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CHAPTER XIII – The First Stage

“What’s wrong!?” Beast Boy screamed as he ran to her aid. She looked like she was going to die, her eyes mere pinpoints, and her teeth clenched together tightly. She stifled a cry from time to time, she sounded like she was being shot with a handgun. Suddenly, a voice boomed from across the intersection where they stood, it was laughing hysterically.
“I told you Raven, I KNEW IT WORKED!” it cackled, and a figure dropped from a street-pole above. In Robin’s mind everything instantly went together, this is what the letter was saying.
“Cut it out Rage, what are you planning!?” he roared, his teeth gritted and his eyes angry. He ran forward to the corner where Rage stood, his anger propelled him forward faster than usual. Just as he was about to knock his fist into Rage’s jaw, Rage stepped to the side of him, and speared his hand into his chest. Robin grimaced in pain, blood trickling from the wound Rage inflicted on him. He looked up into Rage’s face. Rage showed a blood-thirsty smile, and his eyes portrayed those that Slade had so long ago.
“Nothing that you should be concerned about, boy,” Rage smirked, Robin noticed that his hands were now clawed instead of having the fingernails he had before. Robin tried to attack him a second-time, his fist was caught in Rage’s hand. “I don’t think you should care about me right now ----- what about your little friend over there Robin?” Rage cooed, and he spun Robin around towards where Beast Boy knelt, pushing him forward roughly. Every Titan’s face was in complete shock, no one knew what was going on. Robin looked behind him, Rage had disappeared completely.
“Three days is the maximum limit . . .” Rage’s voice suddenly called out, and he stepped out from a vortex of smoke he had hid in.
“What the hell are you talking about!?” Beast Boy snarled. His head whipped towards Rage’s smiling face, he looked angry enough to kill. Kai put a hand on his shoulder, she didn’t want him to transform into the Beast and go reckless on everyone.
“I’ve set a curse on her kid, and you’ve got three days . . .” Rage sighed, partially annoyed. His facial expression turned quickly back to seriousness. “You see, it’s fairly simple . . . Raven has three days to actually lay a hit on my body, weapon or otherwise. I’ve put the odds in her favor just for the fun of it. Each “stage” comes with greater power than the last.” He smirked, his evil smile turned sly when he concluded with “Of course, with great power comes great responsibility . . .” Robin’s eyes widened, he knew there was some kind of backfire to it, there always was with Slade and Rage alike.
“What’s the catch . . .?” Cyborg questioned Rage, he wasn’t in the mood for any kind of joke . . . he wanted answers.
“Each time she taps into the curse, her body starts to erode itself. Each stage has its different effects . . . the first isn’t so bad, just a bit of pain with a bit of power . . . the second is somewhat worse, and then the third ----- well, we’ll just say it’s the end.” Rage proclaimed; his expression made him look psychotic and deranged. “Instinct will take over eventually, and she’ll come find me . . . hopefully before she stabs all of you in the back.” He spoke with a sort of whisper; he was snapping his fingers together as he said this, causing a flame to burst above them.
“So you’re saying this is all a sick joke for you!?” Kai yelled, her fists clenched so her knuckles turned white, Starfire held her back with caution. At one point she actually had to pull her back to stop her from running at Rage herself.
“Oh, we’ve got a smart one over here,” Rage spat, and he stepped forward to where Kai stood and placed a hand on her head. She flinched as he stooped down to look her in the eyes. “Now Kai, think before you act . . . unless you want anything else “unexpected” to happen to your pathetic friend,” he hissed. Kai could see his incisors turn into fangs. The confidence in her mind suddenly deflated, she could see why Raven was completely terrified of him. Her fear quickly transformed into anger, and she thought about punching him in the face she was so furious, but decided against it; there was way too much at stake as it was. “Time’s ticking Titans . . . best be on your guard,” Rage suggested, his lips still parted into the evil smile that made him known in the first place.
“I’ll kill you myself if anything happens to her . . .” Beast Boy growled, his hand on Raven’s. He wanted to literally shred Rage’s body to pieces; he’d do it in a heartbeat if he had the chance.
“What could you possibly do to harm me lover-boy?” Rage remarked as he strode over to where Beast Boy knelt. He stood over Raven with his face staring into hers. He knew she was in excruciating pain, and he loved the fact that she was so helpless to even try to attack him.
“You-----you animal-----I’ll kill-----you,” Raven heaved as she stared up into his smiling face. She tried to get up from the ground, it literally hurt to even move a muscle.
“Don’t do anything stupid Raven . . . you’ll regret it with full capacity,” he taunted, and he bent down to put a hand on her head. Right as he put his palm down on her forehead, Raven’s eyes widened again. She cringed and groaned in pain, Rage was making it even worse.
“Stop it!” she cried out, and she reached up to pull Rage’s hand away, he pressed it down harder so she couldn’t lift it up. Raven’s head burned like fire, the world began to fade from her sight. She screamed in agony, she couldn’t take the pain any longer . . . it was way more than she could handle. Rage grinned, and he lifted his hand off her head.
“That’s only stage one-----imagine what stage two is like . . .” he sighed, his teeth showed through his crazy smile. “Just wait Raven. Soon you’ll be coming after me every chance you get,” he smirked, and in an instant he disappeared just as quickly as he had come. The pain slowly receded through Raven’s body as he left, she fainted from shock shortly afterwards. It was too much at that one time . . . and she didn’t even want to think about the second stage.