This is the sequal to my other Teen Titans story, "Half Life." I do suggest you read that one first.
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Teen Titans: Trigon Apotheosis
Chapter 1 – Point Insertion (part 1)
There had been times when Raven glimpsed a stream of movement in the corner of her eye as if someone were walking straight up to her, ready to reach out to her. It was always just within the margin of her peripheral eyesight, enough for her to notice, but never enough to observe any detail. When it happened, her head would snap to the side, her mouth ready with questions about where she was. But each time, there was nothing there, never anything here.
Raven found herself incapable of perceiving anything in this place, including her own body. She could touch her body and distinguish each individual limb and part, and even as her brain stimulated the muscles in her arms and commanded them to move, of that she was expressively discerning, still not once could she see perceive anything beyond this veil that masked everything, portraying everything around her as an empty void.
Is this what death was like?
Her mind said yes, but her heart was still defiant, claiming life as it continued to pulse beneath her skin.
When it had happened, when the dome of lava had fallen upon her and all of the Teen Titans, burning their existences away in their final moments of life, she had supported Knives' head in her lap, desperately grasping for a few more moments together before everything was lost.
Even now, in this place, the sensation of where Knives' head had been propped against her thigh lingered on her skin as if it had been branded there. She considered an urge to call out his name again but remembered that she had given up on that for quite some time now as it was undoubtedly useless. How long had it been since she'd made that decision? It was difficult to accurately quantify it into a measurable unit of time.
So she waited.
Not that she had any other choice in the matter anyway.
Raven wished she knew exactly what she was waiting for. Would the Grimm Reaper appear, scythe in hand, to carry her across the river of Styx? Did the pearl gates of heaven suddenly open to shine their holy radiance upon her as St. Peter beckoned to her from inside? Or would hell suddenly tear open beneath her, allowing countless demons to claw madly at her heals and drag her down below to ultimately suffer in its undying fires for eternity?
Raven figured the last scenario had the most possibility. After all, she was half demon and the daughter of one of the most sadistic devils in existence. Why wouldn't hell already have a spot put aside in her honor?
Suddenly there was a bright burst of light in Raven's eyes, as if uninhibited daylight filled the surrounding area. It didn't come from a single source, but all around in synchronicity. Raven squeezed her eyes shut against this new assault of brilliance, a grumble of displeasure at the suddenness of it all. It proved unnecessary, however, since her eyes somehow were able to immediately adjust to the light.
She was bewildered when, upon opening her eyes, still could not make out any trace of her physical body. The sensation of having a physical form was there, but it was still invisible to her eyes.
Despite the endless landscape of illumination, a figure approached Raven as if walking out from a concealed hallow hidden in shadow. It was a woman judging from the outline of her body, but Raven couldn't make out any distinguishing features from this distance.
"It's about time." A phrase Raven was just about ready to speak, but found she could not control her voice, all she could manage was to stand there breathing air that probably didn't exist in this place.
"Time, Raven. Is it really that time?" The voice was filled with a calm serenity, a rhythm with both dignity and purpose. Yet there existed an underlying quality in it that Raven couldn't resist a growing sense of discomfort and anxiety; whoever had said it was a person to fear as well as respect
"It appears you've accomplished much in your short time on Earth. So much so, I have decided to intercede on your behalf for the purpose of enlisting your services. Normally, I wouldn't consider this, but these are extraordinary times."
She appeared to be walking towards Raven, but was able to close the distance far too quickly for that to be the case.
"I must apologize for what must seem an inopportune intrusion. I trust everything will become clear in its own time."
Even though the woman stood yet but a few feet from Raven, her facial profile was blurred, as if suffering from some unforeseeable interference. Even so, Raven still was able to come away with some astute observations.
The woman stood around five and a half feet tall, a very wiry frame with skin the color of onyx, possibly even just a deep shade of purple. The finishing touch was a breastplate of heavy looking chain mail, which rattled with every step, and a black cloak that waved slightly in some nonexistent wind.
"So," she reached out and placed her hand upon Raven's forehead. "Wake up, Raven. Wake up and smell the ashes."
The woman's form dissolved into a mist at the same time as Raven became aware of a rhythmic thumping sound and the feeling of her body being gently vibrated to the tune of the pulsing music.
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Raven blinked. When she did, the infinite expanse of the luminous void vanished behind her eyes. A train whistle blew from some distance ahead of her and the gentle vibrations were the wheels of the train as the metal rails underneath guided them. Inside the train car were two other individuals, both garbed in similar clothes: blue pocket-less denim pants and long sleeve shirts whose original color had been over-washed and bleached beyond recognition.
Raven stepped over to the closer of the two men, intent on asking where the train was headed. The guy must've heard her because his head panned until he was looking directly at her. His eyes were sunken into his skull with prominent rings under them as well; he looked like he hadn't slept in days and his body was slumped over under the weight of his own shoulders.
"I didn't see you get on," the man said nonchalantly, with only the slightest hint of curiosity.
Raven peered out through windows thick with dirt and fingerprints, also noticing that the windows were welded shut in a very inelegant and sloppy manner. Whoever had done it didn't care about appearance, but on just getting the job done as fast as possible using whatever was on hand. The melted head of a monkey wrench held one window permanently in place by the sliding lock.
Outside the train, almost close enough to touch, they passed by and through a massive train graveyard where numerous engines and cars sat lifelessly upon long neglected rails, rusting away in the mid-afternoon sun.
Raven couldn't recall hearing anything about a trash yard existing in Jump City, and was positive there wasn't one either, especially so close to a still in-service line like this. Most decommissioned train cars were cannibalized for spare parts and what was left was either melted down for recycling or taken to a landfill. As Raven watched the wrecks meander past the windows, she was disheartened by how ugly and dirty it made the landscape appear.
"Where is this train headed?" Raven spoke cautiously, unsure of the hollow gaze the man was giving her.
"Jump City, of course," he said. "Were you forced on this train as well?"
"Yeah, I was." Raven wasn't telling a total lie.
A sequence of numbers was stenciled in black spray paint across the front and back of the man's shirt and the same was also true of the second individual. They looked like a pair of criminals being transported to prison. This would probably explain why the place was so unclean and why the windows were welded shut.
With her immediate question answered, she retreated to the other side of the car, trying not to appear too eager to put some distance between her and the hollow man. Even still, she could feel him watching her, making her feel very uneasy.
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"And what am I?" A sob cut Raven from saying anymore.
"Alive!" Knives shouted his final words.
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Raven was incurably alive, and if it weren't for the windows being welded shut she would've taken off right at that moment in search of the others. More important than her own well being was that of her friends. Had she been the only one fortunate enough to survive by some sort of freak accident? Or had it been that woman…?
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"I have decided to intercede on your behalf for the purpose of enlisting your services."
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Raven didn't believe in coincidences; that woman defiantly had something to do with it. Raven had no intention of aiding that woman with whatever she had been referring to. The Titans were first priority. Should it come to pass that she was the only survivor from that encounter with Jigo and Flare, that the others were not coming back, Raven promised that she would join them soon after. She would rather die than face that lonely future.
She brushed some trash off a seat and took some weight off her feet. For the remainder of the trip, she didn't move from that spot.
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The rhythmic beating of the train wheels began to slow down noticeably. It wouldn't be long until they pulled into the station. With a hiss of brake pressure being released, the dilapidated train came to rest inside a recess running parallel to the boarding and disembarking platform. The car doors opened only right after they had come to a complete stop.
"Well, end of the line." The hollow eyed man sighed before taking a forced step off the train. The second man followed the first without a word or even so much as a glance in Raven's direction.
Raven too disembarked the train without saying anything else. A few feet behind the two men, she watched as they walked up the platform and entered the main station through a rotating metal gate. She didn't want to waste her time in the terminal; she wanted to get to Titans' Tower as soon as possible. If the others were alive and in Jump City, that would be the first place they would go.
Besides, where else was there to go?
"Azarath Metrion Zinthos," Raven quietly chanted to herself with the intent of flying all the way to her destination.
But nothing happened.
She stood there, ready to feel the familiar sensation of her body growing lighter as the power took over, but not a single thing was happening. Even more upsetting was that she couldn't feel the power at all. It wasn't as if she was being blocked: it was not there, not a glimpse or even a spark of energy flow could be felt traveling in her veins.
"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" She repeated, straining her voice and muscles to try and force the power out, but still her river ran dry. "What is going on?"
Raven looked down at her own body. She came to realize that she'd been so occupied with her thoughts about the others that she had failed to notice her new uniform. She wore the same the same prisoner's uniform as the other two men. The only difference was in the sequence of numbers that were highlighted across her chest. '001-00013' was the classification printed there. Though something about that particular sequence was familiar. Where had she heard it before?
Undaunted, but very confused, Raven turned to make an escape from the terminal by trekking a path past the resting train engine and around the outside of the complex. She stopped in her tracks when one of the prison guards walked right up to her.
The guard wore a black jumpsuit covered with armor plating over the shins, knees, elbows, upper arms, and chest, as well as a helmet that encompassed the whole head with a dark visor which allowed him to see. Holstered across his back was a laser rifle held in place by a shoulder strap and in his hands he wielded a stun baton which hummed with electricity along its shaft and sparks of electron current at the head. It seemed the guard was only protected from the baton's power by the special insulating gloves he wore.
He directed Raven towards the rotating doorway, threatening her with a discharge of high electric current in the back if she should stop or try and resist. Raven did as the guard directed, not wanting to cause any trouble in her current state.
Forcing her way past the entrance, she arrived at a large room. Set up almost perfectly in the center were several cubicles from which guards, also dressed in similar armored uniforms, were working at computers and exchanging information through speakers built into their helmets that also distorted the voices, making it difficult to distinguish between guards.
Avoiding eye contact with any other guards, Raven worked her way around the cubicles and approached a security checkpoint. It looked like one of those metal detectors one goes through at an airport. There was a conveyer belt for placing luggage so that it might x-ray the insides of your possessions for hidden weapons and contraband and an archway for people to walk under where they were scanned for similar items.
Past the station, the hallway split into two different paths both blocked by its own chain link fence. One led to another train platform with a sign post reading, 'Nova Prospekt,' while the other led to the front of the building. Raven could tell it was the front due to the light shining in through a few scattered windows and the large wooden double door. The only way past the fence was via a narrow opening cut into the base. Two guards kept watch over this entire fork in the road.
One guard pointed a baton at Raven and signaled her through the arch. Again, Raven complied and walked where commanded. As she passed under the metal detector, she caught sight of a security camera that lazily swept back and forth across the juncture. Safely through the arch without incident, one of the guards moved to block the path to the front of the building while the other signaled her to the train platform and Nova Prospekt.
Three times an alarm broke the hushed quite of the terminal building. It came from the camera that was now locked on Raven. A flash of light and a clicking sound snapped from the lens. Someone was taking pictures of her. Both guards now blocked the exits and a third, coming from seemingly from out of thin air prohibited a retreat through the arch.
Raven was now sandwiched between guards and fences. She cursed her luck and prepared to fight if she had too.
A door opened beneath the photo camera and another guard emerged, pointing an accusing finger at her as if intending to spear her with it.
"You, citizen, come with me!" he commanded over the helmets voice-distorting speaker.
Raven turned to make a break for the front door. But the guard wasn't slow; he pulled his baton, turning it on with the flick of his forefinger and held it up like a hammer.
Raven quietly recited her idiom once again, trying desperately to will the weapon from the guard's hands. The weapon remained where it was, as did the guard. Behind her, she heard the jogging footsteps as several more guards emerged from the cubicles and headed right for her. If she didn't do what she was told soon, they would force her, probably making liberal use of those batons they kept swinging around.
Not wanting to be physically beaten, her pride certainly needed resuscitation though; she held her hands up showing she wasn't going to resist and went to follow the guard through the doorway.
The door immediately closed behind her, sealing her in. The walls were made from unpainted cinderblocks. Compressed cardboard boxes were used to make a 'poor man's' carpet. She followed the guard as he lead her past several metal-reinforced doors with narrow 'who goes there?' sliding peepholes. Passing by one peephole in particular that was open, she recognized the hollow-eyed man from the train. He was sitting in a plastic chair, an interrogation light shining down upon him.
"There must be some mistake. I've got a standard relocation form just like everyone else." Any further protesting was cut off as the spy-hole slid closed from the inside. Raven's escort had stopped at the door adjacent to this one and waited for her. When she approached, the escort slid a card into the door's lock and opened it.
"Get in!"
Raven only had to see the pool of dried blood to freeze in her tracks.
"Go on!" the guard shouted before forcibly shoving her into the room. There had already been another guard waiting in the room, this one grabbed Raven by the shoulder before sticking a lit baton into the small of her back. Raven arched in surprise and pain as the electric flow coursed through her body. She hadn't wanted to, but the surprise had caught her off guard. Her scream filled the tiny room, overflowing into the hallway. Stars exploded in her eyes as she completely collapsed onto the floor; muscles aching terribly as they trembled uncontrollably. The guard who had stuck her bent over to place her in the plastic chair, seated right above the pool of dried blood.
"Need any help with this one?"
"No, I'm good."
The door allowed one of the guards to exit, before closing; a bolt sliding into place sealed it shut. Raven was unsure if the one left behind had been the one responsible for hitting her or not. Either way she feared for her life in this place. Were they going to interrogate her, or do worst things to her body?
How ironic, her thoughts came uneasily, to be killed as a prisoner in the same city she had nearly died to protect.
Her eyes darted wildly to see what was happening around her. From her head's immobile position, she could just barely make out the back of the guard as he typed something into a computer terminal. The shock was starting to wear off; a few more minutes and she would be able to start moving around again. But without her powers how would she be able to escape from this place?
"Yeah, I'm going to need me some privacy for this." The guard chuckled to himself as he typed a few commands into the terminal. Raven watched as two cameras in opposite corners seemed to fold in upon themselves and rose into hidden depressions in the ceiling. It was just Raven and this guard now inside a locked room.
Raven ground her teeth together as she strained to raise her body from the chair, but her muscles remained unresponsive. As her body came crashing down upon the seat, her head also fell back and she noticed for the first time a mirror on the ceiling.
A mirror on the ceiling? Probably put there so the victim could watch them self being tortured and beaten. But what Raven saw filled her with despair.
For the second time, in as many minutes, Raven fought against letting out a wail of anguish as she peered upon her reflection. She bit her lip, but the truth was reflected back at her. The mirror couldn't lie. Now she understood why her powers had been taken away. The amethyst jewel in her forehead was gone. There wasn't even a mark to show anything for it, just smooth and unblemished skin on her forehead.
Raven threw herself to the floor, not wanting to look in the mirror anymore, she still couldn't move her limbs very efficiently, but was willing to squirm like a worm if she had too. She was dead resolved on escape; she had to get out of here!
"You can't leave like this." The guard had run over to Raven when the sound of her body hitting the floor had reached his ears. He grabbed her by the shoulders to hold her down, but she fought tooth and nail, not caring if she got hurt in the progress. She had to escape; she couldn't afford to die here. She had to get her powers back; she had to find the others!
"Raven, it's ok. I'm here to help!" Even after the words had been said, Raven continued the fight before her panicked mind realized that the guard had spoken her name. She ceased her useless struggle and turned her head to peer up at a friendly face. The guard had removed the helmet and was smiling down upon her. A second mask still covered his eyes, but Raven still recognized the young man under the uniform.
"Speedy!" Her joy and relief at seeing a familiar face was almost palpable. She even managed a grin, though it was more of a slight upturn of the corners of her mouth, but for Raven it was a big thing.
"Good to see you, Raven." Speedy hoisted Raven back onto the chair. "Hey, sorry about the rough treatment, but you stirred up the bee hive with your little display of resistance back there."
Raven wondered if he meant what had happened back at the check point. If that much display of defiance warranted a stun shot in the back, what else would they have done if she actually attempted to escape?
"Why are you here? What's going on?" Despite the shock of the past few minutes, she still managed to sound authoritative.
"Heh," Speedy tittered. "I imagine you wouldn't know these things. It has been nearly a year since the Teen Titans were declared legally dead."
Speedy's statement wasn't all the very shocking to Raven. After all she had thought herself dead before, but a year ago?
That's what disturbed her.
"It all happened so fast," Speedy continued as he seemed to lose himself in the memory. "Nearly a week after the news hit the public, black ships descended from the skies claiming loyalty to Lloth the Spider Queen. The H.I.V.E. immediately rose to the surface and allied themselves with these aliens. In return, once Earth was under their control, they would set Brother Blood, the leader of the H.I.V.E., as the official ambassador between humanity and Lloth, promising him unprecedented power over humanity's future."
Speedy shook his head to clear it, sniffling back a tear. It appeared as if he had suffered some personal loss during that time. But he smiled a kindly smile at Raven and went back to his story. "The world probably would've surrendered within the first month if it hadn't been for people like us."
"People like us?"
"All over the Earth, superheroes like us, kids and teenagers with the power to fight, gathered together to combat the invaders and we have been ever since. Starting from the western coast of America, including Jump City, the alien's territory covers all of Canada, Alaska, Japan, Most of Russia, some parts of China, all of the Middle Eastern countries, and Africa. But they've been unable to push their borders any further for the past four months."
"But you've been unable to push them back as well." Raven sounded as if she was accusing Speedy.
"I'll admit to that, but it's more than you Teen Titans have done for us. If you're not dead, then where have you been hiding for the past year?" He waited for her to reply, but she had no answer to that.
"What can I do?" Raven knew that without her powers there wasn't much she really could contribute to the resistance.
"I know you've lost your powers, but even so, anyone willing to fight is welcomed."
"How do you know I've lost my power?"
"Simple deduction," Speedy pointed to his forehead, "plus the fact that you should've been able to break out of here easily, but didn't."
Raven flexed her hands; her fingertips still tingled uncomfortably, but she was feeling a lot better now, even with the surprise of everything that Speedy had told her. Even without her powers and in the face of this changed world, she felt she could still contribute something.
Still…
"I want to help, but I need to search for Robin and the others. If I'm alive, they at least have a chance…"
"Agreed, but first we have to get you out of here." Speedy walked back over to the computer terminal, "I've been working under cover with the H.I.V.E. for the past couple of months. I know a few back doors here and there."