Of Cabbages & Kings
"Life is a series of rude awakenings." –Rip Van Winkle
Part 1: Student
Darkness.
Darkness as far as the eye can see.
That is what Raven saw.
Hello, hello, hello.
Then the floor she was standing on began to glow, and Raven realized that she was not standing on a floor, but a massive glass mural. One that looked exactly like the picture Malchior the dragon had shown her in the tome he was trapped in.
So much to do, and so little time. Or is it the other way around?
Raven's eyes darted around, as she tried to find a mouth to go with the mysterious voice.
Or Maybe we have just enough time for what matters.
Raven called out to the voice that came from everywhere and nowhere, "Who are you? Where are you? What are you?"
All good questions. But sadly, I doubt you'll be happy with my answers.
"Try me."
Very well, but don't say I didn't warn you. I am he who is using your dreams to contact you. I am anywhere but here in your mind. As for the last one, I'm afraid there has been some debate on that question.
Raven grimaced. "You're right, I'm not happy with those answers."
I did warn you.
Raven sat down cross-legged on the mural-floor, deciding it was pointless to stand.
"What do you want?" She asked. She was so determined on the voice that she did not notice the creature looming from behind until she felt its warm breath on her neck. Raven managed to roll away just time to avoid a bite on her shoulder blade. She began to recite a well-known magic phrase. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" A blurry beam of dark energy poured from her hands, and ultimately blew the beast out of sight.
You're good…
Raven relaxed…and in that moment of relaxation another beast leapt out from behind her, and the resulting impact sent her reeling.
But not good enough. You have the power, but little experience.
It wasn't easy to fight a strange monster and have a conversation, but Raven managed. "If you knew what I've been through…" she began, but was cut off.
I do know what you've been through. Monsters, various types of villainy, and the occasional wannabe god. But it's not enough.
Raven suddenly realized she was in a ring of various monsters, each one more loathsome then the next.
No, not nearly enough…
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In a T-shaped tower off the coast of a place called Jump City lived a group of young heroes called the Teen Titans. Heck, you probably know who the Teen Titans are by now, so I'll just skip the introductions. Now where was I? Oh! Yes!
Somewhere around noon-ish, the most mysterious Titan, the half-demon, half-human Raven woke up from her most peculiar dream. After getting out of bed, which was proved to be a little difficult, considering how tangled up in the sheets she was, Raven stumbled to the door leading outside her bedroom. She opened it up... And received several bonks on the head, thanks to Garfield Logan, better known as the changling Beast Boy, who was looking in another direction. Although Raven was too tired to notice the pounding she was getting, Beast Boy noticed that Raven's door sounded different and shrieked when he realized that that wasn't Raven's door, but Raven herself!
"Aaauugghh! I'm sorry, please don't hurt me!" Beast Boy braced himself, as the purple-haired Titan had become quite temperamental in the past few days, and prepared the best he could for a punishment… That never came. Beast Boy cracked open one of his eyes, and saw that Raven hadn't budged an inch, or given any other sign of noticing the changelings mistake. She merely stared, a blank look in her eyes.
"What?" Raven asked, as she finally came back to reality (Well, not our reality, but the Titans' reality…you know what I'm talking about!). Beast Boy relaxed, when he realized no pain would come. Pointing down the hall, he said, "Lunch is ready." When he received no reply, Beast Boy tried again. "Raven?"
"I'm not hungry." Raven answered, as she began to sink into the shadows, her own way of teleporting. Effectively weirded out, Gar went to the main room in Titans Tower.(You know, it's the one the Titans are always hanging out in.) There, we meet the other members of the Teen Titans.
Timothy Drake, better known as the boy wonder Robin, looked up from the newspaper he was reading, "Well?" Gar shrugged, and replied, "She's not hungry." We go to the Tamaranian, Koriand'r, or Kory Anders, better known outside as Starfire. The ET heroin was busy making some sort of Tamaranian meal, if you call it that…truth be told, Tamaranian cooking was not for the faint of heart, or weak of stomach, if you get my drift.
"Again?" Kory asked, looking up from her…whatever she's making. "How is that possible? This is the third time! I fear Raven may suffer from lack of nourishment if she does not eat something!" Victor Stone, the half man, half machine Cyborg, looked up from the bowl of cereal he was eating. "I wonder what kinda dreams Ray's had to scare her into fasting."
Tim was about to answer when his communicator started beeping. Tim flipped it on, and only glanced at it to know what that meant.
"Trouble!"
As the other Titans ran out the door, only Kory stayed behind, a look of worry on her face. "Should we not alert Raven as well?" The alien asked, her expression symbolizing a battle between duty and manners. Robin poked his head in, looking all business.
"Raven doesn't need this kind of headache, we'll be fine without her. C'mon!"
Still looking worried, Starfire flew out the room.
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Raven, unaware that her friends were out saving the day(or so you think…ha ha ha…), wandered about the forest that, if you were to climb to the top of the tallest tree, overlooked Jump City and Titans Tower. Eventually she came to the burned-to-the-ground area where she and the rest of the Titans battled Thunder and Lightning, as well as Slade's fire monster. It was odd that nothing had grown since, and odder still was how Slade how created that beast to begin with.
Sitting on a lone stump, Raven began to think.
What did she think about, you ask?
She thought about her friends.
She thought about all the things they had been through.
She thought about all the people, friend or foe, they had met.
She thought about her boyfriend, Noel 'Savior' Collins.
She thought about how pretentious his super-alias was.
She thought about her dreams, and how they were affecting her so.
She thought about whether she should go get some lunch.
She thought about her dreams again.
She puzzled, and puzzled, until her puzzler was sore. And let me tell you, a sore puzzler is nothing to kid about when you're half-demon.
She was thinking about her sore puzzler when Raven felt a strange burst of power, like someone had lit a bonfire of pure magic. Without a second thought Raven ran off, intending to find the source of the magic boom. After about ten minutes, Raven came across where the magical power-burst had erupted, and what a sight she saw!
It was a pyramid. That's right, a pyramid. Raven stared at the Egyptian building, regarding it cautiously. After all, there had never been a pyramid near Jump City before! …Or had there? As Raven slowly walked towards the marvel, she noticed that there was an entrance, and in front of that entrance, just a little to the right, was a mailbox. When Raven got closer, she read a name painted on the side of said mailbox.
DJINITO
Raven stared at the name. It seemed familiar, like something out of a story she was told during her childhood on her home world of Azarath. Throwing caution to the winds(A rare occasion, as Raven was one of the most careful member of the team, rivaled, perhaps, by Savior and Robin.), Raven entered the pyramid.
Into the darkness…
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While Raven entered what we're going to call the Djinito Pyramid, the rest of the Titans had a bit of a situation on their hands. At a first glance it would seem that a bunch of robots, clanky and skeletal-looking, were attacking. At a second glance it would seem that the Teen Titans, minus Raven, were handling the attack with their usual flare. But if you were to stick around to watch the fight more closely, you would realize that no matter how many robots the Titans smashed, blew up, or just plain broke, there would always at least a dozen left.
Robin wiped his brow of the sweat that had accumulated during the battle. Beast Boy ran up to him, clearly vexed, and cried, "Dude! How many off these things are there!"
Robin didn't have an answer, but he shared Beast Boy's sentiments. It seemed like that some indescribable force had decided to send more and more robots, just to keep the fight going.
The boy, er, teen wonder sighed. "I don't know, Beast Boy, I just don't know."
Robin and Beast Boy paused in their conversation to watch the fantastic fireworks display that happened when a bunch of robots dog piled Starfire. The resulting Starbolt blast not only lit up the skies(Which were getting pretty cloudy, by the way,), but several robot parts rained down, the force of gravity taking charge. Despite that sudden burst of power, Robin knew Starfire was starting to tire. The same could be said for the rest of them. Robin pulled out his Titans communicator and began punching commands into it.
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Raven had been walking for ten minutes down a corridor in the mysterious pyramid, and was starting to get bored. She was beginning to think about turning back, or calling her friends, when she came to a single door. Raven reached out to open, but stopped.
What am I doing? She thought to herself, This could be a trap… When 'trap' entered her mind, Raven jerked away from the door. What if this was a trap? Come to think of it, this situation reeked of one person.
Slade, A.K.A, Deathstroke, the Terminator.
Yeah, yeah, I know what you're thinking. 'How could Slade put a pyramid in the middle of the forest without anyone noticing?' Bear with me, folks, not all is as it seems. Now where was I? Oh yeah!
Raven, deciding to throw caution to the winds(Not that there were any winds), opened the door and found herself in…an empty room!
Empty by what manner, you wonder? Simple, it was blank. No furniture, no wallpaper, nothing. Just a room…similar to the one Raven's future self lived in, according to Starfire's recap of her trip to the future with Warp. Raven, for was not only disappointed, but frightened. Was this the fate that awaited her? It was then that she noticed a strange drawing on the left wall. It was a square, with a pentagram in a circle in the center. On the top left corner of the box was a Yin-Yang symbol, on the bottom left was a red heart in a circle, on the bottom right was a peace symbol, and on the top right was a yellow smiley face. Raven stared at it, trying to ponder its meaning. Out loud, the half-demon murmured, "What are you up to Slade…?"
Slade? Did you say my name is Slade?
Raven gave a start. It was that voice from her dreams! Taking deep, but subtle breathes, Raven tried to remain calm, and answered back.
"If the mask fits…" She began, but was cut off by the voice that came from everywhere and nowhere.
Young lady, I most certainly am not a mercenary with a vendetta against your team, nor am I Brother Blood.
Raven grimaced. How did he know that was her next guess?
Could Brother Blood establish mental communication and construct this illusion? I think not.
As these next words were spoken, the pyramid vanished, leaving Raven outside in the open. Raven wondered whether her experience was but a dream, but knew in her heart that it had happened.
Beep beep beep!
Raven jumped, but realized that it was just her Titans' communicator ringing. She answered it, hoping it was something to get her mind off whatever was happening to her. Robin's bedraggled face filled the T-Com's screen, with the look of someone who fought a hundred battles in an hour.
"Robin?" Asked Raven, not liking what she was seeing. In the back of her mind alarms were going off.
"Raven… Need help… come quickly…" Robin was suddenly yanked out of view, and the transmission shut off.
"Robin? Robin!" Raven shut off her T-Com and then teleported herself to Jump City, the alarms in her mind growing louder.
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Raven appeared on the street that led to the Titans' favorite pizzeria. The situation did not look good. The street was almost deserted, with wrecked robot parts strewn all over the place. And what was even worse was that her teammates, her friends, were nowhere to be seen.
"No…" Raven began, "NOOOOO!" This cry was a mix of anguish, anger, and sadness, and caused a fire hydrant nearby to explode.
You may want to see someone about those tantrums.
Raven's eyes popped wide open. It was that voice again! That clenched it. Raven turned her gaze skyward and hollered, "You! Where are my friends!"
With me.
Raven's eyes narrowed. "Where are you?" Her voice was laced with pure venom.
I can't tell you. You'll have to figure it out yourself, and I'm quite sure you're capable of that.
Raven felt an all-too familiar feeling rise up within her. The feeling of her demon-self, Trigon's daughter, trying to take control. Raven quickly forced herself to calm down, not wanting another crisis to deal with.
Still afraid ofwhat you are? My dear girl, never by scared of yourself.
Raven tried to glare at the voice, but without a face to look at, it was pointless. "Who says I'm afraid of myself?"
Your past and memories. But enough about yourself, I'm certain you want to find your friends.
Raven nodded.
Good. It's nice to know where your loyalties lie. Start your journey where a team divided was nearly conquered, that's where it truly began…
Raven's eyes narrowed even more. Wherever her friends, her fellow Titans were, she would find them. She was determined to, and a determined half-demon was nothing to kid about.
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This is the first chapter in a series of strange and ususual adventures the Titans will end up in. Although it is started after Wings Of Eagles,it takes place 33 days exactly after Legend Maker's DP/TT crossover, Danny's Inferno. After this particular saga is done, the timeline will up to the present. This is my first major story, and the very first one starring the Teen Titans. Just so you know, I may take some liberties with fan characters in Legend Maker's series', but don't worry about it...for now.