CHAPTER 177

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[Raven - Rachel Roth POV]

[Young Justice]

The team had come to aid me, even though I hadn't called for them. Very well. This wasn't part of my plans, but I would adapt to this; I had no time to waste.

I had already made David wait long enough.

"I need the cat," I told Superboy under my breath as I stared at Klarion.

Cracking his knuckles, Superboy nodded before jumping at Klarion with a loud roar.

Klarion cackled at this in a maniacal manner, snapping his fingers with impish delight, creating a fiery explosion of red in front of Superboy, sending him flying backward.

"Do you really think numbers will make any difference?" Klarion asked, his face displaying a smug grin. "You can't defeat me, you're nothing but ants, flies trying to eat the sun," he added haughtily, looking around at all of us with delighted contempt.

The anger bubbled up within me at his words, and I clenched my fists tightly.

"Shut up," Artemis growled, shooting an arrow at Klarion.

Klarion snorted, an evil glint in his eyes as he conjured up a force field that deflected the arrow without even moving. "An arrow? Really? The fact you think that can defeat me is insulting."

Artemis grinned, her eyes narrowing. "Oh, I'm just getting started," she said before releasing a barrage of arrows at Klarion. Arrows I coated in magic.

Klarion's eyes widened in surprise. "Your stupidity knows no end; how delightful!" he said gleefully, his hands moving quickly as he formed a ball of bright red energy and released it at us.

The projectile flew towards us, but Superboy was quick to move, tanking the attack and protecting us from the full brunt of it.

Klarion's laughter echoed through the air, and the smoke, taunting us as we stood there, feeling powerless to stop him.

"Superboy, are you okay?" Miss Martian asked, worry obvious in her voice as she approached him.

Superboy nodded, pain written all over his face as he rose from the ground. "Yeah," he said with a weak smile. "That move played out better in my head."

"Hey, Rave, any idea how to defeat this guy?" Artemis asked, turning to me.

I narrowed my eyes at Klarion before nodding slowly. "Yeah."

"Miss Martian, link us," Aqualad said, his voice calm and even.

Miss Martian complied, her power forming a link between us all to facilitate communication.

~What's the plan, Raven?~ Aqualad asked, his mental voice echoing through my head.

~Chaos can't be defeated, only halted. We need to distract him and get his cat; if we kill his familiar, we win. The cat is his anchor to the living world,~ I replied, turning my attention to Miss Martian and Aqualad. ~I can distract him alongside Aqualad and Miss Martian. The rest should go for the familiar.~

"So, who's next?" Klarion said, drawing our attention back to him.

"I had enough!" Superboy said through gritted teeth before leaping forward and attacking Klarion.

Klarion, seeing this, simply swatted Superboy aside with a flick of his hand. "Well, that was fun. Next."

"Azarath metrion zinthos!" I shouted, sending a wave of spiritual energy at Klarion, who was forced to use both hands to defend himself.

Aqualad and Miss Martian then used this opportunity to launch their own attacks, adding to my own attacks in order to keep Klarion occupied while Superboy, Artemis, Robin, and Kid Flash went for his familiar.

"This is getting boring. Is that all you guys have?" Klarion asked, his voice growing tired as he continued to block our attacks with ease, one after the other. "Oh well... Teekl, go and have some fun with the rats sneaking behind me."

At this, his familiar transformed into a sabertooth tiger of massive proportions and charged toward the others, who, in shock at this sudden transformation, were barely able to dodge it.

"Now, where was I?" Klarion said, index finger pressed upon his lips as his attention finally turned back to us. "Ah yes, I was about to play hospital with you guys. I call dibs on being the doctor," he added, the corners of his mouth curling into a sinister grin.

Feeling the sudden and terrifying change in mana around me, I rushed to create a shield of darkness to protect us from Klarion's impending attack. Blocking what would've been a fatal attack in the nick of time.

"Not bad," Klarion said, clapping slowly. "I guess now the game is, seeing how long you can keep this up."

"Just enough to distract you," I replied with a small grin.

Klarion's expression turned dark as he realized what had happened. However, before he could do anything about it, there was a loud yowl as Superboy broke Teekl's neck.

"Teekl!" Klarion shouted, his voice carrying what appeared to be a pain, as he turned his attention away from us, looking around frantically for his familiar.

But it was too late; Superboy already had her in his arms, death.

"No fair! NO FAIR! NO! NO! NO!" Klarion shrieked in rage before his physical form dissolved into nothingness, leaving behind only a cloud of red smoke.

Now it was time to collect the blood of the familiar, the last ingredient I needed to bring back, David.

"Now what?" Artemis asked, breaking the silence.

Without saying a word, I levitated Teekl's body out of the ground toward me, pulling a few syringes out of my cloak before using my telekinesis to collect a few samples of her blood.

With that done, I tossed Teekl's body to the side before storing the blood in my astral form. Now all that was left was finding David.

"Raven, we are here for you," Miss Martian said, interrupting my thoughts as she approached me.

"Let us help you," Aqualad added, coming to stand beside her.

I smiled at their offer in a cynical manner. "You already did. Now the rest is up to me."

"Ok, I had up to here! With your attitude!" Artemis said, exasperated. "I can't say I understand your pain completely. Out of all of us, you were the one that cared for him the most. But I'm BEYOND tired of this solo act you are trying to pull without a reason! WE CARE FOR YOU! WHEN YOU WILL ACCEPT THAT!"

"And when will you all accept that I don't care about you all?" I replied, my tone cold and detached, before I opened a portal in front of me, only to be stopped by another portal that appeared beside me.

"That's not a nice thing to say to your friends," The unmistakable voice of Dr. Kent came through that portal as the old man stepped through, tapping his cane on the ground to close the portal behind him.

"What are you doing here, Dr. Kent?" I asked, keeping my tone calm. He was the reason the team had interfered. As long as he remained, I would be plagued by the team.

"I'm here to try and reason with you, young woman. The spell you are about to use is a dangerous one, one that could tear the very fabric of reality," Dr. Kent replied calmly, his tone carrying a sense of wisdom. "I know you want to save your friend, but at what cost?"

"That's only if I do this wrong," I replied.

"Yes, I suppose that's true," Dr. Kent said slowly, still looking at me with an unwavering gaze. "If you succeed, everything will go well. If not... Well, who will save your friend then? there won't be another try if you fail this one. Are you willing to bet his life on a single shot? I understand your desperation. But please consider this carefully before you act."

At this, he paused for a second, letting his words sink in.

I knew he was right. To a certain extent, his words carried nothing but the truth.

However.

"I... very well," I muttered, a tear rolling down my cheek. Seeing this, Dr. Kent approached me, opening his arms to give me a comforting hug.

"I know it hurts, child, but don't worry, we will save him no matter how long it takes," Dr. Kent said in a soft, reassuring tone.

"I'm sorry," I muttered, tapping Dr. Kent on the head, putting him to sleep with a powerful spell. "But as long as you remain, you represent an obstacle too big to ignore. Rest well."

"Dr. Kent!" Kid Flash shouted as I gently laid Dr. Kent's body down. "What is wrong with you?!" he shouted, looking at me.

Giving them no reaction, I raised my hands in the air and summoned a dark portal, quickly stepping through before anyone could even react. I would wait no longer to save David; I had already waited long enough.

No more.