Jump City: April 18th, 2058- 19:24

The shrill whine of a siren pierced the frosty evening air. Hanging over the dingy alley, a battered streetlight cast ominous, flickering shadows over heaps of trash and puddles of stagnant sewage.

Splash!

The eerie serenity of the scene shattered as footsteps echoed through the alleyway. A group of hooded figures pounded through the alleyway. Suddenly, their leader skidded to a stop. Her chest rose and fell as her heavy breathing filled the air with little evanescent clouds. Raising her gloved fist, she slammed it against the wall.

"Do it."

Her three companions reeled backwards in shock, voices rising in protest.

Robin muttered, "But you said-"

"Remember what Dr. Bruce said? That pill's bad for the health, friend Raven," whimpered another.

Violet eyes glinted in the sickly yellow light as the leader yanked off her hood. "We have no choice."

Grimacing, they reached into their cloaks. Each hand emerged clutching a tiny purple pill. Simultaneously, they swallowed the drug. At that moment, a police car swerved in front of the alleyway, and a squadron of troopers in full combat gear emerged, all donning gas masks. After they'd felt Robin's toxic gas once, none of them desired a second try.

The general's voice echoed through her bullhorn. "Teen Titans, you are under arrest for the possession and distribution of the illegal drug known as The Demon."

Silence.

Twin beams of neon green light sliced through the car, igniting the engine. The resulting explosion shook the alleyway and filled the air with billowing gray smoke. Behind her visor, the general's eyes narrowed.

Her vivid pink eyes scanned through the smokescreen. Lazy, peaceful tendrils of smoke curled across her field of vision.

There!

A disturbance in the perpetual, gentle rolling of the smoke caught her attention. H.I.V.E. General Jinx fired her signature magenta hexes, grinning at Raven's gasp of pain. The boss could have sent in any other officer, but the only way to deal with the Teen Titans' infamous sorceress was with another sorceress.

Jinx's smirk faded, sudden nervousness twisting her insides into a knot. Gingerly, she trailed her fingers down the angry red scar marring her otherwise flawless cheek.

I can't afford to fail…

Jinx swore she could see his orange-and-black mask even now, skulking through the shadows, telling her, as always, in his sugary sweet voice, the same two words.

Don't fail.

Tossing her bubblegum pink pigtails in the air, Jinx dropped into a battle position, her balled fists covered in a thin shroud of pink energy.

Raven cried out as Jinx's magic struck her, her raven form dissipating instantly. The three other Teen Titans leapt to the ground, weapons at the ready. The Demon should be kicking in any second now.

Suddenly, Raven felt it. The rush of maniacal power and adrenaline heralding the arrival of the Demon. It was a feeling she'd grown to love. No, not love. It was more of a sense of dependency than love. But this time, she felt something else. Fear.

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Flashback: Jump City: April 16th, 2016- 13:02

"The test results are in. It doesn't look good."

Raven's gut twisted at Dr. Bruce Wayne's grim announcement. "W-what do you mean?"

"How long has your addiction lasted?"

Raven winced at that word. Addiction. It's not like she'd wanted to be a drugged up teenage rebel, but it was better than suffering under H.I.V.E. for all eternity. "Six years? Seven?"

It didn't seem like that long. She told herself it was just one time. She would only need it once. But then the next time came. Just that once. And then everything seemed to pile up. How many times had she told herself "just once?"

Wayne sighed, "I thought as much. The scans are showing the early stages of dissociative identity disorder."

It wasn't like Raven didn't know the consequences of the Demon. As early as ten years ago, scientists had discovered the correlation between the drug and an accelerated form of DID. But seven years was too fast, and Raven relied too much on the power boost.

I just need a little more time.

If Raven could overthrow the H.I.V.E. before her full-blown DID set in, all her efforts would be worth it. If.

She'd told Robin first. He deserved to know, being her second-in-command and all. Robin didn't seem surprised, chastising her for not heeding his warnings earlier. Starfire, Beast Boy, and Robin weren't your average humans. Beast Boy was a scientifically engineered shapeshifter, Robin had honed his strength and instincts to almost inhuman levels, and Starfire was a literal alien. Sure, DID would catch up to them at some point, but they had a while to go, according to the statistics.

Raven was a different story. The half-demoness was already mentally unstable. Her demon side surfaced even without the help of the Demon. Abusing the drug was just pouring gasoline on the fire.

Seventeen years of her life. Seven whole years of the Demon. Raven estimated she had about a year left of sanity. One year left to overthrow Slade Wilson's ruthless dictatorship. And all she had was the Titans. Sure they were powerful, but like herself, the Titans were just teenagers.

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PRESENT DAY

Raven shuddered. She rolled one shoulder up slowly, hearing it crack with a satisfactory smirk. The demoness crawled slowly into a sitting position. Jinx shifted uneasily, two pink lasers pointed at Raven.

Cracks spread across the cobblestones as Raven burst into the air, her cloak billowing open. Jinx was too late. The dark rubies of Raven's leotard glinted menacingly in the faint streetlight.

"Azarath…" Raven intoned, her voice echoing with a dark undertone.

Jinx's eyes widened.

"Metrion…"

Jinx shouted for the troopers to fall back.

"ZINTHOS!"

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So, what do you think? I'm writing this in the middle of competition season, so I'm not too sure about this fanfic, but I didn't write anything for a while, and this idea just kinda hit me. Hope you like it so far!

I actually ship RobRae and BBRae, so I'm just marking this as BBRae and RobStar for a while. I'm probably throwing in either CyBee or Cyborg x Jinx. Anyways, I haven't planned out pairings yet, so leave your vote in the reviews!