I sincerely apologize for the extremely late update.. once again, I will try my best to do better... sighs
Just to clarify a couple things...
Fox had to be tested, she had to absorb the raw power. Although she can control her FORM, not all her powers. Remember she still has trouble, like learning things like Shiroken. And it WAS a basic attack, but the chant greatly enhances its power. As for Silver, pretty much his love for wolves gave him his powers, but not without a cost. If it weren't for Raven and Fox and Dak, those powers would have cost him his life, and probably his soul too. Not so simple, eh? P
As for the impurity in heaven, in this story remember, they go through the gate and can be in their heaven, but Dak is leading them so they aren't technically there yet. That is why when Raven looked away from him she began to be destroyed, or saw herself, and would be destroyed shortly afterward. But don't worry that will all be taken care of. You been to heaven or something?
As for the name, you will soon find out why it is so different, probably in the last chapter. And in case you couldn't tell, I don't really care at all about names 'running off the tongue' or a 'typical' heaven.
Glad you enjoy the story.
And now the rest of you who are wondering, 'why the hell is he saying all this?' on w/ the show!
This chapter is dedicated to animegirl16.
Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans.
Chapter Sixteen: Cracking Insanity's Shell
Why did I change into this form? I could tell as soon as I did it that it wasn't right... DAMN IT! Nothing I do is ever right. Except at least I have Terra. Except she ditched me! Too bad she probably did it to save me... silly Terra.. always thinking with her heart, never with her head.
The posessed Beast Boy was just finishing up a sweet meal. The real Beast Boy, thinking about Terra, was disgusted. He didn't like meat, and sucking out blood of innocent people he had tried to protect was nothing to like either. He had to break free somehow, before he killed more people. And what would happen if he woke up normal, soaked in all the victim's blood?
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Terra arrived at the caves and placed her hands against the rocks, trying to feel which one her friends had gone into. It didn't take long before she found the one she needed, using her connection to the earth. The skinny girl dropped down from the dark night into a purely dark cave. Instinct drove her forward through the door, and shock of entering another dimension drove her instantly into the next door to heaven, the first bit of luck the titans were seeming to have in days.
When she recovered from the shock she realized that she was falling. Up. Just like the other four titans, she was being carried through the luminous void. Finally she arrived at the clouds, and the gate. She gazed in wonder around her, at the sky, the clouds, the nonexistant floor she stood on, and the open golden gate, seeming to lead into nothing. "Well," she said softly to herself, "I guess I go in," she entered the gate.
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The four titans, struggling to resist the temptation of turning their gazes away from their guide, continued on through the clouds. After a long amount of time, (one quite lost an exact sense of time in heaven) Dakkaadyyyshum stopped and turned to face his followers. "We are here," he said.
"Um, where exactly is here?" Cybrog asked, gazing up at the great seraph.
"The Crossroads. Where if you slip you might go straight to hell, but if you have a proper guide, and you do, you can be led to the Master's domain, where you will face your final trials." Dak explained.
"When you say final trials.." Silver began.
"No, I do not mean 'final' as in you will certainly be claimed by death, although you very well might be, I say 'final' as in the final trials of this quest."
"Oh.." Silver said quietly.
"Well, let's go," Raven said, stepping closer to the seraph.
Dak nodded. "This way," he turned to the left and suddenly another door of light appeared. He walked through, followed by Silver, Foxfire, Cyborg, and at the end of the line, Raven. Eager as she was to go ahead, she didn't have a very good feeling about going through the door. They might be crossing into an actual realm of heaven, not just these divine roads. She shook away her hesitation, and forced herself to go through. Immediately she regretted it. Instead of coming out in a stone world covered in mountains with a violet sky, like the others, she was caught in the white door.
Can't... move..!!! Raven struggled against the power of the light. It was quickly draining her strength. She couldn't fight it any more. Finally, she had to give in, and her world went black in spite of the light surrounding her.
"Where's Raven?" Silver asked suddenly, turning around to find her gone.
"Oh dear..." Dak said softly, a horrified expression on his face.
"Where is she?" Silver demanded, anger already causing power to spark around his clenched fist.
"Cool it man, I'm sure she's all right," Cyborg said, trying to force himself to believe his words.
"No, no she is far from ok.." Dak said sadly, his great head dropping. "She..... she has an evil demon for half a soul, correct?"
"Not her fault," Silver snapped. Dak ignored his harsh tone and continued.
"I am sorry, I should have realized this. Because of that demon soul within her, the evil half of her soul, she can not survive here. She has fallen..."
"Fallen, where?!?" Silver asked, anger growing again.
"To hell I assume." Dak said simply.
"To hell!!!" Silver shouted. "Well let's go to hell and save her!"
"It's not all that easy," Dak said, raising a hand. "I don't suggest you go to hell, you'd be torn apart. And not even I can challenge the beasts there."
"So how do you expect Raven to challenge them?"
"Ah, I hate to interupt you guys," Cyborg began, "but since when are there worms in heaven?" He pointed to the ground, where ten fat three foot long worms squirmed around.
"Back!" Dak shouted, putting his arm in front of the three titans. "Those are the ten worms!"
"They're a 'the'?" Fox asked. Then it hit her. "Oh, the ten worms.. as in there's only ten days until Christmas..."
"Yes! I've heard of these worms before, and you musn't touch them!" With a cry, the seraph drew a long, very broad sword and brought it down upon the worms. It cut them all neatly in two, and Dak sheathed his sword. "That was close.." He said, starting forward again.
"Wait!" Silver yelled. Dak looked down at the twenty pieces. "They're.. they're still alive?" Dak asked.
"Ah, worms have five hearts.." Silver said.
"This is bothersome!" Dak shouted, drawing his sword easily with one hand and materializing a staff out of the other. He rose the two together and began chanting.
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No!!! I can't harm this person too! The posessed bird form of Beast Boy flew down towards a wandering man who appeared to be homeless. The monsterous insanity opened the bird's beak, preparing to strike down the man. NOOO!!!! I WON'T.. LET.. YOU!!! Inside Beast Boy fought for control, for sanity. The bird was about to kill the man, it was inches away.. NOOOO!!!!!!! Beast Boy screamed in his mind, his strong will forcing through the shell of insanity clouding his mind. Suddenly the bird form dropped from the sky, and the normal Beast Boy lay, in great pain.
"You alright, Green Man?" The man asked. Beast Boy struggled for words, but began coughing instead. He coughed up blood, then began vomitting out all the blood he had drank. Almost an hour later, he collapsed into the puddle of blood, unconcious.
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Dak let out a great cry, screaming words that seemed to flow through all that surrounded him. The ten worms quickly began to stop squirming onward, and slowly dissolved into thin air, leaving nothing to show that they had ever even been there. Dak lowered his staff and sword, his eyes closed. "We must hurry," he said flatly, and led them on.
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Raven was falling. She wasn't even awake but she knew she was falling. Falling through black, falling through red. Hellish images whirled around her, blood curtling screams filled the darkness. And Raven continued to fall. She was falling at a sickening speed, although it was impossible to judge speed in the dark abyss. Slowly the girl opened her eyes. She saw the images, the blood, torture, and heard the screams. But, as usual, she put on an unconcerned and emotionless face, staring down the passage to hell like she would to an annoying Beast Boy.
Suddenly the black began to fade into red, the red of flames. She was getting close now. I never thought i'd end up here... not alive anyway. Then, all of a sudden, Raven stopped in midair. Although she had not known how fast she was falling, she suddenly found out as her stomach shot up to her throat. She gagged, but didn't throw up, and landed on the 'ground'. It wasn't much of a 'ground', the land was always shifting, and fire was everywhere. Raven put up a small black protective shield to keep the flames away from her body.
How do I get out of here? Was the question that burned in her mind. I'm not even sure if I can 'die' in this place of death. I don't know if I'm here in spirit, or in body as well. But I do know why I'm here. Trigon.
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Silver and the others followed silently, fighting back tears. They had to put everything they had in their trust that Raven could survive on her own, that she could do what ever she needed to do, and beat what ever she may have to fight. Meanwhile the strange land grew even stranger. The violet sky quickly turned to a black and green, and the mountains that seemed to glow radiantly seconds before grew cold gray and jagged.
"We are close now," Dak said, stopping. "I must leave you to your destiny," He said, bowing his head. Then suddenly he disappeared in a flash of gold, but his words still rang clearly across the desolate land. "I wish you well..." And he was gone.
"Now we go on," Silver said, stepping forward. The others followed him. The terrain grew increasingly close-cornered. Eventually it was as if the three were walking through a tunnel of stone, into a cave. But unlike a cave, the land went steadily up. Up and up they went through the dark path between the stone, until finally they could see the top. And when they did, they stopped dead in their tracks.
Atop the mountain sat a great beast in a large golden throne. He resembled a dragon, and had four arms. His long tail snaked around his side and lay on the ground. His tough hide was black, the black of ash. And that was because he was burning. Almost every part of him was covered in a hellish blaze.
What was equally as terrifying was the two figures standing infront of him. Elken Valmore, and Poacher. They had also noticed the arrival of the titans.
"I'll handle this," Elken said in a calm voice. He proceeded down the mountain trail, away from the throne. Silver, Foxfire, and Cyborg hurried to meet him. When they were almost five feet away, they both stopped. "It's been a long time, Titans," Elken said.
"Yeah..." Silver began, playing it cool like their enemy was, "Too long, wouldn't you say? Of course I doubt you've improved one bit."
"Oh?" Elken asked, trying not to lose his cool, "You really think so? Would you like to try me out and see?"
And so the first of the final battle began.
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Meanwhile, Terra, being the purest person heaven had ever met, was floating around on a cloud with baby angels, having the time of her life, despite everything that was happening.
RAVEN'S WOLF