Well, I've pretty much abandoned Fate. I can't think of anything to write, I don't want to write, the very thought of attempting to write another chapter makes me cringe. Sorry, but I have never and probably will ever be able to keep a story going for more than a few chapters. To the people who liked that story, I'm very sorry, and thanks a ton for supporting it while I was writing it.
This particular story may be a few chapters long, but it's still going to be pretty short. Back to ficlets for me.
Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans, nor the poem 'The Raven' by Edgar Allen Poe.
-UR-
"...And
the raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting
On
the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;
And his eyes
have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming.
And the
lamplight o'er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;
And
my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
Shall
be lifted---nevermore!"
-- From The Raven, by Edgar Allen Poe
There was once a contraption used for torturing those, either for punishment or for information. The bodies of live humans were tied to it, and pulled. Stretched farther, jerked farther, pulled farther apart than they should be. Jerked tighter and tighter, falling further away from a natural distance. Every passing second tears them bit by bit, destroying them slowly, agonizingly. Limbs are dislocated, skin is ripped.
Eventually, they snap.
It could be said that this was very similar to what Raven's mind was going through on a certain Sunday morning, though she snapped in a way that is... different. Much different.
"God...
no..."
The girl's ashen face was twisted into a grimace of
agony, her dark eyes wide and filled with terror. She let out a groan
of pain as she hunched over, her hands clutching her hair, grabbing
fistfulls of violet hair. Raven choked out a small cry, curling her
body forward so that her head rested against the floor. "Stop..."
she quietly begged, though she knew there was nobody there to hear
her pleas. Her friends were nearby, this she knew; Beast Boy and
Cyborg were probably in the living room, Starfire and Robin upon the
roof.
And yet, there was no one to relieve her of the overwhelming torture that filled her body.
Burning tears dripped down Raven's pale cheeks, and even through the wall of pain clouding her thoughts the Azarathean was surprised to find that nothing was breaking. What was wrong with her? She didn't even know what had set off the sudden burst of agony. She had only been sitting in her room, reading. Nothing more, nothing less. Raven let out a small moan as she rolled onto her side, which escalated quickly to a scream. She had never wanted to know what being on fire felt like, but she was fairly certain that now she did. The empath cried out in both agony and helplessness as she lay on the floor of her room, writhing in pain. Her eyes squeezed shut, sweat dripping down her cheek. "Help..." she mumbled weakly, every fiber of her body screaming.
Wasn't she supposed to be blacking out or something? She'd heard of people passing out from pain before-- but of course I can't be lucky enough for that, now can I? Raven thought dryly as she gasped for breath, whimpering as a fresh burst of agony shot through her. She opened her eyes, which immediately widened.
A scream ripped through the Tower as she stared down at her crimson skin. "No!" Raven screeched, crossing her arms over her chest to grab her shoulders, her nails digging into the scarlet flesh through her leotard. "Help! Stop it! Please!" Tears flooded down her cheeks as she clawed at her legs, as though she could scratch off the tone of her skin. Her nails left thin streaks of blood upon her legs, the warm fluid dripping down her burning skin. Her hands moved to her face, her fingernails tearing at her cheeks. "Stop!" she screamed again, shaking her head again as she tucked her legs up to her chest. "Stop it!" The telepath sobbed, shaking her head as blood streamed in almost a menacingly way down her face. She drew in deep, sharp breaths, closing her eyes and whimpering as she lay on the floor. "Don't," she mumbled, suddenly feeling the pain slowly fade away. It was quickly replaced with exhaustion, however, and Raven's eyes slowly closed as she heard the door of her room jerk open. "Raven!" Robin's shout echoed distantly, as though he were far away instead of several feet in front of her. The scene around her darkened, the only sound the thumping of several pairs of feet as Raven's teammates rushed over to her.
And then, four gleaming, crimson eyes stared up at the Titans, and a malicious grin took over her face as Raven's hand snapped up, closing swiftly around Robin's throat.
"Hello."
-UR-
"Raven!" Starfire gasped, immediately darting forward towards her two friends. Robin's eyes widened behind the white lens of his mask, and he reached up to try and pry Raven's hand from his throat, gasping for breath. Raven's grin spread as Starfire grabbed her arm, seperating the empath from their dark-haired friend. Robin backed away, massaging his throat as he coughed. Beast Boy and Cyborg stood several feet away, matching, stunned expressions upon their faces. As Starfire moved towards Robin, resting one hand on his shoulder, she looked over at Raven, her emerald eyes wide with confusion. "Raven?" she asked quietly, her voice shaking as she stared at the crimson-skinned girl in front of her. "What... what has happened to you?"
Raven's lips closed together, curling into a smirk as she pushed herself to her feet. Blood continued to drip from the cuts adorning her face and legs as the demon hybrid folding her arms across her chest, tilting her head to the side. "Something that should have happened quite a while ago," she said delicately, her voice light and surprisingly pleasant, yet terrifying malevolent at the same time, if it was even possible. "Something... wonderful." As soon as the last syllable slipped from her tongue, Raven shot forward, her hand clamping over Starfire's mouth as she pinned the alien girl against the wall of her bedroom. "Raven, stop!" Robin shouted, his voice raspy and strangled. Beast Boy took a step forward, but Cyborg beat him to it, quickly running forward and pulling Raven away from the Tamaranean. His mechanical arms wrapped around her, pinning the empath's arms to her sides. "Raven, knock it off!" he growled. "Tell us what's wrong, and we can help."
To the Titans' growing surprise, Raven laughed. It started out as a small chuckle, then grew into a cliche, insane-bad-guy cackle. "You? Help?" she chortled, shaking her head as she turned her head to the side, glaring back at Cyborg with all four eyes. "I'm sure you'll all realize soon that I'm not the one who needs help." Cyborg's real eye widened as Raven jerked one hand from his grip with surprising ease, reached up, and curled her fist around the mechanical part of his head. Cyborg let out a cry of pain as the telepath ripped the cerulean material away, revealing an intricate mass of circuits. "What the hell are you doing?" Beast Boy shouted, his olive skin paling. He and Starfire jump towards Raven, grabbing her arms and pulling her away from Cyborg. Robin quickly ran over to their metal friend, kneeling on the ground as Cyborg fell forward, his iron hands held over the gaping hole. Raven grinned, allowing Starfire and Beast Boy to grip her upper arms as she watched Cyborg draw in deep, ragged breaths. "That's not even the beginning of what you're going to feel," she hissed menacingly, a frighteningly mirthful smile upon her face. "You're all going to suffer."
Robin, Starfire, and Beast Boy exchanged worried glances as they looked from Raven to Cyborg, who was still hunched on the ground. The violet-haired girl immediately took advantage of their distraction and pulled away from Beast Boy and Starfire, moving swiftly towards Cyborg before any of the other Titans could stop her. In one fluid movement, Raven was on her knees in front of Cyborg, her hands on his cheeks as she jerked him onto his back on the floor. She bent over him, her hand clapping firmly over his face as steam lifted from his skin, causing Cyborg let out a loud screech of agony. "Cyborg!" Robin shouted, quickly jumping to his feet and grabbing Raven by her violet hair, mercilessly jerking her away from his friend. Instead, Raven remained rooted to the spot, as though she had not even felt Robin's grip. Cyborg screamed again as his real eye widened, his pupils shrinking, and he reached up, swatting at the air. "Stop it!" he screeched, his face disfigured into a terrified grimace. The corners of Raven's lips curled into a smile as her fingernails dug into his neck, leaving indents in the smooth metal.
An emerald blast of energy hit her in the side of the head, and Raven let out a small cry as she was flung away from Cyborg, her thin frame slamming against the wall from the force of the blow. Starfire lowered her hand, her eyes glowing brightly as she directed a surprisingly cold glare towards the other girl. "Raven," she said slowly, "I do not truly understand what has happened to you, and you are my friend. I do not wish to attack you. Please stop this behavior immediately before I am forced to do something I may regret." Beast Boy and Robin glanced at each other, surprised at the frigid tone of Starfire's voice. The changeling looked over at Raven, his jade eyes anxious as the empath slowly pushed herself to her feet, her four eyes staring at the other three Titans in front of her. Her gaze settled upon Beast Boy, whose olive face paled as he took a step back. "Raven," Robin warned, shaking his head as he took a step toward her. "Please, Raven!" Starfire begged, raising her arms once more. "Please stop. You should not hurt people. You should not hurt your friends!"
Raven glanced over at the Tamaranian, her crimson eyes narrowed. "Friends?" she hissed. "We are not friends. You are lowly, you are scum." She turned, taking a step slowly towards Starfire. "What was the word? Troq?" The blood drained from Starfire's face, hurt splattered across her face. "Raven, knock it off!" Robin shouted, his eyes narrowed with a sudden rage. "How do we get you back to normal? Tell us, now!" Raven froze, smirking cruelly at Starfire before she turned her head to look at Robin. She watched him apathetically for a moment, saying nothing, before she smiled. "Nope," she chirped, and then swiftly turning to Beast Boy, grabbed his throat, and wrapped her arms around him as she flew right through the window of her room. Shards of glass ripped at the two as Raven carried the changeling away from Titans Tower. Beast Boy's eyes widened in horror as he looked back at the Tower, the wind whistling past them. He glanced up at Raven, rather uneasy to find that she was smirking down at him. "Had to get away," she explained. "But I thought you might make good company." Beast Boy watched her silently a moment before he swallowed, grimacing slightly. "So this is the demon you, huh?" he asked quietly. "I guess that makes sense... if you can be a person, I guess you should be able to be a demon, too." Raven arched an eyebrow, grinning brightly. "Well," she said, evidently somewhat pleased. "You're not as dumb as you act."
-UR-
"I do not understand, Robin," Starfire whimpered as she looked down at Cyborg. "Why... what has happened to Raven?" Their metallic friend was unconscious, fortunately for him. The circuits in his head occasionally sparked and twitched, and the flesh beneath where Raven's hand had been was burnt and bloody, as though she had set him afire instead of merely touching him. Robin scowled darkly as he stood up, shaking his head. "I can't say I really do," he admitted darkly. "But we need to get Cyborg to the hospital and go after Raven and Beast Boy." Starfire nodded slowly, looking down at the floor, her shoulders slumped. She looked back up as Robin rested one hand on her shoulder, smiling gently. "She didn't mean it," he murmured. "She's not herself, that much I do know." Starfire returned his smile with a small one of her own, reaching up to touch his hand. "I know," she said softly. "But I still do not like hearing that word, no matter what the circumstances." Robin lightly squeezed her shoulder before his arm dropped to his side, and he turned his head to look back at Cyborg.
"What worries me," he muttered, his scowl returning, "is that we have no idea how to stop her. I know this has something to do with Trigon, that's fairly obvious. But..." He sighed, reaching up with one gloved hand to massage his forehead.
"We couldn't defeat him before. Raven was the one who killed him. If we couldn't beat him, but she could, how are we going to be able to stop her?"
-UR-
Raven settled gently on the shore of the Jump City Bay, releasing Beast Boy from her grip. The changeling stumbled forward, quickly straightening as he turned to look at the demon hybrid in front of him. The violet-haired girl raised one hand, her signature obsidian aura glowing around her palm. Beast Boy's eyes widened, and his legs bent, ready to jump away from any attack the demonic version of his friend might decide to fling his way.
To his surprise, she made no move to attack him.
"Well?" Beast Boy demanded, his eyes narrowed. "Aren't you going to kill me? Make me suffer, or whatever?" To his surprise, Raven lowered her hand, watching him curiously. She slowly shook her head, her four eyes narrowing slightly. "No," she murmured, sounding vaguely shocked. "I don't want to." Beast Boy blinked twice, straightening again as he watched her carefully. "Really?" he asked, his uncertainty carrying into his voice. Raven nodded, seeming just as surprised as he was. She took a step forward, reaching up to touch his cheek with one thin, crimson hand. Beast Boy flinched at her touch, though kept himself from jerking away, as he decided such a motion had to potential to piss her off. "Beast Boy..." Raven mumbled quietly, tilting her head slightly to the side as she stared at him.
Suddenly, her eyes widened as she fell to her knees in the sand, gripping her head in her hands. Beast Boy stared down at her in horror as she jerked her head up, her eyes large and dark, like they normally were. "Beast Boy!" she gasped, looking as though she might burst into tears at any second. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean too-- I can't control it! I don't know how to stop it!" The changeling dropped to his knees in front of her, reaching out to rest his hands on her shoulders. "Raven, what's going on?" he asked urgently, his emerald eyes wide with concern. "I don't know," Raven moaned, shaking her head. "I really don't. I don't know what happening to me." She drew in a deep, shaking breath as she squeezed her eyes shut, still shaking her head. "I think," she mumbled miserably, "I think that... I don't know. I think that eventually, all the pressure of trying to contain that side of me..." She trailed off, muttering curses under her breath. Beast Boy leaned forward, wrapping his arms around his shoulder. "It's okay," he murmured. "It's over now."
A soft giggle escaped Raven, and the changeling drew back with surprise. Raven looked up at him, the four scarlet eyes upon her forehead once more. "I take back what I said before," she whispered. Her hand snaked out, her thin fingers squeezing his throat as Beast Boy's eyes widened.
"You are as dumb as you act."
-UR-
