Teen Titans Fan Fiction ❯ Final Dance of the Fallen Dove ❯ Pardon Me ( Chapter 1 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Pardon me while I burst
Pardon me while I burst

A decade agoI never thought I would beAt twenty threeOn the verge of spontaneous combustionWoe-is-me
But I guess that it comesWith the territoryAn ominous landscape of never ending calamity
I need you to hearI need you to seeThat I have had all I can takeAnd exploding seems likeA definite possibility to me

*So pardon me while I burst into flamesI've had enough of the worldAnd it's people's mindless gamesSo pardon me while I burnAnd rise above the flamePardon me, pardon meI'll never be the same

Not two days agoI was having a lookIn a book and I saw a picture of a guy fried up above his kneesI said, "I can relate,"Cause' lately I've been thinking of combustication as a welcomed vacation fromThe burdens of the planet earthLike gravity, hypocrisy, and the perils of being in 3-DBut thinking so much differently

*Repeat
Never be the same, yeah

Pardon me while I burst into flamesPardon me, pardon me, pardon me

*Repeat

Pardon me
Never be the same, yeah

“Pardon Me” - Incubus

It was quite an odd sight, Starfire floating regularly in and out of her room, each time with a new load of objects, mostly extra uniforms, but there were a few other personal belongings among the bunches. For a time, after discovering her, the other Titans had simply stood in silence watching, but finally Robin spoke up.

“Umm . . . what are you doing, Starfire?” At the query, the Tamaranian paused in her regular flight, and turned to face her team mates completely.

Notably, though, she could not bring herself to look at Raven, just as the dark magus couldn’t bear to do anything more than look at the floor beneath Starfire’s floating feet. The alien girl had not gone to Raven’s room the night before, instead sleeping in her own bed, alone.

“I am packing my things, to leave for Tamaran.” She said quietly, a false smile on her face.

Robin, still perplexed, followed almost immediately with,

“why?” A pang ripped its way through the expression on the alien girl’s face, drawing it tight on her bones and even more obviously false, so much so that even Beast Boy knew something was wrong.

“I am to be married, and will not be returning.” Shock rippled through the assembled group, especially Raven, who fairly seethed with barely constrained, explosive power.

When no one said anything for a time afterwards, Starfire sullenly returned to transporting her clothing. But it was only a few moments later that Raven almost stumbled into Starfire’s room, her face hidden by her hanging bangs as she seemingly stared at the floor beneath her feet. Starfire simply stopped, letting Raven walk right up to her, her features twisting and contorting with her own strong emotions, barely held in check by her wish to not upset the others anymore than necessary.

“Why?” Raven choked out, raising her head to look Starfire in the eyes, pain obvious in the unusual wetness of her own violet orbs, as well as the way that they almost seemed to quiver in the light.

Before the Tamaranian could even formulate her answer to the question, though, anger and accusation arose in the dark magus’ eyes.

“Was I just something to do while you were away from him?” She nearly growled as she spoke, and Starfire shrank from the nearly palpable aura of malice that surrounded Raven at that moment.

“No!” She cried, horrified. “My marriage was decreed by the Grand Ruler of Tamaran, I have never met him, I do not even know his name!” At the realization of what Star said, but far more the abject terror that the alien girl was displaying then, Raven cooled her anger.

“I’m sorry, Starfire.” She murmured, ashamed of herself, and Starfire cautiously came to stand at her full height again, no longer pulling away from Raven.

“You are forgiven, Raven, you did not know.” Silence reigned between the two for the moments afterwards, as Raven silently berated herself for her foolish jealousy.

Eventually, though, the gravity of the situation returned her focus to the outer world.

“Then why do it, you don’t have t- . . .” Starfire cut Raven off, knowing what the violet-haired mage was going to say.

“Yes, I do.” Her inner turmoil caused by the conflict of loyalties between two things very dear to her showed through in Starfire’s emerald on lime green eyes, lidded and drawn. “The Grand Ruler has decreed it, I must obey.” Raven’s jaw clenched as she almost instantly developed an immense dislike for the potentate that was destroying her happiness with little more than a few words.

“Then I’ll come with you and convince that bastar- . . .” Again, Starfire did not let her love finish.

“Please, I do not want you to do anything such as that, the Grand Ruler is our Ruler, regardless of anything done, whether it is perceived just or unjust.” The alien’s skin grew just slightly pallid, as she swallowed before continuing. “It does not matter, though, because it was also decreed that I must come alone, unescorted.” She looked down to the ground, unable to continue holding Raven’s eye as she voiced the final point. “Any outsiders that accompany me will be . . . executed.” Raven’s jaw fairly fell to the very floor at Starfire’s pronouncement.

“What?!”

“I am sorry, but I must finish packing, the journey will take a long time, and I was not given long to dawdle before leaving.” The Tamaranian breezed past Raven, almost knocking over the absolutely bewildered girl with just the brush of her arm as she passed.

The dark magus could honestly not even comprehend what was going on, it made no sense at all. It was like some kind of terrible nightmare, as she was being forced to watch her entire relationship with Starfire, which she’d actually dared to hope would last forever, shattered before her very eyes. She desperately wanted to cry, but somehow, the tears just refused to come to her. Just before Starfire would have slipped out of the room, she paused in the door frame.
“I think that it would be best if you forgot about me, Raven.” Then Star stepped out of the room and into the hall, the door sliding shut behind her, cutting off the outside source of light and throwing the unlit room into total darkness.

“No.” The denial cut through the cloying, smothering blackness, and a moment later a shape rose up in it. Darker than the darkest night, it stood out among the shadows as if it were not dark at all, as starkly as if the sun itself lay in that very room. And then Raven was gone from the room.

“So, do you want us to come with you?” Robin asked, he and the other boys having been waiting outside of Starfire’s room patiently and respectfully.

But, just as with Raven, Starfire didn’t stop, couldn’t stop, so she went right past them. Because she knew that if she stopped now, she wouldn’t be able to go again, and that would mean betraying Tamaran.

“Starfire!” Robin nearly yelled, knowing something had to be deathly wrong, if Starfire was giving her friends the cold shoulder.

She still didn’t stop, simply said, without looking back.

“You cannot come with me, you will be killed if you do.” No one could stop her, not after something such as that had been said.

She wasn’t going to let it happen, not as long as she still had the strength to fight. Raven wasn’t just going to timidly shrug away the love she’d worked so hard to build with Starfire, not then, not ever. And so she was to be found sneaking about the hanger bay of the tower after night had fallen over the city. She needed to scrounge up some supplies and spare parts, because though Cyborg had put the Titans through an extensive training program; both for the ship when it was still a submersible, and another when it was converted into an inter-stellar transport; there was still a chance that something could happen, and dying of starvation after being marooned on an alien planet sounded like a very ignoble and undesirable way to die.

Besides, if she died like that, the fact that she hadn’t even had the chance to say goodbye to Starfire would haunt her to the very end of the spiraling eternities. And even more so, the dark heroine was convinced; after a measure of soul searching; that her actions were not being produced entirely by selfish drives: Something about the whole thing just stank, and she wouldn’t be at ease until she was sure Starfire was alright. After collecting all the necessary items, Raven quietly slipped across the room and keyed up the computer console. A quick diagnostic found the ship and all its parts to be in perfect working order, and all the indicators showed green; fuel supply at maximum capacity, weapons calibrated and charged, vital fluids freshly changed.
In short, everything was perfect. Next, her fingers played across the touch pad of the console, calling up the disengage sequence for her wing of the T-Ship. Not only could the whole T-Ship not be effectively operated by just one individual, but it was far more likely that the other Titans would notice the launch of; or. at least, the loss of; the entire ship. They were in town at the moment, drowning their sorrows in ice cream at the Soda shop, on Beast Boy’s suggestion, so even if they did notice her absence, she’d at least have a head start on them. Besides, thanks to Cyborg’s Launch Catapult, Raven didn’t need the gigantic booster engines of the whole ship to reach Escape Velocity, which would make her launch far less conspicuous.

After it’s completion, Raven had asked Cyborg why he hadn’t gotten rid of the gargantuan rockets, since they were no longer necessary, and in typical fashion, he had replied,

“why would I ever get rid of something this powerful?”

“Boys with toys . . .” Raven muttered disdainfully as she programmed in another sequence, getting the mechanical lifting arm to remove her wing from the rest of the T-Ship and transport it to the catapult.

“If you keep talking to yourself, people are going to think you’re crazy.” Raven spun about, her now familiar sword coming instinctively to her grasp, silently cursing her foolish preoccupation with the trivial events of the past.

It turned out to be Robin that had come up behind her, arms crossed over his chest, and eyes unreadable behind his trademark mask.

“So, what are you up to?” He asked quietly, almost conversationally.

The dark magus glared at the boy wonder, just daring him to try to pretend as though he didn’t know, and then let her sword vanish from her grip. When his expression remained unchanged, nor did he offer anything verbally, Raven simply turned her back to him, going back to the console.

“You shouldn’t go after her.” He commented just as she was about to put fingertips to the touch-sensitive screen, stopping her dead in her tracks.

Very slowly, and very deliberately, Raven pulled her arms back and away from the computer, and took a deep, calming breath. Then she turned on Robin, rage simmering just below the surface of her eyes, as she barely managed to remind herself that Robin was not an enemy.

“I’m going and I won’t let you stop me.” Robin raised his hands, open palms facing outwards, in a placating gesture.

“I don’t plan on trying to, I just want to talk to you.”

“There’s nothing to talk about.” Raven replied almost immediately, but even before she could pull her planned about face, Robin spoke again.

“She has to do this for her people, you know, I’m sure there’s a reason for it.”

“I don’t care, I love her!” Raven yelled at the boy wonder, her anger boiling over at the insinuation that there could possibly be a reason to justify her losing Star.

“Now you’re just being selfish, acting like your needs are paramount to anyone else’s.” Raven’s cheeks burned with color at Robin’s chastising words, and she growled softly in indignation.

“I will not let her go, not after everything I went through to get her, not after I nearly died to be with her.” She was resolute, the ring of iron determination in her voice, and Robin smiled just faintly.

“In that case, all I can say is that you’d better remember that you said that, and never forget it, because I’m going to hold you to it.” Raven blinked in surprise, and Robin smirked as Raven’s expression gave away that emotion. “I love her too, and even if I can only be a brother to her, I’m still going to be the best damn brother I can be.” Raven stared for just a moment, but then nodded, understanding.

“Then you’re going to let me go?”

“Yup.”

“And you and the others won’t be coming?” Robin paused for a moment, simply staring hard at Raven, expression darkened just a shade.

“It’s against my better judgement, but yes, I’m going to let you go alone.” Raven was gladdened that Robin appeared to understand her feelings, because she had feared so much that she would have to fight him over who would save Starfire, or some such other ridiculous thing.

“Alright, I’m going to go now, then, while Beast Boy and Cyborg are still out.” Raven went to the console again, keying up the final launch sequence that readied the catapult.

As soon as the hum of electricity flowing through systems filled the air, Raven took off toward her ship, though she stopped about halfway.

“Thank you, Robin.” She said over her shoulder, voice raised just enough to be caught over the building harmonics, and Robin nodded.

“No problem.” It was only a few more moments before Raven was inside of her wing, strapped in and ready for launch, and an even shorter time later, she was gone, blasting through the launch tube at an exponentially increasing speed, due to the magnetic acceleration effect built into it.
“Can we go back to the Soda Shop now?” Beast Boy asked, as he came out from the shadows off to the side of the room, looking annoyed and indignant. “I didn’t even get to finish the malt I did get to order!”

“BB, shut up.” Cyborg said easily as he slipped out from his unseen position as well, coming up to stand beside Robin just as Beast Boy did, though he wasn’t sulking nearly as much as the green-skinned shape shifter. “So, are we going to go after her?” He asked, looking to the boy wonder.

At length, Robin responded, obviously after very careful consideration.

“No, this is something she needs to do herself, and it’ll only complicate matters if we’re there.” Beast Boy perked up at the news, smiling his wide, toothy smile.

“Does that mean that we can go back to the shop now?” Both Cyborg and Robin looked to the expectant Titan, and shook their heads, letting loose twins sighs.

Then they simply walked off, leaving Beast Boy behind, dumbfounded.

“Well, what about it, guys?” He looked after them, even as they disappeared into the lifts. “Guys?”

It had been a long and lonely journey. Through it, Starfire had wished far too often that her friends could be there to talk to her, or that her love could be there to hold her and tell her everything was alright. But that could not happen anymore, not ever again. Slowly, she descended through the atmosphere of Tamaran, and watched as its terra firma rose up towards her. Despondently, she wished that such was not just an optical illusion, that the earth would simply climb up to her and engulf her in its cold embrace, ending her life with a burial that, due to her emotional state, would not be as premature as one would think. Such a thought fairly broadsided Starfire’s psyche, as she had never before been one to think of . . . suicide, ultimately. She wondered if earth, or maybe love, had changed her so much.

Lightly, she landed on the platform designated for ships and arriving Tamaranians to land on, and realized that there was a figure already waiting for her. He was a giant of a man, with a ragged scar ripped down his face and through one sickly green eye, misted over and obviously now useless from the wound. His bearing revealed him for a warrior, tall and proud, despite his fairly venerable age, and the aura of menace he radiated was unmistakable. Unafraid, Starfire approached him, stepping up to right before him, eyes locked with his. Even as the shouted words came forth from her lips and his, filled with seeming rage, the elder lunged at Starfire, and huge, callused fingers turned out to be more than nimble enough for tickling.

Starfire giggled madly, hysterically as the old warrior’s touch found every single place on her body sensitive to such play, the knowledge of which had been gained over the years of caring for a young, Tamaranian princess. Eventually, Star could not take any more without embarrassing herself in one way or another, and pulled away from the giant man, ending the game.

“It is wonderful to see you again after so long, Galfore.” Starfire said, once her voice was released from the clutches of lingering laughs and giggles.

“And I, you, Princess Starfire.” Easily, the great warrior bent on one knee before the far smaller child in fealty, and she shook her head.

“There is no need for such formality, Knorfka, everything in the royal succession is taken care of as always, is it not?” Starfire could not see Galfore’s face, as his head was bent low in supplication, and so when he rumbled,

“yes, it is,” she thought nothing of it.

With a certain amount of prodding, Starfire convinced Galfore to take her around the castle, as it had been so long since she had been home, to see the changes made to it in her absence. She wished to see the sights, yes, but deep down she knew that what se really wanted to do was bury her feelings for Raven and the others under a veneer of wonder at coming to her home again. After all, she was never going to see them again, and thus needed to get thoughts and memories of them out of her mind as soon as possible.

“Have matters worsened since I received my missive?” Starfire asked suddenly, hoping to remind herself of the importance of her duty, as her heart wrenched in her chest at the thought of forgetting her friends.

When Galfore stared blankly at Starfire, after she voiced her question, it set off alarm bells in the back of the alien girl’s mind.

“The Drenthax fleet?” She asked, and recognition came to the warrior’s one working eye with an almost literal flash.

“Yes, of course, things are going terribly, I am sorry to say.” Galfore’s warrior nature showed through in his speech often, and never more so than then, as he had absolutely no skill for lying at all, especially to Starfire.

“What is wrong?” She asked plainly, blowing right through his smokescreen of falsehood, and leaving him utterly defenseless.

He sighed as his shoulder slumped deeply in defeat and guilt.

“Much has changed since you left.” That said, he simply lead on, heading toward the Great Feasting Hall, his huge form shrinking as it moved further and further into the soaring architecture.

She knew something was wrong, the very air screamed that fact to Starfire as it crowded in around her oppressively. But, even with that knowledge, the alien princess knew that there was nothing she could do, beyond simply following through with her duty. She had no allies, no friends, to turn to this time. That didn’t mean that she was just going to run away crying, though, Starfire was a strong girl, and when it came to protecting Tamaran, she was determined. In flight, she caught up to Galfore quickly, but said nothing once she did, nor did Galfore give any verbal indication that he realized she was once again near him. He simply continued on to their destination, the hall, and once they arrived, Starfire was astonished by what she found awaiting her.

A feast beyond description was laid out upon the grand table, leaving virtually no room at all on its surface for anything more than what was already, the weight of it all so immense that it actually bowed the top at the center, where there were no supports. Then again, that didn’t really matter, she supposed, since every last dish and delicacy that could be made with Tamaranian foodstuffs lay on it already, along with several Starfire had never before seen in her life. Pickled Zorka Berry Jellies, Fried Zorlanian Wasp Mothers, Kreskorzic Razor Boar Roasts, Elegore Sole Filets, everything was there, from the most humble of Tamaranian dishes, Lerchizish Porridge, to the most absolutely extravagant of them all, the Glaxchician Crystalline Sorume Shiren. The last of which was only very rarely prepared, as the strain of watching their masterpiece destroyed and devoured almost always proved too much for the chef, pushing them to ritual suicide.

Despite all of the table manners drilled into her by her stay on earth, Starfire fairly drooled a waterfall at just the thought of eating any one of the delicacies there. But, as she neared her seat at the great expanse of the table, Starfire noted with more than a little trepidation that her kin looked disturbingly somber, especially considering that the marriage of their princess, even with the circumstances, should have been a happy, joyous event.

“Let us eat.” A number of huge axes came out and down, monstrous strength cleaving several parts of the table nearly in half, and rendering the food piled upon it into nothing more than a slurry-like mess of slop.

As she dove towards her desired portion of the mess, Starfire was fairly certain that she heard a cry of agony ring out from the side of the room, where the many chefs that had prepared the meal were situated to watch its consumption, but she paid little heed to it, as she was quite famished from her flight back home. Star drove into the meal like a beast possessed, devouring everything she could get her hands on and savoring the sweet taste of traditional Tamaranian cooking eaten as it was meant to be eaten, and even fought off several of her brothers and sisters in order to maintain her choice position.

But, when the threktars thundered our their sharp tones, the whole of the feast froze, Starfire wiping some green goo from her face as she looked up to the Hall entrance. Because, as all Tamaranians knew, the roar of the threktars always announced the coming of the Grand Ruler. The figure descended in a swirl of servants and courtiers and, before Starfire even truly saw anything of its person, spoke.

“Seize her.” Arms were all about the princess, and she was bound in an instant, leaving her on her back on the table.

Unseen, she heard the Grand Ruler approach, foot steps clipping softly on the stone floor, and a moment later found a face looking down upon her, features hidden by the lighting directly overhead.

“And now, you are mine.” Then the face vanished, the swirl of cloth in the air indicating that the Ruler was walking away quickly, cape trailing behind. “Dress her appropriately to her new station, and then bring her to my throne.” Starfire was hefted to her feet, and as her eyes once again lay before her, the sight she saw shook her deeply, a vision of glossy black hair swishing through the air as the sinuous movements of the body it was attached to shifted it about.

“Blackfire?!” The figure stopped in its advance out of the room, and a moment later, harsh, haughty laughter filled the air.

“Welcome home,” the sultry voice rang out, before the elder princess turned about to face Starfire. “Sister, dear.” She smiled viciously after speaking, raising one glowing hand high. “And goodnight!” In a brilliant, searing flash of purple, Starfire’s world went dark.

Starfire’s world was a strange one indeed, Raven had guessed that much as soon as she had first seen it from the distance, looking like a giant jawbreaker hanging in the blackness. Once she descended within the clear atmosphere, she realized this to be even more true, as endless plains of chalky white nothingness stretched out beneath her in almost every direction, only a few small mountains dotting that endless landscape. On the plus side, though, it made the citadel of the Tamaranian Royalty all the easier to find, even without the tracking signal Starfire’s Titan Communicator was putting off. Raven thanked her lucky stars that her love hadn’t thought to remove that item before leaving, because otherwise it would have taken far longer to find Starfire. Raven would have managed even if that weren’t the case, but this way gave her a higher chance of getting there before something terrible happened.

She landed carefully and quietly on the only pad outstretched from the tower, which was thankfully unguarded. Raven was willing to do anything and everything necessary to get Starfire back, but she doubted that murdering Starfire’s people, regardless of the reason, would go over well with the alien girl. Stealthily, she slipped inside the fortress, and after a moment’s concentration, the shadows became as one with her. It was not true invisibility, as a figure of shadow stuff stood out glaringly in bright light, but as long as she kept to the darkness at the sides of the halls . . .

It was slow going, due to the necessity of having to stay scrunched up against the walls of each hallway, but this wasn’t an entirely bad thing for Raven, as the lack of patrolling guards meant that she had time to think and contemplate. What Robin had told her back in the hanger was not sitting well at all, mainly because there was a very real possibility that it was true. Starfire had told Raven the whole of her story not long after they came together, that she was a princess of Tamaran, second in line for succession to the throne, and so she knew that a politically arranged marriage to placate some rampaging warlord or such was a reality Starfire had to worry about. As a show of good faith, Raven had revealed her own secret, that she was . . .

The dark magus froze as the sound of heavy footsteps clomping down the hall, quickly sucking in a breath and her stomach as she pulled up against the wall as tightly as possible. Around the corner came a large, handsome-looking Tamaranian man, a pike clutched in his hand. He looked warily about as he moved down the hall, and the way in which he held his spear made it clear that he had orders to “dispose” of any intruders, which made it all the more disturbing when he stopped just after having passed her position. As he slowly turned in place to take in the whole of the hall once again, Raven very carefully allowed the energy of her sword to coalesce in her hand, silently creating the blade of the shadow stuff that already hid her from view. Luckily, though, once he had turned a full circuit, the guard was satisfied and simply moved on, leaving Raven’s parasympathetic nervous system to slow her thundering heart within her chest. She was glad, because she knew that if he had remained even just a second longer, she would have leapt out and buried her sword in his back. It frightened her, just a little, to know that her love for Starfire was so great that she would risk her own life like she was for her, that Raven was willing to accept killing as a necessity, if it meant saving her.

She moved on, and wondered then, what she would do if it all turned out to be for naught, if it truly was necessary for Star to go through with the marriage. After a small amount of soul searching, the answer came easily to her: attempt to alleviate the necessity. If it was some alien menace, then it would be quite simple, as she would either destroy the force and negate the need for Starfire’s arranged marriage, or be too dead to care that she’d lost her crimson-haired love. Cowardly, she knew, but since when had the opinions of others ever mattered to someone so deeply in love?

Meandering through thoughts meant to sort our her jumbled emotional connections and resolve, Raven continued on until she instinctively moved up a flight of stairs, climbing them with considerable speed, especially keeping in mind her earlier, cautious pace. At the top she found a door, large and ornate, one which she didn’t care to open.

“Even if you aren’t locked, you’ll still make a racket when I open you up.” Raven murmured quietly to the door, before letting black energy collect at the tip of one outstretched finger. “Azarath, metrion, zinthos . . .” Easily, she traced a large circle around the door with that finger tip which, once completed, became a swirling portal of blackness, one that the dark magus slipped through without hesitation.

When she came through the other side, she was greeted by maniacal laughter, echoing through the whole of the chamber almost endlessly. The room itself appeared to be a second level, as evidenced by the flight of stairs coming up a distance away from her position, and judging by the large panes of glass set into the inner walls looked down upon another room, she had to guess it was some form of unorthodox balcony. Darkness filled it, as none of the overhead lights appeared to be functioning, but the lighting of the inner room made it child’s play for Raven to find the source of the disturbing laughter.

“Wasn’t it just such a delicious little ruse, Starfire?” Blackfire, dressed in the regalia of royalty and seated up on a great throne, asked of the girl seated beside her throne.

Starfire, dressed; and in that case, the term could only be used very loosely; in what amounted to an ornate set of metallic undergarments, and swathed in heavy chains as well a collar with a chain attached to it, said nothing in response. At the sight, Raven’s hands clenched so tightly at her sides that her fingernails dug into her own flesh, though she did not notice, and in fact drew blood from the palms, which fell to the ground with a soft, rhythmic series of drips and plops.

“I tell you Tamaran is in grave danger from an unstoppable force, and you come running to save it without your precious friends.” Blackfire laughed again, and tugged on the chain she held, the opposite end naturally attached to the collar that had been slapped onto Star, straining her sister’s neck up. “Only to arrive and be shackled, now no better than a common slave.” As Raven watched, rage quickly mounting, Blackfire yanked up again, forcing Starfire up to eye level with her, an extremely uncomfortable position, considering that the unfortunate alien had been sitting on the dias beside Blackfire’s high throne. “How does it feel, sister dear, to know that this is your life now, and that you precious little Robin can’t sa- . . .” Quite suddenly, Raven found herself grabbed from behind in arms that held a terrible strength, having apparently missed the approach of the guard in her blind focus on the goings on in the main room.

“Empress Blackfire, I have captured an intruder!” The guard bellowed out, making Raven’s ire rise even further, as Blackfire might well use Starfire as a hostage and complicate the dark magus’ rescue attempt now that she knew someone was there in the balcony.

The cloaked heroine struggled valiantly, but her weak body was no match for the beyond super-human guard that now held her in his grasp.

“Stop squirming, little one, I do not wish to hurt y- . . .” Then again, when it came to Raven, especially as emotionally charged as she currently was, physical strength wasn’t the only thing that mattered.

“Azarath, metrion, zinthos!” Outward from Raven’s body exploded a telekinetic wave of force, which easily blew the foolish warrior off of her, and into the back wall of the balcony hard enough to leave an imprint in the masonry.

Briefly, Raven glanced to the fallen Tamaranian, making sure that he was in fact down for the count, and then her eyes fell back on the inner room of the structure. Blackfire had already fled with Starfire, but that didn’t really worry the violet-haired mage very much, as all of the guards that had been flanking the throne earlier now stood guard before just one door. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out where the bitch had gone. Without even a thought, Raven’s sword came to her hand, fairly throbbing with all of the barely constrained energy burning inside of her. In fact, even as she did so, the surface of the blade became alight with blazing sigils of red energy, runes of unknown origin.

“I’ll get you back, Starfire, I swear it.” With those words, the manifested sword cut through the air before her in a simple, X-pattern, cleaving the glass pane of the balcony into four, neat triangles, which were then immediately shattered as Raven came leaping through, flying straight for the group of guards with sword ready.