra-" Cyborg began, but then caught Robin's eye. "Um…or drop him off at the nearest kennel?"

"Raven doesn't like him, but she's not just gonna let him choke on something, either!" Beast Boy snapped.

"You'd have to get her to come out of her room first," Robin replied. "Which she hasn't done in days. And we don't really have time to debate this. I guess…he'll have to come with us."

"I'll keep an eye on him," Beast Boy swore, raising his right hand. "Scout's honor!"

"You're not a scout, you're the random woodland creature they run from," Cyborg reminded him.

"Yeah, well, you know what I mean!" he exclaimed, taking the baby back from Starfire. "Robin's right. We're already at a disadvantage without Raven, so no one else can afford to stay home. She's probably the one he wants revenge against, so it's better she stay here."

"I was more thinking she wouldn't be there to freak him out just by looking at him, but that's true, too," Cyborg agreed.

* * * * *

Raven had fallen into a restless sleep when a particularly strong breeze eased her window open.

At once, her raven Shax flew over to the windowsill to investigate. Finding nothing odd after a few moments, he nevertheless took to the air to alert his mistress of the open window.

Before he could get far, a bone-white, clawed hand closed firmly around him.

"Keep your counsel, brother raven," Sylvan advised softly as he stepped silently into the bedroom. "I have matters to discuss with your owner." He thrust his hand out the window and released the bird. The instant his hand had drawn back inside, the window shut securely.

In a whirl of cloaks, the siblings were suddenly at each other's throats. Raven's hand was closed around Sylvan's neck and crackling with dark energy, while his clawed fingertips rested precariously against her jugular vein.

"Raven," he murmured carefully, "I did not come here to fight you."

"So is it my turn to beat you up?" she spat.

"We both know I could easily cancel out your powers if I wished. Why, then, have I not done so?"

"Don't know, don't care. All I know is you're trespassing and I REALLY don't like you. Just give me a reason."

Sensing they were getting nowhere fast, Sylvan let his claws fall away from her neck. "Raven. Please. I have come only to help you."

"You'll forgive me if I don't believe that."

He sighed. "I have been honest with you since the moment we met. I may not have told you everything to start with, but I have never lied to you."

"And you think that makes it okay that you beat me up?"

"I already explained why I needed to see the extent of your power. I have held back so far. Our sire would not."

Raven frowned and released him, sitting heavily on her bed.

At once, Sylvan knelt before her and placed his hand lightly on her knee.

Raven held in a gasp as warmth rushed through her leg, focusing on the wound behind her knee. She could actually feel the ache fading into nothingness. "Have you ever met him?" she asked softly as Sylvan moved to her other knee.

"Yes," he admitted with a frown. "After I was born, my mother was very ill. A few days later, Father came for me, and rather than see us both destroyed in the struggle, she allowed him to take me to his home dimension, in which we were both later sealed, though he managed to keep my existence hidden."

"He raised you?" Raven asked in surprise.

"For a few years, yes. I believe the time was equivalent to seven Earth years, anyway. It's difficult to be sure. At any rate, the more he taught me, the more I became convinced that we were not the same. I began to long for my mother, and he clearly had no intention of ever returning me to her. But even with all he had taught me, I could not hope to match him in strength. So I started searching for another means to escape him. Then, I found it. Father once-and only once-let it slip that your mother was the designated guardian of the dimension in which he resided. When I learned that it was possible for his mates to survive-and more importantly, that I was not the only product of such an ill-fated union-I devised a plan to escape. Amazingly, when she learned of my existence, your mother offered to help me do so."

"How?"

Sylvan smiled. "She broke the sole rule of her office and actually set foot into the forbidden dimension. As soon as she did so, Father sensed it and came running. He did not think it odd for me to accompany him, as I was never too far from his watchful eye. However, just when he was about to hurl himself at your mother and through the gates to his freedom, I struck."

"You attacked him?" Raven whispered in disbelief.

"Yes. As I said, he was much stronger than I. But, having surprised him, and with his being distracted by the open gate, I managed to damage him enough to slip past and escape. The instant I was free, your mother once again sealed the gate. I have not seen him since, save for in my nightmares."

"Then you came here?" Raven guessed.

"No. First, I went home to my mother. She was, as I'd hoped, still alive. Her illness remained, however, so she spent the rest of her life teaching me all that I would need to hold back my father's influence. Of course, having been exposed to him for so long, there was only so much control over it I could gain."

"Was your mother human?"

Sylvan shook his head. "She was what Earthlings of old might have called a forest nymph. Part of my power-all of it that contains his influence, in fact-comes from her. I do not like to use it, as it weakens my will and allows his taint to come forward."

"Was that what you meant by your…other form?"

He nodded and tapped the closed pair of eyes above his open ones. "When these eyes open, the ones below them close, signifying that he has taken over my mind. Even then, I still have some control. They were open the day I struck him down and escaped-they had been nearly the whole time I was with him."

Raven remained silent as she tested her arms and legs. Finding them totally healed, she looked up at Sylvan, suddenly ashamed of her mistrust. "I'm sorry. And thank you."

"Don't be sorry. Only a fool would blindly trust this face." He moved to her window, opened it, and paused. "Go to your friends, Raven. They will have need of you this night."

"How do you-" she began, but he had already vanished by that point. Frowning, she moved to window and extended her hand, sighing in relief when Shax came to perch on her finger. "Looks like you're on guard duty again, boy," Raven murmured, stroking the bird's back. "This could take a while."

* * * * *

"Hold it right there, Light!" Robin shouted as the Titans closed in. "You're surrounded! Give up and we'll go easy on you!"

Dr. Light remained standing in the middle of the deserted street, unresponsive and totally motionless.

"…I have to say, I expected him to put up a better fight," Beast Boy whispered.

"You're telling me," Cyborg replied. "I don't even get to try my upgraded sonic cannon."

Robin frowned as he got even closer. From where he stood, the doctor's eyes and face were blank. "Dr. Light? Can you hear me?" Hesitantly, he took a step closer and waved his hand before Dr. Light's face.

Nothing.

"I do not understand," Starfire said. "Why were we notified if he has done nothing wrong?"

"Breaking out of jail was wrong," Cyborg reminded her. "But I don't see how he pulled it off, if he's been like this the whole time."

"Comatose or not, we have to take him in," Robin insisted, reaching for the doctor's arms.

Raven suddenly appeared a yard away. "It's a trap!" she cried.

Robin's head whipped around, but before he could open his mouth to reply, he and the other nearby Titans vanished into a rapidly expanding ball of light.

Raven ducked down and shielded her face with her cloak as the roar of the explosion hit her. The resulting winds whipped at her body, but she managed to stay upright. When the noise and light faded, she slowly lowered her arm and gasped.

Clearly, Dr. Light had been waiting for the Titans to get close enough and drop their guards. Raven had unknowingly provided the perfect distraction herself. The Titans were all out cold. Dr. Light stood in their midst, his black bodysuit still crackling with energy.

Before she could even begin to put together a plan of attack, something else caught Raven's attention. Beast Boy had somehow managed to land on his chest, perhaps instinctively turning so he wouldn't land on Wildy. Now, however, perhaps sensing the danger or just upset at the jarring impact of the fall, the baby began to wail and scream in protest.

Dr. Light's empty eyes shifted to the source of the sound, and with no hesitation at all, he aimed his white gloved hand at the baby. The glove pulsed as it began to gather the necessary power for the shot.

Raven was moving before she even realized it. She phased into the street and re-emerged in front of Dr. Light just as he fired. The blast sailed harmlessly into the dark folds on her cloak. Even when the unexpected jolt of electricity came a few seconds later, Raven barely felt it. But then, she barely felt anything but seething rage at the moment. It was one thing to attack her teammates, who could more or less roll with the punches. But the baby was absolutely defenseless and posed no threat to Dr. Light.

She could feel her power growing with her rage, and soon she was towering over Dr. Light, snarling and hissing like a cornered animal.

Dr. Light stared up at her with no sign of fear-or anything else-in his eyes. Then, for some strange reason, a smile spread across his face, and he quickly brought his hands together in a loud clap.

At first, Raven thought the man was just insane. But that was when the combined wave of light, sound, and electricity slammed into her. It was as if someone had turned a floodlight on her very soul and then trapped it into an electric chair. Soon, the only thing Raven was aware of was blinding, excruciating pain racing through every part of her body. She dropped to the ground like a stone and did not move again.

Dr. Light's mysterious smile did not fade, even as what seemed to be a second head, composed of pure electricity, formed on his neck.

"Titans can beat Light and Overload apart," it chuckled. "But no one can beat Flash Light!"

As one, the two threw their heads back and laughed. Overload's was more of a deep roar, while Dr. Light's was giddy, manic, and even a bit frightening.

They were so caught up in their victory, that neither of them noticed the enormous, growing shadow behind them until it eclipsed the light they were radiating completely.

"Bad men hurt Nana!" growled a new voice.

Flash Light stopped laughing at once and spun around.

"NO ONE HURT NANA!!!"

The last thing Flash Light saw was a huge, hairy brown fist headed straight for him.

* * * * *

None of the Titans had any idea how they'd gotten back to the Tower. It was quickly agreed upon by all that a) Raven had whooped Dr. Light's butt good (again), b) she'd taken them all home afterwards, and c) Wildy had hit his first growth spurt, as his tiny little bone growths were now full-fledged, pale yellow horns.

Raven alone knew for certain that she had not defeated Dr. Light. After that last incredible blast, she had none nothing more until she woke up in her own bed, aching and confused. At the time she'd been knocked out, only the baby had been awake, and surely HE hadn't beaten Light.

But then she had checked the police reports the next morning, and was more than a little surprised to find that Dr. Arthur Light, super villain, was very much dead. At least, police believed him to be so. They had only been able to find remnants of his body and costume at the scene, and most of them were decorated by tiny tufts of brown hair. The first policeman on the scene, Captain Jeremy Banter, was quoted as saying something had most definitely "squished that boy good."

Raven did not mention any of that to the other Titans. She did, however, immediately volunteer to take out the trash herself. Especially when Beast Boy confirmed that Wildy had gotten into some bad-smelling tomato sauce the previous night.

* * * * *

Next Time: In the middle of a battle with Mad Mod and his very well-behaved students, Sylvan challenges Raven again. Meanwhile, Slade takes an interest in Dr. Light's murder and begins to put the pieces together…

Reviews!

Alan Wilkerson

Fuzzy is not Supergirl's biological kid. Raven is merely stating that Supergirl (an alternate version of her from another timeline) was one of the people that brought Fuzzy to this one, and the one who left the strongest psychic imprint on him (which an adoptive parent would in most cases).

Elroir

Actually, I think you read the story HERE twice, as you reviewed twice...and at the exact same time, no less. But it IS also posted @ FF.net.