The Serpent Ascendant
A Teen Titans Fanfiction by CHN
The Teen Titans have never exactly lived "normal" lives. Robin came from a circus family; Cyborg suffered a catastrophic accident; Starfire was kidnapped from her homeworld; Beast Boy is a shape-shifter; Raven keeps her past a secret. But their far-from-average lives suddenly change with the arrival of a figure from Raven's hidden past. Can the dark Titan work things out before everything falls apart?
Lightning split the sky as thunder roared and rain pounded. Strong winds angered the restless sea; waves crashed ceaselessly against the jagged rocks; foam swirled around the outcroppings of the shoreless cliff. In the darkness of Titan Tower, Raven woke suddenly, sweat plastering her dark hair to her neck and face. Her heart pounded as she panted heavily, her mouth dry from the effort. Shakily, she pulled herself out of bed and stumbled to the rain-spattered window that overlooked the sea. A bright flash of lightning temporarily blinded Raven, but she caught a glimpse of something thrashing in the raging waters- at least, she thought she saw it.
Must be my imagination, she told herself. As she turned to return to bed, a sudden familiar feeling reached her. She froze. What was that? She shook her head. It's just my imagination, she reminded herself.
'You don't have an imagination, Rae.'
The memory startled her. She sighed. Only you would say that…
A loud clap of thunder drowned out her thoughts as she sat on the bed. She wiped the sweat from her face. A deep, reverberating bellow rattled her chest and shook the tower. Raven immediately rushed back to the window as the familiar feeling came to her again. A bright flash of violet flame burst through the tower, searing a great hole in the structure. Beast Boy screamed as Cyborg dashed through the hall. The alarm blared. Raven's window shattered, letting the rain into her room.
Robin's commanding voice echoed over the intercom. "Titans! Emergency! Everybody outside on the double!"
Raven stood still before the shattered window, trying desperately to identify the source of the feeling that held her in place.
"What in the world is that thing?" Cyborg yelled, pointing to the cliff edge.
A large serpentine beast hauled its teal-scaled body onto the flat ground, where it lay panting. Its glazed hazel eyes were ringed with violet, and small violet sparks occasionally jumped from its slightly-open mouth, fizzling harmlessly in the intense rain. It tensed, then weakly dragged itself toward the battle-ready Titans. A sudden realization struck Raven as Starfire prepared to blast the thing with a well-aimed starbolt.
"Don't hurt her! She's my sister!"
Starfire, Robin, and Cyborg froze and stared up in shock at their fellow Titan. Beast Boy flailed his arms hysterically. "Dude! This thing's your sister?"
Raven teleported and slapped Beast Boy on the back of his head, sending the changeling sprawling in the mud. She crouched beside the tired scaled creature and spoke gently to it.
"You found me after all." Her voice was almost a whisper. "I did warn you that following me would be dangerous. Why? Why did you look for me, even though I told you it was a bad idea?"
The serpent let out a loud puff of air. "Sister Raven…" She closed her eyes, whimpered, and painfully rolled onto her right side, revealing a deep, short gash in her chest. Blood mixed with water and flowed between the cracks of the thick belly scales. The exposed flesh was raw and inflamed. She hissed. "I… I'm so glad I found you at long last… Three years of searching…"
"You tracked me the whole time? Oh, Sis, you're so reckless. Hey, what happened to you? Did one of Bugle's spells go awry again?"
The reptile shook her head. "No, it's not Brother. It's… his father…"
Raven tensed, her dark eyes widening slightly. She shook her head. "Let's worry about that later. Right now, you need help." She wrapped her cloak around her sister and looked up at Robin with pleading eyes. "She's hurt. She needs help."
Robin quickly glanced from Raven to her sister and back a few times before nodding. "Alright. Let's get her inside."
…
Raven tenderly cradled her sister in her arms and carried her to the med bay. The reptile's eyes were half-closed as she glanced around the interior of the tower.
"You didn't tell them about little Diamond Heart?" she rasped.
"They didn't need to know about you, Diamond," Raven said quietly, laying her sister on the bed and pulling the covers over her. "They didn't need to know about any of it."
Diamond looked sternly at the dark Titan. "Raven. It's bound to come out." Raven didn't respond. Diamond closed her eyes. "Sister, loosen up already. Remember that promise I made. I won't let it happen to you. I'd sooner die than see that blasted prophecy fulfilled."
"Then you will die young," Raven sighed.
"… It was an accident."
"What was?"
"I think… I think he was going after Bugle."
"Who?"
"… His father."
Raven stiffened. "Why would he do that?"
"To spite Mom. You know how much he hates her for moving on."
"And you just got in the way."
"Mmh." Diamond turned her head to look out the window, her black crest rustling quietly. "They don't even know what happened to me. Our family, I mean. They only know that I've been looking for you." She coughed dryly. "I'm so glad I finally found you, Sister Raven."
"When did it happen?"
"Huh?"
"When did he turn you into this…?" Raven couldn't bear to say the word.
"Monster? Just last year. I was going home, and I got in the way of his spell. So I stayed away from them. I think he believes he killed me."
Raven softly patted Diamond's shoulder. "Let him think that. For a while, at least. Hopefully he'll leave them- and us- in peace for a time."
Diamond smiled a little. "Hopefully." The sisters remained silent for a time before Diamond spoke up again. "You have some nice friends there, Rae. Especially the short one with the mask. He reminds me a bit of Brother Bugle. Don't you think?"
Raven shrugged. "I hadn't noticed."
"That's because you keep yourself locked up in your room all the time. Sister, I keep telling you that you can't hide behind that mask forever. When are you finally gonna let yourself out and bask in the warm sunshine? And I don't mean a summer sunset."
Raven sighed and slumped her shoulders. "I don't know. I just don't want to risk my powers destroying them."
Diamond lightly swept her paddle-like tail across Raven's back in a display of reassurance. "Don't worry. I'll be there." She had turned her head to look back at her sister. "You know, Dad always said that one's future is decided by their choices, not set in stone. He says, the future is a blank canvas, and the paintbrush is the person. The paintbrush is wielded by the hand that represents choice. The colors and designs painted on the canvas are the person's actions, dictated by the choices they make. The prophecy will only be fulfilled if you allow it to be so." Her eyes softened slightly. "Get the analogy?"
Raven cracked a tiny smile. "Like the flame gets the moth."
Diamond chuckled. "Rae, you don't understand a word I just said, do you?"
…
Raven silently poured herself a fresh cup of tea and returned to the sofa. She enjoyed the silence, though she knew it wouldn't last much longer. It was around the time Beast Boy and Cyborg would wake up and burst into the ops room, arguing about breakfast like normal. Raven took a sip of tea and sighed. Three, two, one…
"I told you, WE'RE NOT HAVING THOSE NASTY TOFU EGGS!"
"And I told you I'M MAKING BREAKFAST!"
Right on schedule…
"No way man! I'm not lettin' you anywhere near the kitchen again!"
"You can't do that! I'm allowed to go to the kitchen whenever I want!"
Cyborg and Beast Boy pushed at each other in an attempt to get into the ops room first. Raven had phased out their voices at this point and took another sip of tea as she continued reading the thick old tome on her lap. She was expecting Starfire to come in any second, pleading with Beast Boy and Cyborg to "stop the going at the throats of the other" in her irritating high-pitched voice.
"Friends!"
Perfect timing…
Raven once again focused her complete attention on the book. It was a pretty interesting piece of writing, actually. At least, Raven thought so. She was so absorbed in the tome she failed to sense Beast Boy sneak up behind her. The green changeling was about to pull Raven's hood over her face when a streak of teal sent him sprawling across the floor. Diamond was sitting next to Raven on the sofa with a huge grin on her face. She had tackled Beast Boy to spoil his prank that would've ended up with him flying out the window anyway.
She winked at him, as if saying, "I just saved your life. You owe me big time."
Beast Boy stood up and dusted himself off. His pranks had been foiled a lot since Diamond recovered and decided to stay at the tower. The naga had directed her gaze out the window to see the sunrise.
"It's not the same as the one back home," she abruptly stated. This caught Raven's attention. The dark-eyed teen looked at her sister.
"How so? It's still the same sun, the same sky."
Diamond shook her head with a melancholy smile. "No, it's different. I mean, yeah, it's pretty coming up over the ocean, but it shifts too much, and it reflects too brightly. It doesn't feel right to me. It's not a bad thing that it's so different, but it makes be kinda homesick."
"You're not expected to stay here forever. You can go back whenever you want."
"Looking like this?" Diamond laughed a bit. "You don't really expect me to drop in like this, do you? What would I say? 'Hi, I got in the way again and it turned me into a snake'?"
Raven sighed and started reading again. "You don't have to stay here if you don't want, but you don't need to leave either."
Suddenly, the alarm blared. Diamond snapped her jaws together, startled. Robin burst into the room. "Trouble! Mumbo's robbing a bank!"
…
Diamond shyly peeked around the corner. She was assaulted by a flock of white birds flying out the hole she was looking through. She coughed and spit out a mouthful of feathers, shaking her head. She focused on finding Raven in the chaos. She was holding her own against a giant slavering orange rabbit. Beast Boy was staring down a blue lion with a mane of flowers. Robin and Starfire were dodging bursts of magic fired from Mumbo's wand. Cyborg tried to sneak up on the blue magician, but Mumbo spun around and vanished. The startled Titans looked around, confused. Diamond sniffed the air.
Aah, not so fast, you trickster!
Growling, Diamond turned around and latched her jaws on Mumbo's sleeve. He shrieked in surprise and tried to tug his arm free.
"Let go, you!" he ordered quietly. "I don't have time to do an encore!"
"I may not be a Titan," Diamond sneered through her mouthful of sleeve, "but I don't have love for those who would steal from the good, hard-working people!" She lashed her tail, making enough noise to catch the Titans' attention. "Show's over."
Mumbo laughed. "The show is never over! Alakazam!"
A puff of red smoke obscured Diamond's vision and burned her eyes and nose. Is that… chili powder? She snorted and grabbed Mumbo's leg with a forepaw and held tight until Robin could restrain the magician's hands. She backed away, swinging her head and coughing. "Seriously? Chili powder? Is that the best you can do?" She sneezed and rubbed her eyes. "I've seen better spells cast by a five-year-old!" She was, of course, referring to Raven when they were much younger. The naga stumbled back and landed heavily on her haunches. "Oww…"
Soh? Hao wazzit? I've actually been toying with this idea for several years now, and I just got around to putting it on paper. I know, right! Procrastinators unite! … Tomorrow…
By the way, Werner Brothers Entertainment has the rights to Teen Titans. And the background about Robin in the description? Don't ask. It's a long story. Unless you have a lot of background knowledge of Robin, that is! *wink* Oh, and Diamond Heart is Raven's half-sister and is younger than the dark Titan by a year. Tata!