The Wicked One

Chapter Twenty-One | Out of Options, Part One

I was awoken from the darkness by a sharp pain. The sound of the smack from the back of someone's palm rang dully in the room as my eyes slowly opened. For a moment, I was blinded by the intense shade of yellow that I was immediately greeted with but, before I could even attempt to look away, someone gripped my chin and forced me to look up into the face of the Raven with the large glasses.

"Do you know who I am?" Yellow Raven asked. 

Her tone made it sound more like a demand than a question. I blinked repeatedly, trying to get used to the bright colors before mumbling out, "Raven...?"

"Wrong!" Yellow Raven declared before another smack sent my head whirling. The force was strong enough to send me off my feet, but I then discovered that my arms and legs were being held by some kind of dark energy, holding them aloft like chains.

"Do...Do you have to be so...rough?" A sad sounding Raven asked softly. I looked over to see another Raven clad in a dark grey cloak huddled over in one corner of the room.

"I have no other choice. It's the only way to make degenerate delinquents like him pay attention!"

"Yeah, c'mon, Sadness, you know Beastboy wouldn't give us any peace unless we were a little violent every now and then!" A chipper voice that I instantly recognized as the happy Raven called out. I didn't feel much like looking in her direction.

"I guess..." Grey Raven mumbled.

"We're wasting time here. Let's just beat the information out of him and get on with it!" A loud boisterous voice declared. I watched as a new Raven, one clad in a dark green cloak; march up towards me, a confident smile on her face. "So, what's it going to be, kid? You going to tell us what we need to know, or do I get to have some fun with you?"

"I don't--"

"You can't just get right to beating him and expect to get any answers!" Yellow Raven challenged, stepping up to Green Raven. "We need to run tests first!"

"Tests!" Green Raven exclaimed the word like it was the most ridiculous thing she had ever heard. "What kind of tests?!"

"Well, first, we needed to check that he can still communicate, which he can. Next, we needed to see if he was disoriented, which he is, meaning we aren't going to get any clear answers unless we get his head on straight."

"Oh, I'll straighten him out alright..." Green Raven muttered.

"Now, I'll ask you again..." Yellow Raven began, seemingly ignoring Green Raven now as she walked before me, "...who am I?"

I stared back into yellow Raven's face for a moment or two, trying to figure out if this was some sort of trick question or something. Finally, I just opted for stating the obvious.

"Er, a Raven with glasses?"

Yellow Raven immediately let out a sigh and began to rub her temples in frustration. "Happiness, you did explain to him what we are, correct?"

"Yeah, of course I did!" Pink Raven insisted.

"Okay, then let me ask you this, Kyd Wykkyd." Yellow Raven said, looking up at me now. "What are we?"

I looked from Grey Raven who was cowering in the corner, to Green Raven who was standing up straight and proud, to Pink Raven who was staring at me with a constant smile on her face, and finally to Yellow Raven who gave me a quizzical raised brow in response.

"You all are...emotions?"

"So, his heads on straight after all!" Green Raven declared before looking at Yellow Raven eagerly. "Does that mean I can beat him up now?"