Slade's Manipulation

Chapter 7: An Unlikely Ally

The group stared at Rage, unsure how to react. Beast boy eyed her carefully, hoping she wouldn't grow spontaneously. Robin let his hand hover over his staff. Starfire continued to support Raven, waiting for a signal. Raven carefully studied Rage's face.

"Honestly, I was looking for you to-"

"Really? Didn't notice" Raven interrupted. "Is it to contain me? Or to destroy me?"

"Look, I just-"

"Wanted my body and you have it. What more do you want?" Raven asked with a snarl. At this, Rude appeared. Beast boy glared at her as she settled into the group.

"Will you shut up for a second!?" Rage shouted. "For once I'm not looking for a fight" Rage blurted, knowing Raven would continue to interrupt her with any chance she got. "I'm here to help."

Robin, Starfire, and Beast boy now gave blank stares, having thought, for the most part, that Rage had been behind this whole fiasco.

"I was tricked and seek revenge on the being that is now in control."

Now it was Raven's turn to be surprised. "Fine, let's just hand over control of my body to anyone nowadays..." she fumed. She tried stomping her foot in frustration but forgot about her injury and fell into Starfire from loss of balance. As Starfire helped Raven regain her footing so-to-speak, Raven asked, "did you at least spot Sloth or Brave?"

"Actually, I don't think you have to go searching, Raven" Robin offered.

~~~

"I'm awake!!" Cyborg exclaimed as the Tower alarm jolted him from his sleep. If he was reading the clock correctly, he had passed out a few hours ago. The report indicated that Dr. Light was on the loose again, but that wasn't his concern.

Even though he had been in the same room as her the entire time, Raven was gone once again. Dr. Light is a joke. I need to get Raven back here. He attempted to locate her like last time, through her communicator, but whatever was controlling her this time had been smart and had ditched it, leading Cyborg off of her trail.

~~~

"That's not the easiest feat Robin, especially for me."

Robin had just proposed his plan of forcing Raven to feel lazy and courageous to make Sloth and Brave to appear, and Raven wasn't warming up to it.

"C'mon, how hard is it to –" Raven's glare pierced Beast boy's eyes.

"It is the fastest conceivable way at the moment. I suggest you try it" Knowledge spoke.

Raven sighed. "Which do you suggest first then?"

Robin put his hand to his chin. The two emotions contrast each other so much, it would be hard to do either after the other.

"We don't have much time! We need to hurry!!" Rage exclaimed, her voice ending in a high note. Rude and Raven gave her a look which said 'no duh'. "We should at least start moving..." Rage muttered.

Raven didn't like it, but she agreed. "Let's talk while searching for the others."

The group began their search by backtracking to where they saw Sloth before. Of course, since Nevermore was constantly shifting, they couldn't tell if they were getting close or not. This gave Raven time to try and feel courage, which was no easy task.