A Tameranean's Raven

Welcome Home (Part 1)

"What do you mean my brothers are in Jump city?" Raven asked, answering Robin's call the moment Starfire passed the Comms over.
"I mean exactly what I said. Your brothers are here and they aren't leaving until they talk to you," Robin breathed, wincing as an explosion sounded in the background.
"Then I'm meeting you-"
"No! Not a chance!" Robin argued. "I don't trust their intentions. Last time you were supposed to have a family meeting your demon self became a really big problem."
"Whose with you?" Raven demanded.
"Cyborg," Robin explained, yelping on the other end of the call. "Send Beast Boy over when you get the chance. Star too."
"Robin, I can help," Raven insisted, her knuckles white as she gripped the device. She knew exactly what those demon boys were capable of, and the idea of her friends having to face them terrified her.
"You're staying put. That's an order!" Robin grunted. The call went dead moments later.
"What is the matter?" Starfire worried.
"My brothers decided to pay us a visit. Robin needs help. He wants you and Beast Boy to meet up with him and Cyborg." Raven explained, her grip only tightening on the comms device. "You'll need to be careful. They're tricky. They're not like me Star, they won't hold back."
"You said you did not have other family? You did not possess the siblings," Starfire frowned in confusion,
"Truthfully, I didn't think I did until a few eeeks ago," Raven admitted. "Robin and I were keeping tabs on them but I didn't expect them to outright attack Jump City."
"You are not coming?" The Tameranean worried, watching as Raven anxiously bit her bottom lip.
"No, Robin wants me to stay put." Quite frankly, Raven hated the idea of it. She didn't want to be away from her friends when they were facing such a dangerous threat. She certainly didn't feel comfortable letting Starfire out of her sight either. It wouldn't be hard for her brothers to sense the connection between herself and the Tameranean. They would target Starfire if they needed to.
"We will make quick work of it," Starfire promised, pressing a kiss to Raven's cheek before flying through the halls to collect Beast Boy.
The moment they left, the tower grew impossibly quiet. Raven couldn't help but hear the ticking sound of the clock as it signaled her friends' departure. She sat alone in the darkness of the common room, intensely aware of her surroundings. If she tried hard enough, she could reach out and check up on the others based on their emotional state. Then again, that was dangerous. Her brothers would sense her powers and follow them.
If anything, they already knew where she was and how to get there. It wasn't like the tower was exactly subtle. With a bit of contemplation, Raven phased through the floor to the basement. If anything, they wouldn't check below ground. Of course, she could go someplace far away, but what if the team needed her? What if they changed their minds? She had to be within reach if need be. Impatient as ever, the sorceress busied herself by studying Cyborg's tools.
It wasn't until an hour passed that something changed. The darkness was thick, she could feel it. It pulsed and throbbed with greedy hands and desire so intense it hurt. With a deep sigh, Raven ignited her hands with the energy of her own emotions as the inky darkness of the basement spit out two vaguely familiar forms.
"Hello, sister." Greed grinned, his eyes glowing hungrily.
"What do you want?" Raven demanded, eyeing the well poised form of her brothers. Greed was dressed neatly in a well pressed suit, his four red eyes squinting as if studying the room and looking for a profit. Lust watched from behind, his eyes a softer hue and his smile a false invitation.
"We heard you got a visit from daddy a few years back," Greed began, "and it seems like you weren't very kind to him."
"Why should I have been?" Raven asked, watching carefully as Greed took a seat on Cyborg's usual stool.
"You were blessed with the power and blood of a demon yet you refuse to use it unless push comes to shove," Greed noted, glancing down at his nails as if they were the most interesting thing in the world. "We're here to fix that."
"I made peace with who I am. I know my strengths and I use them when I feel like it," Raven frowned, prepared to fight if need be.
"That's the thing, you don't really do that. The only time you let yourself truly become what you are is when someone you care about is in danger. Like your friends or a certain lady of yours," Lust chimed in, their voice low and sultry.
"What did you do to her?" Raven growled, her vision taking on a red hue.
"There it is," Greed grinned, clapping his hands together like a proud parent.
"It's time you realized just what kind of demon you are. You aren't just Raven, sister, you're worse than that," Lust smiled charmingly, tilting his head to the side.
"Oh, welcome to the party Envy, care to join us?" Greed asked, turning to the shadows where a new form emerged. A long haired, mischievous, and gangly looking figure took shape.
"Is she the jealous type?" He asked, tongue flicking over his teeth as he regarded Raven.
"Raven? You aren't the jealous type are you?" Greed asked expectantly.
"What are you talking about?" Raven asked, feeling a tightness in her chest as she comprehended what kind of position she was truly in. Three against one wasn't a good set of odds no matter how powerful she was.
"I could have my way with her you know," Lust sighed, "make her do whatever I want in the name of Lust. My name. How charming. Don't you think it's fitting? It would be easy too. That little Tameranean really has no idea how strong people like us are. I ought to show her."
"Don't touch her!" Yet again, something deep inside Raven threatened to take over against her will. It was something savage, viscous, and even unfamiliar.
"Then you come with us, and we'll gladly leave your little whore alone," Lust decided. The words sparked a newfound fury in Raven and against her better judgment she lashed out.
"Time for fun!" Envy cackled, leaping from his perch on a work bench to tackle Raven to the ground. Black, red, gold, and pink magic bounced off the walls and exploded on impact with anything insight. It was a blur of color and chaos until the shadows enveloped all parties involved and the group of four vanished from sight.
— — —
"I love you so much!" Beast Boy cooed as Starfire snatched him out of the way of Wrath, a giant monster like demon with thick skin and the temper of a thousand suns. "Is Raven seriously related to these guys? They're bat shit crazy!"
"I would ask what you mean by that but I get the impression now is not the time," Starfire sighed, landing safely out of reach and setting Beast Boy down. In an instant, Beast Boy morphed into a tiger, surveying the battle at hand.
With a mighty roar, Wrath charged forward through blasts of Cyborg's arm canon. Robin leapt through the air planting sticky bombs to the demon's back but even those explosions didn't phase it.
"Are you sure we don't need Raven for this?" Cyborg called, rolling to the side and dodging a blast of blue magic as Sloth lazily emerged from a section of rubble. "It's not like we're hurting them!"
"I made my call and I'm sticking to it!" Robin grunted, taking a hit to the jaw by a blast of blue.
"Maybe it was a stupid ass call!" Cyborg argued.
"Boys, we have bigger problems," Starfire worried, watching as Gluttony grew in size taking up most of the road. A purple aura shrouded them and their stocky big bellied frame. "Beast Boy, I think we're going to need something bigger."
Shivering violently, the green boy shifted into a massive dinosaur, teeth bared, claws ready, and tail twitching anxiously. With a snarl, he moved to intercept the large demon when someone else materialized from the dark. It was man, no he was a demon, dressed in a neatly pressed business suit. Instantly, each of his brothers turned to face him and all at once they vanished in swirls of black and color.
"What just happened?" Cyborg stammered, slowly lowering his arm canon.
"I have no idea," Robin admitted.
"So, like, did we win?" Beast Boy asked, returning to his normal self.
"I don't think so," Robin frowned. "Something feels wrong."
"Raven." Without waiting for her companions, Starfire shot off towards the tower. She couldn't help but agree with Robin. Something felt wrong. Landing on the roof, Starfire ventured inside expecting to be greeted by a mildly irritated half demon. When that didn't happen, she grew nervous.
The lights of the tower were off, bathing every room in intense shadow. Swallowing tightly, she explored the floors pausing to call out Raven's name on occasion. Eventually, the boys made it back and joined the search. By now, a certain kind of dread was setting in but no one wanted to recognize it.
"Beast Boy can you sniff her out?" Robin asked.
"Sure, I can try. Star, get over here so I can smell you!" Beast Boy called, waving the Tameranean over.
"Why me?" Starfire asked, admittedly confused.
"You guys spend so much time together you practically stink of each other," Beast Boy explained, changing into a bloodhound and sniffing greedily at Starfire. After a moment of contemplation and with a wag of the tail, Beast Boy set off in pursuit of an invisible trail.
Slowly but surely they made there way down to the basement where Beast Boy paused at a scrap of tattered blue fabric. With a piercing howl he drew everyone's attention.
"This is not good," Cyborg frowned, eyeing the cracked and charred walls. It wasn't hard to tell that some sort of fight had taken place.
"Is that a business card?" Robin asked, gesturing to a slip of card stock resting on the floor by the piece of cloth. Beast Boy reappeared in a crouch and collected the two items.
"This is definitely from Raven's cloak," he noted, sniffing at it. Robin took the business card in his hands and turned it over. A name was stamped on it in gold lettering.
"Greed," Robin glowered, running his thumb over the imprinted text beneath the name. "Taking a family vacation. Be back soon."
"So she is not here?" Starfire asked, still looking around expectantly as if Raven would suddenly appear.
"No Star," Cyborg sighed, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder, "she put up a fight but they got her."
"We'll find her though, right?" The Tameranean's eyes were earnest and vulnerable.
"We'll do our best," Robin promised. "That's all we can do right now."
— — —
A bright light shot through the dark burning at Raven's eyes. She wasn't sure where she was, only that it had been indescribably dark, and her arms and legs were held firmly in place.
"Wakey wakey," Lust cooed, his shoes pattering lightly on the ground as he stepped into view. "The doctors are in."
"Hurry up Sloth, we don't have all day," Greed bellowed, moving into the light to examine his sister.
"What are you planning?" Raven asked, blinking as her eyes adjusted to the light.
"We're going to show the world who you really are," Greed grinned, "it's going to be very exciting. But first, we have to do a little bit of work to get you presentable."
"Sloth!" Lust called, and a very thin sluggishly moving man entered the scene holding a rather large needle. "About time. Get over here."
With no more than a grunt, Sloth joined his brothers and passed Greed the syringe. In it was a clear liquid, but it's lack of color was meant to be misleading.
"Do not put that in me," Raven hissed, struggling against her bonds. She realized quite suddenly that she was in some sort of metal chair with leather straps about her ankles and arms.. For a moment she considered phasing through the floor, but that would only delay the inevitable. Even the shadows couldn't hide her from her family.
"You don't have a choice." With a tiny shrug, Greed jammed the needle into the side of his sister's neck. "It's just a bit of...enhanced truth serum. It's good for the soul."
"How long until it sets in and we can get to work?" Envy demanded from somewhere in the wings.
"Only a couple of minutes. Hang tight sis, this is going to be fun." Greed's laugh echoed off the barren halls as a numbing sensation spread through Raven's body. She could no longer move. The only part of her alight and buzzing with energy was her mind.
"My friends are going to find you," Raven insisted, aware of the numbing sensation becoming a gradual burn. "When they do-"
"What? They'll tickle me again?" Wrath asked, his voice exceptionally low. He was somewhere off to the right.
"The quicker you admit the truth to yourself the easier it'll be on you," Gluttony assured, stepping forward as if he almost wanted to help Raven.
"Unfortunately for you, I'm impeccably stubborn," Raven winced, the light only growing brighter around her.
"That's a shame," Gluttony sighed. "Kill the lights Greed, I think she's had enough."
All at once the light vanished along with the rest of Raven's senses. She was somewhere else entirely, a place both familiar and foreign. She was in the deep recesses of her mind.
"Hello, Raven." A set of bright white and pointy teeth flashed in the dark. "I think it's time we had a talk."
"I'm not negotiating with you," the half-demon spat.
"Oh but you are. You're home now. It's my turn to be let out, and our brothers are going to help me do that. Don't you see? You've had your chance to use me properly, but instead you keep me locked up. On occasion I am given a glimpse of the world but it's made me hungry for more." A deep chuckle resonated in the empty space, "I'm going to take it and make it mine."
"If you think I'm going to let you do that-"
"Oh I expect you to fight me. It's the honorable thing to do, but the truth wins in the end. You can't hid from yourself anymore. You've spent years believing you had me under control ever since daddy got what he deserved. But that's what you wanted, and now, I want what I want. You can try to stop me, but it won't end well for you." Slowly, four red eyes opened one by one in the dark. In them was a special kind of fire, a fire Raven did her best to suppress. "Let's get started, shall we?"