AN: The Valentine's episode, with a bit of spooky-ness for spooky-month.

Outta This World: Observer's Cut

Arc Three: Teen Tyrants

Chapter Eighteen: Visions of Desolation

Blitzkrieg—or rather, Sean Wilson-Kirk—laid back on his bed, eyes closed but unable to grasp sleep. He felt at odds—not with himself, or any of his team members, or anyone else—but rather, with the world around him. Sleep had come so easily before, so what had happened now? Was it the thought of Slade still running amok, with no way of finding him? Was it the thoughts of the Justice League and their betrayals of the ideals that they were supposed to represent?

…Was it the fact that he was soon to die by the hands of one that he had once considered a friend?

A new presence entered the room, one that made him feel at ease. One that made him feel that everything would be alright…

With Blitzkrieg.

I felt something physical weigh on me, and only when the feeling someone's head on my chest finally registered, did I open my eyes. I found…

"Raven?" I whispered, taking in the sight in front of me. She was stretched across me, eyes closed as if entering the first stage of sleep, her cloak covering us both.

For a moment, her eyes opened, half-lidded but fully awake purple eyes locked onto mine. And then, she stretched out a finger and placed it on my lips.

"Wha—?"

"Shh…Sean…"

She moved forward, eyes closed, and lips pursed for a kiss. A kiss I easily accepted.

'Tea leaves.' I thought, slightly giddy from the experience. 'Her lips taste like tea leaves.'

My eyes closed as my right hand cupped her cheek, pulling her in closer. If this was in fact real, I was intent on enjoying this moment as much as I could—!

She pulled away and let out a giggle. But it was not just the voice of Raven that exited her mouth. It was the voice of Ashley Creedence. Of Blackfire. Of Jinx. Of Jacob. Of the blue-haired man. And so many others.

My eyes opened and went wide at the new sight in front of me. Raven was still there, but she was different. A mess of faces, both of people I knew, and people I didn't. I saw the features of Ashley, the eyebrows of Blackfire, the pale skin of Jinx, the cold eyes of Jacob, and the mocking smile of Seventh, all mixed into one constantly shifting amalgamation.

"WhaT's ThE MattEr, SeaN?" It spoke, a garish grin upon its face, six deep yellow eyes forming both above and below the ones that were already there. "DOn'T yOu LoVe ME?!"

The bed ceased to exist, along with the fake Raven and the rest of my room. In its place was somewhere new. A host of floating asteroids, one if which I landed on. Beyond that was some kind of…sun, or maybe a star. A figure was outlined in front of it. Surrounding it was five glowing stones, one purple, one green, one yellow, one orange, one blue…

And then one red, sitting at the center of its forehead.

"Att lAAAsssT." The figure hissed. "PEEaace…inn thhhe MMultiVerRRSssssE!"

The gem glowed and—!

Blitzkrieg's room. The real world.

I snapped awake with a gasp, taking quick breaths at first, then slowing down as my eyes saw that I was just in my room, and not in that ethereal…place.

"Just a dream…" I uttered, not quite feeling convinced of the fact. "Just a dream."

"Maybe." Light muttered, her voice reverberating throughout my mind. "Maybe not. I sensed magic in that dream, Sean."

I blinked, feeling something…uncomfortable beginning to well up in my stomach. "…The League?"

"Unlikely. We still carry the memory of what they did to Doctor Light."

"Then…What? Or Who?" I asked, a slight tremble in my voice.

I could visualize Light's frown. "First theory: Trigon is trying to mess with our heads. Make us afraid. Making us run around in useless circles. Certainly his M.O."

"But he doesn't care about 'bringing peace'." I pointed out. "Peace isn't his goal. Destruction is."

"Too True." Light replied. "Second theory. Someone else is trying to launch psychic attacks against you. Throw you off balance, so to speak."

"Could it be Slade?"

"Unlikely. As far as we know, he doesn't have the means to do such a thing."

"…But that Seventh guy does." I recalled, remembering when he had spoken back to Light.

"He is certainly a candidate." The fox-girl mused. "But there is also one last theory."

"And what is that?" I asked her.

"That what you saw was not the product of some attack on your mind," Light revealed. "But rather a prophetic vision. A glimpse into the future."

"But what the hell could any of that mean?" I uttered aloud.

"We're just gonna have to wait and see."

Titan's Tower. With Raven.

Raven flipped through another page of the strange book that Robin gave her, courtesy of Seventh, apprentice of Slade.

The subject of the book's contents was magical and alchemical in nature, ranging from the practical to the theory on a great many subjects, including Necromancy, Lithomancy, the making of Portals, Abjuration, Conjuration, Transmutation, and many others.

"Daughter."

Raven's head shot upwards, her focus no longer on the book. 'Father.'

"Why do you fight that which is inevitable?"

'Begone.'

"You struggle so hard against that which cannot be changed. Surrender."

'My friends will—!'

"—Stop me? Child, I cannot be stopped. Not by them. Not even by the one you are growing closest to."

Raven flinched. 'I trust them. Believe in them. Starfire showed us that fate can be changed!'

"Ah, you may trust them…but does he trust you?"

'Blitzkrieg told us his greatest secret—!"

"That, child…" Trigon interrupted. "Is not his great secret."

'What do you mean?!' Raven demanded. She was met with silence. 'What do you mean?!'

There were no answers for her.

Titan's Tower. With Beast Boy, Cyborg, and Blitzkrieg.

"Ah, single awareness day." I heard Beast Boy say as he and Cyborg sat down to play what must have been their 150th round of Mario Cart.

"Is that what it's being called now?" Cyborg said, a wry smirk on his face.

"It's what all of us single guys call it." I informed him. "Not that I plan on staying single."

"So today is the day?" Romantic asked.

"Yes, just don't lay it on too thick, we're trying to get her to date us, not creep her out."

"…Do I look like an amateur to you?!" Romantic growled out.

"Considering what happened in the café when the team first formed? Yes!" I rebuked.

Dead silence from the other end of the conversation.

"…You know what? That's fair." He conceded.

It was at this point that Robin walked into the room, sort of tense but not angry. It seemed more like he was…concerned about something, given the way his eyebrows were creased, and his mouth was curled in a frown that seemed more worried than frustrated.

"Has anyone seen Starfire?" He asked, apprehension coloring his tone.

Beast Boy raised a hand. "She said that she was going shopping."

Cyborg and I both blinked in surprise. "Without Raven?"

The shapeshifter shrugged and turned his attention back to the screen. "Apparently."

Robin nodded, letting out a thank you as he left the common room. After the door shut, I turned towards my other two teammates.

"Speaking of Raven, where is she?" I asked.

"What?" Cyborg queried, a mischievous smile on his face. "Looking to ask her on a Valentine's date?"

"…Actually, yes. Yes I am." I replied, giving him a challenging glare.

The half-man, half-machine let out an amused snort. "If she isn't with Starfire or teaching Mikumo, then she's probably in her room as usual."

"Thank you."

Later, with Blitzkrieg.

"…You're not gonna stop me?" I asked Light as we approached Raven's room.

"It's your choice to make, not mine." Light replied, reluctance in her voice. "Besides, I doubt that you would listen to me even if I did."

"Are…are you jealous?"

"What?! NO!"

"She's lying!" One of the emotion clones cried out

"FUCK YOU!"

As Light began to argue with the rest of the emotion clones, I let out a sigh and knocked on the door. "Moment of truth."

The door opened, and Raven's eyes met my own.

For a moment, my mouth felt dry, my hands clammed up, and I felt a cold sweat begin to run down my forehead even as my face began to heat up. My god, what was I thinking when I decided to do this today?

And then Raven spoke.

"What is it, Sean?"

And my brain began to function again. 'I can do this. I can do this!'

'Right?'

I took a breath. "I was wondering if you and I could go on a d-date?"

'God fuckin' damnit!'

Silence reigned for a full two seconds. Then she spoke again.

"Sure."

I blinked. "What."

Her head tilted in response. "I said yes. But not today."

My heart sank a little. "Then…when?"

Raven took a breath and then spoke again. "Starfire mentioned that there was going to be some kind of dance about two weeks from now. I was thinking that since we never got to go on our outing…" She trailed off, allowing me to figure out the rest.

"…Oh." My intelligent brain replied.

The Secret Base of the Teen Tyrants. Luminous.

The vigilante known as Luminous grit his teeth in a grim frown as he approached the door to Death Hand's workshop, his ears catching the sound of a hammer striking metal floating through the subtle cracks in the iron door.

He had been in there for five days—five days since the apparent time-traveler's attempted heist, working on something Cire—the one who was practically their leader's right-hand man—refused to speak of, only telling the murderous light-user to speak to Death Hand himself.

With an irritated growl, Luminous lifted his right hand up to the door and rapped his knuckles across it. The sound carried throughout the hall as the hammering stopped.

"Come in."

Luminous obliged him opening the door and walking through the threshold and into the belly of the iron beast. What awaited him was…something of a surprise.

Pieces of armor littered the entire workshop. Circlets, gauntlets, chest-plates, and more all littered the floor around the white-haired man. All of them were made of different materials, fitting different styles, ranging from futuristic to downright medieval.

The only thing that the sets of armor had in common were the strange, oval-shaped indents.

Luminous finished scanning the room, his eyes landing on Death Hand, who was hunched over one of his workbenches. "I thought our plan was to free this 'Doom-Slayer'?"

"That is plan A." Death Hand explained. "This is plan B."

"And what inspired this 'plan B'." Luminous inquired.

Death Hand's ruby-red eyes landed on him, before being drawn back to his current project: A gauntlet made entirely of solid gold. "I had a dream."

Luminous did not inquire further. None of the other Tyrants knew the limitations of Death Hand's power, if he had any limitations at all. If prophetic dreams were something that he could have, then he wouldn't question it. "Then what's the plan for now."

The white-haired man's eyes turned towards the ceiling. "There are two things that we will need before we can proceed: one thing for the ritual, and another thing for Drake."

"And what are those things."

Death Hand smirked. "First, we will need about thirty pounds of diamonds. Those can be found in a quarry not far from here."

"And the other thing?" Luminous asked.

Death Hand clicked his tongue. "A book that one Raven has…containing the spirit of the Hell-Dragon Malchior."

AN: The stage is set. The players are in place. Let the games begin.