Prologue

As the moon slowly rose over the horizon of Titan City, a dark figure made its way down the street to a destination unknown. Looking around suspiciously, it stowed away into a dimly-lit building bearing an occult symbol on the door.

"Well, if it isn't my favorite customer," the man at the counter said. His pale complexion clashed with his jet black hair and dark clothing. His eyes, however, shone light blue, betraying his rather demonic appearance.
"What are you talking about?" Raven said, pulling down her hood to reveal her face. "I'm practically your only customer."
"Well, you got me there," he said. "Just figured I'd try a little constructive criticism."
"Lestat, don't you ever give up?" the Teen Titan said, smirking.
"Can't blame me for trying," the man said shrugging his shoulders.
"Got anything interesting in recently?" the girl asked, glancing around the store.
"Not much," Lestat said. "Books of the Occult are getting harder to come by these days."
Getting off his stool, the man rotated his neck.
"I'll be right back," he said, heading into a back room. "Take a look around."
With that, Raven found herself alone in the store for the moment. Her eyes scanned the shelves of books, looking for something that might catch her attention.
"Vampires, Werewolves, Zombies...Ugh, pathetic," she remarked to herself.
Suddenly, something on a lower shelf sparked her interest. Stepping closer, she took a closer look at her find.
What sat before her was a book that seemed out of place - even here. It looked ancient, like it belonged in a museum somewhere.
Raven's hands slowly grasped the book. To her, it felt as if it had been bound in leather many years ago.
Examining the book as she held it, the girl proceeded to turn it over to the cover. As she did, she nearly screamed in fright - the cover of the book bore a ghoulish face, oddly human!
"This book wasn't bound in leather," she said to herself. "It's bound in skin!
Despite her frightening discovery, Raven continued by opening the book. What she found seemed to be ancient text written in red ink. However, her heritage and upbringing on Azareth allowed her to translate the scripture.
"Kando...Nefara...Nik-" Raven stopped as a cold chill ran down her spine. Her eyes wide open, she looked back down at the text.
"Whoa," she uttered. "Enough of that."
Suddenly, a voice projected itself from the darkness: "So, you find something?"
Spinning around, the Titan found Lestat staring back at her.
"Wh-What is this?" she asked, holding up the book for him to see.
"Whoa..." he said, taken aback. "You've got yourself something mighty interesting there."
Raven brought the book over to the man, and laid it on the counter.
"What is it?" she asked.
Lestat's eyes shone with a mysterious glow.
"You sure you wanna know?" he asked.
The girl nodded.
"Well," he began, "what we got here is an ancient book."
"You mean, like, from the 1960's?" the goth girl said, smirking.
"More like 1060," Lestat said. "In fact, it's older than that."
Holding the book up, he continued.
"This is an arcane manual for contact with the demon world," he said. "It's simply known as the Necronomicon Ex Mortis - roughly translated..."
"...The Book of the Dead," Raven finished for him.
Lestat grinned.
"I didn't know you understood Latin," he said.
"There are a lot of things you don't understand about me," the girl replied.
There was a pause.
"So, what else do you know about this book?" Raven asked.
"Well, the story goes that some archaeologist - a Professor Raymond Knowby - unearthed the Necronomicon about ten years ago in Egypt," Lestat explained. "He then took it to an old cabin in the woods just outside of Dearborn, Michigan to study it."
"What'd he find out?" Raven asked.
"No one knows," the man said. "He was never heard from again."
At this, the Titan crossed her arms over her chest.
"Is that all?" she said, rather disappointed.
"Well, the story goes on, but it becomes a little less credible," Lestat said. "A few years ago, some man in Dearborn claimed that the book held the supernatural power to unleash an evil army upon the planet. He said that he was the one who stopped its' power from controlling the world - even claimed he travelled back in time to save the past!"
"Tch!" Raven said, sarcastically. "Sure he did."
"Yeah, I feel the same way," Lestat said. "Just another guy trying to get his fifteen minutes of fame."
For a moment, the young girl eyed the book, contemplating the power it might contain.
"How much?" she asked.
The man sat back, lost in thought.
"Well," he said. "despite its' age, nobody's come calling for it. Too many people are wigged out over the horror stories they've heard about it." Laying his hand on the book, he paused.
"For you..." He pushed the book towards Raven. "It's on the house."
The young girl looked at him incredulously.
"You can't be serious," she said.
Lestat smiled.
"I am serious," he replied.
Raven was shocked. "I-I don't know what to say," she stammered.
" 'Thank You' is a good start," the man said.
The Titan smirked. "Thanks," she said, picking up the book.
"No problemo, Sen`orita," Lestat said.
The girl giggled - ever so slightly. "You're ridiculous," she said, getting up and heading towards the door.
The man watched as she headed out the door into the darkness of the night.
"RRRR," he rolled off his tongue. "What a fox."

The lights from Titan Tower had enough power to blind a person looking upon it from the shore. Raven, however, flew high above the structure, her mind occupied with other things.
'If what Lestat said is true, then this book just might contain the power to help banish Slade and all the other villains from Titan City,' she thought.
She clutched the book closer to her chest. 'Maybe even the world,' she finished.
Landing on the shores of the tiny island, the Titan made her way to the ground elevator. Stepping inside, she pressed the button for the top floor, escaping from the dark night.

"OH! You are so going down!" Beast Boy yelled as he furiously mashed the buttons on his controller.
"That's what you said five rounds ago!" Cyborg shot back, doing the same.
"Well, this time I mean it!" The young Titan cried, sweating profusely.
The two were pounding on each other in Super Shaolin Monkey Showdown IV, and so far had managed to irritate Starfire, the young Tamaranian princess.
"Would you two please refrain from the excessive loud noisemaking?!" she cried, sitting up from the recliner. "I am barely capable of hearing my own thoughts!"
Suddenly, a hand placed itself on the young girl's shoulder, startling her.
"It's no use, Star," Robin said, smirking. "Boys will be boys."
"But this has gone on for hours!" the girl complained. "When will it cease?"
"When I beat Cyborg's big metal butt!" Beast Boy replied.
"Sure!" the mechanical man retorted. "You couldn't kick your own butt, let alone mine!"
Before anyone could make a response, the elevator doors opened, revealing Raven.
"Hey, Rae," Robin said. "Where've you been?"
"At the bookstore," she replied as she headed towards her room.
"Whoa!" BB said as he jumped up. "What'd ya get?"
"Nothing you can read," Raven said. "They were all out of Dr. Seuss."
Beast Boy huffed, and went back to the game.
As the Titan turned back towards the hallway, she found herself looking into Robin's eyes.
"So, what did you get?" he asked.
"...A new spell book," The girl lied. "You know, something to expand my abilities."
As the two teens looked at each other, Beast Boy snuck up and grabbed the book out from under Raven's arm.
"What the - HEY!" she said, completely caught off-guard. "Give that back!"
"Why should I?" the boy said, holding it above his head.
It was at this moment Starfire glanced up from the recliner and caught sight of the book's cover.
"EEEK!" she shrieked, falling out of the chair.
As she got up, the other Titans stared at her in shock.
"Yo, Star," BB asked. "What's with you?" Then he caught a glimpse of the front cover.
"AAAH!" he cried tossing the book on the floor in front of him. "Dude, that book's got a FACE!"
Embarrassed, Raven quickly scooped the book back up.
"What is up with that thing?" the boy asked, recovering from shock. "And why's it have a face, Rae?"
"It's....it's none of your business!" the Goth girl yelled. "All of you just...LEAVE ME ALONE!!"
With that, she stormed back to the elevator, and headed for the roof of the tower. As the doors closed, the Titans looked at one another.
"There is something wrong with that book," Starfire said, shivering. "I could feel it. It is something....evil."
"I know," Robin replied. "I felt it, too. Something just doesn't feel right about this..."

On top of Titan Tower, Raven sat cross-legged with the Necronomicon before her.
"This book has got to have something in it that will give me an edge over the bad guys," she said.
This was something that the Titan had been worrying about. Her powers - though incredible - seemed to be more of a burden at times. It was common knowledge that every superhero had their weaknesses, but Raven sought to find a way to be practically invincible.
Taking a deep breath, she proceeded to open the book to a passage that had caught her eye. To the best of her knowledge, the enchantment contained the power to render the caster invulnerable to any and all attacks - even those deemed as supernatural. For all intensive purposes, this was a spell of immortality - and it was something that Raven simply could not pass up.
Slowly, she followed the inscription. She already knew from past experiences that reading a spell wrong could have devastating effects on her and the people around her. This was something the Titan had vowed never to repeat.
After a few reads, the girl felt confident enough to speak the scripture aloud. Taking another deep breath, she began:
"Cervo, Sanquis, Alante, Klattu, Verata, Quistan...."

Robin felt a cold chill run down his spine.
"Something's wrong..." he said.
Rushing to the window, he was met with a grim surprise - a violent, swirling vortex was beginning to form in the skies over the tower. Red streaks of lightning transversed across the spinning cloud.
Watching this phenomenon unfold before him, the Titan could think of only one thing.
"Raven...." he uttered.
Quickly, he turned to the other Titans. "Guys!" he cried, urgency in his voice. "We've got to get to the roof! We have to stop Raven!"

The vortex picked up strength with every word that came from the Titan's mouth. An eerie greenish-blue light radiated from deep within the swell.
"Nikto, Venta, Caulta, Klattu Cinto Kando!!" Raven cried as she finished the spell. Within moments, the vortex spun wildly out of control, shooting red flashes of light across the night sky.
"Oh, no," the girl said, standing up. "Did I say it wrong?"
The only response was a beam of greenish-blue light that erupted from the cyclone and enveloped Raven's body. She tried to scream, but it was too late...

"RAVEN!" Robin cried as the elevator doors opened upon the grisly scene. The young Titan's body was suspended some fifteen feet from the top of the roof. She hung motionless in the air, like a puppet on a string.
"What is happening to our friend?" Starfire asked, frightened.
"I wish I knew, Star," Robin said, forced to stand by helplessly as the spell ran its' course. "I wish I knew..."

Raven opened her eyes. She was quickly met with a blinding white light that wrapped around her.
"Where am I?" she asked.
Suddenly, the light dimmed, and the girl found herself in the white nothingness of limbo.
"I've been waiting for you," a raspy voice echoed around the Titan.
"What?" she asked. "What are you? Where are you?"
There was a pause, followed by the chilling words: "Right in front of you..."
To Raven's shock, the white dimension exploded into an inferno, mimicking that of the pits of Hell. Now the girl from Azareth stood among the flame before a gruesome sight - a serpentine creature, bearing a humanoid torso and head with fanged teeth, fiery read hair, and a face that was hauntingly feminine.
"I definitely must have spoken the words wrong!" Raven said, backing away in fear.
"No, you spoke them correctly!" it laughed. "Though the outcome seems not to your liking."
"What kind of abomination are you?!" the Titan said, a look of disgust on her face.
At this, the nightmarish creature rose up on its' tail, towering over Raven.
"I...am the Deadite Queen!" it roared, its' very voice shaking the walls of reality. "I have been trapped in this book for over 700 years, and thou have freed me!"
"I'm afraid not," the girl said. "You're going back where you belong!"
Putting her hands in front of her, Raven chanted: "Azareth, Metreon, Zinth-!" The creature shot a giant fireball at the Titan, who quickly abandoned her casting and dodged the attack.
"I won't have any of that now!" The Deadite Queen shrieked. "It's about time I got rid of you!"
As it spoke, the monster's own dark powers binded Raven. Despite her power, she couldn't break the bonds that entwined her.
"Now you will take my place inside the Necronomicon, and I will use your body as a vessel to reawaken the Army of Darkness and conquer the world!" it cried, triumphantly.
"NO!" the goth girl screamed. "I...won't...let you!"
The creature laughed. "My dear, I fear you have no choice in the matter," it said. "You wished for immortality, and you shall have it - trapped in this book FOREVER!"
As it finished, a swirling vortex similar to the first one appeared. With tremendous force, the Deadite Queen flung Raven into its' maw.
"NOOOOO!" she screamed as she spun 'round and 'round in the portal. As she looked back, she could only watch as the creature closed the entrance.
Then....darkness.

The beam of light retreated back up into the vortex, releasing Raven's body from its grasp. The Titans quickly approached as the cyclone melted away as mysteriously as it had come.
"Raven, are you alright?" Robin asked as he stepped closer to the girl's body.
Slowly, she got up from the cold steel, and steadied herself. "I'm fine," she said, pulling the hood back over her head.
As she looked out towards Titan City, an evil grin spread across her boney face, and eerie glow in her gray eyes. "I fact...I've never felt better."