A/N: Hello all and welcome to the latest chapter of A Watchman Arrives! We hope you like it! Special thanks to MaxGentlman 1 my friend/beta/and co-author. As well as Moheart7 for providing the cover image, go check him out here and on Deviant Art where he is Inkheart7.
Disclaimer: We don't own Watchman or Teen Titans WB does though.
There I stood, face to fangs against the Dread Dragon Rorek. He tried his hardest to roast me with his flames, but I did not falter. I fought valiantly against the reptilian fire demon with all my knowledge of the arcane arts.
"Necronom Ezbereck Mortix." I shouted, unleashing my magic against my scaled opponent. It fell into a fiery chasm that opened beneath its feet, into the depths of hell from which it came. And so it came to pass that I, Malchior of Nol, layed siege to the Dread Dragon Rorek. Unfortunately, it seemed that the power of Rorek was greater than my powers could defeat. But as the foul beast struck...
Raven was broken from her imagination as the tower alarm went off.
"Raven, put the petal to the metal. We gotta go!" Beast Boy called through her bedroom door in a hurried tone. Giving a look of annoyance, Raven shut her book and joined her team.
-Jump City Park-
Children were laughing and playing, enjoying Jump City's sunshine for the day. None of them payed attention to the bushes of the park, at least not until a red and white Jack in the Box was pushed out towards them. They all gathered around in wonder, and out popped a fluffy pink bunny rabbit.
As they all smiled, the Jack in the Box began to rise up and suddenly turned into a large, silver tentacle as from the bushes rose what could only be called a human heart-shaped robot with tentacle legs. The kids began to scream and scatter, but it began to suck one of them in... until Robins shuriken cut through the tube and a blue blast knocked it backwards.
Robin caught his shuriken as Starfire set the boy down and joined her team.
"Cardiac, your under arrest!" Robin said simply.
Cardiac simply reattached it's missing tentacle and attacked them. They all dodged, with Starfire grabbing Robin by the foot and tossing him towards the monster only to be knocked away by the tentacles.
"Beast Boy, T-Rex Take-down!" Cyborg said, jumping onto Beast Boy's shoulders as he turned into a T-Rex and charged at Cardiac, only to be picked up and slammed into the ground by Cardiac's tentacles. Raven picked up some of the playground equipment and threw it at the metal heart. Cardiac shook off the attack and swatted Raven away, giving Starfire an opening to attack but she was immediately swatted away as well.
The Titans struggled against the metal heart for a while until Raven finally got fed up with the fight and grabbed it with her magic and tore it to pieces. As the segmented bits of metal muscle fell to the ground, the team looked at the achievement.
"Nice going, Raven." Beast Boy said.
"Can we go now." Raven said in her annoyed tone, already strapped into her car seat in Cyborg's car. The team merely shrugged at Raven's behavior and got into the car. She had been acting like this ever since Rorschach left the team. Sure she acted like this while he was there, but now it seemed more noticeable.
-Titans Tower-
After returning home from the fight, Raven returned to her room and to the book she was reading before. Once she had peace and quiet, she opened the book to the page she was on previously.
"...it seemed that the power of Rorek was greater than my powers could defeat. But as the foul beast struck..." She was once again interrupted by a knock on the door. Closing her book, she walked over to her door and opened it, revealing Robin.
"Hey Raven, when we got home you sort of ran to your room and locked the door, anything you want to talk about? You've been off ever since Rorschach left." Robin said concerned.
"Thanks, but no." She said, shutting her door again and resuming her book.
"...greater than my magics could defeat. And as the foul beast struck I..." She read before again being interrupted, this time by Starfire's smiling face at her door with her red hair done up in an odd style with several accessories in it.
"I journeyed to the mall of shopping and discovered the joy of earthly hair ornaments, do you wish to..."
"No." Raven said simply before shutting her door again and taking a deep breath before resuming her book.
"...and as the foul beast struck, I summoned the forces of my enchanted book. And with a curse more ancient than Rorek itself I.."
"YO RAVEN!"
"DUDE, OPEN UP!" Beat Boy and Cyborg called, banging on her door.
Now getting frustrated with the constant interruptions, she threw her door open and glared at her teammates with contempt, causing them to jump in surprise.
"What?" She growled. After readjusting themselves, they spoke.
"We're here tonight with an exclusive offer." Beast Boy said, talking like he was doing a sales pitch.
"A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get in on the nation's fastest growing pass time." Cyborg continued in the same tone.
"The sport we just made up." Beast Boy said.
"Stank Ball!" They both said in unison, holding up a ball made of rancid-smelling socks.
"We were wondering if you wanted to be ref." Beast Boy said, holding up a cloak similar to Raven's except it was white with black, vertical stripes.
"No." Raven said while still maintaining her glare and slamming her door.
"What's your deal Raven? Ever since Rorschach left, all you've done is sulk in your room and read books all day." Beast Boy said in frustration.
"I used to think Rorschach was weird, but she takes it a step further." Cyborg says to Beast Boy in a low voice but Raven still manages to hear it.
"I'm not weird, I'm just different. Carter, you were the only one who understood that. Why does nobody else understand me?" She said sadly to herself.
"I understand you." Came a voice from nowhere, surprising Raven. She looked around the room to find the source but no one was there.
"Down here." Came the voice again. Raven looked down to see the book she was holding and realized the voice was coming from it. She let out a small gasp and dropped the book on the floor.
"Ow." It said in monotonous voice.
"Uh did you just..." Raven started before it cut her off.
"Speak? Yes, and then you dropped me on my spine." It said in the same voice, seeming slightly amused.
"Yeah sorry, it's just books don't speak." Raven said, sitting down beside the book.
"True, fair maiden, but I am no book." It said, flipping through the pages until a man's blue eyes stared at her from one page, "I am a man. Malkior of Nol at your service." He said.
"The wizard who faced the dread dragon Rorik?" She asked.
"The wizard who defeated Rorik and was trapped within these pages by the dragon's final curse." He said.
"Trapped? But wasn't that battle almost..." She asked curiously before Malchior finished her question.
"One thousand years ago, and I have been waiting for someone to find me ever since. Raven..." He said, flipping to another page that showed a smiling picture of Raven herself, "I've been waiting for you."
She blushed a little, reaching out with her magic only for a bright light to push her back, "I'm sorry, the curse is strong, I don't think my power can break it." She said sadly.
"I know, but perhaps we can just talk?" He offered.
Raven looked up at this question and smiled slightly. They talked for nearly an hour about all sorts of things. It was mostly Raven telling him about herself, but he was still invested in her stories. She was now telling her about what had happened today.
"Stank Ball?" He asked in disbelief.
"Yeah, they wanted me to be referee." She said.
"Smashing. You must be the luckiest girl in the entire world. And this 'Beast Boy' sounds like a complete genius." He said, his words dripping with sarcasm. Raven laughed at his comment.
"That's pretty funny. It's been a while since I had a good laugh," Raven said, "You're funny."
"And you're the best thing to happen to me in a thousand years." Malchior said, causing Raven to blush.
"So you don't think I'm creepy?" Raven asked.
"Certainly not," Malchior said with pride,"You are dark, yes, but darkness is often misunderstood and I feel that I can understand you."
"I feel that way too, and it feels good." She yawned.
"It's late, you should sleep." He said, catching her yawn.
"Do you promise that you'll still be here when I wake up?" She asked. To answer her question, he created a paper flower out of the page next to him as a sort of bookmark, "I promise." He said and she smiled, closing the book and setting it on her bed as she drifted off.
-The Next Day-
Beast Boy was standing outside Raven's door and knocked gently, "Hey Raven, it's just past noon and you still haven't come out of your room so, just in case your mad, I wanted to say I'm sorry for calling you creepy yesterday." He said.
There was no response. Just in case though, he pressed his ear to the door and heard a voice say, "Maybe if we're quiet he'll just go away." followed by what sounded like Raven giggling.
Now feeling slightly insulted, he knocked a bit harder, "Hey Raven I know your-" He started before the door opened a little, showing Raven with her hood up looking like her usual moody self.
"Hi, um... you were laughing and I thought I heard... is there someone in there?" He asked, trying to look over her head.
"Just me, and a really good book." She said calmly.
"Okay, well I just wanted to make sure you were okay." He said, stopping his attempts to see around her.
"Better than okay, better than I have ever been, way better." She said before closing and locking her door. Beast Boy strained his ears, convinced there was someone else in there, and that maybe it was Rorschach, but he heard her speak.
"Sorry Malchior, he won't bother us again."
"Who's Malchior?' He thought, walking away. As he did he thought,'I know she was upset that Rorschach left but I figured she'd have waited for him to come back, she told us that he would in the letter.'
-Raven's Room-
Raven sat in the center of a circle of candles, pouring various alchemical ingredients into a mortar.
"I've never even heard of this spell, where did you learn it?" Raven asked.
"I read it in the Galleon Scrolls." Malchior said.
"You've read the Galleon Scrolls?" Raven asked, surprised.
"And the Mornal Archives and the Stones of Ser. I've been trapped in a book for a thousand years, not much to do but read." He said with a slight chuckle.
"I think it's nearly ready." Raven said, putting down a bottle of powder.
"Good, there's just one more ingredient," He said before a piece of the page next to him flew off and cut some of Raven's hair off and into the mortar, "A lock of hair from a beautiful girl." He finished.
"Beautiful?" Raven asked, surprised by his comment. No one has called her beautiful since Carter left.
"I truly appreciate all that you're doing for me, Raven." He said simply.
"I may not be able to break the curse, but I'll at least be able to get you out of that book." She said, taking the mortar and pouring the powder into her hands before gently blowing it at the book. The pages began to fly from the book and around Raven in a tornado of paper. The pages soon came together in front of her, forming a body made of paper. Once the tornado died down, Malchior stood in front of her with the paper body, her eyes wide at the sight before her.
"Thank you." He said.
"You're welcome." She said with a smile.
She reached out to take his hand and he her's and then his arm unraveled.
"Silly me; of course, I remain bound to the book." He said, walking back towards it and watching his paper hand reform.
"The curse is still in affect." Raven said.
"Indeed, if I am ever to be truly free, it would require magics of a much greater power." He said.
"Then teach me the spells, I want to help you, I wan to learn." Raven said, standing beside him. She felt as if he were smiling, even though it was hard to tell as he had no mouth. He then placed a hand on her shoulder.
"To break this curse, I must teach you more than just a few simple spells. I must teach you everything I know." He said, holding out his other hand. There was a flash of bright white light and suddenly they were surrounded by books.
"The Book of Nord, the Endreal Verses, The Romanomicon, The Bercium Chronicle." He said, pointing to each one as they floated around, "More than 6,000 pages of spells, enchantments, and incantations." He said.
"That's a lot of reading." Raven said, impressed.
"Those are just the basics," Malchior said as they studied, "Now for more powerful magic, we turn to the works of Oriadin the Strange."
They studied for hours on end, day in and day out. He taught her spells such as energy manipulation and how to absorb knowledge straight from books without reading them. When she perfected the techniques, he brought her into a warm hug. She leaned into it with a smile, happy to have someone by her side once again.
-Titans Tower, Living Room-
The titans were scattered about the living room. Beast Boy and Cyborg were busy playing video games on the sofa while Robin and Starfire were having a conversation at the breakfast bar. They paused their activities when Raven walked into the room wearing a pure white cloak instead of her usual dark blue one. She floated into the kitchen and opened the fridge to grab an apple before the Titans gathered around her in curiosity.
"Uh, hey Raven," Robin said slowly, "We haven't seen you around much lately."
"Yeah, because she's been locked up in her room for over a week." Beast Boy interrupted before getting the back of his head smacked by Cyborg.
"I like your new look." Cyborg said, trying to change the subject slightly.
"Thank you." Raven said pleasantly.
"When will we meet this friend of yours?" Robin asked.
"Soon." Raven said simply.
"Oh I cannot contain my my excitement any longer, Beast Boy has told us much about Malchior and how he remains trapped in a book and-" Starfire was saying excitedly before Raven cut her off.
"Now how would Beast Boy know something like that?" Raven asked, looking at Beast Boy, who had a terrified look on his face.
"Uuuhh, well I may have kinda sorta been a fly on your wall." Beast Boy said nervously before turning himself into a fly to emphasize his point.
"Really? 'Cause you look more like a rat to me." Raven said before Beast Boy turned into a rat.
"You morphed me! How did you do that?!" Beast Boy asked in disbelief. He was unable to get an answer unfortunately when the alarm suddenly went off. After getting the details of the alert from the computer, Robin turned to the other Titans.
"Titans, move!" He said, everyone running out the door. Beast Boy stopped when he noticed that Raven hadn't moved from her spot.
"Hey, we gotta go!" Beast Boy said, somewhat annoyed at her inactivity.
-Jump City Suburbs-
A little girl was staring out her window, feeling very at ease, when she heard rustling. Looking down, she watched as a large, heart-shaped robot rise to the window. She screamed before it sucked her in.
Moments later, the Titans arrived, all ready to just blast away at Cardiac, until they saw the girl within it. Starfire gasped and Cyborg said, "Aw, man."
"Hand to hand only, we don't want to hurt the girl." Robin said and the others nodded as the tentacles sprang out to try and hit them. Beast Boy in bat form flew up close and turned into himself.
"Don't worry, we're gonna get you..." He started before she screamed and he turned in time to see a giant tentacle try and suck him in too. Thinking fast, he turned into a hippo, preventing it from sucking him in so it threw him into the road instead.
As they all seemed a bit dazed, Raven appeared in front of them, "This time, when I break you, stay broken. Mecronon, Hezmerek, Mortix!" She said, waving her arms wide.
"Raven! Careful, the girl!" Robin called out, but Raven only yelled as magical energy began to pour out of her mouth and absorb Cardiac and the girl, who started to tremble in fear.
"Raven stop!" Beast Boy called out.
"I can't!" She said, trying to fight it.
Robin leaped in, pulling out one of his shuriken and started hammering away and creating cracks in Cardiac to save the girl. Beast Boy meanwhile turned into a mountain goat and tackled Raven, breaking her concentration and causing the magic to fade away. Robin broke free and freed the girl, who smiled and hugged him.
"What is wrong with you?" Beast Boy asked Raven concerned. She barely glanced at him before teleporting away, leaving the others to think.
'That's it, time I pay a friend a visit.' Beast Boy thought.
-Jump City, Downtown-
Beast Boy ran along the rooftops of the downtown streets. He had heard rumors and reports of Rorschach hanging around this part of town, hopefully they proved true. He had been searching for nearly half an hour and was starting to give up the search when he heard a noise. It sounded like yelling and breaking glass. Looking across the street from his position, he saw the noise was emanating from a bar, "The Happy Hour Saloon" as it was called.
Figuring that he should at least investigate, he hopped down from the rooftop and approached. When he was close to the door, the window next to him was shattered by a biker that was thrown through it.
"How many times do I have to do this to ya, Rancid?" Came a voice from inside. Beast Boy found the voice familiar. Leaning over and looking through the shattered window, he saw none other than Rorschach kicking the crap out of a gang of bikers. There were over a dozen guys and he was taking them on like they were nothing.
He saw him grab two bikers by the shirt collars and spin them around, knocking back other members of the gang before letting go and letting the two fly into opposite walls.
Now are the rest of you going to play nice or are we doing this the hard way again?" He asked and Beast Boy noticed he seemed more casual and at ease than he had before.
They charged him and he sighed, "Well, I tried." He said, leaping forwards and knocking out three of them with swift shots before picking up one and throwing him at two more. Rorschach spun and dropped several devices Beast Boy hadn't seen before that released green electricity that knocked them out.
"Well, that was fun to watch." Beast Boy said as Rorschach turned to face him and his mask shifted to a smile-like appearance.
"Hey BB, long time no see." He said, shaking his hand.
"Yeah it has been a while, but I came to find you, it's really important. It's about Raven." He said.
Rorschach's mask shifted to a more serious face before he turned around to tie up the bikers, "Listen, Beast Boy, I know me leaving may have been hard on the team, her especially, but I can't come back yet. I'm still trying to figure things out and I'm actually happy working alone."
"You don't understand, ever since you left, all Raven's done is mope about in her room most of the time." Beast Boy said.
"She did that before." Rorschach retorted.
"Yeah, but that's not all. A couple weeks ago, she found this book that had this guy named Malchior in it and he turned out to be some kind of powerful wizard who's been teaching her all sorts of new tricks and stuff and she's been happy." Beast Boy tried to explain.
"How is that a bad thing?" Rorschach asked, finishing tying the knot on the last biker.
"But here's the thing, the spells he's been teaching aren't safe. When we were fighting Cardiac tonight she used some spell that nearly killed a girl that was taken hostage. I think he's not what he seems." Beast Boy said seriously. Rorschach pondered Beast Boy's story for a moment before letting out a sigh.
"Beast Boy, look," He said, placing a hand on his shoulder, "I'm just not sure I'm ready to come back. I've still got a lot on my mind and I don't know if I can handle being on the team again so soon." He said sadly. Beast Boy looked at Rorschach's ever changing face with disappointment before it changed to a serious expression.
"Rorschach, when you and I were inside Raven's mind all those month's ago, you kissed her in front of me. When I saw that, I saw that you truly cared for her. If you still do, you'll help her. Think about it." He said before leaving through the destroyed window, leaving Rorschach to contemplate his usually goofy teammate's words.
-Raven's Room-
Raven reappeared behind Malchior, who was reading, and spoke up, "It's dark magic! You've been teaching me dark magic!" She said angrily.
"Is it dark, or just misunderstood like you? True, the spells I've taught you are very powerful, there are those who fear power and so the call it dark, but for people like us such distinctions do not exist." He said, taking her hand and guiding her over to the book.
"Without these spells, we can never truly be together. Enchanted pages or not, I am still trapped in this book and you are still alone. Is that what you want Raven? To be alone?" He asked gently.
Raven turned her head away, a tear slipping from her eye before he brushed it away, "No." She said honestly.
"My sweet Raven, it's time." He said.
Her eyes opened wide, but she nodded her head in agreement.
Malchior now stood in the center of a circle of candles while Raven stood in front of him and the book.
"Read the incantation just as I taught you." Malchior said, Raven nodding in understanding.
"Maloso Oviscum Et Cum Spiritum!" Raven said. Wind began to blow and swirl around her room as Malchior's paper body began to vanish. The book's pages flew open to a page showing a silhouette of what looked like Malchior turning into a large dragon.
"Malchior!" Raven yelled over the wind before being knocked back onto her bedroom floor. As she tried to pick herself up a page from the book fell next to her. Picking it up, she found that it was a picture of Malchior fighting Rorick. To her surprise, the names switched places, having Rorick over the wizard and Malchior over the dragon.
"You switched them. Malchior wasn't the wizard, he was the... Oh no!" Raven said, realizing what she had done. She ran to the book to try and stop it but it was to late. A large explosion blew up in front of her, sending her flying back into her wall. She looked to see giant, scaled hands climb out of the book and into her room. When it climbed its way out, she bore witness to a giant, black scaled dragon with blood red eyes and an amethyst-colored under belly.
"Free at last!" It roared in triumph.
Robin and the others kicked down Raven's door just as Malchior went up through the roof and out of sight. "Raven!" Robin called out.
They found her covered by a dome of her own magical energy. As it vanished, they saw her on her knees looking ahead, stunned, "He lied to me. He lied to me and I gave him what he wanted." She muttered.
"Come on." Robin said, jumping up through the hole as the others followed him out.
"Raven, are you..." Beast Boy started, looking back at her before she cut him off, "Please, just get out of my room." She said lowly, staring at the ground. Beast Boy was about to argue, but the Tower shook and he decided to leave her for now and followed the others.
On the roof of the Tower, Malchior stared at Jump City, ready to take flight when he was hit by a blast of blue energy. Turning his head towards the source, he saw Starfire throw Cyborg at him as he kept firing. Malchior flicked his tail and caught him in the chest, sending him flying away. Starfire threw Robin, who drew two of his shuriken and combined them to try and cut the beast.
It had no real effect, nor did the bombs he threw after that, and he too was batted away by the dragon, making him land hard on the roof. Starfire flew around him, firing Starbolts as Beast Boy turned into a T-Rex and bit him on the neck. Malchior roared and threw the T-Rex at a rising Cyborg, taking them off the roof.
He managed to get Starfire in his mouth and as she managed to hold it open, he blasted her with fire, sending her flying into the water below. He was then caught by a small magic electric jolt as Raven rose through the roof to face him.
"Azarath Metreon Zinthos!" She cried, blasting him again. It had little effect as he breathed fire at her, forcing her to dodge. The two went back and forth, trading and dodging spells until her own spell was met by his fire in midair, the two struggling to overcome the other. He suddenly stopped and sprang forward, catching her in his clawed hand.
"Oh dear, you're not going to cry now, are you? I know it hurts, but you're going to have to except the truth: I got what I wanted and I don't need you anymore." He said, watching her struggle.
"It's not over, not yet." Raven said, her own eyes glowing white.
He chuckled, "Sweet Raven, you can't possibly hope to defeat me, I taught you everything you know." He said.
Before she could respond, a loud whistle rang out from below them, getting their attention. Turning around, they were surprised to find Rorschach standing there.
"Hey Scales, are you about done stroking your ego?" He asked casually.
"Who are you?" Malchior growled as Raven stared, stunned for the second time in the last few moments.
"People call me Rorschach, and to be blunt, I'm here to kick your ass." He said before releasing a beam of energy from his sword that caught the dragon's arm, forcing him to let go of Raven and roar, charging at Rorschach.
Rorschach managed to jump and flip over Malchior's oncoming jaws and run along his scaly back, dragging his energized sword along the black scales. Malchior roared at the pain the sword inflicted. As Malchior roared, Rorschach landed behind him and next to Raven. She just stared in wide wonder at him, as if he had returned from the grave or something.
"Raven, if have a plan, I would suggest you do it now." Rorschach said, readying his sword for the beast's next attack. Broken from her shock, Raven nodded her head and ran back to the hole in the roof.
"Impressive," Malchior hissed, "Not even that fool of a wizard, Rorick, could pierce my skin."
"Well I'm not him. I'm a thousand times worse." Rorschach said before charging at the fire demon, who did the same.
They both fought with all they had, Rorschach manged to dodge Malchior's claw swipes and deliver quick slashes with his sword, much to Malchior's rage.
"Enough of this!" Malchior roared, spitting up some fire.
"Couldn't agree more. Raven, now!" Rorschach yelled, jumping out of the way. Behind him, Raven floated in midair, holding up the book that held Malchior prisoner.
"No!" Malchior yelled, breathing a powerful stream of fire at Raven, who blocked it with one hand.
"Time to go back where you belong. Alderon Enlenthrenel Der Solen Leerus Nor!" She yelled. The book slew open and shot a beam of black magic at the dragon, coiling it in black lightning. Malchior began to fade away in the magic before it flew back into the book. Once all the magic was back in the book, Raven closed the book shut before floating down to the tower's roof, her cloak turning back to its original dark blue color.
"You know, I recently learned myself that when the thing that shouldn't be able to speak starts talking to you, it's probably time to get rid of it." Rorschach said, sitting beside Raven, who nodded somewhat glumly.
"Hey, why so sad? We won, with little damage." Rorschach said.
"I know, it's just... none of this would have happened if I had just thought clearly for a moment, but I felt so alone after you left. It was nice to have someone who understood me again, and now that's gone and I don't want to be alone again." She said in a rush, "I just can't really explain..." She trailed off, looking at him as the others approached.
'Oh, to hell with it.' She thought before pulling up his mask just past his mouth and kissing him deeply and in front of the others for the first time. They all looked surprised as she wrapped her arms around his neck and his slid down around her waist.
"Alright, I called it, pay up Cyborg!" Beast Boy said, holding out his hand.
Cyborg grumbled, pulling out a few bills of money as Raven and Rorschach stopped due to need of air and curiosity, "What did Beast Boy call?" Raven asked, still leaning against Rorschach.
"We had a bet going; he said you guys would get together, I wasn't sure it would happen." Cyborg groaned.
"Wait, but Beast Boy already knew we were a couple." Rorschach said.
Cyborg's widened at hearing this and then glared at Beast Boy, who had a nervous smile on his face before running off.
"Come back here you lying cheating twerp!" Cyborg yelled, trying to catch up to green changeling. Everyone just laughed at their actions before Robin looked to Rorschach.
"It's good to have you back, Rorschach." Robin said with a smile.
"Good to be back." Rorschach said simply, still holding Raven in a warm embrace. Even so, Rorschach knew he still hadn't figured out his personal life, both girls had made the move and he still wasn't sure what to do regarding that, 'Things are still confusing as ever, but at least there's no voice in my head now.' He thought.
A/N: That is all for this chapter! Back with the team, but still confused about his personal life how will things work out for Rorschach? We'll see. For now we hope you liked it and we'll see you next time!