Gain trust

You sigh as you take a step forward.

"So you explained what the ritual was for right?"

"YeS!"

"And she's using it as an open invitation for the others to start a relationship with just her?"

"YeS!"

"Is that, normal on Tameran?"

Raven seems to shrink as the rage fades from her eyes and the darkness of her soul-self recedes.

"Yes...and no."

"Did she ever...explain how things were on Tameran? Like how you just explained how things were on Azarath?"

"Yes" she seems to shrink further in on herself.

"So what's that like?"

Raven took a shuddering breath. "She told me...it was like Azarath. That people would have more than one relationship. That even if you had one relationship you liked more than the others, you could still be...involved with other people."

You nod along "And you thought that you both had that as common ground?"

She nods, her cloak now tied tightly around herself. "I did. I thought she understood...when I showed it to her. When I explained-" she cuts herself off suddenly and turns away.

Instantly you make the connection. "You...didn't just teach her the Azar Hai did you?"

She shakes her head. "You performed it for her first?"

She nods bobbing her head. "Did...she accept" Another nod.

"So you're her, what was it; Azarheth?"

"Azarlebrow"

You nod "So you've distanced yourself from her...is it because of what she's doing up there?"

"Partly..."

"Is there another reason"

She was silent for a moment longer before answering. "Robin."

You do a quick mental calculation as you move from Tamaranean cultural norms, to Earthling, to Azarathean and back to Earthling. "He...couldn't have been happy that you came onto his girlfriend."

In an instant she's about faced and staring at you intently. "How do you know about Robin and Starfire?"

Wait...shit. Is that not public knowledge? Did you just break cover. No. No you can still fix this. Just need to lie. Lie like the dickens.

"I live in Jump city" you shrug. "The titans are all young, attractive public figures and role models. The rumor mill spins and most people just accept that Robin and Starfire are dating. Though judging by your response I'm guessing that's now "were" dating."

Raven snorts at that "I didn't know people had such an interest in our personal lives." She still doesn't take her eyes off of you. You've clearly let on a bit more than you should reasonably know. Eventually she breaks eye contact and keeps talking.

"After I broke the prophecy, I was finally free. After year's of holding back I could...experience things without being afraid of my father. Without being afraid of myself."

"So, you decided to start a relationship with your teammate?"

She nodded moving over to some of the exercise equipment, resting her hand on one of the dumbbells.

"Yeah. It might not have been the smartest thing...But neither was trying to get me alone."

Shit

The dumbbells enveloped in a dark aura launch themselves towards you. Your training kicks in and you're quick to dive out of the way, rolling and landing in a crouch. You're about to reach for your shoes but you pause for a moment. You can still salvage this

"What the hell?" you prompt adopting a nervous expression.

"It's over. You're done" is all she offers as a smattering of exercise equipment takes on the same dark aura and starts levitating in the air.

You take off, sprinting through the gym as the equipment flies after you. You're careful to not go too quickly. You can still save this. You have to be able to still save this. You just can't go above a normal human baseline.

*CRASH* Jeeze that last one was too close.

"Listen" you pant still running. "I don't know what I said, but whatever it is I'm sorry. Can we please-"

*Crash*

"Just-"

*SMASH*

"TALK ABOUT THIS FOR TWO SECONDS!"

"I don't care" raven responds. "Give up the act I know you're not normal."

"I don't know what you're talking about!"

"See, right there!"

"What?"

"You should be panicked right now but you're not. When you questioned me you should have been curious but you weren't. When you talked to me about me and Starfire you should have been aroused but you weren't!"

Oh, right. She's an empath isn't she. Wait a minute, you WERE curious. And you're fairly certain that you're...yep the thought of Raven and Starfire does get your motor running. But she's not picking up on anything right now.

"Well if you're such an expert, what AM I feeling right now?"

She pauses for a moment before launching another barbel at you. You give a short panicked leap out of the way as she responds.

"Nothing. You have no emotional resonance at all. So you're either an android a construct or an illusion. Either way I'll figure it out when I finally hit you." As she raises her hand, ensconced in the dark aura you hear movement behind you.

As you duck down you feel something hard clip the top of your head, sending a throbbing pain erupting around it. You can fight through this. Your father put you through much worse to test your endurance and keep fighting. But you need time to regroup and she's still a hero.

You fall to the ground, clutching your head and moaning in pain. You need to think. She thinks you're a robot because she can't feel your emotions. But you know that you DO have them. At least you think you do. Now would be a really shitty time to find out you're a replicant or something. You cut out that train of thought and consider why she can't feel them. Your genetics? Unlikely. None of your donors should have stunted your emotions, least of all Raven's ability to feel them.

You consider your training and then immediately discount it. Slade taught control of your emotions, not their obliteration. How could you succeed if you didn't feel a sense of satisfaction at a job well done after all? No, it must be something else. Something external, something new, something...crap.

You allow yourself to writhe in pain briefly as you maneuver the necklace up towards the collar of your shirt.

Opening your eyes you see Raven moving closer to you, levitating what appears to be a bowflex on steroids. Crapcrapcrap. Just a little more a little further. She's raising it up now. Gotta keep cowering. Gotta keep afraid. Can't break cover. Gotta get the necklace out.

"You squint your eyes shut and with one final roll over you cower before her. You tense your body waiting for the sudden impact. Waiting for your cover to be truly blown as she recognizes your inhuman durability...and take a shuddering breath as it doesn't come.

You keep your face a mask somewhere between relief and terror as you look up and she looks down at you. Her eyes focused on the necklace. You feel a proper sense of relief wash over you as she sees it.

"Where did you get that." She says pointing to it.

"M-my uncle. He gave it to me for my birthday." Technically true. Felix Faust had asked you to call him "Uncle Fausty" but you're fairly certain he just wanted to establish a closer connection to an up-and-coming criminal like yourself. Or it might have been your 5% demonic blood he was after.

"Give it to me" she demands extending her hand. Crap. She'll be able to feel your emotions for real. Why didn't you consider this first. Crapcrapcrap.

You begin taking off the necklace. This is fine. You have a near perfect control of yourself, both physically and psychologically. Father was very focused on drilling in the control aspect. Emotion is a combination of instinctual response and cognitive evaluation. Reassess the situation, you alter your thought processes. Altered thought processes means altered emotions. You just need to get into the proper mindset of your cover.

You have just been attacked by one of the teen titans. Perhaps the strongest of them all. She now holds your life in her hands and she can kill you with a snap of her fingers. You can't do anything to stop her. You are legitimately powerless...ok wow that's not a good feeling at all.

As you drop the necklace in her ebon coated hand you have a sudden realization that this is a very bad idea.

Sure enough as soon as the necklace falls into her hand, the black aura of her soul-self vanishes. The steroid-bowflex creaks as the aura surrounding it ceases and you have an instant to realize that right now it's positioned over both of you.

If you rushed, you could get away without injury. Raven however would be harmed, the anti-magic amulet clearly preventing her from using her powers now that it's in contact with her.

On the other hand, you could push her out of the way...but that might mean you got hit by the machine as well.