Darkness and Zen

“Seems to be… a little black stick figure?” Cole muttered as he squinted. Whoever did the labels either couldn’t draw or didn’t have the room for it. The image was that of a little blocky stick man, like the kind you’d see in directions towards the bathroom or fire escape, with his shadow elongated around him.

“Hmm. Darkness. Shadow control and manipulation.” Raven stated as a manner-o-fact as she read the cheat sheet. “Obviously you’ll have to train to control it and…” She was cut off by a ripping noise. She spun her head to look at Cole to see what was happening now.

Raven was pretty tall, part of that was her boots though. So, it was a surprise to see Cole bigger. Six feet tall now, maybe just short but he was as tall as she was. She was about to ask him what happened when his muscles under the fabric seemed to ripple, gaining more mass and definition with each pulse. His arms grew out, his legs bursting the pants seams and his boxers… barely holding.

“…. Well, um…” Cole coughed. He’d been pretty big due to his occupation but now it was turned up a tad more. He looked like some sort of fighting game character… or a super hero. It was like he just went through several months, or maybe years, hard core strength and Dex training. He’d have to see what he could do now…, oh wait Raven.

He turned to raven and saw she had …. Gone wide eyed and have a huge blush on her face, jaw open. That was… actually more worrying than seeing her expected stone-faced look. “Uh…. you okay Raven?” He asked, trying to use the pamphlets to cover up a bit.

Raven’s mind raced with…, thoughts. Enticing thoughts, disgusting thoughts, angry thoughts, embarrassed thoughts and more importantly she was…, FEELING them. Usually, she’d have them yes but not to the **** like this. It felt like some sort of dam had broken in her mind when she saw this beefcake of a…...

“……IAMFINEBUTINEEDSOMETIMEALONEDON’TCOMETOTHEBEDROOM!!!” Raven blurted out in an instant before being swept up by one of her portals. Cole was left alone and… near nude before another portal opened up and spat out… a dresser. With a hastily scribbled note reading “COLE CLOTHES” on the top of it.

“Well…, at least I can get dressed…, again.” Cole muttered as he dug out some clothes. Raven’s actions were a tad worrying but…, he’d check in on her later.

Cole found himself just walking back and forth on the third-floor landing. Clad in jeans, t-shirt and a short jacket now; he was dressed … do what? He was too strung up to sit and do something, and he really didn’t want to go outside of the building just yet. “Should I just do small laps around the second floor or something?” he thought as he paced back and forth. He really wished he had a place to try his new body out but there wasn’t a gym around the house was there…., hmm?

(AN; Cole is about on par with Terry Bogard if that helps)

“What the…” Cole thought as he focused on something that looked just out of place.

The railing for the landing was a series of wooden posts with a long hand bar going across the topside. However, when he explored earlier, he was sure it was a solid piece. Now though, right in the middle of the length, there was a small gap between the top and bottom railings. Two pairs of them really, about the distance a human would be. One of those gaps had hinges installed. The more he looked at it the more it looked like a small swing gate had formed on the railing. But to where, there wasn’t anything there besides a drop. The staircase was located at one end of the railing, where did this gate go? And how did it form?

“I have seen weirder things today.” Cole thought as he unlocked the little gate and gave it a push. Nothing happened though Cole didn’t know what to expect anyway. “…One foot.” He thought as he gripped the railing hard with a hand and reached out his foot as if he was going to take a step.

The fact he actually landed on what felt like a floor sent him stumbling backward. “The hell? Can I not see it?” Cole thought as he looked around for anything small. Going back into the office for a couple empty loose pages, he came back to the ‘nowhere gate’ and tossed most of the pages out over the air. All of them slowly drifting down to the first floor.

“Now you’re just messing with me.” Cole grumbled as he braced and took that same step into the air again. Once more he felt something, and could put weight on that something. But when Cole let go of the last few pages, they just drifted lazily down past his foot. The foot that SHOULD be standing on something. “That…. That’s trippy.” Cole thought as he leaned out to take the other step.

Soon Cole found himself just standing in the air, flank by invisible walls. Whatever this strange invisible hallway was, he couldn’t fall out of it if he tried. But it only seemed to hold him inside; anything else simply fell away. As if it was transparent to other matter…, “Wait is that the right word?” Cole thought to himself as he walked forward. That was before he saw stars.

There was a door at the end of this invisible hall, only a few big steps into it. Cole however had just slammed his head into it without realizing it. Blinking away the stars spinning around him, Cole reached and fumbled about before finding the doorknob. With an ominous creak, the door opened and with resolve in his mind, Cole stepped through.

The room was windowless but was still well lit by…, he couldn’t tell. Light was emitting from orbs at about the same level light-bulbs generated but they weren’t light-bulbs. More like… baseball sized marbles that glowed. The room itself looked like a mix of an office, gym and a dojo? Training mats where everywhere on one side along with a couple different melee weapons. Several sandbags and work out equipment were scattered about. The other side had more book shelves, a large table that had a map of the city, and a large bank of computers and towers. It was pretty…, mixed and ramshackle but…

“Looks like planning and training room…,” Cole thought, “Hidden away too… just the thing for heroes.”

Memories of Raven using mostly spells for her adventures came back to him, but Cole was pretty sure she had hand to hand combat and physical physique training. Hard not to pick that up when your team leader was a protégé of Batman. Don’t ask him to ID which Robin it was though, that was something packed away. Cole took it all in as he walked over to a hanging punching bag. New, heavy duty, and of the traditional make; just the thing you think of when it comes to boxing.

“Hmmm. Well… let’s see how this body feels.” Cole thought, as he took a stance and practiced a few jabs before hitting the bag. Wouldn’t do to just randomly slam his fist into it without a warm up. Jab jab. Jab jab. Jab jab, hook. Jab hook jab cross. His body was responding well considering the months he had gone without moving this way. Having his license revoked, he could never work up the will to practice like this.

“Hmmm, should check the office…, see if Cupid gave me that back. Heh, that’d be something.” Cole thought as he turned towards the bag and started hitting it.

The bag shuddered and swayed showing his muscles wasn’t just cosmetic. He wondered how hard he could hit it… but without protection, he also wondered how much recoil he would suffer. “What’s the point of punching hard if I break my own fingers?” Cole thought. Still the fact everything seemed to work just as it did at his peak was comforting. “Wonder if I still have that spark though...”

Cole backed away from the back and started to shadow box, pulling up old memories of fights he saw or people he had fought. The cobwebs and decay of these thoughts made it hard at first but his body never fully forgot. Dodge there, swing then, sway here, straight now; faster and faster still Cole moved. “Still got it… maybe. Practicing is one thing actively moving against someone else is another.” He thought as he ducked a pictured punch and shot an upper cut back.

Only to be hit in the jaw from below.

Cole stumbled back and had to shake the stun away from his head. Getting hit wasn’t something he was expecting, so the effect was more pronounced. Whatever hit him didn’t take advantage of it and… just what was IT? Standing before Cole was … nothing but something. Just a black mass in the shape of a human taking a fighting pose. But it wasn’t the same as Raven’s magic, that darkness seemed to have a glow of light around the edges. This was just… nothing, a void and the absence of light.

“Alright smart guy, let’s do this.” Cole muttered as he took on another fighting pose.

The void figure didn’t attack just took on another pose. It just stood there… waiting. “Well, let’s go say hello.” Cole thought as he sent a jab at it. The figure took the hit and then jabbed back. Cole quickly tucked his body down and threw an upper cut, only to miss as the void figure ducked as well. From it’s Position it too threw an uppercut that Cole barely dodged.

“Wait a minute…”

Cole stopped attacking for a moment to see about his hunch. When the void figure didn’t attack, Cole dropped his stance and which was followed by the figure. It was copying him, shadowing him in fact. “…Raven did say that drink gave me Shadow powers or at least should have.” Cole muttered to himself. But he didn’t really know how to control this, he just kinda wished or pictured having someone to box with.

“So… what can you do?”

Focusing his mind, which felt silly to do just hyper thinking ‘Walk across the room’ but it did work. The void figure responded to the order. Was this how Raven felt all the time? The focus she had to have in order to control her magic as well as she did. It put into perspective how gentle she had been with him all things considering. Or maybe it was just him considering he’d have to learn how this worked on a shorter time frame. “Still, actually experience it is… something else.” Cole thought to himself.

As he started to push the void to go faster rather than just keep copying, Cole wondered how Raven was doing.

She was angry, this whole thing was stupid and just an insult. She was embarrassed, having woken up next to him almost naked and she could feel his lingering desires. She was upset that she might not see her friends again and her mom basically sold her into a marriage. She was lusty, cause those muscles and package did look enticing.

“The hell is even happening?!” Rave gasped to herself, leaning against a small makeup stand.

The closet contained nothing but her clothes and accessories. It was less a closet and small walk-in room honesty. It was the only place she could thin to get away outside of just… teleporting somewhere else. An act she wasn’t ready for especially in her current state. Her emotions were coming on strong and free flowing, like from a faucet…, no a hose at this rate.

“Why?!?” She thought as she sat down at her stand just for some support, “Why now of all reasons?!?! … Cole? No not him stop thinking about him…”

She ran her fingers through her hair before cupping the palms of her hands to her face and giving out another confused cry of… some emotion. Hopefully her hands muffled the noise… just what was going on. Raven slowly lifted her head, seeing her red misty eyes, flushed face, worried mouth…. And the choker around her neck.

“You!” Her eyes locked to its reflection in the mirror, “This is your fault! This all started when I put you on.” Raven grumbled, a hand latching onto the fabric and starting to pull.

She didn’t care anymore about stretching it out, she’d rip the thing to pieces. Throw it in the fire too afterward to be sure!

Only…, for her to feel soothed for just a moment. Like someone had hugged her while saying it would be okay. Raven looked around as her rage was replaced with befuddlement. A feeling washed over her, not from outside but within, a feeling that coaxed her to turn inward. “…my mind.., what did you do..” Raven muttered as she floated in her meditative pose. Whatever this was, it wanted to talk to her in her mind-scape. Part of her figured she should just burn it but…, something spurred her onward.

Raven felt the strange feeling of… traveling without moving. Going to her mental-scape was always a weird feeling. Like being shoved through oatmeal… or maybe having a wall of oatmeal shoved at you. Regardless of the feeling, it was familiar. Her current sight was anything but. Rather than the largely empty floating waste land punctuated with some areas of beauty, this new place was… sterile and clean?

She found herself in an empty white void. The only thing in her vision were a collection of glass or plastic boxes. Given their size, about the dimensions of a room, she realized they were cells. Each one contained living conditions and several small holes cut into the front, sort of like breathing holes. Within each cell, there was a Raven; a fragment of her personality and emotions. And from those Ravens, a hazy mist drifted from them, leaving the cells by way of the holes. And there, at the end of the trial of mist, was the Choker. Or… really, herself.

She stood among the colored mist, another Raven in this personal plane. She wore Raven’s old cloak and leotard, along with the Choker. It was the colors that drew her in though. Her clothes were a kaleidoscope of colors, shifting and playing across the fabric, never staying too long in one place to solidify into a color, never moving too fast to make it the focus; the colors were just… there. It was hard to put into words.

“Welcome, Prime Raven. Forgive this one, we were in. The middle of cleaning and organizing.” The multi-colored Raven spoke, her tone both even and monotonous but also warm and inviting. The voice threatened to put Raven at ease and right now, that was the last thing she wanted to be.

“How…, what have you done to my mind?” Raven growled, her magic forming around her.

“The choker. It gave birth to me. It’s job or well I suppose now mine, is emotional stability and regulation.” The rainbow clone offered, not reacting to the growing threat from Raven.

“My emotions are, Fiiiiine. You’re the one that threw them out of whack.” Raven hissed back. The clone nearly shook her head.

“Control yes. Understood, embraced, dealt with? No. You let your emotions run wild in another plane out of fear of what they could do. Or how each day, you could be influenced by the emotions of others. Your emotions are not Fine.” Her double countered while folding her arms.

“And this is better? How is locking them away like this different from what I did before?” Raven spat. As it was her emotions were under control and so was her magic. Better to bury them deep away only for the most trusted and safe times to share them.

“Locked yes, but as you can see, they still affect you now. You must embrace and accept them, not lock the away.” The clone instructed, bouncing a finger as if she was lecturing to a class.

“Why would I listen to you!?!? Give me one reason I shouldn’t rip this off and just see you thrown in a memory hole somewhere?” Raven demanded, her eyes flashing white.

“You did not notice then.” The clone accused.

“Notice what?” Raven asked, her powers building around her.

“In the office and your closet, you have been emotionally active. Stressed, angry, confused, worried, and more. Why is the building still standing?” The double asked.

The realization hit her to the point the energy building around her dissipated. At the time when she got angry with Cole, her powers hadn’t gone out of control; nothing destroyed, ruined or disrupted. What was more was that she couldn’t sense Cole, or the city. Her empathy usually let her sense others even rooms away but now…, it was both a dead silence and a chorus of noise. But nothing from outside, all the noise was from within her.

“What…” escaped her lips, the only thing she could really say.

“My task is to see you in full control of your emotions. The emotions of others aren’t important at this stage.” The double said, “As such I have blocked your empathy from overflowing your emotions. You can still sense but it must be actively done rather than passively overwhelming you. This is the deal I am proposing to you, as it is my purpose.”

“While the choker is connected to us, your emotions are gated but free flowing into your soul, not your powers. The emotions of the outside will not be an active influence.” The clone brought a hand up in offering, “In this state, the only thing you need to do is manage and interact with your own emotions rather than hiding them away. You are free to take off the choker at any time, banishing me as you said, off to some memory hole. The choice is yours.”

Raven pondered this in her head, turning it over again and again. She felt both calmer and more wound up; more… human? Alive? It was hard to describe what she was feeling. Worried, angry, frustrated, embarrassed; but her heart was her own. It was her own feelings making her feel this way rather than something else…,

Raven turned to search and found Anger, her Red Self. Locked in a cage, barren save for a bed and claw marks everywhere and the remains of a ruined punching bag. She had felt herself being…., upset at Cole’s actions but nothing had happened. Maybe…, if she used this as a way to better train herself.

“You are not me, and you are not my…, whole self I have accessed before. What should I call you?” Raven turned back to ask. Robin probably would have suggested against this but…, she wanted to see just a bit more.

“I am unsure myself. Though for now… I do believe Zen will work.” The double said. Zen, at times understood as a sort of higher enlightenment or peaceful state. That seemed fitting. At least for the time being.

“If you do anything out of line or I find something wrong in my mind…” Raven started before Zen cut her off.

“I am of the choker but also of you. I do not believe I can act without you actively realizing it. More so after revealing myself to you.” Zen explained. It was true, even her normal selves couldn’t act without her knowing… stopping them was another issue.

“…, very well. “ Raven muttered before fading away, returning back to the real world.

Raven found herself sitting at her mirror once more. Time flowed differently in her mental space, she was only gone for a minute or so. The question was though, what should she do now? Talk with Cole..., go check the contract papers..., explore outside of the house..., continue hiding? No, she wouldn't hide but she had to do something.