Shangri-la

Gothic: Ocdsugar, I will say it now. You are as freaking mad as me and my little gang of madness here in our (seemingly) quiet corner of England! After checking out your profile, that confirmed it for me. Your style of reviewing, and your methods of writing are perfect in my mad little eye, so please take my compliment. =^_^=.

Kitty: So what's this chapter called again? And Gothic does not own the Teen Titans.

Gothic: Uh….um….get back to you on it? And Moonfairy, - the dark side has tea parties every Tuesday, huh?  Hmm…

Kitty: *hissing* Fine. Whatever just write the chapter.

Gothic: RavenRules99, did anyone ever tell you how irritating you can be? *sighs, and holds head in hand* On with the….story?

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Hidden beneath the city, a plan of evil and vengeance was taking place. This was the plan of two demons, Vergus, and her lover Drenis. Where as Vergus was red skinned, Drenis was green skinned, with a smooth, slick tail. Their servant, Sasaros, was an imp demon, a special breed created to serve demons.

And right now, the world was about to kneel before it's new King and Queen. But first, the source of all their power, the shattered gem of Trigon's, had to be mended, so that the power left within would aid them in destroying the Teen Titans. Right now, the two demons were busy preparing for the ritual that would 'heal' the jewel.

"Sasaros! Where is the wolf bane?" Drenis barked, examining the tiny fragment of gem in front of him.

"Coming master." The demon scurried over, carrying a jar of greenish contents.

"Drenis, the bowl required for the ritual." Vergus swept over, bearing a black purple bowl, containing a bloodstone, 2 roses, and a strange, milky white liquid. The stone and the roses oddly floated, calmly going wherever their waters took them. The bowl itself exceeded a size far bigger than most kitchen mixing bowls, for it needed to house every single piece of Trigon's broken gemstone.

"Excellent. Sasaros, where are the daggers?" Drenis called to his servant whilst taking the bowl.

"In the parlour master. I shall fetch them at once." Sasaros replied, bouncing off into another room. For a servant demon, she was treated very well if one looked at how other servant demons were treated. Others were abused, deliberately forced to do the worst tasks imaginable, and were rarely fed. Although her master and mistress were strict in their orders, they still respected her for what she was, and always ensured she was well cared for.

"Tonight Sasaros." Drenis began as she returned. "Tonight you will see true power, power that we will wield in our war against mankind. Demons have been brought down too often."

"They robbed you of your power." Vergus added. "And, they shall not get away with it. It is time to finish what we started." She vowed, eyes dark with anger, lust, and revenge.

"We will see that they do not harm demons again."

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Across the city, everyone was really awake now. No one, not even Robin and Star were still asleep, although Raven noticed Chain was throwing her odd looks. Cyborg however, was so grumpy that Beast Boy and Robin had secretly nicknamed him 'Scrooge' from  'A Christmas Carol' by Charles Dickens. Cyborg had no idea they had called him this, and even the girls were beginning to see the funny side of it.

"What is the name again Robin? Scrog?"

"Scrooge. And don't let Cyborg hear." Robin whispered back to Starfire.

"It's only his nickname." Beast Boy murmured from Starfire's other side. "But then again, he's so moody he wouldn't see the funny side of it."

"What have you nicknamed Cyborg?" Raven curiously asked from in front of the three, obviously having heard them.

"Uh…." Starfire looked nervous.

"Scrooge. Ever read the book 'A Christmas Carol'?" Robin whispered back.

To their immense surprise, Raven cracked a smile, forcing herself not to be too loud. "That actually suits him at the moment. He is a scrooge."

As the four laughed amongst themselves, the remaining sister of Starfire, and the lingering Trigon 5 were conversing on what they were going to do once they got home again. All had decided that Cyborg was just too grouchy and touchy to speak to, and had instead included Chain in their conversation. The blue demon seemed distance though, not always paying attention to what was being said.

"Chain? Chain? Have you heard a word I've said in the last minute?" Moonfire waved her arms in front of Chain's face.

"Huh…What? Oh, sorry.  I was, thinking."

"About what?" Sunstar asked.

"Uh…" Chain hesitated, something she didn't do often. " Something personal." She finally choked out.

"Right…"

"Hey Cyborg. Want breakfast? We haven't got much, but we're all hungry." Robin called across to the half human hybrid.

"Nope. Don't have enough time." He sourly replied through gritted teeth.

"Why? Didn't know you had such a busy agenda." Beast Boy asked. When Cyborg spun angrily around to yell unspeakable words at Beast Boy, (so rude that I can't type them here,) he froze, staring for a minute, before running off to hide behind Robin.

"Hey!" Chain shouted.  "That was totally uncalled for!"

"Yeah man, " Draygion added, "that was a bit over the top."

"Who cares?!" Cyborg shouted.

"What is your problem?!" Moonfire also joined in. "You might be a cantankerous grumpy whiner, but there's no need to take it out on us!"

"TITANS!!" Robin yelled at the top of his lungs. "SHUT UP!" A whistle, which got all of the arguing people's attention, followed this.

"Cool it." Robin snapped through equally gritted teeth. "This is no time to be fighting. We need to work together, and not bicker. "

"Whatever! I've had it around here!" Cyborg stormed past Robin, and moved to stomp his way down to the shattered pier below them. The Titans watched, startled, as he reached the edge of the 'room'. Then, Cyborg stopped, and froze, causing the shocked Titans to creep forward in curiosity. Standing in front of Cyborg was Raven, equally still, not even blinking. It was her eyes that caught everyone, the sharp, deep expression shown within them boring into each and everyone there, even though her gaze was fixed on Cyborg. At long last, after 10 long minutes, Robin spoke up.

"Where are you going Cyborg?" He spoke coolly, and evenly, keeping his voice steady.

"Somewhere that's not here." He replied, his look never leaving Ravens.

"No you're not. You're not going anywhere." Raven dangerously remarked.

"Hmm…" Came Chain's pondering voice from behind.

For a minute, Cyborg looked very taken aback, Raven's never changing expression beginning to make him uneasy. Shifting uncomfortably, he bit his lip nervously.

"What is wrong friend?" Starfire carefully asked. Cyborg drew deep breaths, as he found himself unable to look away from Raven's intent look. It was at that point that Raven's expression did change, as her eyes opened a bit wider, and one eyebrow rose in a seemingly curious stare.

"I…I need to be alone." Cyborg stuttered out, before hastily turning, and abruptly pushing his way past, desperate to get out of eye's view.

"Whoa…." Beast Boy looked after his friend in confusion.

"I get it." Chain said with a smile. "You inherited The Sight, didn't you Rae?"

Raven, who blinked suddenly with Chain's question, shook her head to clear the fuzziness. "Not quite under control yet, but yeah, I did inherit it. Cyborg was the perfect guinea pig." She smiled, the normal look back in her eyes.

"O…kay…..I'm confused." Beast Boy did look very confused.

"Chain, you explain." Raven replied, shaking her head a bit more. "Ow. That gives me a killer headache."

"So what is this 'sight'?" Robin asked.

"The Sight is a legendary type of telekinesis power amongst demons, that can be either inherited from a family member, or actually summoned by powerful enough demons." Sifria excitedly responded.

"But only telekinesis demons like ourselves can have such power. Fire demons, or shapeshifting demons for instance, can't possess such power. They can only handle the powers of fire and shape shifting." Chain said, after looking in a rather annoyed way at Sifria.

"It's probably the only good thing I did get from Trigon." Raven replied. "Still gives me a killer headache, which lasts for about 5 hours, literally. That's why I don't use it much."

"What can it do?" Starfire asked.

"You can rewrite people's memories, permanently or temporarily, freeze them mentally, temporarily or permanently again, or summon thoughts and feelings that they've hidden for goodness knows how many centuries, to name a few."

"I used the last one on Cyborg. There are more possible powers, but I'd probably put myself into a coma if I tried them. " Raven added.

"A coma you'd never wake up from, more like."  Sifria retorted.

"Yeah, but that all depends on how strong the power I'm attempting to use is." Raven said sheepishly.

"True." Chain finished the little conversation with a sigh, she was tired, and still feeling offish with what she'd seen that morning.

Something's wrong. Something's bothering Chain, and she doesn't want to tell me. I wonder…." It was going to murder Raven's head, but she carefully used The Sight once more to probe into Chain's mind. Here, she gently recovered recent events, including a rather nasty dream from the night before, and the incident the demon had seen earlier. This shocked Raven so much that she lost concentration, and let her invisibility in Chain's head slip. Chain looked up from where she had been bent over, examining her pierced belly button, in confusion.

"What's up Chain?" Moonfire enquired.

"I don't know yet….but I'm going to find out." Chain, still looking puzzled, looked around. Noting Raven's slightly guilty expression, she let it go, making a mental note to ask Raven why she had been in her head later.

Opps. Chain knows I've been in her mind. She's gonna kill me later. Wanting some privacy to think things over, Raven darted off, hiding on her rock to think.

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Buried beneath the debris and ruins of the city, the dust-covered body of Slade was beginning to smell. The body was starting to rot away, and the stench was unbearable. Sasaros held her nose firmly as she scurried down into the hole.

"Ew. I hope I don't have to do this too often." Then, very carefully, the demon pulled off a small chunk of the cracked and torn mask. Placing it into a brown cloth bag, Sasaros darted further down the body, pulling with long fingernails, tearing a chunk of the rotting flesh away. She darted away, dropping the flesh into the bag. As she turned to go, her eyes widened in shock and horror as she realised what was floating above the entrance into this dank, dark cave.

A cloudy coloured ghost was shrieking and howling there, it's form not really resembling anything as it shimmered like water. Then, as quickly as the spirit had been there, it was gone. Sasaros was crouched in a corner, her eyes wide with fright, the two spilt seconds in which she had seen the ghoul seeming like a lifetime. After considering her mental state, and assuming that she'd merely been daydreaming, the still scared demon climbed carefully out of the hole, her eyes ever watching around her.

"Maybe all this power thing is getting to me." Sasaros scanned the area once more, then darted off down the broken and cracked street as fast as her levitation powers would let her.

Invisible to the naked eye, hidden beneath the thin veil of reality, the ghost of Slade watched carefully. That demon was up to no good. How dare she touch his body! Pondering, Slade carefully closed his silvery eye, his mind ever planning.

Soon, soon his revenge would become reality.

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Gothic: I am SOOOO sorry I have taken so long to update. I was stuck on this chapter, cause I didn't know what to write. I'll try and be quicker in my next update!

Kitty: I'll be there, keeping watch. Gothic's also started another songfic, so that'll be up soon.

Ghost of Slade: Ur, Arh. I am the ghost of Christmas Past!

BB: Guys, the tower's haunted!

Gothic: Uh, updates when I find an exorcist to deal with the now haunted tower….