1A/N: Well I've survived major surgery...its strange...I feel a bit lighter...I wonder why that is...Anwyays, just another chapter, hope to have another one up soon since I can't really do too much except write for another week. I really can't wait until things get going in this story...soon enough, soon enough.
The Truth Lies in Shades of Gray
Chapter 8: Cracking
By: Finalitylife
Disclaimer: I don't own the Teen Titans but hey, I think we all already knew that.
Azrael strolled into the seemingly dead city very late at night, the brisk air having absolutely no effect on him as he knew he was finally getting closer though he also knew he was far from where he truly needed to be. Even this would take time and patience though time was simply not the truest luxury he had. The longer he was here, the more people...he shook his head, he couldn't think like that...what needed to be done, needed to be done and even if the cost was almost too great to imagine, it would all come to fruition. None of this could be allowed to continue anymore...not after what he knew...not after what had been done to him. His hands started shaking as memories of what had once been a fate worse than death flashed through his mind. He had left him to suffer...left him to suffer for so long... A small part of him smiled at the thought of vengeance though he knew his goal was far beyond something so petty. He would not allow himself to be like that fool Dariel...
A woman's scream echoed out in the quiet night, though it was quickly silenced. Pitch black eyes narrowed as Azrael looked off into the distance, seeing two men pulling a black haired woman into an alley, uncontrollable anger welling up deep inside of him. A moment later, his relentless stride resumed forward with clenched fists muttering to himself.
"This can not be allowed to continue..."
The two men harshly dragged the struggling woman into the alleyway, one of their hands clenched firmly over her mouth to muffle the screams. She was a pretty one indeed. The taller one of the two threw her harshly against the wall, her head slamming solidly into the brick, causing the woman to almost lose consciousness, forcing herself by sheer will to hang on to continue to fight these men. Soon a large knife was held to her throat, and she felt her body freeze up completely as the cold steel pushed against her skin.
"I suggest you stop struggling or this is only going to be harder on you bitch." The raw terror in the woman's eyes brought pleasure to the man with the knife though soon it would be him feeling raw terror.
"And I suggest you leave her alone though it's not really a suggestion...but it doesn't matter...at this point, there is no hope left for the likes of you..." The two men snapped to attention, trying to figure out where the voice was coming from as it seemed to echo all around them. The man with the knife stood up, clutching his favorite weapon tightly in his hand, scanning the darkness for his new found problem.
"Hey man, do you see anything?" His accomplice frantically searched as well but couldn't seem to find anything.
"No man...its like it just came out of thin air." A few seconds later, a dark figure shimmered right out of the darkness into existence a foot in front of the man with the knife, standing even taller still than the tall man in front of him. The man who had his back to the newly appeared danger, spun around as quickly as possible, and with a small yell stabbed the knife forward. His blade stopped inches from the man's abdomen as a hand gripped his forearm tightly preventing him from going any more forward. In a panic, he threw a punch with his other hand only to have the fist caught as well.
He tried to pull free but found the grips to be iron clad and the attackers strength to be far greater than his own. He looked up in fear only to be met with cold, black eyes that would be without mercy tonight. Soon the grip on his forearm and fist started increasing slowly, and the sounds of bone beginning to crack and crunch under the extreme pressure were heard.
"Help me man! Help me!" His friend couldn't find the will to move, only staring at the man he saw appear right out of nothingness, unable to break his gaze away from those eyes, unable to grab for the gun he had by his side that he knew would quickly end all of this.
A final loud crunch was heard as no more resistance was offered by the man's bones, his right arm broken in half and his left hand now nothing but a group of shattered fragments. He screamed out in pain into the night though no one cared, especially not the dark being in front of him. His second scream was cut off by as a strong hand gripped over his mouth, again pressure increasing as his jaw began to collapse.
"Stop screaming...You're giving me a headache." Again his bones gave way to the grip, the lower half of his face caving in on itself leaving nothing but bloody gore as teeth pushed through skin. All he could do was scream though the blood pieces of his mouth. The gurgling and screaming man fell to the ground, quivering as pain wracked his entire body. It would not last. Azrael stepped on the man's throat, locking his black, empty eyes with ones filled with nothing but fear and torment. The black eyes closed briefly as the foot pushed down crushing throat and neck, ending the screams forever.
Azrael wiped some blood on his hand on his shirt before his gaze settled on the young woman on the ground, his mind suddenly being unable to pull away from her. Black hair, tanned skin, and her face...so beautiful...a single name escaping his lips...Blackfire. He was mesmerized by her, a million thoughts flooding his mind at once, though it was at this moment, the other thug finally managed to pull the gun out, and though fumbling heavily with it, fired a shot at the man, if it was really a man, who killed his friend. The gunshot pierced the night as it impacted with the man's body though he did not even move, the frightened criminal taking the moment to flee this scene forever, leaving the better part of his sanity behind.
Azrael stood for a few more seconds before falling to one knee as black blood began pouring out of the gunshot wound, a grimace of what appeared to be pain forming on his face. The young woman who had watched everything that happened and despite the brutality this stranger had shown, knew she had been saved by him, and reacted to trying to help him. Her touch brought a tensing up of his body immediately and his gaze again snapped to her face, only this time, Azrael was presented with a visage of a different woman, not the one he had seen before. He looked into her concern filled eyes as his hand slowly gripped around her wrist.
"I'm sorry..."
A few moments later, Azrael emerged from the alleyway, leaving only the mangled man's body behind, any guilt quickly fading into the night.
Juan sat next to the bed of SoulBurn, paying careful attention to the what appeared to be the fitful and nightmare plagued sleeping form of the mysterious young man. Following that strange event that resulted in SoulBurn passing out, the white haired man had not woken up for days though this was clearly not a repeat of the coma he had lied in for five long years.
SoulBurn's entire body seemed to be constantly convulsing from physical pain though there were no marks on his body nor anything other than the bed that he lied on touching him. His eyes could be seen jumping back and forth underneath his closed eyelids, a sure sign his brain was very active despite his lack of conscious awareness. To Juan, it seemed like SoulBurn was doing his best to make it back to the waking world, but simply could not find the way.
Juan simply knew there was nothing he could do, nothing any of the villagers could do for other than placing a warm cloth on SoulBurn's forehead, this was far beyond their comprehension. A person who glowed with blinding white light was not exactly someone any of them had any experience dealing with. All that could be done was just as had been at the start of five years ago...waiting...nothing but waiting.
Juan rose to his aged feet, feeling that it was probably time to go to bed, no more necessity for him to be awake and again the completely unexpected happened. SoulBurn shot up, sitting up in his bed, a scream erupting from his mouth. However, that was not the only thing. White light began pouring from his mouth and eyes, the shrill sounding scream continuing unabated to echo through the night. In a almost state of panic upon seeing blood beginning to seep from SoulBurn's hands as his hands clenched in fists were driving his own fingers into the flesh, Juan reached out trying to shake SoulBurn from this strange trance. It was a terrible mistake.
The second he made physical contact with SoulBurn, an overwhelming flood of images suddenly poured into his mind, undistinguishable figures and lights melding together. It was impossible to fathom or comprehend as white light soon dominated everything. With a blast of power, the old body of Juan suddenly flew back, crashing into the wall with a loud thud, unmoving. SoulBurn's seemingly never ending scream finally peaked as the white light pulled itself back into him, his body collapsing back on to the bed, no one being able to witness what appeared to be two giant, shimmering wings of pure energy coming into existence before falling back onto the pillow. The battle within however did not end for SoulBurn for his body continued to seizure and shake, the faintest bit of white energy hovering around his entire form...doing its best to soothe his soul.
Robin P.O.V:
Click...the devastation is immeasurable...Click...thousands presumed dead...Click...it is impossible to fathom the sight before us...Click...if there is any consolation, this quake is nowhere near as bad as the ones that erupted globally about five years ago...Click...to make the glazed mango duck, you must first...Click Off.
I toss down the remote control back on to the couch, leaning back for a few seconds letting out a strange breathe. Not this again...but then again, natural disasters aren't something that would simply disappear just because the world has already experienced near Armageddon. At least this one can just be chalked up to Mother Nature and not the coming of the Devil to ravage all that is pure and good in the universe. But maybe...I shake the thoughts from my head. I really can't allow myself to become that paranoid because then I'd be walking far too close to insanity. Thinking like that considering what I know would just be wasted energy...the devil was gone, no more world ending prophecies, what is, is what it is. Best spend my time worrying about supervillains and evil masterminds who would threaten my city and my family...well that and the quickly approaching wedding...and Raven who continues to avoid me like I've developed some type of plague.
What is it...two...three weeks until we have to journey to Tamaran to witness the Grand Royal Wedding of the Great and Beloved Princess of Tamaran Koriand'r to Roy Harper...yeah I wonder whose getting top billing on that one. But then again, weddings are always for the bride and all the groom has to do is not piss her off and say I do at some point. Roy will probably still screw this one up...probably on the same level as I've managed to piss Raven off without having any idea what I did and I always have an idea of what I did.
She continues to creep around me almost, sticking to the shadows just outside my touch and again I fight the inward battle on just confronting her about it, but I really don't enjoy putting Raven on the spot. She doesn't like it, I don't like it, so I guess its best to just let things go...and continue to linger...yelling suddenly erupts into the room.
"Babe I'm sorry but you know I need to work on the T-ship. There are a lot more people to transport now and..."
"I don't want to hear excuses. You promised last week that you'd go with me to get you a new suit for the wedding and I am NOT letting you back out of it now. The T-ship will still be their when we get back. It will only take a few hours...
"A few hours..." I smile as Cyborg whines like a little kid. "Do you have any idea how much work I could get done in a few hours. How about I just go with Garfield...I'll have a new suit picked out in no less than twenty minutes and you can just..." The look in Bumble Bee's eyes stops Cyborg in mid sentence. She really doesn't look happy.
"You actually think I'm dumb enough to believe that you and that green goof ball can do anything together. You two will come back with magic beans you bought on the street from some weird guy. Now listen very carefully Victor...we are going shopping, you are getting a new suit, and this conversation is over." She storms out of the room, and I can't help but admire how that woman gets things done...Victor never really stood a chance from the beginning...never stood a chance since he said 'I do'
Cyborg continues to stand there with his mouth slightly agape staring at the door his wife just walked out of. It is comical to see the robotic powerhouse so utterly confused and defeated.
"Now really Cy, I don't know why you even try to argue anymore. Haven't you figured out that fighting with her is useless. You should try the old nod and smile technique. At least then she won't have to put you back in your place so often." Cyborg cranes his head to look at me with a mixture of annoyance and amusement.
"Tried that one buddy. Accidently nodded when she asked if she looked fat...that did not end well." A cringe slightly at the thought of an enraged Bumble Bee.
"Yeah probably not. You two really are amusing though. Never seen anyone fight so much yet still claim to love each other."
"Hey fighting is normal in a good relationship. Its far stranger that you and Raven never fight. I mean no one has the perfect relationship so if you're not fighting, then you're just hiding things." I shake my head with a smile.
"Oh we fight Cy. Just not in such a public forum as you and Bee. Raven and I prefer to take care of our business in private."
"Yeah sure Rich. Whatever you say. Now if you will excuse me, I have to go spend the next few hours enduring the hell of clothes shopping. Pray for me buddy."
"I will." He gives me a mock salute before disappearing out the same door Bee just did only for Cyborg to be replaced by the gliding form of Raven. She is wearing civilian clothes though as always, she chooses to float rather than walk only adding to the utter gracefulness that is Raven.
"Hey there Rae. Where are you heading out to?" She must not have noticed I was there, probably too lost in her own mind to have not noticed my presence, and the smallest bit of shock registers on her face.
"I'm just going to the café to see some of my friends. I won't be out very long." Her voice is quiet...too quiet which causes my detective instincts to begin to kick in but I fight them back because this is Raven and there is no reason to be analytically critiquing her behavior. She seems to reluctantly glide past me toward the front door and I reach out to grab hold of her wrist which stops her.
"Rae...are you...okay?" She looks up at me with soft eyes though she betrays nothing about what is going on in her.
"I'm fine Richard. I'm just a little out of it. I had a nightmare not that long ago and..." I find my body tensing up at that world spoken from Raven's mouth...nightmare. That never bodes well.
"A nightmare?" I'm sure she knows what I'm asking by the tone in my voice and she gently shakes her head.
"No...nothing like all those ones before. Just a regular nightmare Richard, nothing more." She continues to look up at me telling me with her eyes to let her go though she does not pull away. I reluctantly let her wrist drop.
"We will...we will talk about this won't we Raven?"
"Eventually Richard...I promise."
"You promise?" She gives me one of her most beautiful smiles.
"I promise." I am a little shocked when she hugs me briefly and gently. Before I can react, she has already pulled away, floating toward the door, phasing through it rather than opening it. I stand there for a few moments, immobile for the sheer fact that I'm not really sure what to do. I glance back over at the television that is still off, looking at it as if it is still on...strange sensations coursing through my body that I simply can not identify.
