Disclaimer: I do not own any of the DC characters who appear in the animated series Teen Titans (as much as I would LOOOOOOOOVE to own Raven). I do not own any of the quoted material that might appear in here from literature, movies, and songs and such. I do not own the demonic tradition of Goetia and the Lesser Key of Solomon, BUT THIS PORTRAYAL OF RAIM IS STRICTLY MINE, BITCHES! I will however make THIS distinction: although many of my elaborations upon Raven's past are based somewhat upon DC comic mythos (I don't tend to enjoy American comics, but when I write anything, I do my research ahead of time), some of the details given may not jibe with specific details presented in the comics or future episodes of Teen Titans. I really couldn't care less. This is my fiction, not DC's! Otherwise, the world is mine. You may kneel, now.

(Special Thanks to: DC, Ani D., Joni M., Stephen K., and T. S. Eliot for providing me with material. Please don't prosecute me! Remember, kiddies; good writers borrow, great writers steal!)

Rating: Unreadable and Slated to Be Taken Care of by The Department of Miniluv, as decreed by the Almighty Federal Communications Commission, subsidiary and loyal bitchslave of The Evil Empire, also known as The Bush Administration (TWO MORE MONTHS! TWO MORE MONTHS!)

The Extent To Which Censorship Will Enter My Writing: is THIS! There will be many "mature themes" regarding morality, religion, sex and sexuality involved in this piece. There will be swearing, cursing, innuendo, and filthy gutter language ad libitum which your cliché grandmother would not likely enjoy hearing from your mouth (trust me, my voice mail message on my cell was "Hey there, bitches, this is Mark…I'm out working the curb at the moment, but leave me a message and I'll be sure to get back to you. Muah!" until my grandma called me up in the middle of a class and got the answering service X . X). There MAY be some scenes of graphic nudity, sex, and/or violence (I really am not decided on how far I want to go with this, yet, although I'm pretty certain that I won't be going into the territory of gore; this isn't a Subaru x Seishirou or Kamui x Fuuma fiction, after all! Therefore, there won't be any decapitation, evisceration, or anything of the like…désolé, 13 to 18 year old male demographic!). If you have problems with such topics being addressed in writing, either stop reading here and now, stop reading when you reach them in the fiction, or skip over them. Otherwise, don't complain! You were warned. Oh, yes, and I'm a rabid X fan, so I'm used to other rabid fans who favor other character pairings than myself flipping out over my choice in character pairings. This is tentatively a Raven x Robin fiction. If that causes you to fly into hysterics, also stop reading here. Raechan is going to be commiserating about how "unfair" it is that Star is so fortunate and blessed with Robin's affection, et cetera, and going all internal-angst-tortured-love-emokid mode. Well, it's not going to be that simple, but you know. That's the Sparknotes version of it.

Otherwise, ENJOY,

Mark

(your supreme sovereign master. mwaugh haugh haugh haugh!)

Raven is having trouble not only keeping her buried emotions in reign, but also problems with her…family. As Robin and Starfire grow closer, Raven begins to resent her heritage increasingly with each passing day; if not for her powers as a demon, expressing the love she feels for Robin, the guilt-ridden jealousy she holds for Star, as well as her hatred for her father, Trigon, would be an easy enough task. Fate, seeming to spite Raven, throws her an even greater dilemma when a half-brother Raven never knew she had decides to pay her a visit.

(SU•PER•HE•RO)

chapitre quatre: siamese dream

"So, his name is Raim?"

"That's the name he gave me, at least."

"And he is the man who harmed Robin?"

"Yes, Star."

"Lemme get this straight, this guy says he's your brother?"

"Half-brother. Didn't I just finish explaining that, Beast Boy?"

"Raven, I don't know as much about this as Robin probably does, but he won't be much use until he's awake. Raim has all of your powers?"

"At least, and probably then some. He was able to expand the range of his power over an area of the city with a radius of about a kilometre and …suppress everything and everyone he didn't want to exist within the area. It was just Raim, Robin, and me."

"Teleportation, too?"

"Of course, Cy."

"This doesn't look good."

"Raven, is it possible that this Raim was the origin of your outburst last night?"

"I didn't consider that. I would think I'd realize if someone were inside of my own mind. He did enter my thoughts several times, but I was aware of it when he did."

"Umm, yeah, about that freak-out of yours? You owe me about fifty CDs."

"BB. Shut up."

"Well she does, Cy!"

"That's not what we're dealing with at the moment."

"If you guys don't mind, I'm going to go lie down for a while. Healing Robin took a lot out of me."

"Rest well, Raven."

"Thanks, Star."

•••••

(SILENCE)(…)

– In death's dream kingdom –

(SILENCE)

–In this last of meeting places –

(SILENCE)(what do you want?)(SILENCE)(why are you in my dreams?)

–Gathered on this beach –(meet me at Exquisite Taste café)–of the tumid river –(i know you know where it is)–Sightless, unless –(nine o'clock, sharp)–The eyes reappear –(bring friends if it suits you)–As the perpetual star–

(SILENCE)

(SILENCE)(and if i refuse?)

(SILENCE)

(SILENCE)(are you still there?)

(SILENCE)

•••••

"Un grand chai vert, garçon."

"And for the lady?"

"A tall chai latte. Don't skimp on the foam."

"Il fait du soleil dans la ville aujourd'hui, n'est-ce pas?"

"You can cut with the small talk. Why the dream? Why did you want to meet me here?"

"Can't a doting brother enjoy the company of his long estranged dear younger sister?"

"You know as well as I do that that's not the reason you arranged this."

"Oh?"

"And you're not my brother."

"Well, nearly so. How are things with Robby?"

"That's none of your business. And his name's Robin."

"You're so cute when you're flustered. I wonder if he thinks you're cute …"

"Am I going to have to bludgeon you with some vehicle of mass transit just to get a straight answer out of you?"

"Maybe."

"…"

"Heh. Alright, I've had my fun. But, in all seriousness, have you tried what we talked about last time?"

"What do you mean?"

"Raven, don't play dumb with me. We're both far too intelligent for that."

"Expressing myself?"

"Exactement."

"Maybe it hasn't occurred to you yet, but I'd love to do just that. Do you think I enjoy biting back every rabid insult that enters my mind, ever tear that I want to cry? When I want to jump out of windowswith overwhelming ecstasy,instead I resign myself to silent meditation.Do you think it's fun for me?"

"Well, if it isn't than why do you?"

"You just chastised me for playing dumb."

"Ah, oui."

"Isn't it obvious?"

"Mais non, ma petite sœur. Expliquez pour – merci, garçon, pourriez-vous apporter une orangina quand vous avez la chance? – pour moi?"

"…"

"…"

"…Fine. We'll do it your way."

"Do go on!"

"I repress my feelings because if I don't … other people get … hurt."

"Oro?"

"I don't find that funny."

"And I'm not following."

"Okay, say for instance if on a given day I'm feeling extremely out of sorts and depressed. Any average person would cry, but I can't. If I were to cry, things tend to collapse in on themselves. Buildings. Cars. Other people's lungs. Are you beginning to get the picture?"

"… go on."

"Or if I'm angry, really enraged by something … the complete opposite effect. Water mains explode. Cushions. Windows. Furnaces. Skulls. You see?"

"Indeed, I do."

"That's why I can't go around wearing my heart on my sleeve. The worst that would come of it were any normal person to do it might be that they'd be an easy emotional target for any run-of-the-mill sadist. But not for me. My worst …"

"… is a lot worse?"

"…"

"I still don't understand, Raven."

"… ?"

"I don't mean to be rude, but … so what?"

"What do you mean, so what!"

"'The delight of the herd is more ancient than the delight in the ego; and as long as the good conscience is identified with the herd, only the bad conscience says: I.'"

"What?"

"Thus Spoke Zarathustra. Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche. Do you understand what he was saying, Raven?"

"I haven't read much by him."

"I'm taken aback, good demoiselle, really I am! A book that you've not read? Perish the thought!"

"Cut it out. Just tell me what you were getting at by quoting Nietzsche."

"What I'm getting at is this; so your powers can get out of control when you're running on emotional high. So what. Why's it wrong? It's wrong because you value the will of others, society's collective notion of 'right' and 'wrong', over your own emotional well-being. And why? Why bother?"

"It's not that simple!"

"When you get right down to it, it is. You've been trained from a very early age not only to keep your powers and feelings in check, but also to more readily accept and obey the whims of an establishment rather than actualizing your own desires."

"It is NOT THAT SIMPLE!"

"Explain, then. Explain why it isn't that simple."

"Because … because I wouldn't want those things done to me."

"You're resorting to the Golden Rule?"

"No, it's … it's more than that! When you commit yourself to any action, what you're really meaning is that you feel some sort of justification for what you're doing…"

"And?"

"Well … it's like any law. It has to be logical. When you do something, what is implied is that it's acceptable for anyone to act in such a way. And if it's not, than the action isn't logically consistent with itself. For me to allow my powers to harm other people because of my own selfishness would be justifying any other person harming anyone else out of a need to emotionally express themselves. And that contradicts itself!"

"Heh heh heh."

"What's so funny about that?"

"Do you know what you just did?"

"… ?"

"You reconstructed Immanuel Kant's Categorical Imperative. Logical morality. Deontology. The study of duty … duty to being – merci pour l'orangina, garçon – to being consistent with one's own actions."

"I'm not following."

"Immanuel Kant was a Prussian philosopher of the eighteenth century. He developed several theories regarding what he called imperatives. He called for the death of hypothetical imperatives …that is, the use of 'if-then' statements in application of philosophy and theoretical morals. He was basically trying to justify Christian ethics through logic."

" …so what?"

"Don't you see? You invoked his ultimate, the Categorical Imperative; … that is, for an action to be logically moral, the maxim behind it, it's most basic justification, must never contradict itself when applied as a universal law. According to Kant it was wrong to steal because the maxim a thief functions upon is, 'I should steal'. Applied universally, it becomes, 'Anyone or everyone should steal'. However, if everyone stole from everyone, the very idea of property is rendered null, which is the very principle around which stealing functions. Therefore, stealing is wrong because it is logically inconsistent with itself."

"For one who understands his theories so well, I'd think you would appreciate them more."

"Oh dear sister, just because I can grasp his meaning doesn't mean I agree with it. Kant's Categorical Imperative created a system of 'duties' … but it never dealt with the issue of conflicting duties. One of its most critical shortcomings."

"It's always a relief to know that someone with such power is morally selective."

"I see your biting sarcasm never rests. Regardless, you should consider your own conflict of duties …true, you have a duty to uphold society and all that jazz, but you also have a duty to yourself. One of Kant's seven primary duties was 'personal growth'. The way I see it, Azar's method has knocked you on your ass at a lovely cul-de-sac."

"Enough talk about me—"

"Oh, but we haven't even gotten to Robby!"

"—it's time you answer a few of my questions. And his name's Robin."

"Whatever skins your cat. Fire away, ma petite sœur."

"What is this all about?"

"What do you mean?"

"Don't play at being a moron. You quote Nietzsche. I'd wager the lock on my room's door and half of my books that you consider Descartes 'light reading'. I've seen enough episodes of 'The Slayers' and read enough volumes of 'Fushigi Yuugi' and 'Tsubasa RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE' to know better than to trust a genius acting like an idiot. Why did you seek me out and what are you after?"

"You mean to say it's impossible that I, a loving and caring brother, simply didn't wish to finally meet his sister? I have half a mind to be offended!"

"Caring people don't mangle others' bodies. I saw what you did to Robin; I had to heal it."

"Oh, bother that. I suspected as much that you would find out eventually. You can't really blame me. I wanted to see you and he was in the way. It's not like I knew that you were hot for him at the time. Besides, I gather some good came out of it."

"Shut—up! Don't go perusing my thoughts like that! And I'm shielding my mind from you! How did you – ?"

"Thoughts like that are like roaches, my dear. They just don't go away. They tend to flaunt themselves, to boot."

"At any rate, you're a son of Trigon. There's no way in hell your appearance is some sort of 'good omen', so don't even try to skew it that way, Raim."

"Well, if you must bring the nasty parentage issue into this, I didn't ask for a demonic, extradimensional father anymore than you did, Raven."

"Enough. Why did you come here?"

"Filial ties aren't good enough for you? Very well, then, it appears my answers are of no use to you. I'll foot the bill if you'll cover the tip?"

"Wait."

"Hmm?"

"…if you ever lay a finger on Robin again, you won't have to seek me out."

"Now, now, Raven …don't start with the hypotheticals now. Kant would be disappointed."

"You won't have to breathe, either."

«okay, kiddies, ce chapitre is très (!) experimental, if you can't tell. i was beginning to feel like the story was bogged down by the weight of the descriptions that i was using, so i decided that all non-dialogue would be eliminated in ce chapitre! it's entirely experimental and a bit artsy of me (alas! i am indeed an artist!), so if you hate it or love it, TELL ME. if i find that droves of people adore it, i might fool with it again in the future. if y'all hate it with a passion, i may even revise ce chapitre to include descriptive non-dialogue passages. also: tell me if the weight of the subject matter (id est: Kant, Nietzsche) is weighing things down. i kind of envisioned Raim as one of those assholes who likes philosophy, but only when it suits his purposes (indeed, he likes ANYTHING that suits his purposes!), kind of like myself. it's actually kind of disturbing how much of myself i see that i'm projecting into both Raven and Raim (i myself am involved currently in a situation of unrequited love, but i'm also an out-and-out manipulative bastard).Hope you enjoy reading this as much as i enjoyed writing it! mark.»