Gotham and Zandia, Wednesday Night
Jun. 30th, 2010 09:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
Raven had quietly left Fandom on Sunday, just needing to put some distance between her and what had happened at 'Dite's. She decided to visit Gotham, the city her mother had once called home, because as a connection to her mother, it was a connection to her humanity, something she sorely needed to remind herself of.
She spent a few days just familiarizing herself with the city. She was almost temped to seek out her human grandparents, but from what little Arella had told her, she knew that would probably be an unpleasant encounter.
Late Wednesday evening she found herself drawn to a quiet church. The pews were empty, and the door was been locked. But sealed portals were no barrier to her dimension-traveling powers. She wanted to be alone, to think and contemplate who she was, and even more so, why she was. And this church, although alien to the one she was raised in the dimension-tossed land of Azarath, was still a place conducive to such thought and to such prayer.
A voice interrupted those thoughts as she stood before the altar. "Can I help you?"
"I am sorry," Raven said, turning to look at at the elderly priest who had spoken to her. She felt guilty for trespassing now. "I am not of this faith. I do not belong here."
"Of course you do," the priest said with a kind smile. "If something is wrong, maybe I can help. Will you let me?"
The irony of the words she usually used being spoken to her instead did not escape her, but she shook her head. "No. It is impossible. You cannot understand what is wrong with me."
"Please stay," the priest encouraged. "Everyone is welcome here."
"Even Satan's daughter?" Raven asked quietly.
"Father, she cannot be helped. Come to us, Raven."
Raven spun around to find the source of the voice, up in the balcony above the pews, a woman dressed in black and green and wearing a long, dramatic cape. With her stood three others: a man in some sort of yellow metal armor; a dark-skinned man in a red feathered headdress; and a man who appeared to be made of pink molten lava. "What?" Raven said. "Who are you? What do you want?

"You," the woman said simply. Her voice had a strong British accent. "And we will get what we came for. Why not just come with us peacefully?"
"I do not even know who you are," Raven said, tensing for an attack. "Why should I go with you?"
"I am Phobia," the woman said. "And if you resist us, I will make you taste my fear-creating powers. Pray I do not decide to let you feast on them!"
"I am called Warp," the man in the strange yellow armor stated in a thick French accent. "With zee proper coordinates I can create zee warp between any two locations."
"And I, Houngan, will show you how superstition and science can be merged with very deadly results," the man in the feathered headdress said.
"Science, bah!" the pink lava man sneered. "Dis science created Plasmus. My protoplasmic body, this horror I haf become, it shall be der weapon of your destruction!"
"We are part of the Brotherhood of Evil," Phobia said. "And you will join us now."
Raven...was not impressed, and her expression showed it. "That is a stupid name," she said. "Evil does not know brotherhood. And you are a woman." And their outfits were extremely silly-looking, but she was not petty enough not to bring that up. She almost wished Karla and Dinah were here with her to mock the terrible fashion choices. Phobia's disco collar was particularly ridiculous.Nightwing would like it, though.
Phobia frowned. "I will not defile a temple of worship to fight you here," she said, "but you are coming with us, whether you want to or not."
"I do not and will not," Raven said. "And you cannot compel me to do so." She did risk a quick glance over her shoulder to make sure the priest was safe and found he had wisely fled to safety. Unfortunately, as she turned back, a yellow rift had opened up in front of her, and she moved right into it before she could take a step back. Ooops.
* * *
The jolt of the warp transporting her through space momentarily stunned her. She wasn't sure how long she had been unconscious, and she sensed the Brotherhood around her as she awoke.
"She awakens," Houngan said. "Now we can proceed."
"Let me try first," Phobia said. "I already know her worst fear. I can use it to loosen her tongue."
"No, Phobia," Plasmus said. "I will be der first, der Brain wanted me to work with dis girl."
"Ah, zis shall be interesting, non?" Warp laughed. "This one, she has ze 'beaute du diable' -- the beauty of the devil; the bloom of freshness and youth. She weel not be an easy one to crack, non."
Raven pushed herself up up, looking around. She lay in a shallow stone pit with skulls and bones strewn about her. A detached part of her mind couldn't help but note that it seemed awfully melodramatic and impractical. And...was that a gorilla and a robot with an exposed brain watching her from behind a glass panel? The whole situation was insane.
Plasmus stood over her, and he reached down to seize her arms and lift her into the air. His touch caused her skin to bubble and burn painfully. "You know the secret of Brother Blood, fraulein," he snapped. "Ve are not in der mood for games."
"Stop!" Raven cried, growing frightened now. She had no idea what they wanted to know about Sebastian, but whatever it was, she couldn't tell them. "I know no secrets of Brother Blood. Please, just leave me alone." She struggled and squirmed in Plasmus's grasp, trying to escape the pain. He dropped her back down to the floor.
"I am sorry, little girl," Houngan said, pulling a small doll from his belt. He stabbed it with a golden needle, and Raven doubled over in intense pain. "My dear Raven," Houngan continued, "I can cure your ills if you will let me, or I can increase them if you are stubborn. My computer fetish can be your friend -- or your killer. Which shall it be? Talk! Tell us the secret of Blood's power!"
"I do not know what you want!" Raven gasped, writhing in pain, clutching her stomach. She felt like she was burning up from the inside.
"It's no good," Houngan said. "If I continue using the fetish, I would kill her. We'd learn nothing that way. It is up to you, Phobia. Do not fail the Brain."
"If I had been the first, the information would already be ours," Phobia said irritably, drawing near to Raven. "My dear Raven, one last chance -- talk!"
The pain had stopped, for now at least, and Raven shook her head. "I know nothing," she insisted.
"Very well," Phobia said, standing over her. "If you insist on remaining so stubborn, I will do what must be done. You are a sad case, girl. Your fears are so rife. The problem with you is not finding your weakness but choosing which one to exploit. Perhaps your ludicrous shyness...shall we plunge you into the center of a million souls? Wait, wait, I have it. So delicious."
Raven sucked in a horrified breath as she realized what Phobia intended. "No, Phobia, do not! For Azar's sake, you do not know what you could unleash!" she cried, holding up her hands. "Please, if there is any mercy in your heart, show it now! Do not do this to me!" If her fear got the better of her, she'd lose control again.
The room plunged into darkness, and Raven covered her face with her hands, for a long moment refusing to look. But she could not help but sense what awaited her in the darkness. She opened her eyes and saw her father standing before her, the Brotherhood at his side. And at his feet lay the broken and bleeding bodies of everyone she cared about, dead and dying. "This is not real, this is not real, this is not real," she whispered to herself, but their pain felt very real, and she could sense the agony her friends had suffered at her father's hands.
Karla lay closest to her, and she lifted her head as Raven crawled to her side. "Raven, why did you let them do this to me? Why did you help them kill us?" she cried weakly. "We love you. Is this how you pay us back -- by killing us?"
"Take my hand!" Raven called, reaching for Karla. "My life will be passed on to you. You will live!"
Karla found the strength to yank her hand away. "No! You're death! You're evil! You're everything that is wrong! I'd die before letting you cure me!"
"Karla, please!" Raven said, reaching again, but flames sprang up around the other girl, and she screamed as they consumed her. And all the while her father laughed.
"No!" Raven screamed. She felt her fear and despair spiraling out of control, and Phobia's illusion shattered as her Soul-Self rose from her body. "You have gone too far," she said, her voice harsh as she face the Brotherhood, "And now you will have to pay!"
"Mon dieu!" Warp said. "What has happened to her?"
"Do not toy with the daughter of Trigon," Raven snarled. She could feel the hate, an emotion she had done her best to avoid, rising within her, making her feel powerful and terrible. Her Soul-Self spread its wings, preparing to unleash a blast of power that would destroy her tormentors where they stood. She would make them suffer for what they had dared do to her.
Then she heard Karla's voice in her mind. "You're just as much your mother's child as your father's." She'd come to Gotham to try to understand her human side better, not see it destroyed, not like this. With some effort she reined her hate and rage back in and recalled her angry Soul-Self. "No! I will not kill!" she cried. "I will not!" She held out a hand and pointed at the startled members of the Brotherhood, who had drawn away from her in fear. "But you will leave me be," she said. "You will not seek me out again. Or I will destroy you."
They were too unnerved by what they had just seen to argue with her, and none of them made any move to attack again. Raven gathered herself enough to teleport herself to safety, a quiet park back in Gotham. She was still shaky with fear over what she had almost done, but pleased and relieved as well. She had controlled the darkness within her enough to spare the Brotherhood. The experience had been extremely unsettling, but she knew she was still herself, she was still Raven, not Trigon's daughter. She felt safe enough now to return to Fandom.
[OOC: Canon adapted from The New Teen Titans #30 and #31. In reality, Raven lost it on the Brotherhood and had to hug it out with Wonder Girl. Warnings for painful canon dialogue and text, really bad accents, and badly dressed villains. NFB and NFI due to distance, but OOC is always welcome.]
She spent a few days just familiarizing herself with the city. She was almost temped to seek out her human grandparents, but from what little Arella had told her, she knew that would probably be an unpleasant encounter.
Late Wednesday evening she found herself drawn to a quiet church. The pews were empty, and the door was been locked. But sealed portals were no barrier to her dimension-traveling powers. She wanted to be alone, to think and contemplate who she was, and even more so, why she was. And this church, although alien to the one she was raised in the dimension-tossed land of Azarath, was still a place conducive to such thought and to such prayer.
A voice interrupted those thoughts as she stood before the altar. "Can I help you?"
"I am sorry," Raven said, turning to look at at the elderly priest who had spoken to her. She felt guilty for trespassing now. "I am not of this faith. I do not belong here."
"Of course you do," the priest said with a kind smile. "If something is wrong, maybe I can help. Will you let me?"
The irony of the words she usually used being spoken to her instead did not escape her, but she shook her head. "No. It is impossible. You cannot understand what is wrong with me."
"Please stay," the priest encouraged. "Everyone is welcome here."
"Even Satan's daughter?" Raven asked quietly.
"Father, she cannot be helped. Come to us, Raven."
Raven spun around to find the source of the voice, up in the balcony above the pews, a woman dressed in black and green and wearing a long, dramatic cape. With her stood three others: a man in some sort of yellow metal armor; a dark-skinned man in a red feathered headdress; and a man who appeared to be made of pink molten lava. "What?" Raven said. "Who are you? What do you want?

"You," the woman said simply. Her voice had a strong British accent. "And we will get what we came for. Why not just come with us peacefully?"
"I do not even know who you are," Raven said, tensing for an attack. "Why should I go with you?"
"I am Phobia," the woman said. "And if you resist us, I will make you taste my fear-creating powers. Pray I do not decide to let you feast on them!"
"I am called Warp," the man in the strange yellow armor stated in a thick French accent. "With zee proper coordinates I can create zee warp between any two locations."
"And I, Houngan, will show you how superstition and science can be merged with very deadly results," the man in the feathered headdress said.
"Science, bah!" the pink lava man sneered. "Dis science created Plasmus. My protoplasmic body, this horror I haf become, it shall be der weapon of your destruction!"
"We are part of the Brotherhood of Evil," Phobia said. "And you will join us now."
Raven...was not impressed, and her expression showed it. "That is a stupid name," she said. "Evil does not know brotherhood. And you are a woman." And their outfits were extremely silly-looking, but she was not petty enough not to bring that up. She almost wished Karla and Dinah were here with her to mock the terrible fashion choices. Phobia's disco collar was particularly ridiculous.
Phobia frowned. "I will not defile a temple of worship to fight you here," she said, "but you are coming with us, whether you want to or not."
"I do not and will not," Raven said. "And you cannot compel me to do so." She did risk a quick glance over her shoulder to make sure the priest was safe and found he had wisely fled to safety. Unfortunately, as she turned back, a yellow rift had opened up in front of her, and she moved right into it before she could take a step back. Ooops.
The jolt of the warp transporting her through space momentarily stunned her. She wasn't sure how long she had been unconscious, and she sensed the Brotherhood around her as she awoke.
"She awakens," Houngan said. "Now we can proceed."
"Let me try first," Phobia said. "I already know her worst fear. I can use it to loosen her tongue."
"No, Phobia," Plasmus said. "I will be der first, der Brain wanted me to work with dis girl."
"Ah, zis shall be interesting, non?" Warp laughed. "This one, she has ze 'beaute du diable' -- the beauty of the devil; the bloom of freshness and youth. She weel not be an easy one to crack, non."
Raven pushed herself up up, looking around. She lay in a shallow stone pit with skulls and bones strewn about her. A detached part of her mind couldn't help but note that it seemed awfully melodramatic and impractical. And...was that a gorilla and a robot with an exposed brain watching her from behind a glass panel? The whole situation was insane.
Plasmus stood over her, and he reached down to seize her arms and lift her into the air. His touch caused her skin to bubble and burn painfully. "You know the secret of Brother Blood, fraulein," he snapped. "Ve are not in der mood for games."
"Stop!" Raven cried, growing frightened now. She had no idea what they wanted to know about Sebastian, but whatever it was, she couldn't tell them. "I know no secrets of Brother Blood. Please, just leave me alone." She struggled and squirmed in Plasmus's grasp, trying to escape the pain. He dropped her back down to the floor.
"I am sorry, little girl," Houngan said, pulling a small doll from his belt. He stabbed it with a golden needle, and Raven doubled over in intense pain. "My dear Raven," Houngan continued, "I can cure your ills if you will let me, or I can increase them if you are stubborn. My computer fetish can be your friend -- or your killer. Which shall it be? Talk! Tell us the secret of Blood's power!"
"I do not know what you want!" Raven gasped, writhing in pain, clutching her stomach. She felt like she was burning up from the inside.
"It's no good," Houngan said. "If I continue using the fetish, I would kill her. We'd learn nothing that way. It is up to you, Phobia. Do not fail the Brain."
"If I had been the first, the information would already be ours," Phobia said irritably, drawing near to Raven. "My dear Raven, one last chance -- talk!"
The pain had stopped, for now at least, and Raven shook her head. "I know nothing," she insisted.
"Very well," Phobia said, standing over her. "If you insist on remaining so stubborn, I will do what must be done. You are a sad case, girl. Your fears are so rife. The problem with you is not finding your weakness but choosing which one to exploit. Perhaps your ludicrous shyness...shall we plunge you into the center of a million souls? Wait, wait, I have it. So delicious."
Raven sucked in a horrified breath as she realized what Phobia intended. "No, Phobia, do not! For Azar's sake, you do not know what you could unleash!" she cried, holding up her hands. "Please, if there is any mercy in your heart, show it now! Do not do this to me!" If her fear got the better of her, she'd lose control again.
The room plunged into darkness, and Raven covered her face with her hands, for a long moment refusing to look. But she could not help but sense what awaited her in the darkness. She opened her eyes and saw her father standing before her, the Brotherhood at his side. And at his feet lay the broken and bleeding bodies of everyone she cared about, dead and dying. "This is not real, this is not real, this is not real," she whispered to herself, but their pain felt very real, and she could sense the agony her friends had suffered at her father's hands.
Karla lay closest to her, and she lifted her head as Raven crawled to her side. "Raven, why did you let them do this to me? Why did you help them kill us?" she cried weakly. "We love you. Is this how you pay us back -- by killing us?"
"Take my hand!" Raven called, reaching for Karla. "My life will be passed on to you. You will live!"
Karla found the strength to yank her hand away. "No! You're death! You're evil! You're everything that is wrong! I'd die before letting you cure me!"
"Karla, please!" Raven said, reaching again, but flames sprang up around the other girl, and she screamed as they consumed her. And all the while her father laughed.
"No!" Raven screamed. She felt her fear and despair spiraling out of control, and Phobia's illusion shattered as her Soul-Self rose from her body. "You have gone too far," she said, her voice harsh as she face the Brotherhood, "And now you will have to pay!"
"Mon dieu!" Warp said. "What has happened to her?"
"Do not toy with the daughter of Trigon," Raven snarled. She could feel the hate, an emotion she had done her best to avoid, rising within her, making her feel powerful and terrible. Her Soul-Self spread its wings, preparing to unleash a blast of power that would destroy her tormentors where they stood. She would make them suffer for what they had dared do to her.
Then she heard Karla's voice in her mind. "You're just as much your mother's child as your father's." She'd come to Gotham to try to understand her human side better, not see it destroyed, not like this. With some effort she reined her hate and rage back in and recalled her angry Soul-Self. "No! I will not kill!" she cried. "I will not!" She held out a hand and pointed at the startled members of the Brotherhood, who had drawn away from her in fear. "But you will leave me be," she said. "You will not seek me out again. Or I will destroy you."
They were too unnerved by what they had just seen to argue with her, and none of them made any move to attack again. Raven gathered herself enough to teleport herself to safety, a quiet park back in Gotham. She was still shaky with fear over what she had almost done, but pleased and relieved as well. She had controlled the darkness within her enough to spare the Brotherhood. The experience had been extremely unsettling, but she knew she was still herself, she was still Raven, not Trigon's daughter. She felt safe enough now to return to Fandom.
[OOC: Canon adapted from The New Teen Titans #30 and #31. In reality, Raven lost it on the Brotherhood and had to hug it out with Wonder Girl. Warnings for painful canon dialogue and text, really bad accents, and badly dressed villains. NFB and NFI due to distance, but OOC is always welcome.]