Happy Easter/April Fool's/RobRae Week! Here's the last chapter of Heather's Drive (phew)

OMG Also! I don't own the Teen Titans.

Passion in the Palace
Chapter 13: Heather's Drive Pt 4

Robin was running faster than he ever had before. On the base floor cobwebs hung like ghosts in the air and his breath nearly turned to ice from the cold. He pressed on until the pull he felt to Raven suddenly cut off at the sound of a huge crash. He panicked, that pull to her had felt like a compass to him. Was she hurt? Or possibly... He took a deep breath and carried on, there was no time dwell on possibles. The white glow that he now assumed was Lady Heather herself bounced impatiently on the wall before disappearing into a heavy door. The word "STORAGE" was scratched into it, and cloudy dust was seeping underneath it. Charging down, he bursted through the door.

What Robin saw was an utter catastrophe. Broken furniture and glass and shredded cloth were strewn everywhere on the damaged concrete floor. Some chairs and couches were on fire, and the high ceilings were cracked. The worst damage was in the corner of the room where an enormous chunk of ceiling crashed into wooden crates and what looked like the remainder of a piano.

Suddenly a gross looking hand shot through the debris, and a twisted, burnt looking creature pulled itself up. With a groan it said in a grating voice, "Shit, I'm gonna pay for this."

The sight of this creature sent off a myriad of alarms and questions in his head. He had no gear, no idea how strong it was, or what it was. But he wasn't leaving here without Raven. He wished desperately that he could somehow reach the others. He would fight this thing alone if he had to, but with such little information on this enemy, he could use all the back up he could get.

The thing crawled and dug around the debris, pulling up a slumped, glowing form by the hand. Raven! Her hair was really long and those patterns were glowing, and she looked unconscious. His breath shallowed seeing her this way, but he pulled himself together. He was a problem solver, he'd figure out how to get them out of here. There was no way she could be dead; nothing that was dead glowed like it was alive... right?

The creature shook her limp body by the arm. "Why did you have to knock yourself out like that, huh? You were SO close to changing! The master would have been so pleased!"

Changing? Master? Raven said that she was the one the spirit wanted, but what did that thing want with her? It's not like spirits, corporeal or incorporeal, went around demanding humans for ransom.

Robin frowned. Only Raven wasn't exactly human...

The creature shook Raven again more aggressively, causing Robin to bite his teeth and rise to a stand. That's enough. He had to get in there to get her out. A glass bottle lay in broken wood by his foot. He picked it up-Here goes something-and chucked it at the creature's head. With a satisfying thun-KLASH, the bottle shattered over its head, causing it to drop Raven onto a slat of ceiling. The creature turned its head to Robin, one yellow eye glowing menacingly at him.

"The food arrives."

Robin picked up a broom, breaking the brush off over his thigh. He held it with both hands like a sword, his voice like venom. "Let her go."

It laughed, approaching him in long steps. The black bands of metal around its legs made heavy CLANK sounds with each sludgy step. "Go? She's not going anywhere at the moment. But when she wakes up, she might have a go at you."

So she was alive! He couldn't have been sure before, but knowing she indeed was made him feel empowered. The need to protect gave him a surge of new energy, and he wanted to get crazy on this sick fuck. I'll get you out of here, Raven. I promise. Just hold on.

The creature was far too amused at his choice of weapon, so when it got close enough, Robin let him have it. With a lightning quick blow to its head, the creature reeled back in surprise. Robin took the opportunity to kick its legs, planting a roundhouse in its back when it crumpled forward. This thing was hoping to intimidate Robin with fear, but with his martial arts training and his princess on the line, the creature had no idea of what Robin was capable of.

With a leap, Robin hooked his arm around the side of its foul smelling neck and swung to its back, capturing it in a suffocating grip. Its arms shot up to try and drag him down, but Robin wrapped his legs around its torso, holding on tight.

"You little idiot," it grated, wrestling with Robin. "I don't need air to breathe!" It charged over to a stone wall and smashed Robin's back into it. When he still wouldn't budge, the creature fell backwards into a fallen cupboard of dusty china dinnerware. Robin yelled out against the impact but refused to let go. "Get off me you little shit!"

Robin chanced a moment to grab a long, sharp jagged piece of wood and drove it into the creature's neck. It roared and an even fouler smell erupted as an oily substance spewed from its neck. "You're fucking disgusting!"

The creature seemed like it was weakening. A few more holes should bring it down. Robin yanked the wood out and was about to plunge again, but the creature caught his arm, dragged him around and threw him into a group of crates.

Robin weakly pulled himself up, coughing blood. A gash across his forehead throbbed with pain as he wiped the blood from his face with his hand. He should be afraid, terrified as this monster approached him again. But with Raven there, he simply wouldn't let anything distract him from his mission.

"Surprising," the creature said, rubbing its black oily neck with long, blackened fingers. "You're tougher than you seem. Shouldn't you be shitting your pants right now? Raven could use the fear. Hell, I could use the fear, since she's knocked out at the moment."

"Stop- talking." Robin bit out.

When the creature loomed over him, Robin couldn't find much to use against him. He'd have to fight with his own body, and nearly broken arm.

"Seriously," the creature leaned closer, sounding impatient and perplexed. "How are you not afraid?"

'Because, Raven is still alive,' he thought, as that mysterious pull tugged faintly at him once more. And he wasn't giving up, he'd never give up until she was safe.

"Do you hear that?" the creature paused and listened. "More food's on the way." With its already hideous face, it somehow fashioned a grimace. "But that bitch Lily is with them too. You'd think after suffering an incinerating defeat she'd go away. But even after death, she comes..."

Raven was slowly coming to, and his friends were safe. It would be great if the gang could lend a hand, but that would also put them at risk. He only needed a few more puncturing wounds to get this thing down, so he was going to give it all he had until it stopped moving.

Robin raised himself to his feet, swiped the blood away from his eyes and gave the creature a dark, humorless grin. "Come on, then," he said darky, forming kokutsu dachi stance. "Let's finish you off."

-x-

Raven floated in a red, warped world. Various sizes of rocks floated by, perched baby ravens watched her silently with their bird-like interest. She gasped when she noticed the patterns on her skin were still bright, that her hair had reached down to her waist. She remembered then how she knocked herself out to keep from becoming demonic and consuming her friends.

Robin!

The thought of him filled her with despair all over again. There was nothing she could do. The ancient glowing on her skin said that her demon nature was taking over. If she went back, she'd be too weak to contain it. And it wasn't like a dream where she could wake up if she became consumed...

She never had to deal with something like this in her waking life. She always had enough control, even on days when she hadn't meditated in a while. She sighed. But then again, maybe I don't belong in that world after all...

Fresh tears poured down her eyes, and this time, she welcomed the pained. She cried hard because she hated these emotions of hers. She cried hard because she so strongly desired to share them, to experience humanity. The clash of her two natures ripped her apart. She couldn't fully be one or the other, without someone getting consumed in the process. And things were just starting to look up...

"Goodbye, Raven." Raven looked up to the birds watching her. "Goodbye, Raven," another chirped in a child like voice. What?

"Go to hell, Raven," another said. "To hell, Raven!"

"I'm already in hell!" Raven yelled irritatingly to her purgatory birds.

"Make it so, Raven!" One by one they fluttered around her. Annoying birds.

"What are you talking about?" She yelled.

One landed on her knee, the inscriptions on her skin pulsating. "Send it home, Raven!" The baby ravens called all around her. "Send it home, Raven! Send it home!"

Oh. To hell. The ancient inscriptions on her skin were the same ones that appeared on a banishing portal! She never used one outside of her dreams before, but if she knew the spell, she could technically do it in her waking life, right?

Raven stood up on a rock as the birds cheered her on. Okay, okay. If she was going to do this, she would need to stay focused. There's no way she'd be able to stay calm while everything was happening, but if she could focus her energy into her spell, she could use her emotions to power up the portal and send that demon away. If she remained focused, that demon wouldn't be able to stir her own.

With a deep breath, Raven made a sweeping motion of her arms, bringing her flattened hands at her center, pointed in opposite directions. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos... Azarath Metrion Zinthos..." She had a new mission now. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos…" She was ready to send that demon to hell. "Azarath Metrion Ziiinthooosss..."

-x-x-x-

Raven awoke in the basement of the haunted estate. She recalled being crushed by the ceiling, but now she lay on a broken couch, a few scattered flames around her. There was much more damage present than before, and it looked like a whole pile of crates had caught fire too.

The sound of grunts and groans caught her attention. Robin. As the demon predicted, he followed Raven down here. She could hear the rumbling chuckle of that stinking demon as they fought.

The burning seized her skin at once, and she remembered that there was no time to waste to cast the spell. She began quietly chanting her mediation as a warmup and stabilizer. It was hard to keep focus while her skin burned and crawled and she could hear the two of them fighting. Still she pressed on, keeping her fear and anxiety at bay. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos..." she repeated, just shy of a whisper.

She may not belong in this world, but she could at least protect Robin and her friends by banishing this creature away. She began the first long verse of the banishing spell, instantly the intensity of her emotions hiked up a key.

Suddenly the demon turned in her direction and roared when it heard her chanting. "There is a meal here, ripe for the picking. And you're screwing with those weak spells?" It bellowed. Just the sound of its voice was causing her own demon to squirm, her anxiety gnawing heavily on her. Pressing her four eyes shut, she focused on her incantation. Can't lose focus. Her emotions were for supporting the portal, not for releasing her demonism. "I'm the only one here like you, Raven-"

"SHUT UP!" Robin roared in an absolute rage, jamming a huge lead pipe into the demon's mouth and sending black teeth clattering to the ground. "DON'T COMPARE YOUR FUGLY ASS MUG TO MY PRINCESS!"

Raven swayed. Did Robin just say that she was... his? Feelings of shock and hope and wonderful dismay sparked within her, and she pushed it into her spell. Focus. She turned her gaze to the demon now, beginning the second verse a little louder. Her emotions hiked up a bit more, and she pushed them into the spell.

Part of her was awed at how viciously Robin was attacking the demon, as if it were another person and not a sinister, supernatural being. Just as he shoved a butterknife into the demon's side, a massive, roaring green lion lept into the room from the broken ceiling, sending a fog of dust and debris into the air. A resonate KLUNK! echoed and vibrated the ground as Cyborg landed solidly with his fist to the floor. Starfire swooped in, her angry eyes glowing. As the dust cleared away, Raven could see a defiant looking Allikat on Beast Boy's back, Speedy behind her with his arrow drawn and pointed straight at the demon's head.

There was a still moment where the only sound was Raven's voice chanting the spell, her heart thundering in her chest at the sight of her fierce looking friends.

Then Robin shouted, "EVERYONE, ATTACK!"

Raven thought her heart would burst in her chest before she could finish the spell. Everyone was down here, fighting for her. They were putting their lives in danger, but they thought she was worth the risk. "You are weak," her father's voice echoed again in her mind. Funny, I don't feel weak.

Three arrows shot into the demon's side as some lopsided star bolts blasted and incernerated it from the other. Raven began the third verse. Emotions hiked, the patterns on her skin pulsed brighter. Only three more to go.

The demon turned its frenzied eye to Raven. "You will pay for this! You stupid weak hum-"

"I SAID SHUT UP!" Robin screeched, throwing a kick into its chest. The demon tumbled back into the iron grip of a green oversized gorilla. Cyborg charged at the demon, giving it a powerful, bone cracking punch in its torso. Before it could let out another roar, Beast Boy tossed the lanky demon into the air where it was assaulted with more arrows and odd-shaped starbolts. As it fell to the floor, Allikat leapt above it, shoving her shoe into its leaking oily back, using her weight to drive it harder into the ground.

Raven started the second to last verse when the glowing outlines of the portal appeared. She raised her hands to the outline, willing every emotion she could muster into it. A spike of panic rose in her when she realized she couldn't communicate to everyone that the demon has to be pushed into the portal; this whole effort would be for nothing if she couldn't get it inside. Failure. As she cited the fifth verse, doubt and distress tormented her, and her inner demon screeched at her breaking seams.

'What do you need, Raven?'

Robin's voice again? Focus! Terror was filling her, but she pushed herself to the edge to force everything she had into the portal. The house demon screeched in its weakening body. If he could just be pushed into the portal! The pattern on her skin slid up her body and around her arms. Sliding off her skin, the glowing inscriptions formed in a circle on the portal, bringing it to full manifestation. It was ready, but she wasn't finished casting-

"Throw him into the portal! Don't hold back!" Robin yelled.

At once, everyone launched their attacks at the demon, forcing it toward the buzzing, black opening of Raven's portal. As she shouted the last verse, she felt hot tears streaming down her face. Her positive emotions were multiplying as she heard them saying things she never dreamed she would hear.

"Leave friend Raven alone!"

"Get your own princess dude!"

"Raven is nothing like you!"

"Our girl ain't weak!"

"Send him to HELL Raven!"

"You got this Raven!"

With an overwhelming surge of pride and gratitude, Raven screamed the last of her spell as the demon was blasted through. The portal flickered and warped as her surge in power breached its peak, but the demon was banished, and she could finally close the portal. With the last words of the last verse rolling off her tongue in a whisper, the inscriptions faded and the portal fell away to ash. Weakly, she remained levitated high in the air. Finally her skin was normal and she had her sense of self back. Though now, her sense of self felt stronger, thanks to that weird group of people below her. "You have nothing," the faint remnant of her father's voice sounded from somewhere far off in her mind. She laughed. Really, dad? Have you even been paying attention today?

Raven descended carefully toward the ground as everyone cheered and rushed to her. Her power completely tapped out and she plummeted to the floor, but Robin was already there to catch her in his arms.

"Raven, can you hear me?" Raven weakly looked up to his face. "You, were... amazing."

A blush rose to her face. She was too weak to contain all this wonder and joy. "Robin, you kicked that thing's ass. Do you even know what it was?"

"Don't know, don't care. I'm just glad that you're safe now."

Beast Boy poked his head up behind Robin's shoulder. "Hey Raven, that kinda makes him a hero now, doesn't it?" He winked.

Both prince and princess blushed deeply then, both remembering the talk she and Beast Boy had on the balcony.

"Hey, give Princess Raven some air," Allikat said as she fanned Beast Boy away.

"Allikat.. when did you get so fierce?" Raven asked. She certainly didn't expect her to attack their enemy, much less be a total badass at it.

"I.. I just felt like I needed to protect you, like it's my sworn duty or something..." Allikat shrugged, looking disconcertingly at her hands.

"Well I hope we get to see you do that again," Speedy said. "In fact, I hope we all get to do that again!"

Robin and Raven cringed. Once was enough.

"And look what Star can do!" Cyborg held up Starfire's arm as she formed a lopsided starbolt in hand. When she closed her hand, it was gone, no burn marks left behind.

"I can control them much better now!" She cheered.

Despite everyone looking and feeling drained in every capacity, they all grinned at each other, feeling giddy and proud and incredibly happy to have completely owned that monster the way they did.

"Guys.." Raven said. "You could have been hurt. You were all in danger because of me-"

"Oh no, no, NO Princess!" Speedy interjected. "Don't you start that 'It's my fault' game. We came, we saw, and we CONQUERED!"

"And we'll do it again, too," Robin said, giving Speedy a nod. "We make a formidable team! And..." he said more softly, looking down to the incredible, mysterious princess in his arms. "You'll never have to go through anything like that alone again."

"YEAH!" Beast Boy pumped his fist in the air. "Cus we're the TEEN TITANS!"

Everyone stared at Beast Boy. "What? We're like total badasses now. We deserve a name."

"Yeaah.. Alli, Cy and I are only gonna be teens for a few more months," Speedy said.

"TEEN TITANS!" Beast Boy cheered again, trying for it to catch on. "TEEN TITANS!"

"Okay, 'Teen Titans' let's go home." Robin said, and together they all headed to the exit.

When Robin looked down to Raven again, she was staring at him like there was so much she wanted to say. "Don't worry," he whispered to her. "We'll find out the reason for all of this." When her eyes watered, he whispered again, "You're okay, Raven. I won't tell anyone anything until you're ready. And we'll get to the bottom of whoever's after you. You're not alone." She looked deeply into his eyes, nodded, and then passed out in his arms.

"Man, that was deeply satisfying," Allikat said in a yawn.

"Speaking of satisfying," Speedy said to Cyborg. "What were you doing in that closet?"

"Man let it go! It wasn't important."

"Something I need to tell BumbleBee about?" Speedy wriggled his eyebrows.

"You wouldn't dare…" Cyborg paled.

"What's that shiny thing you got there, Star?" Beast Boy asked, falling into a snake form around her neck like an old, tired green scarf.

"It is a gift, from your zombie friend." she said, staring at the emerald ring that fit just on her pinky finger. She caressed her Beast Boy-snake-scarf appreciatively. "I will consider it a token of your heroism."

Beast Boy bowed his snake head, and coiled himself comfortably around her neck. After a few moments, Starfire said tiredly, "I didn't know that snakes could snore."

"So long, Lady Heather," Speedy yawned as they reached the outdoors and headed for the monster truck. "It's been real."

Allikat gave one last gaze at the smoking mansion. "So long," she said.

What do you think so far!? Do you like the direction it's going?
Please leave a review and thank you thank you for reading!
xoxo IllyMjay.