2014-08-17 - Opening Shots: Into the Light

It has been quiet, lately, for the Titans. Which all in all, is a good thing; giving the group time to 'bond', relax, hang out, even for a short period of time pretend they might have somewhat of a normal life. However, all of that pretence is shattered in one crystalline moment when the Titans computer gives an alert of a suspected attack that their force will be needed on.
Cassie is over to the computer right away, sliding into the chair and pulling up the alert. She taps the comm unit and calls into it, "There's an assault at San Fransisco U, looks like someone big. Titans, Assemble!" Those who are there? Sure, they'll leave together. But those who are elsewhere will get the message, too.
A droll monotone voice calls back over the comm unit. "Assemble? Wouldn't it just have been easier to say 'Go'?" There isn't any sort of jest in that voice. Raven's voice. She calls back over the comm link, "I shall be assembling at the university. Raven out."
And, oddly enough, Raven was out. Because it was quiet recently...and the Titans were hanging in the tower more, Raven was not. She was out on a personal jaunt, which usually involves occult bookstores and gothic poetry, usually not in that order. She takes a moment to return the item she was perusing, as this time she was in a bookstore, and leaves in a controlled manner. Wouldn't be good to have the normal people watch her open a black portal and disappear into it.
Damian was in the Tower when the comms went off it takes him a second to figure out what that tone was let alone answer it. "Black Robin here. Red and I will be on our way," then he clicks it closed looking to Red as he heads to the elevator. "If you didn't bring your bow, the armoury has a few spares for Artemis," he informs her before the doors ding open and he hurries inside.
Red Robin launches up from her seat where she'd been reading through some of her textbooks to make up for being gone. Even while on 'vacation' she was going to have to worry about her grades after all. The book is dropped on the seat she empties as she reaches to swing on her cape and gather the other items. "Got it with me," she assures as she reaches into the duffel bag she'd brought to pull it out along with the quiver which she slings over a shoulder pushing the edge of her cape just slightly back in the process. Quick on his heels she follows into the elevator already slipping into 'business' mode.
"Meet you there," promises Wonder Girl. She takes the easy way there - the sky, only pausing long enough to grab her lasso before launching herself out of one of the windows designed especially for the Titan's lucky enough to be able to fly.
It's not too far a trip for any of them, but the path of destruction can already be seen, even from on-high, or for that matter from street level. Several wounded University guards, and doors that were once locked have been blown open by some kind of energy weapon or force. Over the loudspeakers, they're advising a full evacuation of the premises. And the path of destruction leads into the science lab. And while such a path is obvious, it's not such wanton, mindless destruction - it's clear to those of perceived minds that whoever is here and doing this, is after something specific.
It's an exciting ride from the Tower to the university when you combine high-powered motorbikes and San Francisco's hilly terrain. After a few near accidents and a couple of nerve rattling jumps Black Robin skids his bike to a stop at the tail end of the path of destruction. "Anyone see what's causing this?" he asks over comms as he frowns at the couple of students who pause to snap pictures of him on their phones before carrying on away from the danger.
A black shadow coalesces in the shade of a tree on the University campus, in front of the science lab. The blackness forms a circular portal, and out calmly strides out Raven. The dark doorway shifts, melding into Raven's shadow as she emerges from under the tree. The hood is up, the face obscured, but it is clear that Raven is eyeing the damage. The comm link snaps on as she speaks. "No visual on the cause. It appears that it entered the science lab and has not left. I am waiting for you to arrive before entering."
Hilly terrain with someone that liked to ride a bike as if it were a velociraptor chasing prey... Needless to say Red Robin holds on tight to Black Robin gritting her teeth and wishing she were the one driving. Mental note: Make Batman buy more bikes. As soon as they stop she's glad to hop off only to shoot a glare at the individual snapping pictures. Turning away she ignores them to look over the scenario trying to get a gaudge on the best way to approach this. She spots Raven, and dips her head in her direction indicating her to Black. "I don't suppose we've got a layout of this place or if anyone is familiar with it?" Wishful thinking she knew.
Cassie lands near the two Robins, "No," she answers over the comm to Red Robin, first. "We don't have the time." Cue the differences between the way the Titans do things, and the way Batman does. She looks to those teammates with her, "Whatever it is, it's not going to wait for us." And, she begins to walk inside, ready to take 'whatever it is' on. "Raven, we're about to go in. We still don't know who, or what, we're dealing with," she warns the sorceress.
From within, there's a high beam of light, sudden and sharp through the otherwise gloom of the dimly lit halls in the science lab, followed by another, and another, and a flickering light before all the lights in the building go out, entirely.
The sorceress falls in line with the flock of Robins and Cassandra, looking rather unobtrusive in comparison to the trio. However, that does not mean that she is doing nothing. Raven reaches out with her senses, dropping the emotional blocks she usually has in place to perform an empathic scan of the building before them. Frightened emotions are certainly sensed...but ignored. Raven is looking for the one that isn't scared...that sense of urgency...of determination, so that she knows where to go.
Of course, Raven says nothing of what she is doing to her teammates. For all they know, she is just walking along quietly behind them.
Black Robin swings his legs of the cycle just before the light show starts up, he crouches low instinctively, the lenses on his mask polarizing in response to the sudden illumination. He stands back up again, frowning. "Well that can't be good," he says wishing he had his Father's knack for having just the right gadget for every situation. "I can scout out the building, see who's there," he says as he pulls up his hood and starts towards the science building.
"Didn't think there was time, just was hoping someone might have some insight," Red Robin responds while falling into step to head in. When Black Robin starts off she frowns, opening her mouth to call out, but she just clicks her tongue lightly. "Don't start a fight without us," she offers simply in warning before glancing down the side. "I'm going to find another route in so we're not coming the same direction," she informs.
Raven's mental link will provide several clues; most of which are fairly disturbing. Those few minds she can reach who aren't unconscious are absolutely terrified, scientists, students who are too scared to try and escape. And one mind, absolutely determined, with a clear, focused goal. That mind is actually coming towards them. Slowly. But, purposefully. Without hurry, without urgency. A cool, calculated demeanour within it, rather than sheer arrogance or pride. The dangerous sort of mind.
In the dark, it makes things a bit harder to find one's way around, at least without a flashlight, other technology or senses. Cassie asks, partially in. "Great," she says, unwilling to go so blindly into the depths of the pitch black hallways. "Keep your eyes open," she tells the flock of Robins.
Without prompting, Raven speaks, quietly, into the comm link so that all can hear. "The perpetrator is coming towards us. Slowly, but steadfastly. No fear. No pride. Calm purpose." She doesn't say how she knows, but it is said with an absolute certainly. Raven steps to the side, close to the wall as a soft murmur escapes from her lips. Tendrils of darkness entwine, embracing the sorceress and obscuring her from view. "I suggest you prepare yourselves."
Black Robin looks over his shoulder to nod to Red before he slips off into the darkness. When Raven tells them their target is a approaching he slides the pair of blades out from where they ride behind his shoulders and ducks into the shadows to wait for who or whatever this was, not doubting for a moment that he could take them.
It's ... an odd kind of darkness. The unnatural sort. Though there is no magic, perceptible, that would alert the senses of either Olympians or Sorceresses. Merely - an absence of light. As if the very photons of light had been cast out, and rejected in their existence from this place.
Wonder Girl watches, tense without fear or worry, allowing all the training and experience to focus her mind. She comments, quietly, "I just wish I had more ...
But she's unable to finish the sentence. "Light?" Comes a quiet, smooth voice of an older man. And in that same moment, the inflection of that word being pressed upon the air, the entire area is filled with light. Bright as if one were staring into the sun, brilliant and unwavering. And, blinding. Wonder Girl stumbles back, putting her forearm in front of her face, turning her head and closing her eyes at the same time.
The man, in a black costume with white patterns upon it lowers the light level in the room by lowering his hand. Doctor Light looks at Raven, then at Wonder Girl. "The Titans. How very predictable," he says, dryly. There is a small piece of technology, looking little more than a cylinder that has been stripped out of some component, tucked neatly into his belt.
Honestly. Villains. Talk, talk talk. Black Robin uses the moment when Doctor Light's attention is fixed on Wonder Girl and Raven to strike. Swinging his blunted blades one after the other, the first strike is a feint, the second, is aimed at that device in his belt. Yes, Black Robin is good for more than just hurting things.
Well...so much for using the darkness for camouflage. The dark form of Raven stands out in stark contrast to the now rather well-lit walls. However, with the avian hood pull low, the blinding effects are negated, at least partially for her. "How very predictable, indeed." Sensing Damian's intent, Raven is more than happy to keep the focus of Doctor Light upon her and Cassandra. "Taking out the illumination. Not very original for you, is it?"
Arriving late to the scene is Nightwing. His plane had been fairly late and got the message as he arrived at Titans Tower and hurried over to SFU in uniform. The bright light catches him off-guard as he approaches the science building, and makes his way to the door, speaking into his comm, <<Nightwing here>>.
"I prefer the tested methods," deadpans Doctor Light, in response to Raven. There isn't even a glance to Damian, as both the blunted blades move towards his person, and bounce harmlessly off an otherwise invisible force-field. And, he raises his hand to let loose a focused energy blast right into Raven's face to prove he's at least a man of his word in this thing.
Wonder Girl is already recovering, thanks in large part to her bloodline and launches off the ground to move forwards towards Light, fist aimed for his jawline, "Doctor Light, Nightwing," is as much as she has time to tell their leader, before slamming her fist into that jawline - the effect is minimal, the "good" Doctor is reeled back, but unfazed. That damn force-field.
"Nightwing? Excellent. We'll have a party." A gesture from the man, and a weighted illusionary construct of an immense chunk of metal appears over Damian's head, and preps to fall. The man has experience with the Titans, and they with him.
Damian's first strike hits the force field and sends him and his sword flying. He lands, rolls, and is back on his feet, one sword still gripped in his gloved hand. He sticks the sword into the floor and reaching into his belt he grabs a handful of explosive pellets and flings them at Doctor Light hoping they'll make more of an impact. Then, he grips his sword and comes in for another strike <<Glad you could make it Nightwing>> he says over comms as he swings the blade.
There isn't any time to respond to Nightwing's arrival. At least, not for Raven. As that hand of Light's raises up to blast, Raven's head lowers and her arms cross, palms outward, as a sort of warding gesture. But...it isn't the gesture that catches the blast. It's the sudden appearance of Raven's soul-self that takes the brunt of the blast, absorbing the beam within itself and keeping Raven herself relatively safe.
There is one thing about light. There is always a shadow, somewhere. Raven's arms flair out, the cloak flaring in dramatic style as she speaks dark words of power. The shadows come to life...taking form in her own form of solid illusion as dark dopplegangers of everyone, including Light. With a flick of her wrist, Raven sends the shadow golems at Light, as much as a distraction ploy as it is an actual attack.
Finding the entryway the rest of the party used, Nightwing enters with an eskrima stick in each hand, "Everyone all right?" His voice has some concern until he sees shadow golems. Yep, this really was a party. He activates his eskrima sticks to power on the electric ends. The older Titan charges the doctor, trying to land a few blows with the shocking sticks, hoping to short-circuit the shield. 
The assault on Doctor Light, between Raven, Black Robin, and Nightwing's combined effort, and followed through with a follow-up kick from Wonder Girl all send Doctor Light flying off his feet. The man collapses onto his back, with the effort put forth, and lays still a moment.
Wonder Girl looks back to Nightwing, cautiously, "Nice of you to show up," she tells him, half-chiding him for his late arrival, and mostly glad to see him here. She does not, however, relax, fearing some other trick, or ploy coming. Such a ploy comes when she's suddenly toppling over, herself, caught by a blast to the back of one of Doctor Light's high-energy beams.
The first one, it appears, was merely an illusion. The "real" Doctor, if real it is, stands a good thirty yards behind where the Titans were just fighting. "Farewell, Titans." Again, all light is subtracted from their sight. And, this time a wall-construct is put up between they, and the exit.
Doctor Light moves to make his escape, with the pilfered technology from the University.
Leaping back from the assault when Raven's shadow dopplegangers close in, Black Robin lands and for a moment just stares at what he's seeing. This, was far stranger than anything he'd seen with Batman so far. Still, he was trained to be flexible, and so he recovers with a quick shake of his head and spotting his lost sword on the ground, he kicks it up into his hand. Though by the time his grip closes about the hilt, the light vanishes and he finds himself in total darkness. "Silence!" he hisses to his teammates. "I should be able to hear his movements."
If Raven was more of a 'normal' person, she might have been heard swearing as the light is taken away. However, she is far from normal. The shadow constructs dissipate, since there are no longer any shadows available within. At the youngest Robin's request, Raven herself doesn't say anything. But, again, she is not idle. Raven again reaches out, scanning for the same cool demeanour she found earlier. At the same time, her soul-self, hidden within the darkness, sweeps out...taking each Titan within itself then teleporting to outside the laboratory, with the group pointing in the general direction of where Raven believes Doctor Light to be.
An arm lifts up, pointing to where Raven finds that unique dangerous demeanour. "That way..."
 
Nightwing grumbles as the darkness hits them. He is quiet as Black Robin calls for it to use his hearing to find the villain. He deactivates his sticks' electricity. Not much to do at this point, except listen and try to perceive any incoming threats. 
Wonder Girl finds herself in Raven's 'Void'. It's not - a comfortable place to be. And it's all-too likely that Damian will get exactly an inference by what she meant when she warned Damian to "stay away" from Raven's things and to not be too curious. The 'ride', such as it is, deposits her and the other Titans on the outside of things, where Doctor Light's footsteps carry him towards exiting the campus, having clearly gotten what he came for.
Damian might overhear, through the quiet if his head is clear enough, "Yes," he's speaking, quite possibly into a communication device, "I've what you asked for. And, yes. The Titans came, as predicted." Presently, the Doctor is unaware that the Titans are indeed behind him.
Cassandra pushes herself up to kneel, then pushes herself up again, to float above the ground. She shakes the cobwebs from her hands, and she's shooting forwards, to pound Light into the ground.
The man careens as he's hit, toppling forward, skidding across the grass. That is when Raven's suddenly hit with the full fear and uncertainty that she's done something -wrong- with her powers. And, ... they're surfacing. In all their demonic, unhinged glory. The source of the fear is, upon it's own, unfounded. But it's very, very -real-. The mind, after all, owns the body.
Black Robin is deposited on the grass and finds himself on his knees. He had not been prepared for /that/. He glances up seeking the gloomy witch "Warning. Next time," then he's on his feet. The words are lost on him but he is able to see the communicator in Light's hand and he reports "He's contacting someone, there are others," and then he makes a move for cover preparing for whatever attack might be coming unaware that it has already begun.
"You said to be quiet." Raven's response is short and curt...and truthful. After all, Black Robin had said he wanted silence.
Suddenly, the sense of absolute fear slams into Raven, like a wave. The normally non-flustered female freezes in place, her eyes thrown open wide, almost in near panic. That's what she gets for reaching out with her empathy. The mental blocks immediately go up, the emotions compartmentalized and buried away, deep within....in the way that Raven's Azarathian teachers have instructed her time and time again. But, that doubt was placed in Raven's mind...and it scared her. Enough for the others to notice that something just isn't right.
 
Nightwing flips a switch on his mask to switches through the various light options realizing that the absence of light renders it nearly useless, only real use being to protect his identity. He nods in the direction of Damian's voice and says, "Well, then, we should get ready for more guests to this party." 
"Raven, finish, ---," but before Wonder Girl can finish her sentence, she notices Raven's stance, her demeanor. Her blood goes cold, "They're already here." That's when she pulls out her lasso, her eyes narrowing and attempting to scan the area for any further intrusions.
The break is enough to allow Doctor Light to 'split' into a trifecta of various Doctor's, each looking exactly alike to the other. And to further confuse matters, all three begin moving in separate directions at a good clip. Wonder Girl flies after the one branching eastwards.
The few seconds it takes for Raven to gather herself is a few seconds too long. But, one will not see any regret or any kind of emotion on the sorceress. The face is an expressionless mask, a stone, fixed expression. She does speak, but when she does, it is completely flat. No sarcasm, no snide comment. "There is another here. I cannot risk locating empathically." Raven remains on foot, and takes off after the Doctor Light heading westwards without any further explanation.
Too many variables. Magic, illusions, and whatever hit Raven and was blocking her empathic powers, Black Robin didn't like it one bit. Everything he was trained to told him to retreat re-analyze and come back, but still he remained, frozen to the spot with indecision "Nightwing. Orders," he says through comms even as the middle Doctor Light runs on without a pursuer.
 
Nightwing scowls and says, "You go with me after the middle one." His tone is authoritative and he takes off after the middle 'Doctor'. "If you find this new guy, send word, and send word immediately, and try to identify." Following the smaller Batkid, Nightwing yells, "Be careful!" 
Black Robin, nods and like a dog let off his leash sprints after the middle Doctor Light, trying to make up the lost distance by pure bloody-minded force of will.
The broken-up Titans will find upon coming to a head with their respective targets that each of them is but yet another illusion. The real Dr. Light moves up behind Phobia, and hands her the cylindrical device that Black Robin had attempted to free him of only moments earlier.
The woman, cleverly guided through her own illusion behind one of the trees takes the device, inspects it momentarily. "I believe my associates will be pleased, Doctor. We'll be in touch," she promises. She moves away, her escape route long since planned out, but does not free Raven from her prison of paranoia until she's too far gone.
Wonder Girl lets out an exasperated curse through the comms. "Another damn illusion. Anyone have his location?"