Hey... okay, it's my first time to do this, and I'm a bit shy. I hope you'll like it...

Summary: When Raven explodes due to her close-to-death experience, she wakes up Terra in the hidden volcano in the city – and another entity living in her. So in the dark of the night, she leaves the hospital in which she stays. Frightened, the Titans look everywhere for her, until several days after her abduction, they find her. Changed. The reason for her change is unknown, but as they journey to change and save her with Terra's help, they realize there's more to her cold exterior: a horrible secret. As they finally journey to another world to save her, Raven has to make a great decision...

The Dark Apprentice

Chapter One

"When Everything Goes Wrong"

"TITANS! MOVE!!!" The five teens dodged the barrage of plasma. The sickly ooze slopped onto the street, but began making its way towards its host again. The sludge monster snarled angrily and readied itself for another attack. Before it could release the blow, a starbolt blasted itself into its chest, knocking it over with a sickening – SPLAT.

The monster climbed back to its feet and let out fresh snarls. Then, swinging its arms like a windmill, it let loose several slime blasts which battered the streets and lampposts. Several took down a redhead, a cyborg, a green-skinned teen, another teen in a red suit and a cape, and the last a teenager with dark clothing. The Teen Titans.

All of them moaned in agony, then looked up to face the sludgy mammoth before them. One by one, they got on their feet, glaring fiercely and determined at the hideous creature before them.

"Titans!!! Spread out and attack from all sides!" shouted the teen in a red suit. A black "R" was imprinted on his chest. Swiftly, each member followed his or her orders.

The green-skinned teen transformed into a pterodactyl and swiped at the monster's head. His new claws struck out at the monster's eyes, and the monster swiped blindly at it. The teen however found his way around the pillars of slime, and he attacked fiercely. He swung low and dropped to the ground. As his feet touched the street, he transformed into a tyrannosaurus rex. He roared once, than charged, avoiding the cannon blast, starbolts and the energy disc from his teammates.

The cyborg launched out with a cannon formed in his previous right hand. He blasted light-blue energy at the creature's chest. The creature snarled angrily as it tried to defend itself from its air assailant and the surrounding. Clicking mechanically, the cyborg transformed the cannon back into his hand. He came forward and pummeled at the monster, ignoring its loud snarls.

The redhead flew around the sludge monster, blasting out starbolts at every opportunity. She circled around it, hammering it with starbolts from her hands and eyes. She circled it, watching her teammates. She blasted every time the others were never close, but she avoided the cyborg's area, for he had to attack the monster at close range with another. The redhead flew up as soon as her green-skinned teammate hit the ground, and she continued his assault from there.

The red-suited teen, which obviously was their leader, performed stunning acrobatic moves, and pulled out a disk. The disc flickered slightly and crackled with blue energy. He flicked it at the monster's chest, and it exploded instantly. He ducked as his other green-skinned friend landed beside him and transformed. He then moved forward and began to attack the monster with kicks and punches that were lethal.

Meanwhile, the dark-clothed teenager flew behind the creature, and her eyes glowed a gleaming white. She muttered an incantation, and the lampposts surrounding her glowed with negative energy and charged at the creature. The lampposts slammed their way into the creature's back, and it poked out the other end. She then lifted her hands. A slab of concrete rose, and it hovered in the air. Gritting her teeth in concentration, the teenager lifted her hands higher, and the concrete slab charged at the monster. It slammed through it, and as she loosened her control on it, it skidded away, crashed into some buildings.

Enraged with the sudden, fierce attacks, the monster screamed and shuddered. It melted into the ground, the lampposts sticking out of it melting onto the street. The teens hovered around the pool of sludge, two on the ground, and three in the air. Out of the blue, the monster exploded, spraying the surrounding area around it a sickly purple. During the retaliation, one of the teens in the air sped towards the ground, the redhead following behind her. As the dark-clothed teen hit the ground, she muttered the same incantation, and a negative force field surrounded her and her fellow members.

The teens peeked out from the negative energy field. They were unharmed, but the streets were in ruins. Slightly dazed, the teens steadied themselves, but before they knew it, they were swiped off of their feet. Four teens slammed down into the gravel, scraping them. The fifth member, the one with dark clothes and the one in the front of the group (for she conjured the force field), slammed into a building. Several bones cracked, a gash ripped at her side, and the metal clawed at her pale skin.

Crawling out, the teenager gasped for air. She felt like she was breaking, tearing apart. Blood slipped from her left side, spilling onto the black street. Most of her cloak and uniform was already stained with her own blood. Her vision began to get foggy, and her breath she was losing. Her uniform was torn and bloodstained, and her dark purple hair was matted thickly with blood.

She looked at her right and saw her teammates, struggling onto their feet. She breathed a quick sigh of relief. A large crash to her left caught her attention, and at once a thought raced to her mind as she saw the monster raising a block of thick, solid concrete above its head.

I'm going to die.

A hidden force inside her body suddenly began to blast out. Like a blossoming flower, it spread into her veins, seeping out the pain. She gasped at the power, the force. She also gasped at the feelings she felt exploding out of her – fear, hatred, anger, happiness, surprise, worry – feelings she wasn't supposed to feel. Before she knew it, the second soul inside her body began bursting out, breathing in air.

"NOOO!!!"

The energy ripped out, coming out of her body like a supernova. She felt the wave of energy pumping out from her body, and unconsciously, she rose from the ground. Her hand lifted. Blood red energy spilled out, exploding. She felt herself being shunned into a corner of her complex mind, where she watched, not acted.

The monster screamed in absolute pain as haunting images floated in its mind – and as pain gashed at its body. It had taken enough. The sludge monster fell into the street. A humongous earthquake shook the city. It shrank and melted away until it revealed a human. A sleeping human.

The dark clothed teenager, now covered in her blood, sank to the ground – on her knees. She coughed out blood, and fell into the small pool that was her life essence.

In a hidden volcano inside the city, something stirred. A small earthquake shook the hidden volcano, stirring a stone figure somewhere in the middle. The earthquake battered at the volcano and at the areas surrounding, then stilled. The stone figure shook once, then twice. A cracking sound issued from the stone, and the stone began to crumble away. Along with that, several loud crashes came from around.

A girl, with blond hair and blue eyes stumbled out from the stone. Her eyes opened narrowly, then widened. She was awake. How long...? She felt herself shaking, and at once she noticed the scratches on her body.

'I need help', she thought quietly. She stumbled onto her feet, and she walked several feet, but then fell. 'I'm too weak...' Her eyes began to flicker close, and she fell on the harsh, crumbling rock.

Raven could hear herself breathing raggedly. Her mind was caving in, and all her senses began to fade into nothingness. Plasmus was being imprisoned by her teammates, and she could faintly hear them running to her side. They shook her and shouted. She could not reply in any way. She felt her blood, so close to her. Her heart pumped weakly, and each breath seemed to be her last. But it wasn't. She could suddenly feel herself being lifted, and she caught a glimpse of red hair. Starfire. Starfire lifted off the ground, talking to Raven quietly, asking her to wake up. But she couldn't. Her breath was almost fading, and something else was shifting control on her body.

Something else was beating inside her. It kept her alive while it regenerated. She could feel it growing and expanding ready to take her, take it as its host. And she was utterly helpless. She could barely lift her hands, and her mind was beginning to shut down. With hopelessness filling her heart, she blacked out completely.

"That's a good dear," whispered a voice menacingly in her mind. "Just give up now..."

The hospital staff rushed the wounded teenager into the operation room. Blood was pouring from her side, and she seemed unconscious. After examining her injuries more, they found several rib bones cracked, and other bones seemed cracked too. Gingerly, they placed her on the operating table, and began the grueling work that could take hours.

Meanwhile, her friends were waiting outside. Robin paced back and forth, muttering. Cyborg sat down in a chair, looking at the ground. Beast Boy lingered at a chair near Cyborg, staring at the door. Starfire hovered near the door, floating occasionally near other places, muttering quietly. All of them were worried, and Starfire was crying quietly. After three hours, the nurses told them to return, and to come back in the evening.

Grudgingly, they walked out. The Teen Titans walked out and returned to their tower, where they recuperated.

Silence greeted the teens as they stepped inside their home. Starfire flew away and into her room, sobbing loudly. Robin quietly sat down in front of their gigantic screen TV, and sat staring outside. Beast Boy and Cyborg sat beside Robin, staring at the ground. Everything was eerily quiet.

"Uh... dude, do you think she'll make it?" Beast Boy whispered. Cyborg and Robin didn't answer for a while, and then Robin spoke up.

"Yeah, she will. She's tough and you know that. Besides, she isn't purely human, is she? I'm sure she'll survive." Robin was informed of Raven's identity after Beast Boy and Cyborg were sucked inside her mind. "She's taken a hard blow, but she's tougher than she looks." Silence rang in the room, pierced faintly by Starfire's sobbing.

"Uh, yeah, but she can still slip through. What if she... goes?" Beast Boy asked, even quieter than before.

"Ya better not believe that. Robin's right, she's tougher than she looks. If she does leave though... that's that. Just like what Raven says, you can't cry or shout when something's wrong – it'll do absolutely zip." They talked some more, in kind-of hushed tones, as the day wore on. Several hours and silences later, it was five past six o' clock.

The door leading to the living room hissed open. A blotchy-faced Starfire walked inside. She sniffed once. "D-do you suppose it is time f-for us to go and greet our friend?" She asked. The three guys were quiet. Time had definitely passed, and the nurses said to visit later. Quietly, they all left the tower, somber and hopeful.

Machines blipped and beeped as Raven breathed. Her pulse beat steadily, and her breathing had now become even. Several bandages covered her body, and she was wearing a clean white flannel. Nearby her was a simple bowl of fruit and fresh flowers.

Starfire smiled widely as she approached the bed Raven was sleeping in. She leaned in to look at the machines interestedly, than she turned to Raven. "Friend, are you fully rested?" Raven didn't answer. Undazed, Starfire waved her hand in front of Raven's face. "Friend Raven? Is... everything alright?" Robin placed his hand on Starfire's shoulder.

"Uhhh... Starfire, I think she's okay... but maybe... you can talk to her... later?" Starfire looked curiously at the machines and Raven. She nodded in slight understanding and walked away. The other members came near and talked to her, even though she was unresponsive.

The team stayed, talking much more cheerfully before. They dropped off their gifts of flowers and an extra pair of her clothes, then left silently as the nurses ushered them away.

Raven's easy breathing continued.

12:00. Beep.

In the ward where Raven stayed, the nurse left the room. She climbed down the clean white staircase to another patient. Silence rang through Raven's ward. Surprisingly, Raven's violet eyes opened, now glowing white. She sat up stiffly, crumpling the sterilized sheets. Raven turned her glowing eyes to her spare uniform. She got out of her bed mechanically, and changed her clothes. Leaving the white gown on the now messed bed, Raven turned to the open window.

The silence that rang so positively in the air now began to shift as a black hole formed in the space between the wall and Raven's bed. It crackled and shot arms of dark sparks through the air. Raven, drawn to it like and iron filing to a magnet, took a step forward. Awkwardly, mechanically, she stepped to it and felt herself being pulled through. In a soft crack that could barely be heard, the hole disappeared, with Raven inside it.

A cold draft blew into the lonely ward...

So... do you like it? Please review or e-mail me to tell me what you think! Thanks! )