Chapter III
"Well done champion!" Starfire, stunned found herself back in the chamber once more and welcomed back by the black/white fur skinned being that was the master of games.
"So, I won?"
"Of course He said reassuringly "Though total victory is still not in your grasp so soon young heroine" Another flash came and Raven stood, expecting as always her return especially in how she had disposed of her excuse for a challenger just as she expected an overjoyed cheer of words address to her.
"Friend Raven, you are well!" Raven just nodded, it was no big deal and that was it. She now could focus on bigger issues, like getting Terra out of her sight as soon as possible. But that's what caught her observation; where were the others, especially Terra.
"..Aren't we supposed to have the other fighters coming yet?" The master was quick to explain.
"Yes young one, however I have to admit, there was an incident regarding both two heroines, Hawkgirl and Terra. Due to their actions, I had to disqualify them. However-" Unlike his previous sentence that seemed to be rushed, he brought out his next sentence with intrigue, somewhat impressed with the news himself.
"I may add that young champion Blackfire had overcome Wonderwoman in such relative time, she seems to show the most promise out of you all. I cannot wait to see who will be the victor, which is why in the next four hours I shall introduce a battle royal for all three heroines to fight. I trust this will be of no harm for you?"
The offer sounded intriguing and perhaps more so it was something worth looking forward to, oddly did Raven notice that her friend didn't seem to be involved, or perhaps it was that she was involved only it was something she heard that made her distance herself from the proportion.
"Than me and star will decide on when it comes then." She turned waiting for star to nod but her friend that represented everything that Raven exiled herself from and in Raven's eyes without intending to make it as a bad joke she looked, alienated from them.
"Star?" Raven's voice was strong yet unkind but it was meant to be, she was getting her attention not to be asking why she was so blue, that would come later itself. Starfire suddenly snapped out, her eyes rolled to face Raven's line of contact and just muttered a simple 'yea' even if she wasn't listening to the royal offer. Or how Raven saw it, perhaps she didn't want to listen. The master shrugged. "Very well, later of this day you will grant me your decision."
The door behind you will lead you to a selection of rooms, feel free to pick one and the canteen; feel free to tuck in and express your victories with your fellow champion" With that he meant Blackfire, Raven walked off only to notice star temporary standing before she too decided to catch up.
Down the path, the two decided to march to the canteen while taking their own time just looking around the dull alloys of their pathway and it was now without the master of games affecting their destination and even their choices. In fact this was their first choice since they came here; everywhere else was fight and fight. There was no sinister purpose in the fights, or who they fought, though fighting someone like jinx was considered to be an insult.
However maybe it was they way in how quick the losers just go. In fact this 'tournament' all seemed to be moving a bit fast for one. Her eyes then turned to her friend who was looking a bit unsure, suffering from what looked like insecurity before the fall. Might not be as catchy as pride before a fall but it was still a useful saying Raven took well yet it seemed Starfire needed to know that more than her.
"Oh right spit it out"
"You suggest I have something ill in my mouth?"
"..Not quite what I meant, unless your prepared to spit out the fact your reluctant" and for affect Raven took a few steps ahead and added something, not so much intended to insult her but to drive her into realising it. "Unless you were afraid that is" Now Star raised her voice, where as Raven's was controlled and firm, Star's was slightly firm but in proving Raven otherwise in a sharp response one would react when their pride is punctured.
"I am not afraid" Raven turned, the two both powerful yet were as much equal of repellent force as well as destructive, star looked insulted, Raven looked uncaring.
"You say that as if you never knew it"
"I don't"
"Than why act like why you did back there. You didn't seem to take your sister's victory very well"
"Well I should I? My sister stole and lied, though I did briefly forgive her"
"And you tried attacking her when we first came here" Added Raven who was on her way to building her point. "So why the mood swings?" Starfire was bit her lip slightly knowing she has been mentally pinned with no escape route to go to.
"I guess in a way, I can still not, decide over how I should feel. On one side I feel it is logical to feel unjoyed but than feel that such a process is wrong. I just feel that perhaps she can change."
"Is that a word of doubt I hear?" The voice of clear arrogance was definably Blackfire, older sibling of Starfire and the most promising of the combatants, her smile made Starfire turn unsure and uneasy. To Raven it meant trouble, confident and yet unafraid as her smile might as well be a cloak concealing the blade within that was her power. A blade she felt at times was sharper than her own. Starfire tried, she really tried to look like she could stand up to her superior version but deceiving was never a skill honest people had and Starfire was all too honest and fair for her own sake. Raven raised an eyebrow to the semi crown that Blackfire now claimed as her own after her victory over Wonderwoman.
"Let me guess Blackfire; warrior princess" The older Tamaran smiled friendlily to Raven. "Not quite" Her eyes then rested at her sister.
"So little sister how did you fare, I trust a bat fan wasn't too tiring for you" Making memorable quotes was one thing but to counter and counter in an argument of words. That was another and was something Starfire felt was unnecessary.
"You know I can stand to you sister" Blackfire's response was far from warm and even sent a slight unsettling feeling into Raven.
"And you know I can easily break you as I always have, and will" Blackfire sneered coldly knowing as she can see in star's eyes that her confidence was in hiding, afraid to make a stand. Wherever it was that she truly cared for her or wished no harm to all in general Blackfire didn't care, Starfire was how she wanted her to be. A tool. Blackfire almost laughed at seeing her sister reduced how she fell so soon. It was almost unbelievable; she held no regret as she marched past knocking into her sister's shoulder. Starfire felt the knock and rubbed it, trying to brush away the pain. But to Blackfire that was merely the icing. She promised to get even with star and what better way than to settle it the old fashioned way in a ring?
"See you later I guess" Oddly the comment seemed referred to at Raven which injured Starfire all the more.
"Oh and the canteen's a blast, you should check it out" And with that she went to her room.
On one of her favourite gothic games there was a character she admired who quoted well vae victus 'woe to the conquered' and right now Raven felt some woe to her comrade as she just been walked over without fighting back. She had to wonder what stung more, Blackfire sensing the weakness or her commentary. Either way Starfire looked indecisive and small like any kid walking through a schoolyard battle ground of bullies or Blackfire was the biggest of them all.
"Guess I'll set up the victory parade"
"Excuse me?"
"Look at yourself; hardly Tamaran pride was that"
"..You wouldn't understand. She is my sister" Raven shrugged as she walked on.
"Yeah your right I don't have a sister, that makes you lucky"
"Why?" Raven answered bleakly to Star's Bafflement.
"Because I have a father to deal with" After her misadventure with cyborg and Beast boy, Raven went to the length of explaining what happened to both Robin and Starfire herself, considering that both cyborg and beast boy had the misfortune in getting caught up with her settlement issue with her father. That memory of learning about Raven's father was fresh in Starfire's as was all her previous adventures.
"If I can just as fight back against something as oppressive as my father, than I'm sure you can fight back what is but a flea compared to my issues" Raven by now was a few steps away from the canteen door itself, secretly she always favoured beast boy's tofu and wondered if something similar could be produced. Yet the only thing produced when the doors opened was black smog of smoke that just brushed past her in a thick cloud of mild heat, forcing out a few coughs from Raven herself.
The smoke past and all she saw was absolute carnage. Everything from food, to drinks, tables, walls was destroyed. Raven didn't know what stung more, the sight of the destruction, or the failure to note Blackfire's ironic words. She turned to see Starfire looking half distraught now that the two of them had to go hungry over night.
"Its not all that bad" Said Star reassuringly. "I think I can see some mustard leeching off the walls somewhere" Raven frowned as she rolled her eyes away from star and whished Star would just raise some strength to condemn her sister.
"I'll be in my room" Said Raven as she picked a room out of random and decided to give it a rest for now. Even though the master spoke of Terra being disqualified and though that pleased her she couldn't help but feel that somehow a loop was in place in that somehow she was still here somewhere…
"Terra?"
There was no answer at first, maybe because Hawkgirl's voice still sounded a bit weak but when she repeated her word again it was stronger as she now gained the strength to open her eyes and see a most phenomenal feature. Above her laid over perhaps eight or nine tonnes of brown earth and rock, spreaded above them by an invisible act of force. It lay like a dome above them, paused in a fall, a great power still held over them. In the centre of the flat Terrain, not far from her, was the power behind it all: Terra.
The young girl, fourteen in age was on one knee spraying out her arms and fingers above her, acting as if she was atlas of mythology, she held with strain in her muscles and her eyes were wising with growing desperation. Tanned with dust and hair all dry she looked a sorry sight indeed, a sight that seemed to be slowly giving in to an increasing doom. Yet Hawkgirl pulled herself up, her legs felt weak but her wings were still in perfect strength as she flew closely by and approached Terra being careful not to destroy their only hope of survival. How this girl withstood so much force for so long and alone was incredible itself. Yet it seemed Terra had her fear long bottled up for as soon had she saw her friend did she confess painfully.
"..I can't do it"
"No Terra, you're doing well, you CAN do this, you have to"
"What do you know?" She argued, "I can't bear the world on my shoulders and it hurts. I can't take the burden anymore, its too much!" Pressure of the earth was curse enough with her, but it was the pressure of hope and dependence that was her true enemy, one person demanding so much, to control a power she cannot master. But that was when the voice came in. Everything drowned out, whatever Hawkgirl said it was but a bearable whisper compared to the voice she now listened. He wasn't here but his words were haunting enough to be embedded inside of her to reoccur when she had no one else to help her. Or was it that the master of the words made her dependent on them?
Regardless of which the voice came to her, it clung to her like a wind of cold air and spoke icily, assuring her that only the voice was right, that the voice was her choice and her only path. And she in return began to believe those words, words that told her she was strong, that to control her power she must remove all barriers of caring. For nothing of life was significant compared to the memory of testament.
She didn't know what her master wanted but great power was promised, respect to her and fear for all would be guaranteed. The voice was right to her in the end, why live in denial, why let value of life concerns her if life was but a tyrant on her. Why should she respect the morals of society when society outcasts her?
Finally she fell to the poison; intoxicated by the advice of her only choice she at last accepted without care, the first revelation of what her powers could truly do to her without care. New doors opened to power and vengeance, no longer will she be afraid to use her force, she will embrace it and use her power as it should be. To gain respect by fear, as the echoes of her master quoted to her 'You are unique, a child that has a nature of power, why deny that nature? After all you'll only be denying yourself'
Terra yelled strongly, the obstacles before her that was ready to become her tomb were now dust compared to her, new strength came and at a second's whim repulsed the fallen debris from her afar. She finally fell on her knees, taking in the fact she was strong at last and laughed out in triumph.
She smiled in sadistic realisation that she finally did it. She finally mastered her own fear and in time she would learn how to make others feel that fear, the fear she had to long take from those who were in truth afraid of her. Hawkgirl came, thinking her friend was laughing in success of cheating death knelt beside her and patted her shoulder. She felt she was sharing the feeling with the child that they survived and could see clear sky once more.
"Come on, I'll fly you out of here" Terra accepted as Hawkgirl took Terra in her arms as she started her flight across the landscape heading perhaps to a possible ending but for now they lived.
"So I'm guessing it was something that inspired your success?" asked Hawkgirl. "Your mother perhaps?"
"I don't have a mother"
"oh, I see"
"But I do have a father" Hawkgirl wasn't sure if it was the aftermath of battle tiredness but she could had swore smiled slightly when she said father yet it was the nature of the smile. It looked almost cruel and sadistic and it was the timing of that did she feel a shudder of cold air that somehow came in a hot landscape, almost as if something evil smiled back to the young girl that was Terra.
For now she was happy at what she had accomplished and at what was yet to be accomplished…
At last the fighters re-gathered after being announced and stood before the master. The master was in a good mood, Blackfire was sadistically overjoyed, Starfire looked slightly conflicted while still trying to be a foot's distance away from her older version and Raven was feeling nothing but rather anticipate any form of combat by the other two.
"So champions, you have all gathered for the final participation. I take it you all want to go through the battle royal?" The master was expecting a yes unison vote given, but Raven knew how to displease people. But rather for the sake of privacy she wanted to do this out of help.
"No" the master wasn't upset or annoyed, but he remained still, deciding to see what Raven would say. None of them had found his secret so far, but he was getting ready in case it might have, but thankfully for him it turned out differently.
"I request a duel with Starfire-"
"Raven?!" Raven carried on, ignoring star's astonishment. The master was most curious.
"Your reason for this, young champion?"
"If Blackfire is as promising as you make her to be, than I feel her best will be given easier if it was settled over a one and one basis"
The master gave it some thought; he seemed rather keen on this "And is this ok with you Blackfire?" The dark hair alien woman shrugged. "Sure, I can wait for a minute I guess"
"Then it is settled! Starfire of Tamaran Versus Raven of Azarath; May the battle begin!
And with that the two titans vanished.
They appeared, a volcanic ash like world with various rocky landscapes dotted around the place, the sky was equally dismal which greeted the two fighters. Starfire looked around uneasy, already her words themed on a plea to her friend.
"Raven, please I have no desire of winning against you of so soon a time."
"No star" Corrected her friend. "This is the time; I'm giving you the chance to defeat your fear, the boundary that you don't have to accept. I never accepted my father and so you don't have to accept your sister, you deserve better Starfire than to be treated as a toy."
"But can I not choose the time to make my own say?"
"While your sister plans to make the final round to a 'mock you day'? If you don't stand now, you'll never stand at all. You either bear your power or you don't. The choice is yours"
"But you're not giving me a choice!" Raven tore a section of the ground beside her, swamped in her dark spell it shot towards Starfire who took the reaction to evade quickly.
"I am giving you a choice star, I don't like doing this but there is no other time for you to fight without guilt or look back in guilt in knowing you could had stood up against your sister in this day of all days!" the second object she tore out went directly at star but by now the words got through to her and built up Adeline of dormant action that finally sprung when the Tamaran snapped forward with her fist and shattered the debris with her alien strength.
"Very well, if you want me to force on this victory.." She stopped her sentence as her eyes charged in green anger, Raven wanted to give star a chance to be ready against Blackfire and she did so. The only catch now was she had to fight Starfire, she wouldn't make it easy as she too wanted to win yet in the end she knew the final outcome of the tournament was inevitable when Blackfire was announced and no matter how hard she tried. Raven knew that it would be Blackfire in the end that would be victorious no matter how great star's chances were. So why did she bother doing it? Her mind wondered that as she charged all the dark energy in her to form a defensive sphere and could only think that she did it out of friendship. Even if she was forcing it on Starfire it was only because she felt pity in the end.
Starfire charged, she flew just feet above the ground, fists first and bolts raised. Her charge was a basic yet bold one. Raven's spell quickly gathered at full strength and waited not for star to be close enough to engage the sphere but close enough for Raven to break the back of her sphere and let it curl round its sides as it overlapped around and engulfing the young Tamaran who did not see the folding range of the sphere till it was too late. Starfire was instantly caught. Raven clenched her fingers, tipping the fingers with clawed pressure as she jabbed her arms forward pressing the sphere with force without touch to shoot Starfire across the land and heavily to the ground. Only it didn't.
The sphere was stopped by Starfire's own force. Her own strength was now dwelling deeper into its power, it overcame Raven's mental hold, the sphere already out of Raven's control still began to crack, her magic slowly waning to the internal aggression it held prisoner. Till at last with the strength of fire from within erupted the dark prison from within. The shell was broken and with no intentional pun in Raven's mind did she realise that a star was born.
Raven focused her powers once more put upon herself, a shadowy creature projectile over her. A puppet to her own use, it was bird shaped showing a noble but aggressive expression that sent no intimidation to her Tamaran friend. The being was phoenix like and Raven mastered the form, throwing herself across the air the form made a direct assault to Starfire. Starfire too charged only she held back on the bolts, feeling bold enough to break the weapon by might alone. The two elements of light and dark, chaos and order collided at speeds that created a thunderous explosion as sound as Starfire smashed into the dark matter.
But the matter didn't break form and slammed into star throwing her down from the air as she shot ahead. The impact was strong but not that strong for the young princess to regain control of her fall and flipped backwards in the fallen decent onto the ground with her hands and feet. She looked up briefly only to see the moving shadow strike once more. She somehow expected and flew straight into the sky, missing the phoenix form striking the ground in its force before giving chase upwards once more. Starfire had the lead but the being was fastly catching up.
Flying high in pursuit and yet unknowingly to the being did the Tamaran had her hands raised above her head for a reason. From her hands a swelling of green power was getting more dense and stronger, Starfire knew she couldn't outrun it; she just needed the time to charge and strike with success. A cry from the being was heard once more, its presence now barely feet away as it beated its wings with thunderous rampage when star brought down her cupped palms and delivered the enormous surge stored within.
The blast struck with perfect accuracy as it shackled and struck the shadowy being with relentless drive till the light finally tore the imitation after a great effort of violent force that tore the endurable being.
The surge of energy immediately halted, when revealing an exhausted Raven who was reeling from the power that had struck her. She looked beat and worn out, Raven desired to fight still but she realised however that would had defeated the purpose. She made Starfire confident and ready; why make her waste her small chance against Blackfire? Raven decided to slowly land to earth with the remaining control of her flight she had in her, though near the ground she couldn't help but drop to the floor limped of any feeling as she rested, Starfire, still fresh landed beside her and looked over her defeated friend.
"heh, vae victus" Raven said half ironically to herself in her own amusement. "You win for now star" Starfire was at first momentary speechless before smiling out of kindness she still held for her close friend. "Raven, I like to say -"
Suddenly Raven was gone, teleported away without warning or consideration. The timing of it almost broke Star's heart. She didn't understand why such a tournament where no one is given the time or the chance to say thank you or goodbye. It was than another teleportation came not far and what followed briefly was a voice of ignorance till she saw the winner.
"Well done Raven, I knew you could do it!...oh, its you"
"And hello to you to sister" Muttered Starfire sarcastically.
"So its just us two is? Guess that's fine for me, it'll be much better in some ways will this." She clenched her fist tightly, tensioning them for battle. "Shame though, I always considered Raven to be the better now I have to bore myself by beating you"
"Than I'm happy to disappoint you"
"No, it wasn't you, more of your raving friend I believe. Come on, I noticed her concerns to you and the fact your not mostly hurt must show she was trying to help ready you against me." She prided herself at seeing such truths, knowing any other lower would be just too blind to see. "To be honest I can find better ways to waste my time than doing that"
"Lets get this over with" Starfire was raising a bolt in her hand as her eyes flamed hatefully, Blackfire laughed loudly in her overbearing smirk. "Hardly dear this sister, this is hardly a place of majestic worth is it?" She faced to the night sky and shouted at the top of her lungs, calling upon her ally.
"Ok Master of games, MOG, whatever you're called! Take us!"
"…What do you mean by that sister?" Blackfire grinned at Starfire, happily at knowing that she had no idea at what was at store.
"Ash and dust makes a poor choosing for royalty. I seek a more worthy stage, something that will reflect my days of glory for a long time."
And with that the two vanished to the final stage of the games.
AN: The next chapter will provide many twists, not in who the final winner will be but who the final boss will be as well. Confused? All will be revealed in the all action finale.
Raven saying vae victus is based from a game series I played where its very gothic based and is full of ironies, darkness and conspiracies. I picked it as I can see Raven being a fan of it or quoting its main quote. So I wouldn't consider it out of character as she is sarcastic and ironic and would make sense to pick an ironic example. She also makes a culture reference at saying 'Blackfire, warrior princess' in irony. In case you don't know Raven is jibing a reference with Blackfire and Xena, warrior princess.
And that phoenix shape raven used her spell to morph as. She has that power, especially in the episode 'how long is forever' I see that as Raven's most powerful attack without going ballistic and having four eyes etc.
Still R&R are welcome as usual R&R as in Read and Review not Relax and Refresh!
