Raven loves waffles more than life itself (ofevilsfire) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2020-08-15 16:54:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, dick grayson (nightwing), rachel roth (raven) |
Who: Dick and Raven, ft. NPC!Ruby!Spirit
What: Titans things and awakening White Raven
When: 15 August
Where: Around Orange County
Warnings: Violence. So. Much. Violence. Temp Death.
Status: Log | Complete
The second that Raven had gotten the alert about the Reapers appearing on Earth, she had known what was to come. How could she not? So she had reached out to people - The Agency, the Magic Guild, Titans… because Reapers meant Paradooms. And Paradooms meant Darkseid. Because attacking the Reapers would bring the Paradooms, but it wasn’t like they could let the Reapers mine the Earth’s core. Already the axis was off, weather was wrong…. No matter what they did, there would be destruction. And she had no idea if the very insane idea in the Dreams would work here.
You don’t realize it, Raven, but you’re actually the most hopeful person I’ve ever met
Raven, you’re one of the strongest people I know
Two different Robins and two different Dream sets, but right now Raven wasn’t so sure they were right. She didn’t feel hopeful and she didn’t feel strong. She just knew she had to fight. Even though she was tired. They were on the third day - second day of Paradooms, and so all she’d been doing was fighting despite her exhaustion, the exhaustion and pain that had been consistent since she had first dreamt of Darkseid’s initial invasion of Earth. It didn’t matter. She couldn’t let Darkseid win, she wouldn’t fail her home.
Which meant currently she was blasting a Paradoom midair, dodging attacks and doing all she could to get people to safety.
Dick was a little disconnected from the internet world of Orange County, he didn’t often chat online. It wasn’t his style, he’d rather chat in person. Found it easier to do. He wasn’t against it but it just wasn’t his favorite thing in the world-all the same he didn’t have to be connected to know that weird shit was going on.
And on that third day of weird shit, Dick gritted his teeth as he finally caved in as he put the final piece of his suit on. “Fuck this place.” He scowled under his breath as he slipped into the garage (the second garage in the back of the house) where the Nightwing motorcycle lay dormant for all this time and revved it’s engine. There was a moment of prayer to the motorcycle gods that the thing still worked since he’d been vehemently denying his Nightwingyness.
By some miracle it kicked on, and he sped toward the direction he could feel Raven’s energy from. New weapons strapped on his back, reluctant gear on-focus on. Eyes scanned everywhere while that cycle sped at a speed faster than your average motorcycle through the streets. It was an undeniably good feeling, and he loathed himself for it.
As much as there were coverups for the weird things that happened in Orange County and the fact the regular civilians seemed oblivious or bought the coverps, there really were times where the weirdness just couldn’t be denied. Like the way the weather was now thanks to the Earth’s axis being tilted from the mining of the magma core, and then the Paradooms flying around and causing death and destruction in their wake.
The message set to Dick and Kory hadn’t really been a call to action even though Kory of course had wanted to help. If anything Raven wanted them to avoid the fight because she didn’t want to see them end up the way they had in the Dreams. But she also had needed to check in, had needed to make sure they were okay. Yes that had been yesterday at the start and knowing how bad things would undoubtedly get… Even so, she had been so busy once she had made her different messages and trying to coordinate a defense based on what she knew from her dreams that she hadn’t really been paying attention to just who was out and fighting if she wasn’t fighting with them as she had with Kory briefly. She felt the deaths of those who died in the past two days, she even fought Ahsoka that morning, her best friend turned into a cyborg just as Kory had been in the dreams only she'd been forced to kill her in the end. It made everything a haze.
You know what you need to do, daughter
“No! Shut up!”
Why was Trigon choosing now to speak up. Well no, she’d been struggling against him for months now, to the point where she would argue out loud with the demon in her head as she grew weaker. But she needed her full focus right now, not Trigon’s interference. Even though she knew he was right. She’d be stronger if she gave in. If she let him out. But even now, she couldn’t do that.
Even if she knew how he had a part in the Dreams in dealing with Darkseid. But so far there was no sign of Darkseid and instead just his Paradooms - though Raven knew that wouldn’t last. But unless it was the only option, Trigon would remain where he was. He only wanted her to give in for his own survival since if she died while he was locked in the prison she had him in, he’d die as well.
The momentary distraction of Trigon though was enough for the empath to lose her concentration and for a Paradoom to knock her out of the air, which meant a tumbling midair Raven flying past where Nightwing had shown up, wincing as she hit the wall of a building, falling to the ground.
Struggling to push herself up, Raven momentarily panicked. She knew that Dick had been avoiding the suit. She also knew this wasn’t something he’d be able to sit out no matter what he wanted to do. But she couldn’t shake the image from the beginning of June when she’d lost the Titans. Of Nightwing impaled and dead. Of then seeing him in a padded room and in a straight jacket because Damian had used the Lazarus Pit on Dick and it not taking….
“No…” She couldn’t let that happen. She couldn’t lose Dick here as well.
As much as he tried, he couldn’t just ignore the suit anymore. It wasn’t in his blood to ignore someone who needed help. That was why he became a detective in the first place. Someone who gave a voice to the voiceless. It was who he was. He wasn’t about to ignore that text. He’d already lost someone he loved that year, losing two wasn’t an option. He was trying to push down any feelings of resentment for the skin tight kevlar suit and just deal with the problem at hand. Complicated bat people emotions could wait.
He saw Raven fly past, and his eyes snapped toward the aggressor after a split second of making sure she could still move in some fashion and the bike slid to a stop amidst the chaos. It took his mind a split second to assess the situation before throwing an exploding batterang at the thing that had knocked Raven down. A sharp aim toward it’s weak spot.
Dick didn’t immediately run to Raven, but used his best judgement to push all the things that might impede her getting up further back-giving her a chance to recover. By some miracle, muscle memory was still a thing. Although he hadn’t worn that suit in years it was much like riding a bike. Except less fun.
Why couldn’t she have recovered her strength like she had in her Dreams? Oh right, because that would be nice. So instead she would have to continue to fight at a weakened state. Even so, the momentary shock and horror of Nightwing showing up and seeing his fate from the Dreams flash in her mind was quickly over and the empath pushed herself up, the hood of her cape knocked down.
Honestly in a fight like this, it had made more sense to go with the familiar Titans uniform than civilian clothing. This wasn’t a patrol like the ones she always kept up because, like Dick, she couldn’t let those in need suffer if there was anything she could do to help. Even if it was just getting them to a shelter.
Once up, she was floating beside Nightwing, letting her SoulSelf reach out to both get a read for where the immediate threats to them were, as well as around the county. There was that sense - that some who had died the day before had come back as the cyborg versions loyal to Darkseid… Which would make things all the more complicated.
But right. One problem at a time. And the current problem? Two of the Paradooms heading right towards them.
The dreams were anything but accommodating. Why they would get nice things was beyond them. Dick tried to initially just use his own civilian clothes, but he really didn’t want to be hurt by these things in cotton. Bleeding out didn’t sound like a fun option. That could still happen in Kevlar, sure, but less of a risk at least.
Part of him was proud of Raven, how far she’d come in terms of caring for people-and the other wanted to drag her home and put her in a protective bubble. He was deeply and severely tired of losing people he cared about, but Raven was capable. He had to trust her whether he liked the circumstances or not.
He didn’t know anything about the threat behind these paradooms,, he hadn’t quite made it that far in the Dreams. Hell for some reason he got to live out his early childhood. Honestly he’d rather take whatever was behind these creatures instead. “Well, you certainly are nightmare fuel.” He stated as one of them got so close he could smell it’s breath and he raised his arm to block it from his face, plunging a sharp second batterang object into its wide open chest.
Raven and caring for people was always complicated. It wasn’t that she didn’t care before, it was just it seemed safer for everyone to avoid them. But then she got her abilities and it wasn’t like she could do nothing. Which had led to its own problems of everyone wanting her to live a normal life but that didn’t exist for her and her feeling useless. Somehow though she had managed to find a balance.
Even if right now it was exceptionally hard thanks to the weakness and Trigon being loud in her head.
If she had her way, Dick wouldn’t get this set of Dreams. He wouldn’t have to deal with Darkseid and Paradooms. He’d be safe. But Raven rarely got her way. She had to trust he would be okay. But taunting Paradooms didn’t end well. Paradooms just destroyed. But while he faced the one, it was Raven against the other and once more she lifted herself into the air for more versatility in movement and began blasting it with her SoulSelf. If it could just stay down, that would be great.
Of course she did, but the way she’d really grown into herself a bit more as a grown woman rather than the teen he’d first met gave him so much pride. He wasn’t her father or anything, but as her friend to see her grow made him feel all kinds of obnoxious warm fuzzy feels.
That sharp weapon going right into the creature's ribs was creepy, blood sprayed back at him from it, and yet it kept trying to claw at him. “Why won’t you just stay down already?” He scowled as he cleared a bit of its blood away from his mask so he could see. He gave that weapon a twist and the creature backed off, and the second one took its place.
What the hell was going on here? He’d lost the weapon in the other creature so now he was out of the batterangs. He’d have to make note to restock those later and carry a few dozen more. Two was not enough.
The second creature seemed almost stronger than the last and he had to really dig his feet into the ground to steady himself and keep from sliding backwards against the weight.
Wouldn’t it be nice if they would stay down? But Raven already knew that wouldn’t be the case. It had taken so much to get even a few down in the Dreams and the Earth had still been overrun. She was just hoping that whatever brought them to Orange County would have at least made them more manageable than they were in the Dreams. After all, Darkseid didn’t have Superman infused with Kryptonite here and using his strength for the Paradooms.
As far as she knew at least.
Nope. Not worrying about that. Right now her worry was on clearing the street and making sure people were safe. And that Dick didn’t end up dead. That was actually a high priority for her. She knew not to sacrifice the mission or fight but that didn’t mean she wasn’t going to be keenly aware either way of his well being. Even without the way things had turned out in the Dreams. Those just made her more aware of the risk on the off chance she otherwise wouldn’t have been aware.
Turning her focus on the one that was pushing Nightwing with the plan of using her SoulSelf to knock it into the other Paradoom, Raven yelped as a third one showed up and sent her flying. She could feel the anger boiling up, the anger Trigon kept yelling at her to unleash, to unleash him, and she had to push it down.
Wincing as she held her head, the empath forced herself to straighten up and refocus her eyes, blasting the closest Paradoom to her. She had to believe they would survive this even if right now she really didn’t know how they would.
As the creature pushed him and a second one joined in, Dick felt something sharp slip into his back like butter. Something he hadn’t noticed from behind. A third creature of ugliness had appeared out of nowhere and cut right through the kevlar of his suit with it’s nasty claws like it was nothing. The searing hot pain followed, caused by another from the front as he was rendered unable to move by the third monster. That might not have killed him, but the other in the front finished the job. Another pair of sharp claws through the chest.
This wasn’t exactly how he’d planned for things to go, damnit he’d just finished fixing up the house. It looked like a place a person might actually live now. Or could have.
Instead there was a cold slab of pavement seconds later under what he thought might be solid ground as the creatures released their grip on him. Bleeding out wasn’t a fun process he’d recommend for anyone. Crimson liquid pooled under him. He made a solid attempt to get up, willed himself to move, but fell once more. Breathing was painful.
Raven had been trying to fight when she saw the claws go through the kevlar and suddenly she felt a cold shock course throughout her body. She was in the Dreams. She was in Orange County. The two were blending together and it was very hard for the empath to place herself. Not after three days of exhaustion. Not after the one thing she was so desperate to avoid had just happened.
“No!”
Not again. She couldn’t go through this again!
But this time she could fix this. She was there at the right time and not showing up once it was too late. If only the Paradooms would let her through. Even trying to portal was getting interrupted. Not that she technically had the strength for that. But she didn’t care about that. Instead, she was flung through the walls of a nearby building.
Yes it hurt, but feeling Dick dying? That hurt even more as she felt a wave of power unleash from her.
In the Afterlife, it was as if it were an old familiar empty dive bar from years before, a plate of oreos and a glass of rum on the bar.
“It’s been a hot minute there, Grayson.”
Dying hadn’t exactly been the dramatic thing he’d seen in the movies, or if it was he didn’t remember. There was no Romeo and Juliet collapse to the ground based on his memory anyway. No speech, just blackness and then something golden flickering into his blurry vision.
The setting was confusing, but not entirely foreign. It was familiar but in between. His brain couldn’t entirely register what was happening until a voice caught his attention. Ice blue eyes found its way to the direction of the sound.
“...Ruby?” He didn’t know how to react. Every single gear in his mind was ticking away in an attempt to catch up, but it was like he wasn’t really able. “How..?”
Death could be disorienting. So while Dick tried to make sense of what was going on, Ruby just remained where she was. At least until the question. To which she just gave a sad smile since she knew that this wasn’t permanent. It wasn’t Dick’s time to die yet. Okay it could be argued that it hadn’t been hers either but she knew that things were a bit more complicated this time around.
“It seems you went and died even though it’s not your time yet.”
It was familiar but not, like something out of the Upsidedown. Yes he had been catching up on popular tv finally, damn. That was probably going to be delayed now, and the show had been getting pretty good.
“What? That explains the ringing in my ears.” He shook his head in an attempt to get rid of it, and brushed a hand against his face lightly. “..I want to stay here with you.” He didn’t want to go back entirely, he was mentally exhausted. He’d been making some attempts to live but really it just felt a lot like he was floundering instead. Trying to force himself into situations he really didn’t want to be in, all he wanted to do was work and stay home.
It was about time he caught up on television. Yes he was always busy, what with his work and all, but if there was one thing Ruby had always been about and wanted for Dick, it was the chance for him to actually live his life. Which admittedly was a lot easier to manage when she was alive because she could drag him out.
“I know...but you still have so much life left to live and adventures to have. It hurts right now, but it won’t always.”
Hurt was putting it mildly, there were times he didn’t even want to wake up and go out. Days he just didn’t. He had been consumed by guilt and loneliness for so long that it felt like he was drowning. Just making an attempt to survive and not really live.
“I wanted to ask you to be my wife. I didn’t..I couldn’t protect you.” Maybe it was good he hadn’t gotten to ask just yet, it might have been that much worse. “I love you.” He always would love her, that’s what made it all so damn difficult. He hadn’t believed much in marriage before Ruby.
Ruby just smiled sadly at that.
“I know. And I would have said yes… But that’s the thing, sometimes things just happen. There’s no reason for it. It just...does. No rhyme, no reason, no way to predict it and it’s no one’s fault but the ones who pulled the trigger.” She knew he wanted to protect her, but she had made her own decisions and crossed the wrong paths. “I love you, too. And it's because I love you that I want you to live a full and good life."
In the waking world, Raven had managed to make her way to Nightwing’s lifeless body after the power burst, and she was just kneeling next to him, her head bowed.
“Not you, too. I can’t lose you, not yet.”
The power burst had knocked away the Paradooms and she didn’t care if she let herself cry. She rarely did but right now? She had long since learned that she needed to accept and acknowledge her feelings and so as a tear fell, it was as if everything aligned and a burst of white energy engulfed the area, forming into a white raven over the two as Raven’s SoulSelf materialized and her uniform changed to white as well.
He somehow thought dying was supposed to be easier, and yet he felt like he was ready to fall apart all over again. He reached out to touch her when she got a little blurry in his vision. “Not yet-” Damnit, he just needed five more minutes. At least. Couldn’t death even give him that?
Fingertips reached out in an attempt to touch her cheek. He didn’t want to do this again. It was exhausting. He’d just begun to feel a tiny bit normal, but now he wasn’t sure what he was going to return to. He was afraid. “I’m sorry.” He felt so damn guilty he couldn’t protect her. There were tears he couldn’t stop in his eyes. He didn’t try.
The important thing was that he was letting himself acknowledge his feelings. He had to. But she also knew that it wasn’t his time yet, and he couldn’t stay there no matter how much he might want to. So Ruby just gave him a sad sorry.
“I know. But now it’s time for you to wake up and live.”
Dying was easy, living was harder. And a bright white light enveloped them and that was it as Raven’s head was bowed and she was still letting her own tears fall, Nightwing’s head on her lap from where she’d gone to him. She knew that she needed to finish this, that the Paradooms she’d knocked aside would be back. Yet she just needed a minute. Or more aptly, for time to stop.
The connection with Ruby had been one of the most intense relationships he’d experienced. He never knew he could love someone this much. His childhood had been a wreck, his dream life was-fucky at best. Ruby had been his rock, and without that rock he didn’t know what to do. She had been the constant source of unconditional love in spite of his ridiculous antics. He didn’t want to leave, but it seemed like he had no choice in the matter as everything distorted in front of his eyes. Bits of the real world flickered into view.
Glimpses of Raven. He knew he needed to be with her, she’d lost Ruby too-they’d been a family. But he didn’t know what to feel about it. He didn’t want to feel anymore.It was exhausting, and suddenly everything was torn away from him as the sounds returned to his ears. The World flooded back in his mind. Pale blue eyes struggled for a moment and finally opened again.
If there was one thing that Raven understood, it was not wanting to feel. Admittedly in the Dreams, she’d been denied the chance to feel, any emotion she felt could be that anchor for Trigon to take over, for her to lose herself to the darkness inside of her. Her powers were based on emotions and not feeling them lest they become unstable. She felt everything from everyone else and it had taken so long to let herself feel her own emotions.
Despite the heartache of losing Dick, of feeling him die just as he had months ago in her Dream, she was suddenly aware that the coldness she felt at his death was no longer there.
Eyes widening despite the tears, the empath could only blink.
“Y...you’re alive…”
She’d saved his life before all those years ago when her father’s men had taken him but this had been bringing him back, even if she wasn’t entirely aware of that fact or that when the tears had fallen on him that the regular dark cloak and uniform had been replaced by white.
So she just hugged him, not sure what else to do but needing that proof that he was alive. That she hadn’t failed again.
The chaos of the day hadn’t re-registered yet in his brain. It was all a chaotic mess, like a white noise track he didn’t quite know how to clear. Arms around him helped to ground him, but confusion remained for a moment. “...How?” He didn’t quite understand it, or fight it-at least not in the waking world.
“You’re white.” A strange statement, but the sight before him was strange. He’d never seen Raven wear white a day in his life.It stood out in the darkness that was currently orange county. Breathing no longer felt like a task, and just to test that he was actually alive behind her back he moved his hand a bit. “Why?” Words weren’t his friend.
The chaos of the day was just that, chaos and Raven hadn’t slept in three days. All she knew was that Dick had been dead and now he wasn’t and the relief she felt at that was nearly overwhelming. Oh, there was still a fight to be had and somewhere things that were seemingly unconnected started to shift even as she focused on the very real fact that Dick was alive.
“I don’t know.”
How he was alive. She had done it in the Dreams but there she didn’t know either. It just happened. But then the comment on the color of her outfit and she just blinked.
“What?” That was when she looked down and noticed that what had been dark blue and nearly black was suddenly white. There were times in her Dreams it had happened. Her first set when she faced Trigon and won. The one that Dick was having in all it’s non-chronological confusion when she had broken free of her father and was learning to embrace emotions. But if it changed mid-battle?
“I’m not sure…”
But things were clicking with that information. A similar event happened in the current set of Dreams. She saved Damian and in the process Constantine and that ended up with her uniform changing as well. Which meant…. Could that crazy idea work?
“....I can fix this. All of it.” Which sounded insane with how much destruction had been wrought in so short an amount of time. But suddenly the hope Robin spoke of in that first set of Dreams was renewed. Even the strength Damian had spoke of. And yet she still had to ask given what it entailed even as she’d set up a plan for it just in case when all of this had started, “Do you trust me?”
His Dreams had been slow, and he wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not. Some days he wanted more information on the people around him, others...well he saw what they went through thanks to whatever Dream providing asshole was giving them these “other lives” and didn’t envy them. The first time around Orange County, the dreams had been more stable. He had started to think it was because he left and came back that everything was disjointed and annoying. Now was one of those more annoying times. He wanted to know what the hell was going on and not feel so entirely lost.
He had died hadn’t he? How was he suddenly alive again? Raven? He knew she had healing ability, but revival from literal actual death? That was a whole new world of confusion.
He gave her a confused look which was basically his entire state of being. “...Yes?” He responded cautiously. His body still felt a bit heavy, it was an odd sensation. Everything around them was still noise. He’d be happy for silence for the first time in his life. He welcomed a stop to the insanity.
It wouldn’t surprise Raven if the Dreams were being disjointed to be annoying. She’d gotten a whole new set not even 24 hours after being back and not on the network. Orange County was like that.
He had died but at least her healing wouldn’t have the same effect as the Lazarus Pit had in the Dreams. The small things and all.
And okay, that was fair. Usually crazy ideas could come from someone asking ‘do you trust me?’ which….yeah this was still a completely crazy idea and Raven didn’t actually know if it would work in the Dreams but she just had to have hope. She had to have faith. With different magic users and cooperative magic. So once got the affirmative answer of trust, the empath nodded some.
“Good. Because this is probably the craziest thing I ever do….”
Closing her eyes, Raven focused on where she felt the energy of Darkseid and took a steadying breath before opening a portal and stepping through. That done, she removed the chakra prison from her forehead and let it float in the air before it seemed to crack and a bright red light flashed in the sky and Trigon was released.
On edge, Raven watched as he made his way towards Darkseid with a single pause to look towards her before he continued on his path and the two began to fight. With Darkseid distracted, Raven’s SoulSelf seemed to grow and wrap around the two and hold them in place in the shape of a white raven - the sign for the magic users she had contacted to begin - so long as they were still alive. Then she saw it. A dimensional opening that began pulling the paradooms inside, her SoulSelf blocking the two from leaving the area until they two found themselves in the dimensional opening forever locked in battle as it suddenly closed.
As the two vanished, Raven’s SoulSelf seemed to expand as if wrapping its wings around everything before a sudden white light pillar appeared where Raven was floating that then expanded and encompassed everything. Buildings that were destroyed were repaired. Those who had died in the fight lived. Those turned into cyborgs returned to normal and the planet’s axis returned to normal. The dark and oppressive feeling of the atmosphere was replaced with a normal Saturday late afternoon.
The planet was healed.
Slowly, Raven floated down to where Dick was, the chakra prison replaced by the soul chakra that was consistent through her other Dreams and part of her. She felt… she didn’t know. It should have been impossible. She knew that. Yet it worked. It actually worked.
Dick wasn’t really sure what he could do to stop her even if he wanted to. He wasn’t in a position to do so after all that. Dying was somehow exhausting even though in his mind it really shouldn’t have been. It didn’t make a ton of sense. But really nothing did as he watched Raven’s SoulSelf grow in size.
Nothing in this place was normal, but red lightning in the sky was really not normal. Why had he made the decision to come back to Orange County again? He began to stand as he watched her basically save the world. Cyborgs disappearing and returning to normal confused humans made him raise an eyebrow. Daylight returning caused confusion.
It was like being under a stream of water, he understood but couldn’t experience it with her. And he hated the Dreams for that. He could see it all in front of his eyes but couldn’t connect on both levels and that in its own right was frustrating as hell. But he was proud of her. That heavy feeling in the air seemed to have lifted, and after what seemed like there wouldn’t be another day in his future had finally cleared. There was going to be a tomorrow.
What it would hold, only time would tell.
“You’re something else.” He’d watched her all these years and never really seen what a strong young woman she’d become. “...What now?...Waffles?”
There were so many feelings rushing through Raven at the moment and she couldn’t place them. Not really. There was a peace she hadn’t felt in a long time. She wasn’t dying anymore as she’d been for the past two and a half months and felt sure of herself. Despite the immense odds, she’d managed to do the impossible.
And relief. Giddy relief.
Feet touching the ground, the empath turned as she heard Dick’s voice.
No, somebody believed.
And so as he said she was something else, Raven just hugged him for the second time that day. Only instead of a relieved ‘thank Azar you’re alive’ hug, it was one of gratitude and love and relief. As for waffles? Pulling away, the empath contemplated the comment. “You know what, yeah. That sounds really good.” As if there could be any other answer to the question.