Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans.
a/n: I'm back! You guys must think I'm such a nerd. But I've learned that writing FF is just as addicting as reading them, so yes, I am a nerd.
This is a different take on 'The End' storyline (does it make it AU?). It will be kept in canon with the TV show for the most part, it's just extra background and adding stuff "behind the scenes".
This will be much darker than The Now, and will probably not feature as much 'redeemed Slade'; instead, more of the TV-canon one. This is in part due to the fact the End has not happened before the story started, which makes the characters still in mid-development. Raven is her first-to-third season self, and so is Slade.
Fair warning: the ending will not be happy.
Reviews, sharing, etc., as always, are very much appreciated.
burn (3): to feel heat or a physiologically similar sensation; feel pain from or as if from a fire
Chapter One: Burn
Flaming. Scorching.
Burning.
Red, puckered flesh. How did it disappear so quickly? It had been so painful, so piercing, only an hour go. Her flesh was smooth now, with no evidence of the attack she'd suffered. And Raven was grateful - if there had been even one reminder of the Prophecy, well...
Let's just say it was a good thing there wasn't.
But even that wasn't true.
What you have concealed, you shall become!
Raven's hands shook on the scissors, snipping her hair at an odd angle. Damn.
That's right. God damn. God damn him. If she'd hated Slade before, then this kind of rage had no name. God damn, god damn, god freaking damn.
Timid gasped at the use of such foul jargon. Rage, on the other hand, snickered.
Snip.
The message will be delivered.
Oh, message received loud and clear. Slade needn't worry about that.
Snip.
Your destiny shall be fulfilled.
Snip.
Snip.
Snip.
Raven looked at herself in the mirror. She supposed she looked as normal as could be - as normal as a half demon could, anyway.
"No!"
Yes.
Flexing open her palms, Raven searched for any trace of the inscriptions.
Nope. Pale and lined as ever.
Raven was no fortune teller, but sometimes she read palms, yet never had the courage to read her own. The idea of the mark of Scath carving it's way through the very indents that foretold her future seemed appropriate.
Behold, the world you are destined to create.
Burning, burning, so much fire and lava everywhere. Was Raven truly destined to bring that much misery?
Evidently so, especially in Slade's mind.
Ah, Slade. The big Bad wolf, chasing after Little Blue Riding Hood. Poor thing didn't know what hit her.
This is the future. Your future.
Screw the future. Screw him. Screw him and Trigon. Screw the Prophecy. Screw everything.
Unbidden, Raven's fingers stroked her forearm. Where he first touched her. When it began.
This will come to pass. I will make sure of it.
Something was wrong.
There was a sharp banging on her door, causing Raven to twist her head in alarm. When she answered, Raven was met with a trail of cardboard arrows, all pointing in the direction of the main room.
Raven wasn't an idiot. She knew her team was going to spring some other party on her, this time because they pitied her. Her nails dug in the metal of her doorframe, not knowing what to feel. Hell, she felt too much, and it took everything in her power to keep it under control. This never happened to her.
Still, she followed the trail, and was promptly blinded by lights and confetti upon entering the Titan's living room. There all her friends were, completely ignorant of what was to transpire.
"Um...surprise?" Beast Boy said in his usual Beast Boy fashion.
Cyborg made a sheepish face. "Look, we know you didn't want a party, but after...today..."
"We thought you might reconsider," Starfire finished for her friend, a kind smile playing on her lips.
Well, shit.
Beast Boy scooted up to the front of the group, lifting an energetic finger. "You may not like your birthday, but we're all glad you were born!"
All the Titan's jaws dropped. Beast Boy beamed unapologetically up at her.
Shit.
Screw the universe for making her love them so.
"We're going to need ice cream."
All of Raven's family lit up like a Christmas tree.
"Comin' right up!"
"I'll cut the cake!"
"And I shall fetch the Throknarr!"
Robin was the only one who seemed unappeased by Raven's sudden change in opinion, his smile slipping almost automatically from his face as Raven made her way down the steps. "You sure you're okay?"
The air whizzed behind her. That was probably Beast Boy with the ice cream. She looked. She was right.
"I will be."
Robin's mouth grew tight. "When you told me about your destiny...when something bad was supposed to happen - " His mask-eyes curved in sadness. "I guess it did. I'm sorry I couldn't stop it."
Ah, Robin. Always playing the leader, even when it came to matters of Fate and Destiny.
What bitches they were.
Raven looks at him, long and hard, before dropping her gaze. "No one could."
Robin punches his fist, talks about finding Slade, reassured her that she's safe. To the side, their teammates are gorging on cake and ice cream, unaware of the seriousness of the situation.
"You're here with friends," Robin finished, smiling and touching her shoulder. "It's over."
You're going to destroy the world, Raven.
His voice, his whisper, his words traced themselves up and down, up and down Raven's spine. On cue, she looked at her palms - at the thought of him, they've suddenly blazed scarlet, alight with inscriptions.
Feelings were pushing, swollen and monstrous, inside of her. It was the worst thing she'd ever felt.
"No," Raven murmured, swallowing slightly as she remembered the burn, "This was just the beginning."
.
A thousand miles below the Titans, there was Slade.
"The first task is complete," Pause. "Master." He tacked the last part on just for good measure. Christ, he hated being at the whim of another being, but Slade knew what his priorities were.
Who would have guessed the first one would have been Raven.
For the most part, he'd enjoyed their rooftop randevú. Raven had never been so afraid of him before - to see her at his mercy was refreshing. Any day a Titan suffered was a good day for him.
Yet there was something off about it all, something he would never admit aloud.
"The message has been sent."
Yes, it damn well had been. He'd chased the girl all over the city to burn her.
"The inscriptions are in place."
Burns.
What Raven might have not known was that Slade had felt the burn, too. Fire had spilled from his bone-body, searing her young flesh - and Slade had felt the heat. It hadn't been lasting; disappearing immediately after he stopped touching her. It was fleeting, brief. Nothing.
But at the same time, it wasn't.
"She knows what she must do."
It was the burn that had prompted him to touch her again, holding her over the End. The pain traveled up his skeletal hands, up his arms, even making his good eye water.
And he never wanted it to stop.
You see, Slade couldn't feel anything without flesh and blood. He might have been able to walk and talk, but the man was as good as the crumbling, dry skeleton beneath the armour.
The burn, however, changed that.
"The Prophecy will be fulfilled."
Slade knew he must never touch her again. Good things come to those who wait. He would be able to feel again, one day.
Trigon is laughing, the sound making the cavern quake and crumble around Slade. He dug his fist into the dirt, not moving, attempting to rid himself of the memory of the burn.