Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans.
a/n: Here's some information up-front - when I was in the second grade, a show called Teen Titans came onto Cartoon Network. It was adored and loved by all the elementary school children (including yours truly), and a short while later, was canceled after a few seasons.
The little second grader has grown up since then, but for one reason or another, she was pulled back into the charismatic world of our favorite teen heroes. She's learned an awful lot about the world since the first time she sat down with her cousins and watched our five heroes bravely defend Jump City, yet the highlights of the series remain the same.
Let's get some things straight.
Raven is my favorite character. I identified so much with her as a child; now, even more so as a young adult.
Slade is my favorite villain. From the first time my tender second-grade self saw his cartoon form kicking Terra's ass, I fell in love with him.
"Birthmark" is my favorite episode. Three guesses why.
Do I think Slade is a manipulative, cruel, and selfish bastard? Absolutely.
Do I think that Raven is a well-meaning, inherently good character, who deserves the best? Of course.
I'm neither rewarding nor punishing either of the characters. This is just a pairing that, personally, is a lot more appealing to me (and quite frankly, more realistic) than some of the others.
People can think whatever they want to about this couple. You're entitled to your opinion. However, please be mindful if you do choose to review. We're all writers here. I'm completely open to constructive criticism, it's just the unnecessaryhate that simply seems unkind. Please and thank you.
This is my first time writing fanfiction. I've always considered reading it a guilty (albeit embarrassing) pleasure. I am a published writer out in the real world. But this is something I've always wanted to try.
On a final note, I'm not usually this serious. In real life, I'm an incredibly strange, pale girl who has pictures of The Rocky Horror Picture Show taped beside her bed, and in spite of nearly six years in Spanish courses, cannot hold even the most mediocre of conversations in said language.
"I need you, the reader, to imagine us, for we don't really exist if you don't."
― Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita
Robin: This is your story, Raven. And I'm not sure what happens next. I know it seems hopeless. But I believe when the time is right, you will know what to do.
- The End, Part III
Chapter One: The Now
What now?
Two words, oh-so-casually strung together by the hand of Fate, spoken by no one, yet hanging over all.
Japan.
Brushogun. Victory. Starfire and Robin together at last. Food. Laughter. Celebration. The end.
What now?
All of their previous foes – Doctor Light, Madame Rouge, Killer Moth – frozen forever in the Brain's old lair. If he could still think in his cryogenic prison, you could bet the Brain would consider his defeat ironic.
Home.
Jump City. It was nice to be back. After all, Titan's Tower had prime real estate. For a gang of unsupervised minors, they really had it made.
What now?
Starfire and Robin, kissing each other on the mouth. Beast Boy back to his video games. Cyborg and the T-Car. Titans East returning home. Jinx and Kid Flash, also riding on the fever of young love.
Raven.
What now?
Trigon was gone, never to touch her or her world again. Azarath was being rebuilt from the ashes. Her mother, Arella, spoke to Raven more often, seeing as her demonic husband was no longer a threat to her daughter's life. A Japanese gum endorsement, which (to her dismay) gave Beast Boy a plethora of opportunities for donkey-related jokes.
What now?
Petty criminals began to emerge. Thieves. Bank robberies. Hostage situations. Eventually, new monsters and villains begin to show as well. The Teen Titans could only do so much about the crime rate, after all. But they would always be on patrol. They'd never stop 'till the job gets done.
What now?
Raven liked to consider herself a realist. Reason informed her that the events that had transpired thus far was nothing more than the sequence of a timeline; nothing special or mystical about it. She'd had enough of prophecy after the whole "end of the world" mess.
But in the midst of victory, love, and new beginnings, Raven found herself asking that infuriatingly illogical, entirely ambiguous, unnecessary question: what now?
For Robin and Starfire, a relationship. For Beast Boy, closure with Terra and continuing to be the little green thorn in everyone's side. For Cyborg, returning to the comforts of life in the Tower, and maintaining the group's faithful role as team mechanic.
What now?
What now for Raven? Where was she to go from here?
Her character arc was intended to be completed when she'd served her role as the Gem. Not in a million years had Raven imagined her rebirth – or more importantly, Trigon's defeat.
She certainly wasn't ungrateful that her friends had saved her. As much as she was reluctant to admit it, Raven couldn't live on without her loud, spunky little circle of heroes. Yes, she supposed she would even miss that little green thorn if the world had remained in flames and stone. Raven had learned to enjoy life, in all its nuances and pointless moments. Hell, she'd even babysat three super-powered children without destroying them all. In fact, Raven had grown to care for the kids. They were her kids, damn it.
What now?
Something bothered Raven. It lingered in the back of her mind, festering somewhere out of reach. Rage often mocked Raven for her incompetence on the matter.
"You're weaker than ever," Rage seethed whenever she got the chance – which happened more often than Raven was comfortable with. "You're a mistake, a pathetic excuse for a hero. Doubt clouds your every thought. While your friends bask in happiness, you drag them down, like you always do."
Not too long ago, immediately after Trigon's downfall, it had been fairly easy to silence Rage's poisonous comments. With a growing sense of panic, Raven was finding it more and more difficult to keep Rage quiet.
What now?
She kept fighting monsters and villains. She kept meditating. She kept being a part of the Titans.
And yet, that strange, horrible sensation refused to fade, refused to leave her, not even as she fell asleep. Raven feared it was a warning, a premonition of something dark to come. The worst part about it was that she had absolutely no idea what it could be.
What now, indeed.
