I did have this chapter posted, but took it down. This is the new version, and please tell me what you think! I am not sure about it.
This chapter contains the True Master from the episode, the Quest. The True Master is an old lady who lives at the top of a mountain, and has three guardians (the bear, the snake, and the monkey) that guard it.
Disclaimer- I do not own the Teen Titans.
Fall (Chapter 5)
"Trouble!" Raven's voice awoke me from my light sleep. More like a doze. It's too hard to sleep properly anymore. I turn over and make out the flashing red numbers on my clock in the dark. 1:00. It can't be Chang. He's not attacking until 6:30. Or maybe he was just tricking us. Either that or he has a really messed up clock.
Groaning, I sit up in bed. Did I sign up for this job? Do I have a contract? Is there an expiration date? Can't they just say, "Oh, we've found someone better, we don't need you anymore,"? Can't criminals wait until at least 7:00 before bothering us?
Raven walks down the halls pounding on our doors. Apparently not. Damn. Following her, Cyborg knocks down the door just in case I've turned deaf.
"Come on, Robin. You can take a nap later!" he yells and moves on to murder Beast Boy's door. I roll my eyes, and sigh, looking longingly at my bed, but suddenly Raven is where my door used to be.
"If sleep is more important than saving the city, stay! You're no use anyway." She snaps and goes off, dragging a yawning Starfire past my door. By careful what you wish for. Isn't that what I wanted? For someone to cut me a break?
"Coming." I mutter before Cyborg comes in and hauls me away. Something the way Raven said it made me want to come. The part about being no use. Raven is one of the few people who knows exactly what to say to get me moving. Is she a better leader than I was? Probably.
I glance at the newspaper articles on my wall. The headlines glare at me, as if daring me to do something about them. Where Have the Titans Gone? Titans Defeated! Heroes or Murderers? They all have titles like that. I hate them, and yet I still collect them.
I open the dusty drawer that has all the good stuff about us. Titans take out Chang! Killer Moth sent to Jail! And then, of course, Titans Betrayed! City Taken over by Former Titan! Titans show they still Care, all the Terra articles. I have memorized all of them. Beast Boy would have once said, "Dude, you need a hobby." Not now. Maybe not ever again.
"Robin!" Cyborg's back just in case my door isn't dead yet. Raven may have given up on me, but Cyborg hasn't. How long until they crack?
On the way down to the living room, I catch a glimpse of myself in the hall mirror. My hair is messed up, and I have dark shadows under my eyes. My clothes are wrinkled and dirty, and my arm reveals the throbbing cuts from last night. Is this really me? Obviously.
In the living room, Beast Boy looks like the undead. Starfire is more awake, but still looks rather dim. I look worse. Raven and Cyborg are the only two who look serious and ready to go.
Raven sees me enter, and turns swiftly with the command, "Let's go."
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Chang. The liar must have thought that it would be funny to tell us the wrong time, and then wake us up in the middle of the night. Few people were out in the streets. I guess normal people actually sleep all night. I wish I could have him locked away. Isn't that supposed to be my job? Why, out of the whole city, do we have to keep the bad guys in line? Why can't they hire normal police who get paid to do the job? We used to be big, superheroes, and now we're just wanna-be's.
Chang's robots advance towards us, and Raven's yells, "Titans, go!" My line. My job. I know that Raven's trying to help, but I cannot help being angry with her. Who said I wanted to give up my job? Why Raven? She's trying to help the team, but why can't I?
I leap towards the nearest robot, kicking at its face. The head only rolled a bit, didn't even come off completely. With one swipe it knocks me over, and walks over me. I am no longer a threat to it. I spring up kicking it, again and again, until it's fallen to the ground. I hit and punch over and over again. I imagine Slade in it so vividly that I cannot tear myself away from the pile of metal. I just keep hitting it, over and over.
Raven's taking on most of them. She can destroy five in one shot, when I can only stop one. Star has to fight on the ground, because she can't find the joy needed to fly. Her starbolts are stronger than they were a couple of days ago. Is she changing again? Cyborg's fighting off almost as many as Raven is. Chang obviously didn't expect us to show up or fight because there are not quite as many robots as his last attack. Beast Boy isn't fighting. Raven told him to keep people at bay, and keep any robots away from any wandering souls that happen to be able to ignore the snarling green tiger and broken robots.
I break away from my Slade vision, and watch them battle. Do they really need me? They fight as though there is no tomorrow. Maybe there isn't; how do we know?
I see something moving swiftly out of the corner of my eye, but when I turn my head, the figure is gone. I could have sworn I saw a small old woman with long silver braids.
I fling myself at a couple of unbusy robots. I kick and punch, and swing my staff, but I cannot take them down. I'm too distracted to even see Slade in them. There it is again! That quick figure that I can only see out of the corner of my eye. It's definitely an old woma-
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"Oh, what happened?" I moan, cracking my eyes open. Raven comes into view, bending over me. The other Titans breathe a sigh of relief. Wait, we can't let Chang go! What happened? "Stop…Chang." I mumble.
"Chang escaped." Starfire reported quietly. He escaped? How? Don't all the articles say that the Teen Titans always bring their foes down? No matter what?
"Dude, you have got to stop staring into La-La Land!" Cyborg says frantically, waving his arms in my face.
"It looked as though you were distracted by something," Raven explains helping me to my feet. I notice she doesn't say which isn't like you though she probably was tempted to. "The robots you were fighting knocked you out."
"I thought I saw…" I begin to mutter. "No. It couldn't have been."
"Saw what?" Raven asks intensely. What does she know? What did I miss? How could I have let myself be knocked out like that!
"The True Master. You know, the one that I went to find to train with?" I say. "Never mind. I must have been seeing things."
Raven and Cyborg exchange looks, and Raven replies gently, "The True Master helped us win. She fought off the robots attacking you when we couldn't. She destroyed many of the robots. Unfortunately…." Raven pauses.
"What happened?" I ask with a touch of my old force that used to make me a great leader. What happened? I must know, though I dreaded what she was going to say next.
"She was killed protecting you." Raven answers softly, lowering her eyes. I cannot say anything. Nothing at all. The True Master had helped me more than she'll ever know. Dead? That strong old woman who beat me up the mountain? Never. I still cannot say anything. I just stand there with my mouth open, trying to take this in. It's impossible. I loved that crazy old woman like my own grandmother, growing closer to her with my every visit to her mountain.
I begin shaking my head, denying what they said. I would not cry. She can't possibly be dead. Can she?
I stumble over to where someone has laid the old woman's body away from the robot parts. Raven comes up behind me, and puts a hand on my shoulder. I sit and cry by the True Master's side for a long time. One by one the other Titans leave except Raven. She understands in a way, I think. I'm not sure what way, but she understands.
Eventually I ask Raven if we can take the True Master back to her mountain where she was happy. Raven nods without saying a word, teleporting us to the place I described to her.
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At the top of her mountain, the bear, the monkey, and snake gather with us in deep sorrow to see their Master dead. The bear insists that she should be buried in her dojo, because it was her home, after all. The monkey suggests that we ought to lock the dojo up, to let her rest in peace. Raven offers quietly to seal the dojo, to insure that no one disturbs the Master. The snake decides they should keep people seeking out the Master from even getting past the bear. The guardians could take turns guarding it, or perhaps all at once to discourage people.
I agree absently without argument with all these ideas. I am too tired to argue. The guardians seem to know best. There are no words spoken for the old lady, for as Raven had pointed out, "She will be content knowing that we have done this much for her. Let your tears be your words."
By nightfall our work was done. I want to wake up from this horrible dream. People had gotten killed, yes, but no one close to me. No one that I cried for. Call me heartless, but I didn't know those people. The True Master was sealed in her dojo on her mountain for the rest of eternity, and I didn't tell her goodbye. Nothing.
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"Can you communicate with dead spirits?" I ask Raven quietly on the way home.
"No." Raven says.
"Can you summon them?"
"No."
"Can you send a message to them?" I persist, though I have a sinking feeling I know what the answer is.
"No."
"Can't you do anything?" I scream at her though I know it's not Raven's fault. It's not her fault we're like this. It's mine. Everything's my fault. I should have kept us together instead of worrying about myself.
"I can take you home, and let you grieve in peace." Raven replies coolly. She's distracted by something. I'm sure of it! Raven's dark eyes gaze at me, looking as if they belonged to a scarred old woman, not a young teen. I do not see friendship and understanding in those eyes. I see pity, and sadness. I see wearied strength, the determination to keep us alive. I do not see mild annoyance at Beast Boy. I do not see the hidden smile behind her masked eyes. I do not see light or hope. I do not see Raven.
Don't Tell Me
I don't want comfort
You can't understand
None of you know
This isn't what I planned
Don't tell me everything's
Going to be okay
Don't say anything
If you can't make her stay
My tears will be my words
Please just let me cry
Please don't tell me
That I need to say goodbye
Don't say you know
Exactly how I feel
Don't tell me that time
Will help me heal
My tears are enough
To fill hundreds of books
Don't say anything
And don't give me sad looks
Don't you dare tell me
That everyone has to die
Just leave me alone
Don't tell me because I'll cry
A/N- Again, tell me your honest opinion! WARNING! Only two more chapters left until the end!
-DKR
