Author's Notes
To bloodshark, you have an interesting theory there, but unfortunately it will be incorrect by the time you finish reading this chapter. And Robin will get some comeuppance this chapter, but that won't be it. Robin will be in Act 2 of the story.
To the guest reviewer, I'll try not to stop.
Now, we are at the very end of Act 1. Once this chapter is done, I will post the synopsis for Act 2 and whether or not the story continues on this story or as a new story altogether.
And now, let's continue the story.
Raven phased through the castle, reaching the border portal. Raven knew that this portal would be able to cross into her father's domain. This was it, now or never. It would now be time for Raven to make her move, finally choose her path.
Raven stepped through the portal and emerged on the other side unharmed. If a normal human were to go through the portal, they would be instantly burned alive. The only people that could go through the portal both ways were half-demons and Trigon's skeletal servants (i.e. Slade).
Raven saw that her father's castle was much like the castle she had just departed from, only more hellish and demonic, with torn cloth and fiery bricks everywhere. She was in the right place.
She floated through the castle, encountering hordes of her father's fire demon army. Normally, they would be on the attack if someone were to enter without Trigon's order. However, they were under order to not attack Raven, since she was Trigon's daughter and the Gem of Skaath.
Raven finally arrived in her father's throne room, and saw her father, resting on his throne made from human bones. Trigon would normally be around one hundred feet tall, but since he was still confined to his castle, he was around eight feet tall. Trigon looked just as he always did, which Raven was unsurprised about.
"Hello, father" was the first thing Raven said upon arriving into Trigon's throne room. Trigon was instantly alarmed by this and saw his daughter standing in front of him.
"I take it Slade completed his task if you are here. But why are you here, right now?", Trigon demanded to know from his daughter.
"I've made my mind about everything, I know what I must do...", Raven spoke as Trigon listened intently, believing Raven has finally given in to her demonic urges. Trigon thought, Maybe I won't have to give Slade his reward.
"And that would be destroying you." Raven suddenly finished. She unleashed a massive wave of black energy at her father, blasting him into his throne.
The throne of bones instantly shattered all around upon Trigon's impact. He was caught by complete surprise at Raven's attack - not only did he not expect it, but he did not believe Raven was capable of such underhanded attacks.
"Insolent bitch. You will pay for that." Trigon furiously ranted.
"Oh really. Aren't you forgetting who I am? I am your portal into Earth, the Gem of Skaath. And you can't hurt me. Your powers won't allow it."
Trigon unleashed his massive fire powers onto Raven, intent on destroying her. Fortunately for Raven, they just bounced right off of her, like a ball on a wall. Trigon knew Raven was right, and that Raven was going to kill him.
Raven surged more waves of dark energy at her father, repeatedly slamming him into the wall, not letting up or allowing him to get up. One of Raven's blasts got lucky and hit Trigon in one of his eyes, hurting him severely.
This in turn caused Trigon to inadvertently unleash a wave of fire at one of the walls, destroying it. Raven looked through the wall and found something - the Sword of the Crucible, a weapon capable of causing severe pain to demons. Trigon had Slade retrieve it to keep it out of anyone's hands - he wanted to be safe from its effects.
Raven grabbed the Sword of the Crucible and gripped it tightly.
"Foolish girl, that sword kills demons. It will kill you by its touch", Trigon stated.
"It hurts a little on the touch, but that is the benefit of being half-human - it won't kill me. You have no such luxury", Raven retorted.
Raven charged back at her father, who tried to back away from his enraged daughter.
Raven first sliced off Trigon's right arm, and because of the sword's power, Trigon could not regrow it or heal it. Then went Trigon's left arm, then his right leg, and then his left leg.
Raven chopped off the horns on Trigon's head, causing him even more pain, leaving him weak and crippled. Raven plunged the sword into Trigon's abdomen, causing him to scream even more.
Raven walked up to her father's head and her hands began to glow black, as if preparing for a spell. A spell to finish of Trigon the Terrible.
"Azarath metrion zinthos", Raven calmly spoke as her magic blasted Trigon's head, causing him to scream one last time.
Trigon's red magic fused with Raven's black magic, soon flowing into Raven, taking her father's life form. Raven began to glow white as the last of Trigon's energy went into his daughter (now to be called his slayer).
Slade was in the castle lobby, awaiting Raven's return, unsure of what the hell she is doing. He began to find himself surrounded by more and more of Trigon's fire demons, believing he was under threat.
However, the fire demons all vanished instantly as Slade watched, trying to figure out what happened. He turned around and saw Raven floating in front of him, wearing her black leotard and a red cloak. Her eyes and face remained normal.
Slade inquiried, "How did it go with your father?"
Raven replied, "Excellently. He is dead and gone forever. And now I have all of his power and his influence is nothing on me. I'm free from the prophecy and I am free to make my own path."
Slade stated, "I am very proud of you, Raven. Not even I could have seen this coming."
Raven added, "Thank you. And to the man that saved me, it's ample time to get your reward."
Slade floated up in front of Raven, surrounded by a red-black glow that infused all around him.
Raven deadpanned one more statement, "This may hurt a little."
Red-black energy filled Slade. His bones regained structure as they became covered with his own flesh and blood. What he had lost to Terra was returning to him.
Raven let Slade down, having given him what he had made his deal with Trigon for. He was alive again, he was human again.
Slade commented, "My own flesh and blood. It feels so fresh, so welcome. It's been too long. We're even, Raven. Are we?"
Raven replied, "We are. As long as you don't come after me again."
Slade asked, "What are you going to do now? With all of your father's powers?"
Raven said, "First, I want to revisit some old friends. You know who they are. The ones that betrayed me, left me for dead. Abandoned me when I needed their help the most."
Slade said, "Well, I won't interfere. I'll be laying low for a while, figuring out my next step, maybe meeting up with some family. Oh, and send the Titans my regards."
Raven calmly stated, "I will."
With that, Raven phased out of the room in her soul-self, now displaying tints of red throughout its color.
The Teen Titans returned from their crime-training session in Venice. It had gone without issue, well at least for the most part. There were some techniques that took a while to perfect with the Venice Police. Boy, they did not know what the hell was coming.
The Titans were completely unaware of the break-in that sprung Raven, not to mention that Slade had visited their headquarters and home. The other Titans were unaware of what Robin was planning next, which would be to finish off Raven once and for all.
The Titans walked out of the hangar bay, headed for the main ops center and living room. Robin walked in first, inspecting the room for safety precautions.
Before he could signal the other Titans to come in, he was blasted right out of the room by someone unseen. Cyborg, Beast Boy, and Starfire were startled, unaware of who exactly had breached the tower.
One second later, they had their answer - it was Raven, who startled them with her red cloak, making her look a lot like Rage, something Cyborg and Beast Boy had encountered (and feared).
Cyborg asked, "Raven? How the hell did you escape?"
Raven said, "Slade came by, gave me an explosive birdarang, and helped me escape. Have to admit, did more than any of you bastards did. He thought of using the teleporter to bring it."
Beast Boy said, "We were unsure of whether or not the teleporter could support it. And besides, Robin locks the armory, there's no way we could have gotten it."
Robin then got up and angrily assumed a fighting stance.
He growled, "Raven. Why the fuck are you here?"
Raven said, "First, Slade sends his regards. I doubt you will be seeing him for a while. Second is to show you something."
Raven grabbed the bag by her side and then threw it at the other Titans. Beast Boy opened the bag and discovered the contents - a shriveled, red lung.
Beast Boy asked, "What the hell is this? Some fucking joke?"
Raven said, "This, Garfield, is all that remains of my father. That is all that Trigon the Terrible is now. Nothing, not anything but fragments. His power now runs throughout me, my influence is now the controlling one. Never again will he roam. The prophecy will never come to pass without him. I must thank you guys for something, without all that anger I could not have possibly destroyed him."
Starfire said, "Raven, will you return yourself to the team?"
Raven said, "No. My time on the team ended when Robin locked me up in that cell. I will never work besides him again."
Robin said, "Raven, I'm sorry for everything. I had no idea what pain that you were through."
Raven angrily replied, "No you're not. You only want me because of my power. You don't care about me. If you did, you would have worked with me to stop Trigon. This could have been yours but you threw it away. You don't know what pain I've been through. Perhaps it's time that I showed you."
Robin was surrounded by a red-black glow as he was thrown up towards Raven.
Raven said, "Azarath metrion zinthos", and instantly a wave of red-black energy went from Raven's chakra into Robin's head. He was flooded with Raven's memories, specifically the pain. The beatings in Azarath, the branding, the seven rapes, Slade's nanoscopic probes, Terra trying to drown her, Malchior's betrayal, Adonis's beast, Slade's birthday ambush, and lastly the time in the prison cell.
Raven released Robin, who was almost completely comatose by the time she was finished loading her pain into him. Now he knew what Raven had been through, what she had suffered her entire life.
The other Titans were absolutely shocked by what Raven had just done. They were prepared to attack Raven in retaliation for what he had done.
Raven said, "You can attack me, but if you want Robin to see another day, I suggest you get him to a hospital...right about now."
Cyborg walked over to Robin and picked him up. Even though he was pissed as hell with the Bat protege, he could not let him die.
Starfire said, "So is this the last we will ever see of you, friend Raven?"
Raven said, "For now. You will see me again when I feel it prudent. When I want you to see me. And now, I take my adieu."
Raven's body was engulfed in her soul-self and vanished from the eyes of her former teammates.
It was around eight o'clock at night at the hospital. The other Titans were patiently awaiting Robin's return to consciousness, the doctor having told them that Raven's attack was a psychological one, and a damn powerful one. He would survive, but he would be a little mentally uneasy.
Robin began to wake up, a little dizzy and uneasy because of what had just transpired inside of the Tower, with Raven's mental attack. The other three Titans then walked towards Robin, intending to talk to him.
Robin said, dizzily and uncertainly, "What happened? Where am I?"
Cyborg said, "You're in the hospital. Raven delivered a very pressing attack on your mind, she wanted you to know what she felt, and now we know. You were planning on wasting her, Robin. You went way over your head with Raven. You went out of control."
Robin yelled, "What the hell are you talking about? She was dangerous, threatening the very existence of the world. She had to be removed, she lied to us, and she couldn't be trusted."
Beast Boy said, "She gave us everything, and only asked for companionship. She didn't want to be hurt, she didn't want to be alone, and you fucked that up sky high."
Starfire said, "She was more of a help to the team than we could ever have asked for, she was much more beneficial than you, and now we lost her."
Cyborg said, "We talked with the Martian Manhunter over the events that transpired. He said we were to consider removing you from the team if necessary. The Justice League took a vote of confidence."
Robin said, "It takes five votes from the Justice League's seven standing members. I doubt you got the five votes."
Beast Boy said, "The seven members voting were Superman, Green Lantern, Flash, Zatanna, Atom, Martian Manhunter, and Wonder Woman. All but Zatanna and the Atom voted in favor of removing you. We weren't surprised Zatanna voted in your favor, she hated Raven from the beginning, she felt you did the right thing. The Atom and the Flash surprised us. We expected five votes and we got five votes."
Starfire said, "And then it takes an unanimous vote of the team members to remove you. We all voted against you."
Robin yelled, "Are you fucking crazy? What the fuck are you saying?"
Cyborg said, "Robin, you're off the team. You're not welcome on the Titans again, and you have automatically been barred from entry into the Justice League. I'm sorry, Robin, but you went too far. You'll be out of the hospital tomorrow. Get your things and leave the Tower."
Beast Boy, Cyborg, and Starfire walked out of the hospital room, leaving only an angry Robin inside, bitter that they voted to remove him from the team. He felt he didn't deserve it, but the other Titans couldn't disagree any more - he no longer deserved his place as team leader, or on the Titans for that matter.
Raven brought her backpack containing her bedroom over to her new residence on the other side of Jump City. She was never going back to the Tower, or at least not for a very long time. She got her things out and spread out, getting ready for the rest of her life. She took off her cloak and hung it up on a coat hanger, like she did every night before bed.
She stripped off her leotard and walked into the shower, wanting to freshen up to start her first night of freedom, with all that power.
She let the hot water drop on her, cleaning herself off, which she felt was so refreshing, so invigorating, just so...right.
She finished her shower and grabbed a towel, drying herself off. She made her cup of tea for the evening, welcoming its calm, refreshing taste. After setting down her cup, she dropped her towel and prepared to put her leotard back on for bed.
Suddenly, Raven got a strange idea. She chose not to put her leotard back on, she decided to spend the night in the buff. It was her life, hers to control, and hers to decide. She had a lot to try out, and a lot to do, a lot to make up for.
It truly was the beginning of the rest of her life.
And so marks the end of Act One.