Hello peoples! Yes, I managed to update while in Seattle! And it's much sooner than I expected. And for once, I didn't get any hate mail. :) So, onward to Chapter 4!
Oh, almost forgot, my beta, Crazy-Lemon-Lady, is totally awesome. And I'm not just saying that because she's my bestie, but because I'm required to by contract. u_u
Disclaimer: *sigh* Do I really have to do this? *lawyers nod yes* Fine. I DO NOT OWN TEEN TITANS OR HARRY POTTER! DO NOT SUE! PLEASE!
*Page Break*
Raven carefully sipped her tea, staring at the clock and nursing her arm. Yes it was still broken. The clock currently read 8:25. She sighed. 'Curse my impeccable way of waking up at 7 sharp.' So she sat there, sipping tea and waiting for the clock to read '8:50' so she could start walking to the training grounds. Twenty five more minutes…... twenty four…... She was so bored. She began to wonder about her upcoming trial, what challenges might await her, what puzzles she must solve… "Where is everyone?"
She looked around. Sure it was 8:27 but shouldn't someone be up besides her? Cyborg should be making breakfast now, to avoid the daily ritual of arguing with Beastboy. And what about the aurors? They should be up, too. They have to get up early to get to work, don't they? Raven pondered this for a while but decided to ignore it. She had a test coming up and she need to get ready. She got up and headed for the gym to warm up.
*Page Break*
It's 9:01 and everyone was outside on the training grounds… except for Williamson.
"Where the Hell is he? He's supposed to be here!" cried Tonks. She disapparated and apparated back with a half asleep Williamson.
"Muuuummm, I don't wanna get up! I'll degnome the garden later!" Williamson complained groggily. He opened his eyes and looked around with a confused look. "Wait, this isn't home."
Robin ignored him and looked down to the obstacle course where Raven was patiently waiting. Everyone else was on the observation deck. He activated the speaker. "Test one. Test two. Raven do you hear me?" Raven gave him a thumbs up. "Good. Are you sure you want to do this? Your arm is still broken." She nodded yes. "Ok. Now the objective is pretty simple. Just run through the course with the fastest time and minimal casualties."
Raven thought this over a little bit. "What's the catch?" she asked.
Robin smiled. "The setting on the course will be set on hard, and there will be… extra resistance."
Raven cocked her head to the side. "Extra resistance?"
Robin smiled even wider. "You'll see. Ready?"
Raven shrugged and took her position. "Ready!"
Robin shut off the speaker and turned around to the aurors and Titans. "Ready?" They all nodded yes. He turned on the speaker on again. "Alright. Clock will start in three, two, one!"
Raven sped off, heading towards the agility part of the course. There was a narrow path ahead with a line of sticks running down the middle. There was some space between each stick. Once you entered the path, the floor would start to crumble. Obviously, you have to run in this part. This tested your agility and maneuvering. Raven snaked through, swerving in and out of the sticks and still kept a steady and fast speed. She felt the floor becoming more and more unstable. She urged herself to go faster, feeling the floor about to give away. She leapt for the stable ground a few feet in front of her, barely making it before the ground gave in. She immediately got up and jogged forward.
"Brilliant save, Raven!" cried Tonk's voice in the overhead.
Raven entered the next part of the course: stealth. This part was tricky, especially on hard. In here, you're taken to an underground room. The room is black all over and fluorescent lights line the edges where the floor and the ceiling meet the left and right wall. The floor is composed of pressure plates and the upper corners of the room have heat seeking cameras. If they detect any unauthorized sources of heat, or the pressure plates are set off, they set off the alarm and your test is over. The key is to get to the other side of the room without setting off the alarm. It's pretty simple for Raven because she can just destroy the cameras and fly over but when this room is set on hard, invisible lasers are turned on and constantly move around, therefore making it nearly impossible to pass.
Raven leaned against the wall, puzzled. She's never done this room on hard. Only Robin does, and he just uses something from his belt. She examined the room more closely, and then an idea popped into her head. First, she flicked her hand at the corners of the room and the cameras blew up. She quickly caught the falling debris with her powers and guided them towards the exits hovering inches from the floor. She did this because she doubted that lasers would be that close to the plates. After she disposed of the debris, she held up her index and middle finger from her right hand close to her face, her index touching her lips. She closed her eyes and whispered, "Revelamini quod non potest videri." Her fingers began to glow. Quickly, she pushed her hand to her left and made a half circle in front of her. A white hemi-circle left her fingertips and spread throughout the room, revealing the shifting lasers.
"That's new. Where'd she learn that?" asked Beastboy. Everyone ignored him, transfixed by Raven's powers.
Raven studied the pattern of the first three lasers and quickly got it. She slowly floated forward, waiting for just the right time move. When the first two lasers uncrossed, she flew forward, grabbed her knees, and somersaulted around the third, center laser, entering a safe zone. She breathed a sigh of relief. "Time!" she yelled.
"Nine, thirty-two," came Robin's reply.
Raven smiled. 'Not too shabby,' she thought. She studied the next set. This one had seven, fast paced lasers, but if she passed this, she can move on to the next part. She watched. And watched. And cursed. There was no pattern! They're just moving randomly! She floated forward, hugging her injured arm. The first three uncrossed and Raven bolted forward, then quickly dived, barely missing the fourth laser that randomly surged forward when she did. Raven caught herself before she hit the floor, and flew forward. She swerved away from the fifth and sixth laser, and charged around the seventh one, crashing onto safe ground. She wiped her brow from the concentration, got up, and flew outside to the next challenge.
The next part was concentration. Here, there is a large, seemingly endless pit with a wooden stake in the middle. You are to balance yourself on this stake. Around the pit, there are several cannons (not like the old fashion cannons). These cannons fire lasers and discs similar to Starfire's star bolts. If you are hit by one, you are guaranteed to fall. If you fall, game over. Obviously, flying is prohibited. The goal is to dodge the projectiles without falling over. You must then destroy the cannons and move on. As Raven flew to the stake, the Titans left the observation deck and headed straight for the concentration course. Tonks took Robin's place in front of the control panel.
As Raven landed and started to balance herself on the stake, she noticed that her teammates surrounded her. "What are you guys doing?" she asked.
Robin grinned. "We're part of your test. We're the 'extra resistance'." Raven's eyes widened. She knew what she had to do. She had to attack her teammates in order to pass this course. She took a stance. Robin nodded over to Cyborg, and he activated the cannons. Immediately, lasers, discs, bird-a-rangs, and more began rushing towards Raven. She jumped, ducked, and dodged as many projectiles as she tried to disarm the cannons first. After three minutes, all the cannons are destroyed. That left the Titans.
Raven looked at all the positions of the Titans while dodging their attacks. Robin and Cyborg were by each other, mixing their attacks for maximum damage. Beastboy was in gorilla form. He was behind a cannon throwing debris. Starfire was in the air throwing star bolts. Raven smirked. She knew everyone's weaknesses and this situation was just too easy. First she aimed for Starfire, knowing all too well that Robin would panic and save her. When Starfire threw a star bolt, Raven caught it with her powers and launched it back at her. Starfire screamed and began to fall.
"Starfire!" cried Robin. He immediately dived for Starfire, trying to catch up with her.
'Two down, two to go,' thought Raven. She noticed that the cannon that sheltered Beastboy wasn't completely destroyed. She aimed her magic for it and it exploded.
"DDDUUUDDDEEE! Not cool!" exclaimed Beastboy as he was literally blown away. Raven then encased a panicked Cyborg with her powers and launched him in Beastboy's direction. Seeing the obstacles gone, Raven flew away from the pit.
"Time!"
"Sixteen, forty nine!" came Tonk's voice in the overhead.
'I finished that in five minutes? That's pretty damn impressive….' thought Raven. She entered the next and final part of her test: The Universal Course. Anything can happen in here, and there are two objectives: destroy the enemy and survive. The setting for this part always changes. This time, it's a desert theme. Sand, rocks, and cacti covered the area. Raven didn't know what to expect, so she took a defensive stance. At first, it was quiet, and then she heard a very familiar whooshing noise. Raven shuddered. Brooms. That means the aurors were going to attack. She looked to the sky to see five figures flying around. That meant that all the aurors were fighting. She gave a heavy sigh. Raven knew nothing on the aurors. She didn't know their weaknesses or their strengths. All she knew was that Williamson can get everyone ticked off.
'Wait… That's it!' thought Raven. She formulated a terrific plan. It goes against everything she believes in but it's worth it. She flew up to Williamson. She gasped. "Williamson! You would fight against me? While I am handicapped?" she said, acting hurt.
Williamson, being the womanizer he was, completely fell for her charade. "No! No! It's not like that! I would never hurt you!" he said.
"Then why are you here? You're here to hurt me!" Raven said, sounding completely shocked and hurt.
Tonks, being way smarter, realized what Raven was doing. "Don't fall for it, Williamson! It's a trick!" He didn't hear her.
"No! I promise I won't hurt you!"
"Then why are you here?" Raven looked into his eyes.
He gulped. "I'm here to… uh… help you! Yeah, here to help!"
"You are?" Raven asked, innocently. She saw Lupin cast two spells towards her and faked a scream. Seeing two red bolts heading straight for Raven, Williamson grabbed his wand.
"Protego!" he shouted. The spells bounced off his shield and hit Kingsley and Dawlish. They both fell off their brooms and crash onto the floor.
"You idiot! Do you realize what's happening? She's playing you!" cried Tonks. Realizing that he's just been played, Williamson turned around to face Raven. She punched him in the nose, and he fell off his broom.
"I have to admit, that was clever," Tonks said to Lupin.
"Bloody brilliant, if you ask me," he replied. He raised his wand. "Petrificus totalus!" Raven heard him and dived, easily dodging the spell.
"Stupefy!" cried Tonks as she urged her broom towards Raven. Lupin followed suit.
"Crap," muttered Raven. She flew the opposite direction, barely missing the red bolt that Tonks sent. Slightly panicked, Raven summoned a boulder will her powers and chucked it behind her. The aurors easily flew around it. Raven had to do something, and she had to do it fast. Tonks casted a stinging hex at Raven. Raven hissed when she felt a pain pulse in her abdomen. She needed to get a way. She transformed into her soul self and took the shape of a raven's shadow. The raven faced the wizards and cawed loudly. Tonks and Lupin stopped their brooms to cover their ears. The raven took this chance to fly behind the aurors and transform back to human. Raven's eyes glowed white as she summoned her powers to grab hold of the brooms. This was difficult because the brooms were also being controlled by the aurors when they recovered. Raven clenched her teeth in concentration. She summed up all of her remaining power and channeled it to the brooms.
"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" she yelled. The brooms surged away from their masters. Having no more support in the air, Lupin and Tonks crashed into the ground. At that moment, Robin stopped the clock. Raven floated back down tiredly and helped the aurors to their feet. She was exhausted, but she still teleported all of them to the observation deck to get her results. When they arrived, Cyborg immediately began to check everyone's condition.
"So Robin," said Raven when she sat down, "what are my results?"
Robin smiled towards Raven. "You're going to Europe!" Everyone cheered. "But," everyone stopped, "I want all of you healthy before you guys go." The cheering resumed. Robin smiled and walked over to Cyborg. "What's the damage?"
"Tons of cuts and bruises, a sprained ankle, a broken heart, and a damaged pride," replied Cyborg, slightly laughing. Raven overheard Cy and knew that that last part was about Williamson. Being the kind person she is, she walked over to him.
"Hey, thanks for fighting for me," said Raven. She kissed him on the cheek and walked off, leaving a very shocked wizard behind.
*Page Break*
It's now 11pm, several hours after Raven's difficult test. The Titan's were already in bed, except for Robin, who was overlooking criminal files, and Starfire, because it was her turn for night watch. Raven herself was restless and decided to head to the kitchen for some tea. Once she walked through the double doors, she was greeted by the sight of the aurors deep into conversation.
"Hello," greeted Raven, setting a teapot on the stove.
The wizards jumped and looked to see who it was. They all sighed when they saw Raven.
"Oh, Raven. It's only you. You gave us a fright," said Tonks.
"Oh yes. The fearless aurors are frightened by 20-year-old American girl," said Raven in her dry, sarcastic manor. Kingsley chuckled.
"Well, actually, we were just talking about you. Would you care to join us?" asked Lupin with a warm smile.
"I'll be there in a sec. Let me have some tea first," said Raven as she poured the hot water into her cup. She walked over to the wizards and sat next to Tonks. "So, what's up?"
"We were thinking about what you said yesterday about your friends knowing about the wizard community so we conversed over the topic," explained Kingsley.
"And?" Raven said, sipping her tea.
"Well, you were right. They do qualify as muggles," said Lupin.
"And?" Raven set her cup down. She knew there was something else.
"Wizard law states that muggles can't know about the magical community."
Raven furrowed her brow. "What are you saying?" she demanded.
"Calm down, Raven. You're not going to like this," said Tonks. Raven took a deep breath.
"Ok, so my friends are muggles and they know of the magical community. What now?" asked Raven.
The aurors looked at each other. "Raven, we want to erase their memories."
*Page Break*
Dun dun ddduuunnn! Yeah, I ended this chapter in a cliffie, or at least my version of a cliffie. *shrug* So guess what? This chapter was actually six pages long! 2,800+ words to be exact. That's a new record for me. ^_^
Don't count on another chapter soon. I just happened to have a ton of free time. I have next few weeks full of stuff to do, but I really hope you enjoyed this one. I worked really hard on it. Oh, and did you guys notice that this chapter wasn't beta'd? Yeah, I didn't send it to Crazy-Lemon-Lady just 'cause. :)
Oh, I need some help from you guys. I really hate the title of my story. Like, I really, really hate it. If you guys got some great ideas for a new title, please make a review and send it to me. Please. I'll give you all the credit and a virtual cookie. You know you want the cookie….
So please review! You can't get that cookie if you don't review! ^_^
~The Pink Power Ranger
